INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY

Today.27 January, is a day set aside to remember all those that died in the Holocaust, Jews, Christians, homosexuals, communists, priests, nuns - in fact anyone who perished in those dark days. I am posting up this picture of the beautiful Holocaust Garden in Budapest as my contribution to today and in memory of my relatives who, being musicians and actors, died because they disagreed with the Nazis, not from religious connections but because they dared to stand up against the might of the storm troopers - they were considered dangerous because they would and could speak out against what was happening. Each leaf on this 'silver' tree bears the name of a family or Jew who perished in Auschwitz and other places of horror .LL

Beautiful, and heartbreaking, LL.

People should never, ever forget what happened - or that the beast still walks among us.

This is the memorial erected to Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish Consular diplomat revered in Hungary for saving many Jews from the extermination camps. He issued them with papers that made them Swedish citizens; after the war he was taken by the Soviets to the USSR where he 'disappeared'; there are many different dates for his death.

Vienna's Memorial, in the centre of the old Ghetto, Judenplatz, on the very heart of the old city, stands on the site of the medieval synagogue:



Belin's Memorial stands a short distance from whewre Hitler's bunker once stopod and close to the Brandenberg Gate. LL

A survivor's story:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-2266957/Bettine-Le-Beau--child-survivor-holocaust.html

I think you may have heard this before, but I will repeat it today.

The cousin of a dear friend of mine was visiting her in L. A. from her adopted home in Argentina. We were to be having lunch together at the studio.

Ahead of lunch, my friend asked to talk to me and so I went to see her. She told me that her cousin, at the age of 15, as a beautiful blue eyed, blond haired girl, was taken with all her family by train to the camp. She was chosen out of the line by Geobbels.

Most nights she was used by him. He told her that she was saving her family. This continued for a long time until one night. He was doing his usual and then told her that he had killed all of her family.

The only way she could stomach what she was doing was because she thought she was keeping her loved ones alive.

Anyway, during lunch I could not help but touch the tattoo on her wrist - her camp number. I asked her if she had ever thought about having it removed as I could not imagine what it was like for her. She said that it was to remain as that was the very last link that she had with all her family. Let me tell you, the dam burst, even though I had told myself that I would not upset her.

Everyone ended up bawling their eyes out. What a brave beautiful soul she was.

There are people who make you feel all the better for knowing them. That was her.

PS. Beautiful photo of the leaves, LL.

Moving story, lily, thanks for sharing. Actually many survivors have chosen to keep their tattoo as a memorial to lost ones and also as a reminder that it could happen again. My relatives died at Mauthausen, I have visited there many times and laid flowers in their memory. This is where they died.

"Stairs of Death" Prisoners forced to carry a granite block up 186 steps to the top of the quarry.
Yes, the 'leaves' are breathtakingly beautiful,they shiver if there is a wind. Many of the Jews who died in Budapest are buried close by in unmarked graves. LL

http://www.scotsman.com/news/odd/rug-looted-by-goering-found-in-merkel-s-office-1-2762788

That's embarrassing.

There is stuff the Nazis looted all over Germany, Austria, Russia - in fact wherever they invaded;there are a load of them in the USA. Most of the items are not returnable as the original owners are long dead. As so many Jewish families were wiped out, who do you return the items to? Many museums, including the British Museum, have items which were 'repatriated' by returning soldiers from Germany after the war. I wonder how long that carpet has been in the Chancellor's office; was it there when the last incumbent held sway, or the one before? Maybe even Willi Brandt walked over it when he was leader of Germany, or Adenauer? I am not condoning such looting but at the same time I do wonder what is the actual relevance 70 years on. LL

I think it's fact that it's in such a high-profile office, LL? I know it is near impossible to return the items to the heirs of their original owners, but perhaps such things should be in some kind of central museum, specifically for items stolen from their murdered owners?

bb1 wrote:I think it's fact that it's in such a high-profile office, LL? I know it is near impossible to return the items to the heirs of their original owners, but perhaps such things should be in some kind of central museum, specifically for items stolen from their murdered owners?

I know the West German government did try and sort this out, but a lot of the looted stuff was in East Germany and East Berlin. It may well be that she didn't know it was looted; I mean, after such a long time surely it must be fairly threadbare? For all I know, I may have, in my Viennese flat, items that may have came from a Jewish family, how would I or my family know? After the war, people sold anything they could for food etc, no questions asked. If you had the cash and you liked something you purchased it; you didn't ask who it had belonged to, you assumed it was the property of the seller. As for where the carpet was found, there have been many Chancellors who occupied that office; if it has been there for years probably they assumed it was the property of the government. LL

It's a difficult one, LL, and I know it's not Ms Merkel's fault; I just feel some civil servants should have looked a bit more carefully at the provenance of such items, before putting them in the Chancellor's office, of all places?

bb1 wrote:It's a difficult one, LL, and I know it's not Ms Merkel's fault; I just feel some civil servants should have looked a bit more carefully at the provenance of such items, before putting them in the Chancellor's office, of all places?

Maybe, but that is assuming anyone knew what it was? One really needs to know how long it has been in an office used over many years by many Chancellors; did the original civil servants actually know it was looted property? Was it just 'picked up' from some one-time Nazi office and put in the main office or was it in the Chancellor's office when that was situated in Bonn before Germany was reunified? If it had been in Bonn then there is a very good chance no-one in Berlin paid any attention to a rug; they were busy trying to stitch the two halves of the country together. LL

It's a tricky one, LL, and another example of the ongoing legacy of the Nazis - it's as if the world is never going to be free of them.

I can understand why Ms Merkel is so angry, though.

bb1 wrote:It's a tricky one, LL, and another example of the ongoing legacy of the Nazis - it's as if the world is never going to be free of them.

I can understand why Ms Merkel is so angry, though.

I admire the lady, I think she's a very good leader and just hope this isn't an attempt to blacken her name as the election approaches. LL

That's a very good point, LL, odd that it should come out now.

bb1 wrote:That's a very good point, LL, odd that it should come out now.

Yes, isn't it? I don't know which party Der Spiegel supports, assuming that, like UK papers they are partisan to one belief. Either way, if it is an attempt to smear Merkel hen they better watch their backs which are not very clean. LL