States' Reponses

From USA Today:

“Coronavirus in the US: How all 50 states are responding to this public health emergency”

Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., on Monday joined the fast-growing list of jurisdictions mandating their residents to remain at home as much as possible to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Despite its large population of seniors, who are most susceptible to the harshest effects of COVID-19, Florida continues to resist calls to follow suit on a statewide basis, although it has imposed some limitations. On Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis directed people living in the southeast part of the state to shelter in. At least 30 states have such orders in place, although they go by different names — often shelter in place or stay at home — and they have exceptions for essential tasks such as grocery shopping, visiting a doctor and exercising, as well as some jobs deemed critical. Altogether, approximately 250 million Americans — about 75% of the country — have been told to remain sheltered and, when engaged in essential activities, maintain at least six feet of distance from those who are not members of their immediate household.

Here's what the new orders look like in each state as of Monday:

Alabama:   Gov. Kay Ivey has tried to straddle the line between ordering and encouraging the state's residents: “These are uncertain times, for sure. So now, and for the foreseeable future, please, please consider staying safe at home," she said in a March 30 video. Alabama’s largest city, Birmingham, has mandated residents to stay at home, but so far there’s no statewide directive.

Alaska:  The Last Frontier on March 27 implemented what it's calling a “social distancing” mandate, which is similar to a shelter-in-place order. Gov. Mike Dunleavy directed residents to stay at home and banned most travel within the state.  “We crossed a line today for Alaska,” Dunleavy said after the state's first death linked to the coronavirus.

Arizona:   Gov. Doug Ducey’s "Stay Home, Stay Healthy, Stay Connected" order, announced March 30, was set to go into effect the next day at 5 p.m. and extend until April 30.

Arkansas:   Gov. Asa Hutchinson has directed residents not to gather in groups larger than 10 but has not forced them to stay in. “I do not want to go to a shelter-in-place environment,” Hutchinson said.

California:   Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a statewide shelter-in-place order on March 19, and identified 16 critical infrastructure sectors to remain open – including those providing food, health care and energy. "This is a dynamic situation," Newsom said. "I don't expect this to be many, many months, but for the time being, we are recognizing the next eight weeks" as especially important.

Colorado:   Gov. Jared Polis on March 25 issued a statewide stay-at-home order that went into effect the next morning and will run until April 11. The order stipulates that Coloradans should leave their homes only for "critical activities." "Now is the time to stay at home,” Polis said. "You have the chance to be a hero and save thousands of lives by staying at home. The lives of many Coloradans hinge on your ability to be able to stay at home for the next couple weeks to the most of your ability ... Now is not the time to die."

Connecticut:   Gov. Ned Lamont announced an executive order March 20 that directed all nonessential businesses and not-for-profit entities to prohibit all in-person functions if possible. The order excludes essential business, such as health care, food service, law enforcement and similar critical services. The order recommended that people maintain social distancing, limit outdoor recreational activities to non-contact and limit the use of public transportation, among other items.

Delaware:   Gov. John Carney ordered residents of The First State to stay at home and closed nonessential businesses in the state, effective March 24.

Florida:    Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Safer at Home’’ order applies to Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe and Palm Beach counties, and extends until April 15. Nearly 60% of the state’s cases of coronavirus have been concentrated in those four counties. Other counties have issued their own orders, and some of the state’s beaches have closed their parking lots to discourage large gatherings.

Georgia:  The city of Atlanta and Cobb and Gwinnett counties have ordered residents to stay home, but Gov. Brian Kemp has not done so on a statewide basis.

Hawaii:   Gov. David Ige signed a stay-at-home order March 23 that went into effect two days later, prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 people. The order will be effective through April 30. Residents can leave home "only for essential activities or to engage in the essential businesses and operations." As long as social distancing is practiced, "ocean activities such as surfing and swimming" are also exempted.

Idaho:   Gov. Brad Little on March 25 signed an "Order to Self-Isolate" that became effective immediately and will run for three weeks. The order exempts residents who need to leave for essential activities. Little also signed an "extreme emergency declaration" and mobilized the Idaho National Guard "to support civil authorities and local jurisdictions."

Illinois:  Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a "stay-at-home" order March 20 that began the following day and will last until at least April 7. All nonessential businesses must close, and all people who can work from home must do so, Pritzker said. All Illinois schools will stay closed until at least April 8. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the order "is not a lockdown or martial law." Pharmacies, grocery stores, clinics and airports remain open and garbage is being collected.

Indiana:   Gov. Eric J. Holcomb told state residents on March 23 to stay at home until at least April 7, asking "Hoosiers to hunker down" in an executive order. The order gives Indiana State Police and local law enforcement the authority to enforce violations.

Iowa:   Gov. Kim Reynolds has not mandated that Iowans stay home, saying an informal guidance that they do so is “equivalent’’ to an order, although it does not have law-enforcement power.

Kansas:   After citing models that predicted a possible increase of local cases in Kansas to 900 over the following week, Gov. Laura Kelly signed an executive "stay home" order March 28. The order became effective March 30 and will run until April 19. It allows Kansans to leave their homes for essential activities. “I know this is hard, and I can’t tell you how much I wish it weren’t necessary,” Kelly said. “But we have a small window to ensure that Kansas does not suffer the same terrible fate of other hard-hit states like New York and Missouri."

Kentucky:   Gov. Andy Beshear on March 25 signed an order encouraging residents to remain "Healthy at Home,'' which he later said amounts to a directive to remain in the house except for essential activities. Also, while many medical facilities have complied with a request to cease elective procedures, it became a mandate starting Monday.

Louisiana:  Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a statewide stay-at-home order March 22 for nonessential workers and businesses. The order went into effect the next day. All public schools and many businesses, such as bars and gyms, were already closed by previous executive orders, but the order expanded the closures.

Maine:   The state’s largest city, Portland, ordered residents to stay home starting March 25, but Gov. Janet Mills has not. She did ban gatherings of more than 10 and mandated that most non-essential businesses close.

Maryland:   As part of a virtual shutdown of the capital region, which has a population of 15 million, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan tightened restrictions in ordering residents to stay home. Maryland is grappling with a major outbreak in one of its nursing homes.

Massachusetts:   Gov. Charlie Baker on March 23 announced a stay-at-home advisory for all unnecessary activities. The order will run until April 7.  “We’re asking everyone to use their common sense, think about the impact this virus is having on the sick and elderly, and to limit their interactions with other people,'' Baker said.

Michigan:   Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on March 23 signed a "Stay Home, Stay Safe'' executive order that runs through April 13. Violating the order is a criminal misdemeanor and could bring fines and also result in businesses being shut down. "I know this will be hard, but it will be temporary," Whitmer said. "If we all come together, get serious, and do our part by staying home, we can stay safe and save lives.”

Minnesota:  Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order March 25 that directs residents to stay in their homes and limit movement to essential activities. It runs until April 10 at 5 p.m. The order was based on models released by the Minnesota Department of Health and University of Minnesota that predicted more than 70,000 residents could die if no action was taken.

Mississippi:  Gov. Tate Reeves tweeted on March 29: “This is a deadly disease that we all must take seriously. Stay at home. Follow our rules against gatherings. More news tomorrow. Stay safe.’’ So far, however, there are no mandates for state residents to stay home.

Missouri:   On March 21, Missouri's two largest cities, Kansas City and St. Louis, issued stay-at-home orders. Several counties have done the same, but Gov. Mike Parson has not taken statewide action. “This situation will only get worse, much worse, if we don’t act right now,” Mayor Lyda Krewson of St. Louis said.

Montana:  Gov. Steve Bullock issued an order March 26 that went into effect two days later, directing residents to stay at home and closing nonessential businesses. "I'd rather be accused of overreacting than having a health care system overwhelmed and unable to help our most-at-risk Montanans when they need it the most," Bullock said.

Nebraska:  Gov. Pete Ricketts said the state has been proactive in responding to the coronavirus pandemic and does not need to order residents to stay at home.

Nevada:  Gov. Steve Sisolak signed a public directive March 24 that prohibits gatherings of 10 or more people. The directive does not, however, prohibit people from leaving their homes, as long as social distancing is practiced. "This is not to prevent your household members from going for a walk," Sisolak said. "If you live inside together, you can be outside together."

New Hampshire:  Gov. Chris Sununu released an emergency order on March 27 mandating the closure of all non-essential businesses and requiring Granite Staters to stay home. The order is expected to be in place until May 4. The state saw its first death from the virus just days before Sununu's order.

New Jersey:  On March 21, Gov. Phil Murphy ordered residents to stay at home. He also canceled gatherings of any number, including parties, weddings and religious ceremonies.  "We have to change our behaviors," Murphy said, adding the restrictions would not change "anytime soon" and could continue for weeks or months.

