Monday, March 04, 2013
THE NEW YORK TIMES: THIRTEEN years ago, researchers at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum began the grim task of documenting all the ghettos, slave labor sites, concentration camps and killing factories that the Nazis set up throughout Europe.
What they have found so far has shocked even scholars steeped in the history of the Holocaust.
The researchers have cataloged some 42,500 Nazi ghettos and camps throughout Europe, spanning German-controlled areas from France to Russia and Germany itself, during Hitler’s reign of brutality from 1933 to 1945.
The figure is so staggering that even fellow Holocaust scholars had to make sure they had heard it correctly when the lead researchers previewed their findings at an academic forum in late January at the German Historical Institute in Washington.
“The numbers are so much higher than what we originally thought,” Hartmut Berghoff, director of the institute, said in an interview after learning of the new data.
“We knew before how horrible life in the camps and ghettos was,” he said, “but the numbers are unbelievable.”
The documented camps include not only “killing centers” but also thousands of forced labor camps, where prisoners manufactured war supplies; prisoner-of-war camps; sites euphemistically named “care” centers, where pregnant women were forced to have abortions or their babies were killed after birth; and brothels, where women were coerced into having sex with German military personnel.
Auschwitz and a handful of other concentration camps have come to symbolize the Nazi killing machine in the public consciousness. Likewise, the Nazi system for imprisoning Jewish families in hometown ghettos has become associated with a single site — the Warsaw Ghetto, famous for the 1943 uprising. But these sites, infamous though they are, represent only a minuscule fraction of the entire German network, the new research makes painfully clear.
The maps the researchers have created to identify the camps and ghettos turn wide sections of wartime Europe into black clusters of death, torture and slavery — centered in Germany and Poland, but reaching in all directions.
The lead editors on the project, Geoffrey Megargee and Martin Dean, estimate that 15 million to 20 million people died or were imprisoned in the sites that they have identified as part of a multivolume encyclopedia. (The Holocaust museum has published the first two, with five more planned by 2025.) » | Eric Lichtblau | Friday, March 01, 2013
Sunday, March 03, 2013
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Des bagarres ont fait pour plusieurs centaines de milliers de francs de dégâts à Zurich dans la nuit de samedi à dimanche.
Des magasins ont été pillés et des bâtiments maculés de peinture sans compter de nombreuses vitrines cassées. La police municipale zurichoise est intervenue avec des balles en caoutchouc, gaz lacrymogène et lances à eau.
Un rassemblement de plusieurs centaines de personnes s'est formé vers 23 heures dans le «Kreis» 3 de la ville, sur une zone occupée depuis 2006 et utilisée pour un centre alternatif. Peu après, plus de 1000 personnes ont rejoint la foule dont des autonomistes de gauche et des membres du squat, a indiqué la police dans un communiqué. » | ats/Newsnet | dimanche 03 mars 2013
TAGES ANZEIGER: Im österrreichischen Bundesland Kärnten hatte die FPK bis jetzt eine solide Mehrheit. Nun wurde die Partei des verstorbenen Rechtspopulisten Jörg Haider regelrecht abgestraft. Schuld soll die Korruption sein.
Überraschung im ehemaligen Jörg-Haider-Land Kärnten: Nach Korruptionsskandalen strafen die Wähler die regierende FPK auf bisher in Österreich beispiellose Weise ab.
Die Erben des Rechtspopulisten Jörg Haider stürzten bei den Landtagswahlen am Sonntag dem vorläufigen Endergebnis zufolge auf 17,1 Prozent ab. Bei den letzten Landtagswahlen 2009 hatten sie noch gut 45 Prozent erreicht.
Zahlreiche Korruptionsskandale aus der Ära des 2008 tödlich verunglückten Haider hatten in Kärnten die Koalition aus FPK und konservativer ÖVP brechen lassen. Klarer Wahlsieger ist die sozialdemokratische SPÖ. » | mrs/sda | Sonntag, 03. März 2013
NEUE LUZERNER ZEITUNG: Das Verdikt des Volkes ist deutlicher ausgefallen als erwartet: 67,9 Prozent der Stimmenden haben die Abzockerinitiative von Thomas Minder am Sonntag angenommen. Nun beginnt der Kampf um die Umsetzung der Initiative.
