90%

 

Oh Look

 

Dogs

 

Forced Laborer

After World War 2 ended in 1945 there were 11 Million Displaced People in Europe.

(A 14-year-old Ukrainian Forced Laborer repairs damaged motor vehicles in a Berlin Workshop of the German Wehrmacht. January 1945.)

Most were used as Forced Laborers by the Germans from 1939-1945.

During the War the Germans abducted 15 Million Non-Jewish Men, Women and Children from 20 German-Occupied Countries across Europe and used them for Forced Labor for the German War Effort inside Germany.

During the War the Germans abducted 7 Million Non-Jewish Men, Women and Children from Poland and the Soviet Union (Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians, etc.) aged 10-70 calling them Ostarbeiter or Eastern Workers sent them to Germany and treated them more harshly than Forced Laborers from any other Country.

During the War the Germans abducted (under the Codename: Heuaktion  or Hay Operation) 50,000 Non-Jewish Polish and Ukrainian Children aged 10 to 14 years old and used them as Forced Labor for the German War Effort in Germany.

Of the 3 Million Soviet Prisoners of War captured by the Germans during the War 200,000 were used as Forced Laborers in Germany. The rest were sent to die in Death and Concentration Camps.

During the War the Germans abducted  34,140 Non-Jewish Women from across German-Occupied Europe and forced them to serve as Sex Slaves for German Soldiers.

During the War the Germans used Vernichtung durch Arbeit or Extermination Through Work on Millions of Jewish Men, Women and Children in Ghettos, Concentration Camps and Death Camps. The exact number of Jewish Forced Laborers is unknown.

 

Helping the Displaced Persons:

In 1943, while the War was still going on, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was created to help return the Millions of Jewish and Non-Jewish Displaced Persons across Europe.

The International Refugee Organization (IRO), a temporary organization of the UN, was founded in April 1946 and took over the functions of UNRRA.

The IRO dissolved itself in 1952.

Returning the Displaced Persons by the UNRRA and the IPO:

5.2 Million Soviet Civilians and Soviet Prisoners-Of-War were repatriated to the Soviet Union.

Every single Soviet Men, Women and Child that was used as Forced Labor in Germany along with Millions who were used as Forced Labor in German-Occupied Soviet Union were treated as Criminals by the Soviet Government with most going from a German Concentration or Death Camp to a Soviet Gulag for years.

The United States stopped Forced Repatriation of Soviet Citizens to the USSR in October 1945.

1.6 Million Polish Men, Women and Children went back to Poland.

1.5 Million French Men, Women and Children went back to France.

900,000 Italian Men, Women and Children went back to Italy.

300,000 Czechoslovak Men, Women and Children went back to Czechoslovakia.

300,000 Dutch Men, Women and Children went back to the Netherlands.

300,000 Hungarian Men, Women and Children went back to Hungary.

Millions more Displaced Persons went back to their Home Country on their Own.

Millions of Displaced Persons could not or did not want to return to their Home Countries (mainly because of the new Soviet-Backed Communist Governments there.)

300,000 of Jewish Displaced Persons could not or did not want to return to their Home Countries.

 

German Reparations After the War:

 

The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (1951) signed by West Germany and 23 National and International Jewish Organizations.

$90 Billion US Dollars have been given to Jewish Holocaust Survivors and their Relatives since 1952.

Jewish Holocaust Survivors living in the Soviet Union or behind the Iron Curtain could not receive any money until 1992.

 

The Reparations Agreement between Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany (1952) signed West Germany and Israel.

Israel has received $97.21Billion US Dollars since 1952.

 

The London Agreement (1953) signed by West Germany and covered Belgium, Canada, Ceylon, Denmark, France, Greece, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Pakistan, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Yugoslavia.

The USSR and other Communist Countries (including East Germany) refused to be involved.

It included Debt from World War 1, the 1920s, the 1930s and World War 2.

On October 3, 2010, the last Debt Payment of 69.9 Million Euros was made.

 

The Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" (2000) a project of the German Federal Government and 6,500 Companies of the German Industry Foundation Initiative was established to give Reparations to Jewish and Non-Jewish Forced Laborers.

$11.8 Million US Dollars were given to Forced Laborers (mostly from the Former Soviet Union: Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia who were forbidden to receive any Reparations from 1945-1991) from 2000-2007.