New Mexico:  Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a public health order Monday that calls for non-essential businesses to be closed until at least April 10. The order said residents "should stay at home and undertake only those outings absolutely necessary for their health, safety or welfare." The order also prohibits gatherings of more than four people.

New York:  Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced March 20 that all New York residents must stay home "to the maximum extent possible." Cuomo called the order the "New York State on PAUSE" plan, and it bans all nonessential gatherings of individuals "of any size for any reason." Residents can leave their homes for solitary exercise or to obtain essential services or items, including trips to the grocery stores.

North Carolina:  After some counties mandated that their residents stay home, Gov. Roy Cooper extended the order statewide on March 27. Calling the decision “a matter of life or death,” Cooper said the order will extend until April 29.

North Dakota:  Gov. Doug Burgum shut down all non-essential businesses but has not ordered residents to stay in the house: “It’s not about staying home, it’s about avoiding contact,’’ Burgum said. Most Indian reservations in the state have either imposed curfews or stay-at-home orders.

Ohio:  Gov. Mike DeWine imposed a mandate for Ohio's residents to stay at home, an order that went into effect March 23. The order will last until at least April 6 and will be reassessed as necessary, DeWine said. The order can be enforced by local health and law enforcement departments, the governor said.

Oklahoma:  Gov. Kevin Stitt’s “Safer at Home’’ order only applies to elderly people and those with immuno-deficiencies. However, mandates by the cities of Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Norman apply to all their residents.

Oregon: Gov. Kate Brown told residents on March 20 to stay home, calling the directive "both an order and a public awareness campaign." "I am directing Oregonians tonight to stay home to stay healthy. Social distancing done well and done early can save lives," Brown said. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said on Twitter: "This is not a lockdown. This is a 'stay at home unless it’s absolutely necessary to go out' order."

Pennsylvania:  On March 23, Gov. Tom Wolf issued stay-at-home orders for seven counties in Pennsylvania that have been hit hardest, including the areas surrounding Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, its two largest cities. Philadelphia, Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Monroe and Montgomery are the affected counties. On his verified Twitter account, Wolf wrote that "residents must stay home unless someone’s life depends on leaving."

Rhode Island: Gov. Gina Raimondo on March 28 ordered residents to stay at home until April 13, with some exceptions. Her order also restricts gatherings to no more than five people and requires two-week quarantines of visitors from other states.

South Carolina:  Gov. Henry McMaster issued and executive order that grants law enforcement the authority to ban or disperse public gatherings of more than three people. "We must all assume we have the virus and we must all assume the people we are talking to have the virus," McMaster said. While urging people to stay home, McMaster added on his verified Twitter account that "this is not a shelter-in-place order but another measure aimed at containing the virus by controlling crowds, so that we do not have to shelter in place."

South Dakota:  Gov. Kristi Noem has not imposed severe restrictions, but several cities and counties have taken action, including Sioux Falls and Huron. Noem has said she does not believe some of the limits applied to cities work well in smaller towns.

Tennessee: Gov. Bill Lee on March 30 followed the lead of the mayors of cities like Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville and issued a “Safer at Home’’ order that imposes restrictions on residents’ movement and requires non-essential businesses close.

Texas:  Gov. Greg Abbott has left decisions on stay-at-home restrictions to local governments rather than issuing a statewide edict.  The most populous counties in the state have taken action, directing their residents to stay home. Among them: Dallas County, Harris County – which includes Houston – Bexar County – which includes San Antonio, Collin County, El Paso County, Tarrant County, Austin and Hunt County. On March 29, Abbott expanded the state’s mandatory self-quarantine order for travel from coronavirus hot spots, including non-commercial road travel out of Louisiana. The expanded order also includes travelers on flights from Miami, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago and anywhere in California and Washington state. Abbott’s previous quarantine order applied to air travelers from airports in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and New Orleans.

Utah:  On March 29 with Utah’s number of coronavirus cases up to 719, Salt Lake County ordered a number of businesses closed and told residents to only venture outside the home for “essential activities.’’ There is no statewide mandate in place from Gov. Gary Herbert.

Vermont:  An order by Gov. Phil Scott requiring that residents stay home went into effect March 25 and is expected to be extended past its current April 15 expiration date. “I need you to stay home,’’ Scott said. “Doing so will save lives. It’s just that simple.’’

Virginia:  A week before joining forces with Maryland and Washington, D.C., in their decrees, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam had signed an executive order mandating all schools to be closed through the end of the academic year and many nonessential businesses to close for at least 30 days. The order also banned any public or private gatherings of 10 or more people. "I have said repeatedly, ‘Stay at home unless it’s essential that you go out,''' he said.

Washington:  The Evergreen State became the first in the country to suffer an outbreak. On March 23, Gov. Jay Inslee signed an order that prohibits Washingtonians from leaving their homes except for essential tasks. “This is a human tragedy on a scale we cannot yet project,” Inslee said. “It’s time to hunker down in order to win this fight.”

West Virginia:  Though West Virginia was the last state in the U.S. to report a confirmed coronavirus case, Gov. Jim Justice issued a stay-at-home order March 23. The order also shut down all non-essential businesses and will last until a subsequent order terminates it.

Wisconsin:  Gov. Tony Evers signed a "Safer at Home" order March 24, banning all nonessential travel. "Issuing a 'Safer at Home' order isn’t something I thought we’d have to do and it’s not something I take lightly, but here’s the bottom line: folks need to start taking this seriously," Evers said.

Wyoming: Gov. Mark Gordon said March 30 he doesn’t plan to order residents to stay at home, as the number of cases in the state climbed near 100. "If we're going to issue a shelter-in-place or stay-at-home order, it will not have multiple exemptions. It will be a true stay-at-home order," said Gordon, who has shut down schools and several businesses through April 17.

^ If all that is going on around the world and the country it isn’t easy to know what each State has decided to do. This gives a summary as of March 31st. ^

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/30/coronavirus-stay-home-shelter-in-place-orders-by-state/5092413002/

Stay Home

^ Stay Home. Save Lives. ^

Manolis Glezos

From the DW:

“Greek anti-Nazi resistance hero Manolis Glezos dead at 97”

Glezos, a prominent Greek whose act of defiance against Nazi occupation during World War Two was a rallying cry for the country's resistance movement, died on Monday, authorities said. Greek wartime icon Glezos died from heart failure on Monday after being hospitalized earlier this month for other ailments, Greece's state television ERT announced. Glezos had been placed in emergency care in November with respiratory problems, according to news reports.

An icon of the Resistance:   On May 30, 1941, during Nazi Germany's occupation of Greece, the 18-year-old Glezos and his 19-year-old friend Apostolos Santas, a law student, climbed onto the Acropolis in the middle of the night and tore down the Nazi flag, replacing it with a Greek flag. The pair's act of defiance in removing the swastika from the Athenian Acropolis, considered by many to be a symbolic birthplace of Western democracy, made him one of the country's most revered figures. The Nazis, who did not discover the identity of the young activists until 1942, condemned in absentia the perpetrators to death. Glezos was ultimately imprisoned and tortured, but escaped execution. Santas died in 2011. "Hitler had said in a speech that 'Europe is free.' We wanted to show him that the fight was just beginning," Glezos told AFP news agency in a 2011 interview, recalling how he and Santas managed to steal the flag. After the war, "Greece conquered its freedom, but not its independence," he said. Following World War Two, he was repeatedly elected to Greece's parliament, representing communist, socialist and leftist parties over a 60-year period. His activism and staunch defense of democracy landed him in jail numerous times during the Greek Civil War and later the Cold War. During Greece's economic crisis that began in the late 2000s, Glezos opposed his government's austerity measures and campaigned to force Germany to repay money it was forcibly "loaned" by Greece during the war.

Prominent voice of the anti-austerity movement:  With his white mane of hair and bushy moustache, Glezos remained a recognizable fixture in leftist politics. Already in his 80s, he braved police tear gas at protest rallies against crippling austerity cuts imposed in exchange for international bailouts that kept the Greek economy afloat between 2010 and 2015. In 2014, the 91-year-old statesman was elected to the European Parliament with the leftist Syriza party, becoming the body's oldest deputy. He resigned from the post the next year. Upon being asked what had kept him at the forefront of politics for so long, Glezos told Reuters news agency in 2012 that it was the memories of dead comrades. "Before every battle, every protest, we told each other: 'If you live, don't forget me'. I am paying a debt to those I lost during those difficult years. My only regret is that I haven't done more."

