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BBC NEWS | Middle East | German tried over Nazi war crime

15 September 2008 By Leave a Comment

A former German infantry commander has gone on trial in Munich for a Nazi war crime, in what is expected to be one of the last cases of its kind.

Josef Scheungraber, 90, is accused of ordering the killing of 14 civilians in a Tuscan village in 1944.

He has previously been sentenced in absentia by an Italian military court to life in prison.

Scheungraber “completely and thoroughly denies the accusations in the charge sheet” said his lawyer.

Outside the courtroom, dozens of demonstrators held banners calling for Scheungraber to be put behind bars.

Some have been outraged that he has only been put on trial now.

He has lived for decades as a free man, and served on the town council in Ottobrunn, outside Munich.

He ran a furniture shop, attended German veterans’ marches and recently received an award for municipal service.

Retaliation

Scheungraber wore a traditional Bavarian suit to the proceedings, which he followed through a hearing aid.

The court has determined that, despite his age, he is fit to be tried, though he will be allowed regular breaks.

The court heard how events unfolded 26 June, 1944.

German troops are alleged to have shot dead a 74-year-old woman and three men in the street before forcing 11 others into a farmhouse which they then blew up. A 15-year-old boy survived the attack with serious injuries.

The massacre was allegedly in retaliation for an attack by Italian partisans that left two German soldiers dead.

Scheungraber said in his statement that he had not given an order for the killings and was not at the scene of the crime.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | German tried over Nazi war crime.

I am torn. Torn between being thrilled this is probably one of last trials of it’s kind, and saddened over it. Why sad? While many of these war criminals (monsters! following orders my ass) are dying, so are our survivors. I have been lucky enough in my lifetime to hear many survivors speak, but so many have not. So many never will, and the number of voices claiming the Holocaust never happened will someday be louder, or the voices remembering it will be fewer, or both.

I have a lot of posts on here about the Holocaust. I’ve been to Yad Vashem. I’ve been to the museum in DC (a heartbreaking experience, and one I urge anyone in the area, within driving distance, to have). I have not been to the one in Miami. I just do not understand how people can say it never happened. So many families just gone, so many destroyed. It’s like saying the towers didn’t happen, or… I don’t know, that’s the most recent big event I can think of. Like saying Katrina didn’t happen.

Meh. I don’t really have much to say about the article itself. Just the taste it left in my mouth.

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So much misery, so little time | Salon Books

5 September 2008 By Leave a Comment

So much misery, so little time | Salon Books.

“Suffering,” he writes, “is as common as death, and like death, it resists all attempts to explain it.”

Peter Trachtenberg took a tour around the world in his quest to understand why some people are crushed by suffering and others are transformed by it.

I know a thing or two about suffering. Maybe not as much as some, but don’t we all suffer equally, regardless of ther reason? No, my losses aren’t as great as the losses of the man who lived through Auschwitz, or the people who lost everything in Katrina (or Andrew or any severe weather or reason), or the twins with the skin disease. Are they any less though?

I’ve had a life of loss, but if I try very hard and flip it around, I’ve been given some powerful gifts as well. I’m compassionate, I’m thoughtful of others, I don’t see differences between people… often. I’m sure there is more. I am a better person for my suffering. I am stronger. I am smarter. I am a lot of things.

I also have less. I am missing important people, things, accomplishments, milestones and events. Much like our Holocaust survivors, I watched members of my family waste away in sickness and die. I’ve buried my mother and my sister. I’ve stepped up to fill in her place, as best I can.

Suffering… what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger? One foot in front of the other. I live my life by that mantra. I always have, and I suspect, always will. Disaster will always strike, but good times are always just around the corner.

I want to pick up this book. It fascinates me. Maybe I just need to know that everyone else is just as miserable as I am. Maybe my Zaide is right, if we all hung our troubles up at the end of the day, and could pick new ones to take home, we’d still take our own. We know them, we understand them, and we have learned what to do with them. Someone else’s troubles frighten us because they are foreign. I’ll keep my troubles, my suffering, because I know what to do with it, and I know good times are coming.

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project heART

6 September 2005 By Leave a Comment

repost
Grab a pen, a pencil or your brush, and help the victims of Hurricane Katrina!

Charity isn’t always about dropping a buck in a coffee can and right now it’s about picking up a pen and lending your talent.

Project HeART is asking artists from tattooists to painters to pick up a 4×6 index card and give heART! Design a realistic heart, paint a sacred heart, sketch a traditional heart- whatever your style may be, we want to combine your amazing talent with that of other great artists to help the victims of Katrina that have lost everything. We’ll be gathering all works of art into one large piece for a charity auction on eBay, with all profits going to Habitat for Humanity. Don’t have an index card? Or prefer working on another material? Any 4×6 paper will do! Your contribution is more appreciated than you will know! Participants are asked to include their name, website, company, or other information that they would like attached to their work. Also send your email address to be made aware of the upcoming auction!

Spread the word and send your submissions by September 16, 2005 to:

Project HeART
c/o Brandon
1885 California Ave.
Corona, CA 92881

Let us know you’re participating! Email ProjectHeART@hotmail.com for more information or to sign up!

Thanks for your participation in ProjectHeART!

Project heART – Artists for Disaster Relief

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Hurricane…

1 September 2005 By Leave a Comment

i keep watching cnn, and wondering when it’s going to happen here.

andrew was a cat 4 at the time, they have (as ofl ast year) called it a cat 5 (cat 5 didn’t exist when andrew hit) but even that didn’t cause the destruction katrina did b/c we don’t have levees and all holding back water, so it wasn’t like surges, you know? (ok, i wasn’t here for it, but ih ad family who was,a nd from what i remember)

even the cat 4′s last year didn’t do this kind of damage, if only b/c of the flooding.

but what happens when another one comes through? i stand by my safety, b/c massive flooding like that i don’t think is an issue where we are. at worst it’ll flood the downstairs somewhat. but what about people near the ocean, in substandard housing, in old housing, etc??

i am happier than ever that we are moving. as far as i know, the worse we will be moving to is snow storms. no hurricanes, no tornadoes.

i jsut couldnt imagine that happening here. what do you save? who do you save?

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