40: Flight Of Navigator

 

Saving Pets

 

Wednesday

 

Klaus Langer

Klaus Langer

Klaus Langer was born on April 12, 1924 in Gleiwitz, Germany (Present Day Gliwice, Poland.)

His Parents were Erich and Rose Langer.

In 1936 they left Gleiwitz and moved to Essen.

He began his Diary after his Bar Mitzvah in March 1937 and recorded the unfolding discrimination against the Jews of his town in the 1930s.

He wrote about his and his Family attempt to flee Nazi Germany following Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass) when the Germans carried out an Anti-Jewish Pogrom in Germany and Austria on November 9-10, 1938.

The Germans destroyed 1,400 Synagogues and 7,000 Jewish Businesses.

The Germans forced all the Jews to pay the “Judenvermögensabgabe” (Jewish Capital Levy) for the damage done during the Pogrom.

All Jewish Insurance Money went to the Germans as did the Equivalent of $7 Billion US Dollars in 2026 Money paid by the Individual Jews themselves.

The Germans murdered 2,000 Jews.

The Germans arrested 30,000 Jewish Men and sent them to Concentration Camps (including Klaus’ Father.)

 

Klaus Langer’s Diary:

November 28, 1938

On November 23, Father came home and immediately began to work on the emigration process. The only two countries to which Father’s pension could be transferred were Chile and Palestine. By his calculation, his income would not be enough to make a living in Palestine and the question then arose whether he would be able to supplement his pension. There was also them question whether the Nazis would continue to send his pension abroad. As an amateur musician it was almost impossible to make a living in Palestine because of the many other Jewish musicians who had emigrated there. In Chile the situation was somewhat better and it would have been possible to live there on the pension … Father had to give up hope for emigrating to Argentina. He is now hoping to get a business license for Palestine. It would be best if we could all go to Palestine.

 

December 14, 1938

According to the new law, Jews are allowed to take only essentials with them when they emigrate. The new regulation requires rehabilitation to the German Government for the destruction caused over Kristallnacht.

 

December 19, 1938

Regarding the emigration of my Parents I have the following to report. First came two refusals from Argentina for lack of letters of credit. We don’t have an affidavit for the US. India requires firm employment. Father is now trying to go to the Peru and Uruguay Consulates. However nothing further.

 

January 5, 1939,

My Parents had to all but give up hope for South America. However, India is still an open possibility. Their chances for emigrating to the US also are very slim because they have a very high waiting number – 25,000.

Note:

Klaus Langer was able to flee Nazi Germany on September 2, 1939 (the day World War 2 started) for Neutral Denmark.

He  emigrated to British Mandatory Palestine (Present Day Israel) in January 1940 (before the German Invasion of Denmark in April 1940.)

His Parents were not able to leave Germany.

His Mother died on September 8, 1941.

His Father was deported on April 21, 1942 to the Izbica Libelska Work Camp in German-Occupied Poland where he was later sent to the Death Camps and murdered.

Homes

 

Scroll

 

Madrid Fire

 

60,000 People have been forced to flee the area around Madrid, Spain because of the Wildfire.

Bordeaux Fire

 

200,000 People have been forced to flee the area around Bordeaux, France because of the Wildfire.

Protect

 

Treat

 

Hire A Vet

 

NATIONAL HIRE A VETERAN DAY

Every day, hundreds of our military personnel leave the service in search of civilian employment. On July 25, National Hire A Veteran Day reminds employers to consider veterans to fill their open positions. As highly trained, qualified individuals, they’re ideal for numerous trades.  Legislation protects separating servicemen and women as they enter the civilian workforce. However, the best way a potential employer can honor a veteran is to hire one!  While they’re serving in point unknown, provide their returning brothers and sisters with an opportunity. Skills gained in the military world transfer to the civilian world. Regardless of the position, find qualified candidates in a range of fields.

For example:

Information Technology, Engineering, Cyber Security, Sales, Marketing, Management, Finance, Healthcare and Skilled Trades

HOW TO OBSERVE “Hire for Attitude, Train for Skill” and do it with a Veteran!