Outpouring of respect from across party lines:   Leftist SYRIZA leader and former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras described Glezos as "brave, upright, a fighter until the very end." Though Glezos remained staunchly leftist throughout his life, prominent figures from the right, including Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, immediately honored his memory. "The death of Manolis Glezos leaves the Greeks poorer. But his life has left Greece richer, because his example … is a guiding light that arms us with strength so that we may remain united through difficult times like the present," Mitsotakis said on Monday. "Together with every Greek, I bow my head in respect at the memory of Manolis Glezos," added Mitsotakis, who is aligned with the center-right New Democracy party. The prime minister described Glezos as a "symbol of our nation's freedom."

^ The world has lost a symbol of Greek Resistance against the Germans with the passing of Manolis Glezos. ^

https://www.dw.com/en/greek-anti-nazi-resistance-hero-manolis-glezos-dead-at-97/a-52959404

Defective Help

From the BBC:

“Coronavirus: Countries reject Chinese-made equipment”

A number of European governments have rejected Chinese-made equipment designed to combat the coronavirus outbreak. Thousands of testing kits and medical masks are below standard or defective, according to authorities in Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands. Europe has reported hundreds of thousands of cases of coronavirus. More than 10,000 people have died in Italy since the outbreak began.  The virus was first detected in China at the end of 2019. The government implemented strict lockdown measures to bring it under control.

What’s wrong with the equipment?   On Saturday, the Dutch health ministry announced it had recalled 600,000 face masks. The equipment had arrived from a Chinese manufacturer on 21 March, and had already been distributed to front-line medical teams. Dutch officials said that the masks did not fit and that their filters did not work as intended, even though they had a quality certificate,  "The rest of the shipment was immediately put on hold and has not been distributed,” a statement read. “Now it has been decided not to use any of this shipment.” Spain’s government encountered similar problems with testing kits ordered from a Chinese company.  It announced it had bought hundreds of thousands of tests to combat the virus, but revealed in the following days that nearly 60,000 could not accurately determine if a patient had the virus. The Spanish embassy in China tweeted that the company behind the kits, Shenzhen Bioeasy Biotechnology, did not have an official license from Chinese medical authorities to sell its products.  It clarified that separate material donated by the Chinese government and technology and retail group Alibaba did not include products from Shenzhen Bioeasy. Turkey also announced that it had found some testing kits ordered from Chinese companies were not sufficiently accurate, although it said that some 350,000 of the tests worked well. Allegations of defective equipment come after critics warned China could be using the coronavirus outbreak to further its influence. In a blog post last week, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell warned that there is “a geo-political component including a struggle for influence through spinning and the ‘politics of generosity’.” “China is aggressively pushing the message that, unlike the US, it is a responsible and reliable partner,” he wrote. "Armed with facts, we need to defend Europe against its detractors."

What’s the situation in Europe?  On Monday, Spain reported 812 new deaths in the space of 24 hours – bringing its total death toll to 7,340. It now has more than 85,000 infections – surpassing the number of cases reported in China.  New measures have also come into force in Spain banning all non-essential workers from going to their jobs. The restrictions will be in place for at least two weeks.  Italy remains the worst affected country worldwide. More than 10,000 people have died from the virus there, and it has recorded nearly 100,000 infections. Only the US has more confirmed cases, although the death toll there is far lower.

^ It doesn’t surprise me. China is still dealing with Covid-19 despite what it tries to portray to the world so that means all the good, unexpired equipment will stay in China and all the other, expired equipment will go to other countries. It may not be right, but it is the way things are. China is trying to make-up for the fact that this deadly pandemic came from their country and that because of poor leadership on the Chinese Communists part (including censoring a Doctor who tried to warn his country and the world about the virus and who later died of it) Covid-19 was allowed to spread from China to the rest of the world at such great speed. Had China done more in the beginning to lock their country down then the rest of the world wouldn’t be is such a dire situation right now (especially the US, Spain and Italy.) This defective equipment shows how China has been dealing with Covid-19 since the beginning. ^

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52092395

75: People With Anne

List of people associated with Anne Frank

(Top Row, Left To Right: Otto Frank, Edith Frank, Margot Frank, Anne Frank

Middle Row, Left To Right: Herman Van Pels, Auguste Van Pels, Peter Van Pels, Fritz Pfeffer

Bottom Row, Left To Right: Miep Gies, Johannes Kleiman, Victor Kugler, Bep Voskuijl)

The other occupants of the Secret Annex:

Otto Frank (12 May 1889 – 19 August 1980; Anne and Margot's father, husband of Edith) was in poor health, due primarily to malnutrition, when he was left behind in Auschwitz with the rest of those in the sick barracks, when the Nazis evacuated all the other prisoners on a death march.[citation needed] He survived until the Russians liberated Auschwitz shortly afterward. In 1953, he married Elfride "Fritzi" Markovits-Geiringer, an Auschwitz survivor who lost her first husband and her son when they, too, were sent on a death march out of Auschwitz, and whose daughter Eva, also a survivor, was a neighborhood friend of the Frank sisters'. Otto devoted his life to spreading the message of his daughter and her diary, as well as to defending it against Neo-Nazi claims that it was a forgery or fake. He died in Birsfelden, Switzerland from lung cancer, on 19 August 1980 at the age of 91.  His widow, Fritzi, continued his work until her own death in October 1998.

Edith Frank (16 January 1900 – 6 January 1945; Anne and Margot's mother, wife of Otto) was left behind in Auschwitz-Birkenau when her daughters and Auguste van Pels were transferred to Bergen-Belsen, as her health had started to deteriorate. Witnesses reported that her despair at being separated from her daughters led to an emotional breakdown. They described her searching for her daughters endlessly and said that she seemed to not understand that they had gone, although she had seen them board the train that took them out of the camp. They also said that she began to hoard what little food she could obtain, hiding it under her bunk to give to Anne and Margot when she saw them. They said that Edith Frank told them Anne and Margot needed the food more than she did, and she therefore refused to eat it. She died on 6 January 1945 from starvation and exhaustion, ten days before her 45th birthday and 21 days before the camp was liberated.

Margot Frank (16 February 1926 – February 1945) died of typhus in Bergen-Belsen. According to recollections of several eyewitnesses, this occurred "a few days" before Anne's death, most likely in early-mid February 1945, though like Anne's death, the exact date is not known.

The Van Pels family joined the Franks in their hiding place in concealed rooms at the rear of Otto Frank's office building, on 13 July 1942. Anne gave the van Pels family a pseudonym in her diary (as she did for most other characters in her diary); she called them "Van Daan" in her diary. Although their helpers are today known almost exclusively by their own names, the Franks' fellow occupants in the achterhuis retain their pseudonyms in many editions and adaptations of Anne's diary.

Hermann van Pels (31 March 1898 – October 1944; known as Hans in the first manuscript of the diary) died in Auschwitz, being the first of the eight to die. He was the only member of the group to be gassed. However, according to eyewitness testimony, this did not happen on the day he arrived there. Sal de Liema, an inmate at Auschwitz who knew both Otto Frank and Hermann van Pels, said that after two or three days in the camp, Van Pels mentally "gave up", which was generally the beginning of the end for any concentration camp inmate. He later injured his thumb on a work detail and requested to be sent to the sick barracks. Soon after that, during a sweep of the sick barracks for selection, he was sent to the gas chambers. This occurred about three weeks after his arrival at Auschwitz, most likely in very early October of 1944, and his selection was witnessed by both his son Peter and by Otto Frank.

Auguste van Pels (29 September 1900 – April 1945; known as Petronella in the diary), born Auguste Röttgen (Hermann's wife), whose date and place of death are unknown. Witnesses testified that she was with the Frank sisters during part of their time in Bergen-Belsen, but that she was not present when they died in February/March. According to German records (her registration card), Mrs. Van Pels was sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany with a group of eight women on November 26, 1944. Hannah Goslar's testimony was that she spoke to Mrs. Van Pels through the barbed wire fence "in late January or early February". Auguste was transferred on February 6, 1945 to Raguhn (Buchenwald in Germany), then to the Czechoslovakia camp Theresienstadt ghetto on April 9, 1945. This same card lists her as being alive on April 11, 1945. As such, she must have died en route to Theresienstadt or shortly after her arrival there, the date of her death occurring most likely the either the first half or mid-April 1945, but before May 8, 1945, when the camp was liberated.[ Rachel van Amerongen-Frankfoorder, eyewitness of Auguste's death, states that the Nazis murdered her by throwing her onto the train tracks during her last transport to Theresienstadt in April of 1945.

Peter van Pels (8 November 1926 – 10 May 1945; Hermann and Auguste's son, known as Peter in the diary and Alfred in the first manuscript) died in Mauthausen. Otto Frank had protected him during their period of imprisonment together, as the two men had been assigned to the same work group. Frank later stated that he had urged Peter to hide in Auschwitz and remain behind with him, rather than set out on a forced march, but Peter believed he would have a better chance of survival if he joined the death march out of Auschwitz. Mauthausen Concentration Camp records indicate that Peter van Pels was registered upon his arrival there on January 25, 1945. Four days later, he was placed in an outdoor labor group, Quarz. On 11 April 1945, Peter was sent to the sick barracks. His exact death date is unknown, but the International Red Cross stated that it was May 10, 1945, five days after Mauthausen was liberated by men from the 11th Armored Division of the U.S. Third Army. He was 18 years old, and was the last member of the group to die while imprisoned.

