Tag Archives: Auschwitz

“Why the Germans? Why the Jews?” Thinking about Gotz Aly’s New Book, 70 Years after Auschwitz

Given that this week marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, I’d like to share a new book on the Holocaust that I’ve been reading: Gotz Aly’s Why the Germans? Why the Jews? It raises the question of … Continue reading

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The Berlin-Auschwitz Question: Could You Be Happy in Heaven if You Knew What was Going on in Hell?

I don’t think I could. (Or at least I’d like to think that I couldn’t.) But there are a lot of people who say they believe in hell—that it exists—and yet they are also happy to imagine themselves enjoying heaven. How … Continue reading

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President Barack Obama on Holocaust Denial

From his Cairo speech yesterday: Around the world, the Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust. Tomorrow, I will visit Buchenwald, which was part of a network of camps where Jews were … Continue reading

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Dr. George Tiller Was Guilty of “Nazi stuff”: Did Bill O’Reilly Cross a Line with His Dr. George Tiller Rhetoric, Implying That He Should Be Stopped By Any Means Necessary?

Would it have been murder to kill Auschwitz’s Dr. Josef Mengele? Salon today reminds us that Bill O’Reilly equated Dr. George Tiller with Nazi-levels of atrocity: Tiller’s name first appeared on the Factor on February 25, 2005. Since then, O’Reilly … Continue reading

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Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: John Heartfield’s Art Depicted the Murderous Nature of Hitler’s Nazi State

A German born opponent of Nazi Germany, John Heartfield’s political art parodied the pretensions of Hitler’s regime and deconstructed its murderous nature. Below is a man set on a medieval wheel of torture turned into a swastika: More John Heartfield images here. … Continue reading

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Drudge Report Uses An Antisemitic Visual Trope in Depicting the Pope’s Visit to Israel

At around 11:30 this morning, I was blown away by what I saw at Matt Drudge’s website. Drudge made use of a classic antisemitic visual template—the sinister, overlarge, and shadowy Jew—as a way of supporting his “reporting” on the besieged Pope Benedict. … Continue reading

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Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: Hitler Shakes Hands with a Catholic Bishop

In the 1930s, Adolf Hitler sought, and received, support from many German Protestants and Catholics. At a Berlin rally, Hitler warmly greets a Roman Catholic Bishop, and is warmly greeted in return. Source: U.S. Holocaust Museum photo archive

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Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: A Survivor of Bergen-Belsen Starts Life Anew in Costa Rica

According to the U.S. Holocaust Museum photo archive, the woman seated at the right was liberated from Bergen-Belsen in 1945 and immigrated to Costa Rica. She was the only survivor of a family that had seven children. The photo above was taken … Continue reading

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Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: Studio Portrait of Kurt Klein, Age Two

Studio portrait, from 1922, of two-year-old Kurt Klein. In 1937, Kurt Klein’s parents sent him to live with relatives in Buffalo, New York. His parents, unable to immigrate, died at Auschwitz in 1942. According to the U.S. Holocaust Museum archives: Kurt was … Continue reading

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Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: The Liberation of Auschwitz, January, 1945

This image was taken at the Tzebnia sub-camp at Auschwitz, AFTER its liberation.  A physician is looking at a little girl. Source: U.S. Holocaust Museum photo archive

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Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: Woman in an American Field Hospital in Czechoslavakia, May 1945

Name: Roszi Frank Age: 24 She was born in Hungary, and was deported to Auschwitz, where, after being moved again, she ended up at a subcamp of Gross Rosen. As the allies closed in on various camps (toward the end … Continue reading

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Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: Women, Newly Arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Selected for Forced Labor, May, 1944

Source: US Holocaust Museum archives

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Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: The Toilet Facilities at Auschwitz

According to historians Deborah Dwork and Robert Jan Van Pelt, in their history of Auschwitz titled, Auschwitz (Norton 1996, p. 268), toilet facilities were minimal: The “privy” meant to serve 7,000 inmates was a shed with one concrete open sewer … Continue reading

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Islam and Auschwitz

On January 27th, 2005, when others were commemorating the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the Muslim Council of Britain abstained. At the time, George Mason University’s History News Network website posted this from writer Melanie Phillips: Countries around the … Continue reading

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Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: Image of Auschwitz Prisoners Unloading Confiscated Clothing

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Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: Jewish Men from Carpatho-Ukraine Arrive at Auschwitz-Birkenau, May 1944

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Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: Image of Three Carpatho-Ukrainian Jews Awaiting Selection, Auschwitz-Birkenau, May 1944

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Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: Lines from Primo Levi’s “Shema”

Italian Jew, Primo Levi, was a concentration camp survivor (he had been at Buna-Monowitz). His words below come from his poem, “Shema”, which he penned in January of 1946: You who live secure In your warm houses, Who return at evening to find … Continue reading

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Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: Image of a Prisoner at Auschwitz, Apparently Shot Attempting to Climb a Barbed Wire Fence, and Left to Hang There

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Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: Primo Levi and Buna-Monowitz Concentration Camp

Italian Jew, Primo Levi, was a concentration camp survivor (he had been at Buna-Monowitz). His words below come from his poem, “Buna”, which he penned in December of 1945: Torn feet and cursed earth, The long line in the gray morning. The … Continue reading

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