Starting in July and throughout Veterans Day you can post your current job openings to Hire Our Heroes Veteran Job Board by visiting www.hireourheroes.com for a 50% discount on unlimited job postings by entering the code “Hire a Vet”. For year-round partnerships, employers and veterans can find more assistance and free training resources at www.hireourheroes.com and search for the latest job opportunities. Please take a moment to Honor our men and women of Armed Forces by offering them your time and consideration in the civilian workforce. Use #HireAVeteranDay to share on social media.

HISTORY:   Marine Corp veteran Dan Caporale, Founder of Hire Our Heroes, also founded National Hire a Veteran Day to provide a call to action to hire more veterans! By spreading awareness and creating the #1 Veteran Job Board platform, www.hireourheroes.com has become the connective tissue that connects corporate America with our veterans, and veteran spouses looking for employment.

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-hire-a-veteran-day-july-25/

105: Ella Blumenthal

 

Ella Blumenthal turns 105 years old today (July 25th.)

Ella Blumenthal was born on July 25, 1921 in Warsaw, Poland. She was the youngest of 7 Children.

She was 18 years old when the Germans invaded in September 1939 and her carefree and happy life ended.

In October 1940 the Germans forced her and her Family into the Warsaw Ghetto (along with 460,000 other Jews.)

By 1943 only her Father and her Niece, Roma, were still alive. The others having been deported from the Ghetto to the Death Camps by the Germans.

From April 19-May 16, 1943 Ella helped in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising against the Germans.

When the Ghetto Uprising ended she was one of the 50,000 Jews sent from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Majdanek Death Camp (along with her Father and Niece.)

At Majdanek her Father was killed in the Gas Chamber upon arrival.

Ella and Roma were also selected to go to the Gas Chambers, along with 700 other Women, but as they were undressed and waiting inside the Gas Chamber a German came in and told them to get out.

He was given the order to gas a Transport of 500 Women (arriving the next day) not this Transport of 700 Women. So, because of Strict German Rule-Following  he let them go and Ella and Roma lived.

Shortly after, Ella and Roma were sent to the Auschwitz Death Camp.

In November 1944 Ella and Roma were sent from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp where they were liberated by the British on April 15, 1945.

After the War Ella went back to Warsaw to learn what happened to her Family (out of the 23 Members of her Immediate Family only Ella, Roma and Roma’s Father who had escaped the Warsaw Ghetto and made it to Palestine  - Israel - survived) and then she moved to Paris.

 In 1947 she moved to Palestine (later Israel) where she met and married her Husband, Issac (a Jew from South Africa.)

She has 4 Children, 11 Grandchildren and 9 Great-Grandchildren.

You can watch the 2021 Documentary “I am Here” about her life in the Warsaw Ghetto and the Death and Concentration Camps on Amazon.

She is currently living in Cape Town, South Africa.

Thursday

 

Heat

Directions

 

Adopt

 

84: Warsaw Aktion

84 years ago today (July 23, 1942) the Große Aktion Warschau (Great-Action Warsaw) started in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-Occupied Poland.

(The first day of the Große Aktion Warschau (July 23, 1942.) Immediately after this picture was taken the old Man was shot by the German (standing nearby are the Ghetto’s Jewish Police) and the Jews lined up were sent to the Cattle Cars to go to the Treblinka Death Camp.)

The Germans demanded 6,000 Jewish Men, Women and Children every day be rounded-up and deported.

The Head if the Judenrat (Jewish Council) of the Warsaw Ghetto, Adam Czerniaków, committed Suicide when the Germans told him of their plans to deport all the Inhabitants of the Ghetto “to the East.”

Those rounded-up were kept at the Umschlagplatz until the Germans had “collected” enough People to fill the Cattle Cars (sometimes days with no food or water.)

Upon arrival at the Treblinka Death Camp the Men, Women and Children got off the Cattle Cars at what looked like a Regular Train Station and were separated between Men and Women and Children.

Sometimes the Germans would select a few People who had Special Skills (like Carpenters, Jewlers, etc.) out of the arrivals before sending the rest to take “Showers” as the Germans called it.

Those sent to die walked to an Undressing Hut where they were forced to take off all of their Clothes and then forced to walk through a fenced -off path through the forest (what the Germans called “die Himmelstraße: (or “The Road to Heaven”) where the Men were made to go first into the Gas Chamber while the Women and Children waited outside where they could hear their Fathers, Husbands and Brothers dying before they (the Women and Children) were forced into the Gas Chamber and murdered.