Fritz Pfeffer (30 April 1889 – 20 December 1944; family dentist of Miep Gies and the van Pels, and known as Albert Dussel in the diary) died on 20 December 1944 in Neuengamme concentration camp. His cause of death was listed in the camp records as "enterocolitis", a catch-all term that covered, among other things, dysentery and cholera, both of which were common causes of death in the camps. Of all the stressful relationships precipitated by living in such close proximity with each other for two years, the relationship between Anne and Fritz Pfeffer was one of the most difficult for both, as her diary shows.

The helpers:

Miep Gies saved Anne Frank's diary without reading it. She later said that if she had read it, she would have needed to destroy it, as it contained a great deal of incriminating information, such as the names of all of the annex helpers, as well as many of their Dutch Underground contacts. She and her husband, Jan, took Otto Frank into their home, where he lived from 1945 (after his liberation from Auschwitz concentration camp) until 1952. In 1994, she received the "Order of Merit" of the Federal Republic of Germany, and in 1995, received the highest honor from the Yad Vashem, the Righteous Among the Nations. She was appointed a "Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau" by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. In 1996, Gies shared an Academy Award with Jon Blair for their documentary Anne Frank Remembered (1995), based largely on Gies' 1987 book of the same title. She also wrote the afterword for Melissa Müller's biography of Anne Frank. Gies stated that every year she spent the entire day of 4 August in mourning, the date those in the Annex were arrested. Gies died on 11 January 2010, following a short illness, at the age of 100.

Jan Gies (Miep's husband) was a social worker and, for part of the war, a member of the Dutch Resistance; thus, he was able to procure things for the people in the annex that would have been almost impossible to obtain any other way. He left the Underground in 1944, when an incident caused him to believe his safety had been compromised. Jan died of complications from diabetes on 26 January 1993 in Amsterdam. He and Miep had been married for 51 years.

Johannes Kleiman spent about six weeks in a work camp after his arrest and was released after intervention from the Red Cross, because of his fragile health. He returned to Opekta and took over the firm when Otto Frank moved to Basel in 1952. He died at his office desk of a stroke in 1959, aged 62.

Victor Kugler spent seven months in various work camps and escaped into a farm field in March 1945, during the confusion that resulted when the prisoner march he was on that day was strafed by British Spitfires. Working his way back to his hometown of Hilversum on foot and by bicycle, he remained in hiding there until liberated by Canadian troops a few weeks later. After his wife died, he emigrated to Canada in 1955 (where several of his relatives already lived) and resided in Toronto. On September 16, 1958 he appeared on "To Tell the Truth", as "the hider" of Otto and Anne Frank. He received the "Medal of the Righteous" from Yad Vashem Memorial, with a tree planted in his honour on the Boulevard of the Righteous Among the Nations in 1973. He died on 16 December 1981 in Toronto, after a long illness, at the age of 81.

Bep Voskuijl, like her colleagues, was instructed to stay in the office on the day the Franks were forced from their hiding place, but in the confusion that followed Bep managed to escape with a few documents which would have incriminated their black market contacts. Bep and Miep found Anne's diaries and papers after the eight prisoners, together with Kugler and Kleiman, had been arrested and removed from the building. Bep left Opekta shortly after the war and married Cornelius van Wijk in 1946. While she did grant an interview to a Dutch magazine[citation needed] some years after the war, she mostly shunned publicity. However, Bep kept her own scrapbook of Anne-related articles throughout her life. Bep and her husband had four children, the last a daughter whom she named "Anne Marie", in honor of Anne. Bep died in Amsterdam on 6 May 1983.

Johannes Hendrik Voskuijl, Bep's father, was lauded constantly by the eight in hiding as a tremendous help with all matters during their early days in the achterhuis. For example, he designed and built the "swinging bookcase" that concealed the entrance to the annex. However, Anne often mentioned his health problems in her diary, and he became incapacitated after a diagnosis of abdominal cancer. He ultimately died of the disease in late November 1945, and Otto Frank attended his funeral on December 1.

Friends and extended family:

Hanneli Goslar (born 12 Nov 1928), known as "Hannah" and to most of her childhood friends as "Lies", was Anne's oldest friend, along with Sanne Ledermann. While Hannah was in Bergen-Belsen, she met Auguste van Pels by asking through a hay-filled barbed wire fence if anyone who could hear her voice spoke Dutch. Mrs. van Pels answered her and remembered Hannah from peacetime in Amsterdam. Mrs. van Pels then told Hannah that Anne was a prisoner in the section of the camp van Pels herself was in. Hannah was astonished, as she, like most people back in Amsterdam, believed the Franks had escaped to Switzerland. Hannah was able to talk to Anne several times through the barrier and to toss some essentials over it for her. Anne had told Hannah, at this point, that she believed both of her parents were dead, and in later years Hannah reflected that if Anne had known her father were still alive, she might have found the strength to survive until the camp was liberated. Shortly after Hannah threw the bundle over the fence for Anne, Anne's contingent of prisoners was moved, and Hannah never heard from her again. Hannah and her little sister Gabi were the only members of their family to survive the war, and Hannah was near death from typhus and tuberculosis when the Russians liberated the train in which she and Gabi were being transported, reportedly to Theresienstadt. After recovering, Hannah emigrated to Israel, became a nurse, and ultimately a grandmother of ten.

Jacqueline van Maarsen (born 30 Jan 1929), or "Jacque", as she was known to everyone, was Anne's "best" friend at the time the Frank family went into hiding. Jacque sincerely liked Anne, but found her at times too demanding in her friendship. Anne, in her diary later, was remorseful for her own attitude toward Jacque, regarding with better understanding Jacque's desire to have other close girlfriends as well - "I just want to apologize and explain things", Anne wrote. After two and a half months in hiding, Anne composed a farewell letter to Jacque in her diary, vowing her lifelong friendship. Jacque read this passage much later, after the publication of the diary. Jacque's French-born mother was a Christian, and that, along with several other extenuating circumstances, combined to get the "J" (for "Jew") removed from the family's identification cards. The van Maarsens were thus able to live out the war years in Amsterdam. Jacque later married her childhood sweetheart Ruud Sanders and still lives in Amsterdam, where she is an award-winning bookbinder and has written four books on their notable friendship: Anne and Jopie (1990), My Friend, Anne Frank (1996), My Name Is Anne, She Said, Anne Frank (2003), and Inheriting Anne Frank (2009).

Helmuth "Hello" Silberberg was the boy Anne was closest to at the time her family went into hiding, though they had only known each other about two weeks at that time. Born in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, his parents sent him to Amsterdam to live with his grandparents, believing, like Otto Frank, that Hitler would respect The Netherlands' neutrality. Silberberg's grandfather, who disliked the name Helmuth, dubbed him "Hello". Hello was 16 and adored Anne, but she wrote in her diary that she was "not in love with Hello, he is just a friend, or as mummy would say, one of my 'beaux'", though Anne also remarked in her diary on how much she enjoyed Hello's company, and she speculated that he might become "a real friend" over time. By a very convoluted series of events, including several narrow escapes from the Nazis, Hello eventually reunited with his parents in Belgium. Belgium was also an occupied country, however, and he and his family were still "in hiding", though not under circumstances as difficult as the Franks'. The American forces liberated the town where the Silberbergs were hiding on 3 September 1944, and Hello was free — tragically on the same day that Anne and her family left on the last transport from Westerbork to Auschwitz. Hello emigrated to the United States after the war and was later known as Ed Silverberg. He appeared as Ed Silverberg in the multimedia stage presentation about the Holocaust called, And Then They Came for Me. He died in 2015 at age 89

