Tag: KZ Auschwitz II-Birkenau

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Powerful Images

I ran across an article several months ago that immediately captured my attention. It was a photograph that sent chills down my spine. I said to myself, “Now that’s a very powerful image.”

I thought about the story behind the photograph and decided to write a blog about powerful and iconic images from World War II. Unfortunately, we can only include twenty-five photographs in this blog. However, there are hundreds if not thousands of other photographs that would fit into the theme of this blog. If interested, you can check out various web sites listed below to view some of the other photographs we did not include.

Please be warned that some of the images included in this blog are very disturbing.

We begin our photographic journey with the Hanukkah menorah in the window. It is the image that inspired me to write this blog.

Did You Know?

Did you know that nearly all forty of the original Washington D.C. boundary stones are hidden in plain sight? The capital city of the United States was originally a ten-mile by ten-mile diamond shape. These stones marked the boundaries of the city, and they are the oldest federally placed monuments in the United States.

Chart showing the original boundary milestones of the District of Columbia. Map by Fred Woodward (c. 1906). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
Chart showing the original boundary milestones of the District of Columbia. Map by Fred Woodward (c. 1906). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.

Andrew Ellicott was hired to chart out the new city, but the surveyor needed an assistant to read the stars to ensure the markers were placed accurately. Benjamin Banneker, an African American, was recommended to Ellicott. He questioned the competence of a Black man who had no formal schooling or scientific training. Faced with no alternatives, Ellicott hired the amateur astronomer to work alongside him. For six nights, Banneker lay on his back to record the stars and with those calculations, the first marker stone was placed at Jones Point. (You can see the stone through a window in the seawall of the 19th-century Jones Point Lighthouse.)

Benjamin Banneker, astronomer and city planner. Illustration by Charles Henry Alston (c. 1943). U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.
Benjamin Banneker, astronomer and city planner. Illustration by Charles Henry Alston (c. 1943). U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.

The stones are one foot square and three feet high. They were placed one mile apart and each is numbered according to its quadrant and location. Each side bears the inscription of either “Virginia” or “Maryland” depending on its border state. Other information inscribed on the sandstone markers were the words “Jurisdiction of the United States,” a mile number, the date the stone was erected (either 1791 or 1792), and a magnetic compass variance for the stone’s location. Thirty-six stones remain in their original place (some in severe deterioration as sandstone is not the best material for posterity) while three are replicas and one is represented by a simple plaque.

Boundary stone Northeast No. 2. Photo by anonymous (c. 1907). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
Boundary stone Northeast No. 2. Photo by anonymous (c. 1907). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.

Thomas Jefferson was secretary of state at the time, and he went on record as saying he did not believe Black and enslaved people were of the same standards as White people in terms of brains and physical abilities. Clearly, Jefferson had never met Mr. Banneker.

Boundary stone NE 2 between the District of Columbia and Takoma Park, Maryland. Photo by Bruce Anderson (August 2010). PD-CCA-Share Alike 2.0 Generic. Wikimedia Commons.
Boundary stone NE 2 between the District of Columbia and Takoma Park, Maryland. Photo by Bruce Anderson (August 2010). PD-CCA-Share Alike 2.0 Generic. Wikimedia Commons.

The Hanukkah Menorah

Hanukkah menorah on the windowsill of the Posner’s home in Kiel, Germany.
Hanukkah menorah on the windowsill of the Posner’s home in Kiel, Germany.

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Blonde Poison

Not much surprises me any more based on the research I’ve done for my books and blogs. But every so often, I run across a story that makes me shake my head in disbelief.

It’s bad enough reading about Nazi collaborators and traitors who were responsible for thousands of deaths either directly or through deportations to the concentration camps. But imagine my surprise running across the story of Stella Goldschlag-Kübler who was responsible for intentionally betraying up to three thousand Jews to the Nazis. Why the surprise? Stella was Jewish. Berlin Jews knew her as the “Blonde Lorelei” while the Nazis referred to her as “Blonde Poison.”

She earned those wartime nicknames at the expense of thousands of lives.

Did You Know?  

Did you know that most of us have forgotten about Art Buchwald (1925−2007) or don’t recognize his name? Buchwald was a legendary writer who wrote satirical newspaper columns. Beginning in 1950, he published three columns per week (“Paris After Dark”) for the European edition of the New York Herald Tribune (later, the International Herald Tribune). The columns quickly became popular, and Buchwald established his reputation on both sides of the Atlantic.

He moved back to the States in 1962 and began writing for the The Washington Post. His biting political satires touched both sides of the Beltway aisle. Buchwald once spoofed a press conference held by President Eisenhower’s press secretary, James Hagerty. In response, Hagerty presided over his own press conference and called Buchwald’s article as “unadulterated rot.” The famous retort by Buchwald was, “Hagerty is wrong. I write adulterated rot.”

Although Art Buchwald did poorly in science (“I still don’t know how to make a hydrogen bomb”), he was very astute and clairvoyant in history. He once said, “You can’t learn from history, unless you rewrite it.” Fifteen years after his passing, Buchwald’s words certainly ring true today, don’t they?

I don’t know a contemporary satire columnist in the same league as Buchwald. If you do, please let me know. I can be reached at stew.ross@yooperpublications.com.

Humor columnist Art Buchwald in his Washington office. Photo by Charles Bennett (c. 1977). Associated Press.
Humor columnist Art Buchwald in his Washington office. Photo by Charles Bennett (c. 1977). Associated Press.

As an aside, I mentioned in our last blog that the last living World War II Medal of Honor recipient, Woody Williams, passed away recently. Congress honored Woody by allowing his remains to lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol. It is a tribute reserved for the nation’s most distinguished private citizens. Mr. Williams certainly meets and exceeds that requirement.

Hershel “Woody” Williams’ casket is carried by service members from the U.S. Capitol after lying in honor on Thursday, 14 June in Washington. Photo by Haiyn Jiang (14 June 2022). New York Times via AP Pool.
Hershel “Woody” Williams’ casket is carried by service members from the U.S. Capitol after lying in honor on Thursday, 14 June in Washington. Photo by Haiyn Jiang (14 June 2022). New York Times via AP Pool.

Stella Goldschlag 

Stella Goldschlag (1922−1994) was born in Berlin, Germany and raised in a middle-class Jewish family. Her father, Gerhard Goldschlag (1889−1944) was a composer and conductor working for the film company Gaumont. Stella’s mother, Toni Goldschlag (1890−1944) was a well-known concert singer in Berlin. Their daughter was very intelligent, attractive (blonde with blue eyes), and vivacious. After the Nazis took power in 1933, Stella and other Jewish children were no longer allowed to attend public schools. She and the others joined a private school founded and operated by the Jewish community. At the same time, Jews were being purged from their jobs and her father lost his position at Gaumont. Read More Blonde Poison