From July 23, 1942 to September 21, 1942 the Germans deported 265,000 Jewish Men, Women and Children from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Treblinka Death Camp where they were gassed to death.

On August 5, 1942 Janusz Korczak (a World-Famous Author, Educator and Head of one of the Orphanages in the Ghetto) and 196 of his Orphaned Jewish Children walked down the Streets of the Warsaw Ghetto to the Umschlagplatz after the Germans closed their Orphanage.

The Germans offered to let Janusz Korczak survive, but when the Germans refused to let his Children live too he went on the Cattle Car with them where they were gassed to death and their bodies burned at Treblinka.

10,000 Jewish Men, Women and Children were murdered by the Germans inside the Ghetto during the same time period.

11,500 Jewish Men and Women were deported to Forced Labor and Concentration Camps.

Of the 51,548 Jewish Children who lived in the Warsaw Ghetto before the Große Aktion Warschau  began, 498 remained in the Ghetto in November 1942 (all in Hiding and in Secret.)

70,000 Jewish Men, Women and Children were left in the Ghetto (either living with the Permission of the Germans to help go through all the leftover Personal Belongings of those Deported so they could be sent to Germany or in Hiding such as all the Children.)

The Germans lost a total of 155.9 Million Polish Zlotys (or $365 Million US Dollars in 2026) by deporting the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto during the Große Aktion Warschau since they no longer had the Forced Labor Manpower in the Ghetto’s Factories.

In 1988, the 45^th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising the Umschlagplatz Monument (Polish: Pomnik Umschlagplatz) was unveiled in Warsaw, Communist Poland.

Enjoying

Eating And Enjoying

Having a Baguette Sandwich and some Wine along the Seine River in Paris, France.

Having some Bangers and Mash (Sausage and Mashed Potatoes) with a Pale Ale along the River Thames  in London, England.

Having some Shashlik (Shish-Kabab) and YarPivo sitting on a park bench by the Volga River in Yaroslavl, Russia.

Having a Currywurst and a Pilsener while sitting along the Rhein River in Germany.

Having some Chicken Kyiv and some Arsenal along the Dnieper River in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Having a Cheeseburger and an IPA along the Potomac River in Washington DC.

Having Minc and Tatties (Beef and Potatoes) and a Scotch Ale along Loch Lomond in Scotland.

Having some Cevapcici and some Ozujsko by the Adriatic Sea in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Having some Schnitzel and a Goldstar Dark at the Mediterranean Sea in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Having some Moussaka and a KEO along the Mediterranean Sea in Limassol, Cyprus.

A good drink, some tasty food and a nice body of water is all I need.

Note: I have done all of these.

Nothing Wrong

 

Names

 

Deodorant

Be The Deodorant

There's nothing like riding ......

a crowded Subway in New York City on a hot and humid August day.

a crowded Metro Car in Moscow, Russia with all its odd smells.

being in a crowded street in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico and smelling all the awful smells before a person even gets close to you.

having a creepy smelly Old Kuwaiti Guy sit on you at the Airport in Kuwait City, Kuwait.

being on a crowded bus in Wiesbaden, Germany with people who wear socks with their sandals but not deodorant.

being on a crowded Metro Car in Paris, France where you can only smell cologne and perfume instead of fresh air.

being in a crowded Trolleybus in Yaroslavl, Russia on a hot and humid Summer Day and having to push through so many people from the window to the door to leave.

I have experienced it all and much more.

In a world of Heat Waves and Bad Smells be the Deodorant.

57: Moon

 

57 Years ago today (July 20, 1969) the United States landed on the Moon for the first time and Neil Armstrong became the first American and the first Human on the Moon. Buzz Aldrin became the 2nd and Michael Collins stayed on the ship.

1 Million People watched the launch of Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969 in Florida.

Dignitaries included the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, General William Westmoreland, four Cabinet Members, 19 State Governors, 40 Mayors, 60 Ambassadors and 200 Congressmen. Vice President Spiro Agnew and Former President Lyndon B. Johnson and his Wife Lady Bird Johnson.

3,500 Media Representatives were present. 2/3 of them were from the US and the rest from 55 Countries.

25 Million Americans watched the launch of Apollo 11 on Television.

93% of every American watched the Moon Landing on July 20,

1969 on Television as it happened (the vast majority of Americans who didn’t watch were Soldiers fighting in Vietnam.)