Eva Geiringer (now Eva Schloss) shared a remarkably similar history with Anne. The Geiringers lived on the opposite side of Merwedeplein, the square where the Franks' apartment was located, and Eva and Anne were almost exactly the same age. Eva was also a close friend of Sanne Ledermann's, and she knew both Anne and Margot. Eva described herself as an out-and-out tomboy, and hence she was in awe of Anne's fashion sense and worldliness, but she was somewhat puzzled by Anne's fascination with boys. "I had a brother, so boys were no big thing to me", Eva wrote. But Anne had introduced Eva to Otto Frank when the Geiringers first came to Amsterdam "so you can speak German with someone", as Anne had said, and Eva never forgot Otto's warmth and kindness to her. Though they were acquainted on a first-name basis, Eva and Anne were not especially close, as they had different groups of friends aside from their mutual close friendship with Sanne Ledermann. Eva's brother Heinz was called up for deportation to labor camp on the same day as Margot Frank, and the Geiringers went into hiding at the same time the Franks did, though the Geiringer family split into two groups to do so - Eva and her mother in one location, and Heinz and his father at another. Though hiding in two separate locations, all four of the Geiringers were betrayed on the same day, about three months before the Frank family was arrested. Eva survived Auschwitz, and when the Russians liberated Birkenau, the women's sector of the camp, she walked the mile-and-a-half distance to the men's camp to look for her father and brother, finding out much later that they had not survived the prisoner march out of Auschwitz. But when she entered the sick barracks of the men's camp, she recognized Otto Frank and had a warm reunion with him. Eight years later, Otto married Eva's widowed mother Elfriede (Fritzi) Geiringer, thereby making Eva a stepsister of Anne and Margot's. Eva later wrote her autobiography Eva's Story: A Survivor's Tale by the Stepsister of Anne Frank (1988), which served as the inspiration for the development of a popular multimedia stage presentation about the Holocaust called And Then They Came for Me. Eva also co-authored, with Barbara Powers, an autobiography targeted to younger readers and considered a suitable companion book to Anne's diary, titled Promise, in which she describes her family's happy life before going into hiding, and the experiences of living in hiding during the Nazi occupation, of going to the concentration camps, and finally, of going after liberation to the house where Heinz and their father had hidden, to retrieve the paintings Heinz had hidden beneath the floorboards there. Heinz's paintings have been displayed in exhibitions in the United States and are now a part of a permanent exhibition in Amsterdam's war museum. In 2013, Eva Schloss' memoir of life after the Holocaust, After Auschwitz: A Story of Heartbreak and Survival by the stepsister of Anne Frank, was published. After the war, Eva eventually built a new life in London with her husband of 60 years, Zvi Schloss, with whom she has three daughters.[20] In May 2013, she was featured on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour.

Bernhard (Bernd) "Buddy" Elias was a cousin of Anne's who lived in Switzerland and a great favorite of hers. Four years older than Anne (and hence, even older than Margot) his rollicking sense of fun matched Anne's temperament perfectly, and he much preferred Anne as a playmate to the staid and proper Margot. Everyone called him "Buddy" except Anne, who always called him "Bernd". He was a very talented ice skater, which Anne hugely admired. She even wrote an imaginary movie plot in her diary, wherein she would skate with Bernd, and included a sketch of the costume she would wear. After a long career as a professional skater and actor, he eventually became the head of the Anne Frank Fund in Basel (a separate organization from the Anne Frank Foundation in Amsterdam).(Müller, p. 270).

Charlotte Kaletta, the common law wife of Fritz Pfeffer, was not Jewish and therefore was able to remain in her Amsterdam apartment during the occupation. Kaletta and Pfeffer had been regulars at the Sunday afternoon "coffees" hosted by the Franks before the war, and hence she knew the entire Frank family. Miep Gies was especially touched by the devotion Pfeffer and Kaletta displayed to each other, and frequently passed letters from one to the other, an act which the other members of the household viewed as imprudent, but which Gies felt was important. Kaletta's Jewish husband died in Auschwitz, but she held hope for some time after the war's end that Pfeffer had survived. When she learned of his death, she married him posthumously; Otto Frank made the arrangements for her. Frank was always sympathetic to her and continued to offer her assistance, but in the mid-1950s she severed all contact with him, and with Miep and Jan Gies, because she was offended by the unflattering depiction of Pfeffer in Anne's diary and later by the way his character was written in the stage play The Diary of Anne Frank by Goodrich and Hackett. Charlotte died in Amsterdam on 13 June 1985.

Several members of the Frank and Holländer families fled Germany, including Otto's mother and sister, who fled to Switzerland, and Edith's two brothers, Julius and Walter, who fled to the United States. All of them survived the war. In his later years, Otto Frank lamented his decision to take his own family to the Netherlands.

Arresting officer:  Karl Silberbauer was the Sicherheitsdienst (Nazi Security Service) officer who arrested Anne Frank and her family in their hiding place in 1944. He was tracked down and identified as the arresting officer in October 1963 by the Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. Although his memories of the arrest were notably vivid, Silberbauer had not been told by his superior officer, Julius Dettmann, who had made the tip-off, only that it came from a "reliable source", and was unable to provide any information that would further a police investigation. Silberbauer's confession helped discredit claims that The Diary of Anne Frank was a forgery. Given Otto Frank's crucial declaration that Silberbauer had obviously acted on orders and behaved correctly and without cruelty during the arrest, judicial investigation of Silberbauer was dropped, and he was able to continue in his career as a police officer. Silberbauer died in 1972.

Fellow prisoners:  Janny Brandes-Brilleslijper (24 October 1916 – 15 August 2003) and her sister Lientje, Anne and Margot's fellow prisoners in all three camps, had both trained as nurse aides and were among the last people to see Anne and Margot Frank alive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_associated_with_Anne_Frank

75: Anne Frank

Anne Frank

(Anne Frank at the Jewish Lyceum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, December 1941.)

A young Jewish girl named Anne Frank (1929-1945), her parents and older sister moved to the Netherlands from Germany after Adolf Hilter and the Nazis came to power there in 1933 and made life increasingly difficult for Jews. In 1942, Frank and her family went into hiding in a secret apartment behind her father’s business in German-occupied Amsterdam. The Franks were discovered in 1944 and sent to concentration camps; only Anne’s father survived. Anne Frank’s diary of her family’s time in hiding, first published in 1947, has been translated into almost 70 languages and is one of the most widely read accounts of the Holocaust.

Anne Frank’s Childhood:   Anne Frank was born Anneliese Marie Frank in Frankfurt, Germany, on June 12, 1929, to Edith Hollander Frank (1900-45) and Otto Frank (1889-1980), a prosperous businessman. Less than four years later, in January 1933, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany and he and his Nazi government instituted a series of measures aimed at persecuting Germany’s Jewish citizens. By the fall of 1933, Otto Frank moved to Amsterdam, where he established a small but successful company that produced a gelling substance used to make jam. After staying behind in Germany with her grandmother in the city of Aachen, Anne joined her parents and sister Margot (1926-45) in the Dutch capital in February 1934. In 1935, Anne started school in Amsterdam and earned a reputation as an energetic, popular girl. In May 1940, the Germans, who had entered World War II in September of the previous year, invaded the Netherlands and quickly made life increasingly restrictive and dangerous for Jewish people there. Between the summer of 1942 and September 1944, the Nazis and their Dutch collaborators deported more than 100,000 Jews in Holland to extermination camps.

Anne Frank’s Family Goes into Hiding:    In early July 1942, after Margot Frank received a letter ordering her to report to a work camp in Germany, Anne Frank’s family went into hiding in an attic apartment behind Otto Frank’s business, located at Prinsengracht 263 in Amsterdam. In an effort to avoid detection, the family left a false trail suggesting they’d fled to Switzerland. A week after they had gone into hiding, the Franks were joined by Otto’s business associate Hermann van Pels (1898-1944), along with his wife Auguste (1900-45) and their son Peter (1926-45), who were also Jewish. A small group of Otto Frank’s employees, including his Austrian-born secretary, Miep Gies (1909-2010), risked their own lives to smuggle food, supplies and news of the outside world into the secret apartment, whose entrance was situated behind a movable bookcase. In November 1942, the Franks and Van Pels were joined by Fritz Pfeffer (1889-1944), Miep Gies’ Jewish dentist. Life for the eight people in the small apartment, which Anne Frank referred to as the Secret Annex, was tense. The group lived in constant fear of being discovered and could never go outside. They had to remain quiet during daytime in order to avoid detection by the people working in the warehouse below. Anne passed the time, in part, by chronicling her observations and feelings in a diary she had received for her 13th birthday, a month before her family went into hiding. Addressing her diary entries to an imaginary friend she called Kitty, Anne Frank wrote about life in hiding, including her impressions of the other inhabitants of the Secret Annex, her feelings of loneliness and her frustration over the lack of privacy. While she detailed typical teenage issues such as crushes on boys, arguments with her mother and resentments toward her sister, Frank also displayed keen insight and maturity when she wrote about the war, humanity and her own identity. She also penned short stories and essays during her time in hiding.