650 Million People across the World watched the Moon Landing on July 20, 1969 on Television. It was the first Worldwide Live Television Event.

President Richard Nixon spoke to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin through a Telephone-Radio Transmission, which Nixon called "The most historic phone call ever made from the White House."

On August 13, 1969 the Astronauts rode in Ticker-Tape Parades in their honor in New York and Chicago, with an estimated 6 million Attendees.

On the same evening in Los Angeles there was an official state dinner to celebrate the flight, attended by members of Congress, 44 Governors, Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger and his Predecessor, Earl Warren, and Ambassadors from 83 Nations at the Century Plaza Hotel. Nixon and Agnew honored each Astronaut with a presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The Astronauts spoke before a Joint Session of Congress on September 16, 1969. They presented two US Flags, one to the House of Representatives and the other to the Senate, that they had carried with them to the surface of the Moon.

The Astronauts then went on a 38 Day World Tour to 22 Countries.

The United States had won the Space Race against the Soviet Union (and 22 years later the United States also won the Cold War when the Soviet Union collapsed.)

Neil Armstrong died in 2012 at 82.

Michael Collins died in 2021 at 90.

Buzz Aldrin is still alive at 96.

Note: My Mom told me that she was Camping with her Family in Prince Edward Island, Canada when the Moon Landing Happened.

They were the only Campers with a Television (that they brought with them just for the Landing) and so everyone came around their TV and watched the Landing Live. Afterwards, my Mom and her Parents and Siblings were treated as Heroes by the Canadian Campers – because they were Americans.

 

Treat

 

Why Bother

 

Ice Cream States

 

Home Alone

 

Expectation

 

108: Romanovs

 (Nicholas II of Russia with the Family (left to right): Olga, Maria, Nicholas II, Alexandra Fyodorovna, Anastasia, Alexei, and Tatiana. Livadiya, Crimea, 1913.)

108 years ago today (July 17, 1918) The Russian Czarist Imperial Romanov Family: Nicholas II of Russia, his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, and their five children: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei) were shot and bayoneted to death by Bolshevik-Communist Revolutionaries under Yakov Yurovsky on the orders of the Ural Regional Soviet at the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg.

Also murdered that night were members of the Imperial Entourage who had accompanied them: Court Physician Eugene Botkin; Lady-in-Waiting Anna Demidova; Footman Alexei Trupp; and Head Cook Ivan Kharitonov.

The bodies were taken to the Koptyaki Forest, where they were stripped, mutilated with grenades to prevent identification, and buried.

The Soviets only announced Czar Nicholas II’s Death for 8 years until a publication of all the deaths was published in France in 1926. The Soviet Cover-Up led to many Conspiracy Theories over the Decades.

Many People believe that the Czar Abdicated because of the Communists, but in fact he Abdicated after the February 1917 Democratic Revolution.

After he Abdicated he and his Family were kept at the Alexander Palace outside Petrograd (Saint Petersburg) until after the October 1917 Communist Revolution when they were transferred to Siberia.

The Soviets kept the Romanovs at Ipatiev House (renamed The House of Special Purpose) where the Guards regularly searched the Royals for Gold and other Riches so they could keep them themselves. Their windows were whitewashed and they were forbidden to look outside under pain of death.

They had to ring a bell for a Guard to take them out of their room to go to the Bathroom. They also had strict rations (Black Bread and Tea for Breakfast and Soup for Lunch and Dinner.)

At Midnight on July 16, 1918 the Soviets woke the Romanovs and told them they were being relocated. The Romanovs were sent to the basement.

Yakov Yurovsky then announced “Nikolai Alexandrovich, in view of the fact that your Relatives are continuing their attack on Soviet Russia, the Ural Executive Committee has decided to execute you.”

Nicolas II was shot three times in the chest and died. His Wife, Alexandria was shot by a drunken Soviet in the head and died.

19 year old Maria was shot and wounded before the Soviets decided to stab the Children to death instead of shooting them, but that didn’t kill them.

13 year old Tsarevich Alexei was the first of the Children to be butchered to death by the Soviets. After being bayoneted over and over again he continued to live and so was shot two times in the head and died.

22 year old Olga was bayoneted at close range until she was shot in the jaw and died.

21 year old Tatiana was bayoneted at close range and crying for her dead Mother when she was shot in the back of the head and died.

19 year old Maria, wounded by a shot in the thigh, was bayoneted at close range. As the bodies were being removed from the basement she regained consciousness until her skull was crushed by a rifle and she died.

17 year old Anatasia was the last to die. She was shot, the bayoneted and still survived until she was beaten to death.

The Soviets then stripped the Romanovs naked, stole whatever Jewels they had, molested the dead body of Czarina Alexandria, moved to a mine and had grenades thrown in.

In 1938 Executioner Yakov Yurovsky died in extreme pain (most likely from being poisoned) while his Family was deported to Siberia.

In 1977, Yuri Andropov had the House of Special Purposes demolished.

Over the course of 84 days after the Yekaterinburg Murders, 27 more Friends and Relatives (14 Romanovs and 13 members of the imperial Entourage and Household) were murdered by the Soviets: at Alapayevsk on July 18th, in Perm on September 4th, and the Peter and Paul Fortress on 24 January 24, 1919.

In 1979, the Remains of the Romanovs were found by Amateur Enthusiasts who kept them hidden until the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

In 1991, the bodies of the Tsar, Tsarina, and three of their Daughters were exhumed and had DNA Matches done.

Their he bodies were laid to rest with State Honors in the St. Catherine Chapel of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg, where most other Russian Monarchs since Peter the Great lie.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin attended the Funerals (he called the murders of the murder of the Royal Family as “one of the most shameful chapters in Russian History.”)

In 2000, The Romanovs  were Canonized as Passion Bearers by the Russian Orthodox Church. The Family had previously been Canonized in 1981 by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad as Holy Martyrs.

In 2007 the bodies of Alexei and one of his Sisters (some say Maria and others say Anastasia) were found.

In October 2008, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled that Nicholas II and his Family were Victims of Political Repression and Rehabilitated them. The Rehabilitation was denounced by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

A Survey conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center in July 2018 revealed that 57% of Russians "believe that the execution of the Royal Family is a heinous unjustified crime", while 29% said "the last Russian Emperor paid too high a price for his mistakes".

Friend

Friend: "You haven't liked any of my posts in months."

- Me: "You haven't posted anything new since May 2nd and I liked that one."

Friend: "Yeah. So...... you should still like what's not there."

^ It's hard to argue with that "logic." ^

Anita Lasker-Wallfisch

101: Anita Lasker-Wallfisch

Today (July 17th ) Anita Lasker-Wallfisch turned 101 years old.

Anita was born in 1925 in Breslau, Germany (today Wroclaw, Poland.)

Her Father, Alfons, was a Lawyer who was awarded the Iron Cross during World War 1 and  her Mother, Edith, was a Violinist.

Her Uncle was Edward Lasker (an International Chess Master and the Inventor of the Mechanical Breast pump, which saved many premature infants' lives.)

In 1939 Anita’s Parents were able to send their Daughter, Marianne, to the UK on the Kindertransport.

In 1942 her Parents were deported by the Nazis and murdered near Lublin, German-Occupied Poland.

In September 1942 Anita and her Sister, Renate, tried to flee Nazi Germany for France and were arrested at the Breslau Train Station.

Coming from a Regular German Prison the Sisters were sent to the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland by Regular Train and not the usual Cattle Cars in December 1943 (on different Trains.

Anita received the Tattoo Number of 69388 on her arm upon arrival.

Anita, being a Cello Player, was chosen for the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz (German: Mädchenorchester von Auschwitz.)

The Orchestra played marches as the Slave Laborers left the Camp for each day's work and when they returned.

They played for the Men, Women and Children whom the Germans selected to be killed in the Gas Chambers.

They also gave forced Concerts for the SS.

In October 1944 Anita was moved to the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp in Germany where she survived 6 Months with Starvation Rations and Disease until being liberated by the British on April 15, 1945.

During the Belsen Trial, which took place from September to November 1945, Anita testified against the Camp Commandant Josef Kramer, Camp Doctor Fritz Klein, and Deputy Camp Commandant Franz Hössler, who were all sentenced to Death and hanged that year.

In 1946 Anita and Renate moved to the United Kingdom with the help of their Sister, Marianne.