The Franks are Captured by the Nazis :   On August 4, 1944, after 25 months in hiding, Anne Frank and the seven others in the Secret Annex were discovered by the Gestapo, the German secret state police, who had learned about the hiding place from an anonymous tipster (who has never been definitively identified). After their arrest, the Franks, Van Pels and Fritz Pfeffer were sent by the Gestapo to Westerbork, a holding camp in the northern Netherlands. From there, in September 1944, the group was transported by freight train to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination and concentration camp complex in German-occupied Poland. Anne and Margot Frank were spared immediate death in the Auschwitz gas chambers and instead were sent to Bergen-Belsen, a concentration camp in northern Germany. In February 1945, the Frank sisters died of typhus at Bergen-Belsen; their bodies were thrown into a mass grave. Several weeks later, on April 15, 1945, British forces liberated the camp. Edith Frank died of starvation at Auschwitz in January 1945. Hermann van Pels died in the gas chambers at Auschwitz soon after his arrival there in 1944; his wife is believed to have likely died at the Theresienstadt concentration camp in what is now the Czech Republic in the spring of 1945. Peter van Pels died at the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria in May 1945. Fritz Pfeffer died from illness in late December 1944 at the Neuengamme concentration camp in Germany. Anne Frank’s father, Otto, was the only member of the group to survive; he was liberated from Auschwitz by Soviet troops on January 27, 1945.

Anne Frank’s Diary:   When Otto Frank returned to Amsterdam following his release from Auschwitz, Miep Gies gave him five notebooks and some 300 loose papers containing Anne’s writings. Gies had recovered the materials from the Secret Annex shortly after the Franks’ arrest by the Nazis and had hidden them in her desk. (Margot Frank also kept a diary, but it was never found.) Otto Frank knew that Anne wanted to become an author or journalist, and had hoped her wartime writings would one day be published. Anne had even been inspired to edit her diary for posterity after hearing a March 1944 radio broadcast from an exiled Dutch government official who urged the Dutch people to keep journals and letters that would help provide a record of what life was like under the Nazis. After his daughter’s writings were returned to him, Otto Frank helped compile them into a manuscript that was published in the Netherlands in 1947 under the title “Het Acheterhuis” (“Rear Annex”). Although U.S. publishers initially rejected the work as too depressing and dull, it was eventually published in America in 1952 as “The Diary of a Young Girl.” The book, which went on to sell tens of millions of copies worldwide, has been labeled a testament to the indestructible nature of the human spirit. It is required reading at schools around the globe and has been adapted for the stage and screen.

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/anne-frank-1

Happy Pets/People

From USA Today:

“Happy news: Pet adoptions are way up amid coronavirus crisis, even with shelters closed to public”

It appears dogs and cats can't get sick from COVID-19, but that doesn't mean the coronavirus pandemic isn't a threat to animal shelters, rescue organizations and the millions of homeless, helpless critters they care for.  Like everyone else forced to improvise in the face of an unprecedented crisis, America's animal shelters are coming up with creative ways to stay "open," so they can continue pairing people and pets. Americans are rushing, well, not to their local shelters but to their phones and laptops to check out available pets, to donate money and supplies, to share the word on social media about rescuing homeless balls of furry fun. One loophole to shelter-in-place orders: You can still walk your dog. Appointment-only and call-ahead adoptions, drive-up fostering and curbside adoptions, online training and at-home volunteer projects (such as making pet toys) are some of the solutions being used nationwide to help care for vulnerable animals during the pandemic. 

Contrary to fears, there is no sign so far of rising number of dogs and cats surrendered by people too sick to take care of them, or people who have lost their jobs and can't afford to take care of them. Not yet. "We have not seen an increase in owner surrenders or stray intakes at the ASPCA Adoption Center in (hard-hit) New York City due to the virus, and based on our conversations with animal welfare professionals across the country, that (uptick) is not evident on a national level," says Matt Bershadker, president and CEO of the national ASPCA, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "I just confirmed with a random sampling of shelter leaders that they are not seeing an uptick in animal intakes at shelters in their communities," says Jim Tedford, president and CEO of the Association for Animal Welfare Advancement, the professional organization for the shelter industry.  Still, shelters are bracing for that possibility and planning for it, both leaders say.  "We don’t know what will happen as the numbers of sick and deceased increases, nor do we know what impact the financial stresses might have," Tedford says "But for now we’ve seen communities step up and help reduce shelter populations rather than the other way around."

How are they doing that?    Tune in to the Facebook Live show "Home Adopting Network," an hourlong virtual tour of the SPCA of Wake County, North Carolina, which introduces some of the dogs and cats available for adoption.  "We got the idea from the Home Shopping Network," says Darci VanderSlik, a veterinarian and the shelter's director of communications. "We show the pets, give them treats and belly rubs, talk about their personalities. It allows people to 'be there' without the crowds." It seems to work: "We did 58 adoptions in the first six days. We are so excited!"  Meanwhile, Americans are signing up to be temporary foster parents to pets. They're applying online to permanently adopt and talking to counselors in phone interviews. They're waiting in parking lots outside closed shelters for a text telling them to pick up their new pet curbside.  Why? Maybe to help alleviate their own anxieties while trapped at home during a coronavirus lockdown. Maybe they've got more time to care for a pet while working from home. Or maybe they just want to ensure they can go outside for exercise: Walking the dog is still allowed.  And in case the adoption fees are a problem, Cathy Kangas, a member of the national Humane Society's board and the CEO and founder of PRAI Beauty skincare brand, is committing PRAI for Paws to cover all adoption fees for a month at 10 shelters in nine states to encourage more adoptions during the crisis, starting Friday. “We want to offer shelters a lifeline," said Kangas, a longtime campaigner for animal welfare and cruelty-free beauty products, in a statement. "In many cities, animal shelters are considered essential services, but their resources are stretched and the only solution they may have is to euthanize animals and lay off their workers. We can’t let this happen.”  Like many others, Kangas says research shows the health benefits of pets, including reduced blood pressure, increased cardiovascular health, reduced anxiety, and a reason for outdoor exercise. "You can take them for a walk, get fresh air, get vitamin D – there are wonderful health benefits from having a pet, and they can help you cope with the stress of this virus," says Julie Kuenstle, vice president of communications for the Houston SPCA. Houston is one of the country's largest animal shelters, but coronavirus has forced it to indefinitely stop pet adoptions. Instead, it's moved to clear shelters by increasing temporary pet fostering, thus its "desperate" website appeal for more people to sign up.  Up north at the Wisconsin Humane Society, they had so many new foster parents sign up – 400 – in just a few days that it briefly crashed the website, says Angela Speed, vice president for communications. Within five days, she says, their shelters were cleared out, with 159 animals adopted and 160 in foster care. "People stepped up in a huge way," says Speed.  "We all recognize that animals are a source of comfort, love and stress reduction in a chaotic, unprecedented time," Speed says. "And I say that as I’m sitting with my dog on the couch." 

In Boston at the Massachusetts SPCA, shelter leaders have decided to focus on pushing permanent adoptions and keep fosters as a fallback strategy, but it's now adoption by appointment only. Like many shelters, they're conducting virtual tours to re-create the in-person experience of connecting with a shelter dog or cat.  After the virtual tours started last week, "we saw an immediate spike in adoptions, we saw an increase in viewership as time went on and in the phone calls we were getting," says Mike Keiley, director of adoption centers for MSPCA. "It culminated this past weekend when we did 30 adoptions, which is pretty healthy in March in the Northeast." The key message he's hearing is that people want to help. "They want to do good and if they're animal lovers, they want to help shelters help animals, and that means an increase in donations, too," Keiley says.  Whatever the reason, it's a boon to some of the 7.6 million homeless dogs and cats who enter public and private shelters every year, according to the Humane Society of the U.S. "Over the past week, we have seen a nearly 70% increase in animals going into foster care through our New York City and Los Angeles foster programs, compared to the same time period in 2019," says Bershadker. Tedford cites similar numbers from a Pethealth database that covers about 1,400 shelters and organizations around the country: Adoptions are up 102% from the prior week, 100% from last year, he says, and fosters are up 193% from the prior week and 197% compared to this time last year. Intakes are down 68% from this time last year because shelters have stopped taking new animals in all but emergency-related situations, he says. As might be expected, shelters are under unprecedented stress from the crisis, with reduced staffs and volunteers as well as closures. Not even natural disasters can compare, says Kimberley Alboum, director of shelter outreach for the national Humane Society. "We have never navigated anything like COVID-19 – it's completely uncharted territory for shelters and rescues," Alboum says. "Hurricanes and tornadoes … impact one area or region and we can move animals, fly them or drive them to shelters elsewhere to make room for incoming animals. We can’t for this because it’s a national disaster." 