Anita Co-Founded the English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) in 1948.

Anita married Peter Wallfisch (a Pianist also from Breslau, Germany who immigrated to British Palestine -Present-Day Israel-  in 1938 before immigrating to the UK in 1951)  in 1952.

They have 2 Children: her Son is the Cellist Raphael Wallfisch, and her Daughter, Maya Jacobs-Wallfisch, is a Psychotherapist.

Peter Wallfisch died in 1993.

Since 1994 Anita has visited German and Austrian Schools to talk about and explain her experiences during the Holocaust.

In 1996 she published her Memoir “Inherit the Truth.”

In 2018, she gave a Commemorative Speech in the German Bundestag to mark the 73rd anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz.

In December 2020 Lasker was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, which was conferred by the Federal President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Today, at 101 years old, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch lives in London.

Extra Smoke

 

100 Wildfires

 

Day 34

 

Entertained

 

Dear Summer

 

Shortly

 

4: 988

 

In the 4 years that the National 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline started 38 Million Americans have used it.

Note: 988 replaced a much longer phone number that was used throughout the US from 2004-2022.

The 988 Lifeline is comprised of a National Network of over 200 Local Crisis Centers, combining custom Local Care and Resources with National Standards and Best Practices.

988 is also the number for Veterans to call (then press 1) or to text (838255) to get the targeted help they require.

988 is also the number for Spanish Language Speakers (988 es también el número para hispanohablantes.)

988 is also the number for Russian Language Speakers (988 — это также номер русскоязычных.)

988 is also the number for French Language Speakers (988 est aussi le numéro pour les francophones.)

988 is also the number for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing:

ASL Users: Videophone via 988.

TTY Users: Use your preferred relay service or dial 711 then 988.

988 is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year  anywhere in the United States– for free.

You can: Call, Videochat (for the ASL) or Text them.

Use 988 when you need help with: Addiction, Anxiety, Bullying, Depression, Discrimination, an Eating Disorder, Family Issues, Financial Issues, PTSD, Problems in School, Relationship Problems, Abuse (Physical, Sexual and/or Emotional), Physical Health, Self Harm,, etc.

There is Targeted Help for: Native American, Indian, Indigenous, & Alaska Natives, Black Mental Health, Maternal Mental Health, Veterans & Service Members, Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Hearing Loss, Youth, Individuals with Neurodivergence, LGBT, Disaster Survivors, etc.

988's Website: https://988lifeline.org/chat/

History

 

Before Watch

 Before Apple Watch we had this.

84: Round-Up

(French Jews in the Velodrome d’hiver in Paris during the Vel d’Hiv Round-Up in July 1942. Shortly afterwards they were all shipped to the Death Camps at Auschwitz and Sobibor.)

84 years ago today (July 16, 1942) the Germans and French carried out the Vel d’Hiv Roundup of Jews in Paris.

For 3 days a handful of Germans and 9,000 French Policemen took part in the Raid in both the German-Occupied Parts of France, including Paris, and the Un-Occupied Vichy Collaborating Parts of France.

The French Authorities took the lead to prove their loyalty to the Germans. The Germans said only non-French Stateless Jews and only those over 16 were to be deported, but the French decided to go after every Jew (French and Non-French and any age.)

The French said that to not deport the Babies and Children would not be humane and it was better if they all went to the Death Camps.

A Total of 13,152 People were arrested in Paris during the 1 day Raid:  4,115 Children, 5,919 Women, 3,118 Men. Only 6 Children arrested during the Raid survived the War.

In the end, after the Raid, the Babies and Children were separated from their Parents since it was “easier” to deport the Adults while holding their Children hostage – there was less resistance.

The Round-Ups of 1942 were just the start of the Deportations of French Jews. Of the 340,000 Jews living in Metropolitan/Continental France in 1940, more than 75,000 were deported to Death Camps, where about 72,500 were murdered.75% of French Jews survived the Holocaust (due to the work of the Jewish French Resistance Groups and the Non-Jewish French Resistance Groups and being so close to Neutral: Switzerland, Andorra and Spain.)

French President Jacques Chirac apologized in 1995 for the complicit role that French Police and Civil Servants played in the Raid.

In 2017, President Emmanuel Macron more specifically admitted the responsibility of the French State in the Roundup and in the Holocaust.