A big disruption: Coronavirus has largely grounded animal transports because of state lockdowns and airline flight reductions. Tedford's database shows transfers and transports are down 62% compared to this time last year.  That means homeless pets from overburdened Gulf states, for instance, can't be flown to winter-stressed corners of the country where there aren't as many strays for adoption this time of year. "We depend heavily on a transport program to move 5,000 dogs and cats (a year) into adoptive homes in Northern states, from ours and other Southern shelters," says Ginny Sims, director of Southern Pines Animal Shelter in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, which began early to push adoptions and fosters to empty out Southern shelters as much as possible. . "It's incredibly challenging in the South, where we already have big overpopulations" of strays. Animal shelters are considered "essential services," such as grocery stores and pharmacies, that remain functioning under a government-ordered lockdown, even if they are closed to the public. Someone has to tend to the animals, including veterinary care for injured or sick animals. And in many states, shelters are still taking in strays or surrendered animals.  But shelters have been forced to stop neutering and spaying as "nonessential," despite years of promoting the procedures as crucial to reducing the 1.5 million dogs and cats euthanized every year in the U.S, according to the ASPCA. Growing numbers of animals will need temporary or permanent shelter as the summer puppy and kitten season is approaching. At the sprawling Houston SPCA on Tuesday, someone dumped a box of 6-week-old puppies in the parking lot outside the adoption center in 80-degree heat. "This may continue, unfortunately, (even though) abandoning animals is a crime of animal cruelty in Texas," says Kuenstle, adding that the puppies will go into foster care.   Keiley says the MSPCA is preparing for the possibility of increased coronavirus-related pet surrenders because no one can predict if or when it might happen. Among other things, donating to local pet food pantries and no-contact deliveries of supplies to shut-in pet owners can help. Even Meals on Wheels delivers pet food supplies in some areas, he says. "Keeping people and their pets together … we feel that’s our mission in our community," Keiley says. 

^ I am really glad to hear that Humane Societies and Animal Shelters around the country are still able to take care of cats, dogs, bunnies and other animals. I’m also really glad that ordinary Americans have not forgotten these places and are adopting and fostering these animals. It’s a win-win for all involved. I hope this trend continues. ^

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/happy-news-pet-adoptions-way-161325507.html

Moscow Lockdown

From Yahoo/AP:

“Moscow goes into lockdown, rest of Russia braces for same”

(A view of an empty Red square, with the St. Basil's Cathedral, center, and Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower, right, in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 30, 2020. )

The Russian capital, Moscow, on Monday woke up to a lockdown obliging most of its 13 million residents to stay home, and many other regions of the vast country quickly followed suit to stem the spread of the new coronavirus. A stern-looking President Vladimir Putin warned his envoys in Russia's far-flung regions that they will be personally responsible for the availability of beds, ventilators and other key equipment. “We have managed to win time and slow down an explosive spread of the disease in the previous weeks, and we need to use that time reserve to the full,” Putin said. Russia so far has been relatively spared by the outbreak, with 1,836 confirmed cases and nine deaths, but the number of people testing positive has risen quickly in recent days and authorities are bracing for the worst. Putin has declared that only people employed by essential sectors should work this week, leaving it to regional authorities to spell out the details. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin followed up by ordering Muscovites to stay home starting Monday except for medical emergencies and runs to nearby shops. He said the city will issue special passes for those who need to keep working and track all others with electronic surveillance. “We will steadily tighten controls," Sobyanin told a Cabinet meeting. “I hope that by the week's end we will have information systems allowing us to fully control citizens' movements and prevent possible violations.” On Tuesday, the Russian parliament is scheduled to approve a bill that imposes prison terms of up to seven years and fines of up to 2 million rubles (about $25,000) — a huge sum in a country where an average monthly salary hovers around $500 — on violators of the lockdown. Moscow has a sprawling system of surveillance cameras complete with facial recognition technology, which were tested during anti-Kremlin rallies last year to track down protesters. City authorities have also used cell phone location data from mobile providers to monitor those who were ordered to self-quarantine for two weeks after arriving from abroad. Russia took early steps to counter the outbreak, closing the borders with China and then barring access to Chinese citizens last month when China was still the world's hottest coronavirus spot. Authorities followed up by screening arrivals from Italy, France, Spain and other countries worst-affected by the outbreak, and obliging them to self-quarantine. Last week Russia cut all international commercial flights and finally fully closed its borders effective Monday, with the exception of diplomats, truck drivers and a few other categories. Russian officials said those measures helped slow down the spread of COVID-19, but acknowledged that the disease is accelerating rapidly and relatively low numbers of confirmed cases could be explained by insufficient screening. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms such as fever and cough. But for others, especially older adults and people with prior health problems, it can cause severe symptoms like pneumonia and can be fatal. Authorities have converted several hospitals in Moscow to treat coronavirus patients and thousands of construction workers labored around the clock at a construction site on Moscow's outskirts to build a new specialized hospital to be ready in a few weeks. The Defense Ministry also launched a massive effort to build 16 hospitals across the country in a matter of weeks. Last week, the military also conducted massive drills across Russia to disinfect and quarantine broad areas.

Despite those efforts, many in Russia worry that the nation's underfunded health care system that just recently underwent massive cuts could be easily overwhelmed by the crisis. Putin told his envoys in the regions Monday that they must quickly report the real situation with ventilators and other essential equipment, prepare for moving seriously ill patients between regions and mobilize medical personnel, including medical students. He also ordered a sharp increase in screening. Until last week, just one laboratory in Siberia was analyzing the coronavirus tests. In a move reflecting the gravity of the crisis, Putin last week postponed a vote on constitutional amendments that would allow him to stay in office until 2036 if he chooses. Russian authorities haven’t restricted travel to and from the capital city. Many residents of the Moscow region commute to work in the capital. In a sign of lack of sync between various state agencies amid quick-paced developments, police in the Moscow region on Sunday night announced a curfew on top of the lockdown, but the authorities quickly denied the announcement. Putin has hailed Moscow's lockdown as “necessary and justified." St. Petersburg, Russia's second largest city, and over a dozen other regions from the westernmost exclave of Kaliningrad to Tatarstan on the Volga River to the Yekaterinburg region in the Urals quickly followed Moscow's example and imposed similar lockdowns. Russia's leading opposition figure, Alexei Navalny, on Monday blasted the Kremlin for longtime neglect of the country's hospitals and called for public donations to help them. He posted a letter from a doctor at one of Moscow's hospitals treating coronavirus patients who said staff have run out of protective suits and have to reuse those they have worn. Kremlin critics also voiced concern that the government would use the lockdown to further tighten political controls and crack down on dissent. The authorities already have declared a campaign against “fake news” about the coronavirus, tracking down social media users making claims that contradict official figures on coronavirus figures. Some already have been given heavy fines.

^ I had Russian friends (both inside Russia and around the world) tell me that the world was over-reacting about Covid-19 and now it seems Moscow is finally taking this pandemic seriously with a very right lockdown. ^

https://www.yahoo.com/news/moscow-goes-lockdown-rest-russia-180305674.html

Self-Paying

From the BBC:

“Trump says Harry and Meghan must pay for security”

Harry and Meghan have reportedly relocated from Canada to California  President Donald Trump says the US will not foot the bill for Prince Harry and Meghan's security amid reports that the pair have moved to the US from Canada.  Mr Trump tweeted he was "a great friend and admirer of the Queen and the United Kingdom", but added: "They must pay!" The couple said they had no plans to ask for publicly funded security in the US.  They have reportedly relocated to Meghan's home state of California amid the intensifying coronavirus outbreak.  They will formally step down as senior royals on 31 March and will no longer carry out duties on behalf of the Queen, but these arrangements will be reviewed after one year.  In a statement released through a spokesperson on Sunday, the couple said: "The duke and duchess have no plans to ask the US government for security resources. Privately funded security arrangements have been made." The couple and their son Archie have spent much of this year residing in Canada's west coast, following a six-week Christmas break on Vancouver Island.  Last month, the Canadian government announced that it would stop providing security assistance to the family "in keeping with their change in status".  Now Mr Trump appears to have followed suit.  The family moved again last week to the Los Angeles area where Meghan was raised and where her mother, Doria Ragland, now lives, US media reports say.  The president's announcement comes as the novel coronavirus continues its steady march across the US. There are currently 135,499 confirmed cases - more reported diagnoses than any other country - and there have been 2,381 deaths. In California, coronavirus cases continue to surge, with 5,565 cases and 121 reported deaths. Last week Governor Gavin Newsom issued a shelter-in-place order - ordering Californians to remain at home except for providing or accessing essential services - among the toughest directives across the country.  Prince Harry's father, the Prince of Wales, tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week, Buckingham Palace said, but "remains in good health". 

^ I don’t think Meghan or Harry thought the US would pay for their security the way they hoped the UK or Canada would have. It does seem odd that they moved to California since they have said from the beginning they want to be left alone and regular people and yet they will still be hounded by reporters around Hollywood as they were in London. ^

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52086992

Contacts Saga

My contacts saga continues. 

At the beginning of March I went to a new Eye Doctor (InFocus) and while the place was clean and the first guy I dealt with (who did some eye tests that didn’t include an eye puffer or dilation) was good the issues started when the Eye Doctor came in. I handed her my old prescription and she didn’t really seem interested in anything. They also didn’t have a good spot so I could take out my contacts and change to my glasses. The Eye Doctor wanted to have me try a bunch of different contact brands even though she said my eye prescription (for glasses and for contacts) hadn’t changed.  I told her that if my prescription hadn’t changed then I would prefer to continue to wear the same brands I had for years and she said that was fine. Before leaving I had her office order me a 1 year supply of contacts and was told it would take 2 weeks to be delivered to my house (which I also had to pay extra for.)

2 weeks later I had no word from InFocus about my order so I called them and left a message on their machine. The Office Manager called me back and said she couldn’t see where her office had even ordered the contacts. I told her that it was ordered when I was there in person, that I had received a receipt for the order and that the money had been taken out of my bank account. The Office Manager didn’t seem all that intelligent and so I told her to cancel my order (that was never even made) and refund the money to me. I also told her I wanted to speak to the owner of InFocus. 

The owner of InFocus (also an Eye Doctor) called me back and after I explained my situation to him he immediately made the excuse of blaming the lab for the delay. I told him that the lab can only fulfil an order that his office had first made and that according to his Office Manager his office had never made the order. I could see that the owner wasn’t going to be of any help and clearly was just as intelligent as his Office Manager. I told him that not only had his office not ordered the contacts and made me wait 2 weeks for nothing, but no one at his practice (the Office Manager or himself – the owner) even apologized or seemed to care. I told him it was my first and last time going to InFocus and that I would not recommend his practice or his doctors to anyone. 

After my refund from InFocus went through I called 1800-Contacts to order my contacts. I have used them before and didn’t have any issues before. The woman there first charged me for a 4 years supply of contacts instead of the 2 year supply I asked for (she couldn't do the Math that 1 box has 6 contacts in them and 6 contacts = 6 months so I needed 4 boxes for each eye to total a 2 year supply.) Then after I ordered them I got an e-mail saying the Eye Doctor had changed my one prescription and they were trying to deal with her to fix the order.

Since the contacts were supposed to have arrived this week I called 1800-Contacts today and cancelled my original pending order of a 2 year supply and instead ordered a 1 year supply (this new woman could do the Math) with the new prescription. There is a back-order of 3-5 business days for my order, but I was given free overnight shipping and they should be here around April 7th. 

I have worn contacts since I was 13 years old and have never had so much trouble from an Eye Doctor or a Contacts Supplier. 

Fingers crossed this time the order goes through and arrives on time.

"Crip Camp"

From the AP:

“In 'Crip Camp,' a rare spotlight for disability rights”

(This Jan. 24, 2020 file photo shows co-directors Jim LeBrecht, left, and Nicole Newnham, center, from the documentary "Crip Camp" with film subject Judith Heumann during the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. )

It wasn't Judith Heumann's first standing ovation, but it might have been her loudest. Heumann, who had polio as a baby and uses a wheelchair, has for decades been one of the leading figures of the disability rights movement. When the Brooklyn native, after graduating from college, was denied a teaching license by New York City's board of education because her wheelchair was declared a fire hazard, she sued and won. In 1977, when the first federal civil rights legislation for disabled people stalled, she led a historic 28-day-long sit-in. The victory paved the way for 1990's Americans With Disabilities Act. Her story is one of several central to “Crip Camp: A Disability Revolutionary," a rousing and rare look at the disability rights movement. It traces the movement's origins to an upstate New York summer camp for teens with disabilities that was run in 1970s with much of the free spirit of nearby Woodstock. The film, the second backed by Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions following the Oscar-winning “American Factory,” hits Netflix on Wednesday. For camp attendees who came with polio, cerebral palsy and other disabilities, Jened was a utopia of acceptance and community. And it helped spark a movement. When its campers returned to their homes, they were emboldened to demand to be treated like human beings. Heumann went there. So did Jim LeBrecht, co-director of “Crip Camp." He was born with spina bifida. When Heumman was introduced after the premiere of “Crip Camp” at the Sundance Film Festival in January, the response was deafening. “It was as loud as a jet airplane taking off,” LeBrecht recalled, groggy but beaming the morning after the film’s premiere. The Sundance debut for “Crip Camp” was the kind of festival reception filmmakers dream of. It was hailed as a jubilant crowd-pleaser, a likely Oscar contender, and most importantly, a seldom-seen and overdue big-screen moment for people with disabilities. The makers of “Crip Camp” believe the film can be its own galvanizing moment. “I hope this film will ignite other stories,” said Heumann, who joined LeBrecht and his fellow director, Nicole Newnham, for an interview in Park City, Utah, in January. “These stories are out there.”

A lot has changed in just two months. “Crip Camp” will be released while much of the nation is hunkered down at home due to the coronavirus pandemic. The filmmakers had a wide range of activities planned around the film's release, many of which have had to be adapted or curtailed due to the pandemic. Instead, the filmmakers are striving, from the confines of their Bay area homes, to turn planned community screenings virtual and develop educational materials for schools. But “Crip Camp” is also, in a way, suited to the times as a reprieve for housebound viewers.  “It’s hopeful and joyous. It’s a look at how a group of people can come together and effect monumental change. As opposed to 24-hours of coronavirus, this is a moment to go back to camp," LeBrecht said in a recent interview by phone. “I think that people are going to really want to watch it just because it’s a positive story at a time where it’s tough for all of us.” “You always hear in these times about a need for happy warriors,” added Newnham. “I feel like that’s what Jim and his friends are.”

“Crip Camp” has a specific starting point but it unfolds as a broader chronicle of a decades-long fight for civil rights — one that has received less attention than other 20th century struggles for equity. At Sundance, the filmmakers heard everywhere: “I never realized.” During the festival, Heummann sent Newnham a text message: “Enjoy walking through the crowds of people whom you have awakened!” By any metric, the stories of people with disabilities are among the least represented in film and television. Last year, USC Annenberg’s annual inequality report found that, of the 4,445 characters in the most popular movies of 2018, just 1.6% were shown with a disability. U.S. census figures estimate 27.2% of Americans have some form of disability. A 2019 study by the Ruderman Family Foundation found that about half of U.S. households favor authentic portrayals of actors with disabilities. Yet Hollywood, where villains are still regularly signaled by deformity, has a long history of unfavorable, stereotyped or inauthentic depictions of disability. “We’ve learned so much about people around us from film and television, and if what you’re getting is just purely stories about people having tragedies — in the case of ‘Million Dollar Baby’: ‘Please kill me. Please, please.’ — or the kind of super, overcoming story that we sometimes call the ‘super-crip’ story, neither of these people are relatable and neither are reflective of the community in general,” said LeBrecht, a Berkeley, California-based sound designer. Heumann, LeBrecht and Newnham hope “Crip Camp” encourages conversations about how movies and media have fostered false impressions of people with disabilities. “There needs to be a fundamental altering in what goes on in media,” said Heumann, who has written about disability representation for the Ford Foundation. “At Sundance, I’m in a room with hundreds and hundreds of progressives who pride themselves on being progressives, who pride themselves on supporting diversity. And the number of people who say — and it’s not the first time I’ve heard this — ‘We didn’t know.’”

“Crip Camp” has already effected some change. LeBrecht, having attended previous Sundance festivals, urged the festival to improve accessibility. He previously was unable to go into the festival’s filmmakers lounge because it didn’t have an elevator. Sundance recently announced that it would provide more resources for attendees with disabilities and program more movies featuring people with disabilities. The changes need to go much deeper than accessibility, Heumman said. It’s about reprogramming how the non-disabled think of people with disabilities. Due to theaters shuttering, “Crip Camp” will go without its planned limited theatrical release. Given its status as an Academy Awards contender, the documentary will be the first film to test how the film academy handles its usual rules requiring a theatrical release due to the virus. The academy last week said it was “evaluating all aspects of this uncertain landscape.” "I can only imagine that the academy is going to come up with some revised rules for this but we don’t know what the status of that is at all," said LeBrecht. But the crisis has given LeBrecht another reason to reconsider what “Crip Camp” might mean to people now. One statement said in the film — “We know that society wants us dead” — has been on his mind. “How do we value people? Is it by productivity? Is how well they play the violin? What are our standards for valuing people?” said LeBrecht. “If anything, now is a good time for reflection on that.”

^ I am really interested in watching “Crip Camp.” I worked as a camp counselor at an overnight Summer camp for the mentally and physically disabled in New York for 4 Summers. ^

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/crip-camp-rare-spotlight-disability-213030156.html