Für die Abzockerinitiative sprachen sich rund 1'615'700 Personen aus, dagegen 762'300. Der indirekte Gegenvorschlag des Parlaments, der bei einem Nein in Kraft getreten wäre, vermochte nicht zu überzeugen. In keinem einzigen Kanton wurde die Initiative abgelehnt.
Am deutlichsten war die Zustimmung in den Kantonen Jura und Schaffhausen, dem Heimatkanton Minders. Im Jura sagten über 77 Prozent der Stimmenden Ja zur Initiative, in Schaffhausen fast 76 Prozent. Ein Ja-Stimmen-Anteil von über 70 Prozent resultierte auch in den Kantonen Neuenburg, Tessin, Thurgau, Freiburg, Bern und Zürich. » | sda | Sonntag, 03. März 2013
Related »
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINER ZEITUNG: Der 63 Jahre alte Erzbischof von São Paulo, Odilo Scherer, gilt im Vatikan offenbar als ein Favorit für die Nachfolge Benedikts XVI. An diesem Montag beginnt das „Vorkonklave“.
Beim Vatikan wollen „gut informierte Kreise“ wissen, dass „viele“ der angereisten Kardinäle aus aller Welt einen Papst wählen wollen, der nicht aus Italien kommt. Aber es werden auch zwei italienische Kardinäle genannt, die offenbar Stimmen für den Erzbischof von São Paulo in Brasilien, Odilo Scherer, sammeln. Scherer, ein 63 Jahre alter Theologe und Pfarrer, dessen Vorfahren im 19. Jahrhundert aus dem Saarland ausgewandert waren, wurde von Benedikt XVI. 2007 in das Kardinalskollegium aufgenommen.
Scherer sei ein Favorit, weil er von 1994 bis 2001 in der Bischofskongregation Kurienerfahrungen gesammelt habe, aber nicht mehr zur Kurie gehöre. Er sei ein begnadeter Seelsorger, aber könne auch verwalten; er sei in Amerika und Europa zu Hause. Zwei Kriterien seien für die Auswahl zudem wichtig: Der neue Papst müsse eine radikale Kurienreform umsetzen und den Kurs der „Null-Toleranz“ bei sexuellem Missbrauch fortsetzen. » | Jörg Bremer, Rom | Sonntag, 03. März 2013
THE INDEPENDENT: Is there more to the party than an obsession with immigration and getting Britain out of the European Union?
Suddenly, the UK Independence Party is the wild card of British politics. It left the Conservative Party bruised and traumatised by beating it in the Eastleigh by-election. It is tipped to win a large share of the vote in next year's European elections, may well cost David Cameron's party victory at the next general election, and is the force whose electoral magnetism many say will pull the Tories ever rightward. It is also the party – its programme and personalities – that has so far escaped scrutiny. Until now.
If Ukip had a name that truly reflected its priorities, it might be called the UK Immigrationphobe Party. Ostensibly the anti-EU party, an obsession with immigration and exit from Europe as a means to close Britain's doors is its prevailing motive. The word immigration runs through its policy statements like red lettering in seaside rock, and its proposed five-year ban on entries to the UK is the message it rams home on every doorstep.
That is far from all. It is deeply sceptical of global warming, wants to abolish inheritance tax, employers' National Insurance contributions, aims to partially reverse the recent hunting and smoking bans, and would increase defence spending by some 40 per cent. It is, in thought if not yet in personnel, the extreme right-wing of the Conservative Party in exile; a party run in the main by self-made businessmen with an agenda to match. And it has a record of defections, internecine squabbles and acrimony, plus scandals that have led two of its former MEPs to jail. » | David Randall, Brian Brady | Sunday, March 03, 2013
THE GUARDIAN: UK Catholic leader who was forced to resign early by the pope admits in statement that his sexual conduct 'fell below standards'
Cardinal Keith O'Brien, forced to resign by the pope last week, has admitted to sexual misconduct and issued a sweeping apology to individuals he has "offended" as well as to the Catholic church and Scottish people.
In a short statement issued soon after 5pm on Sunday, O'Brien admitted "there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal".
The former archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh made no detailed admissions but apologised and asked for the forgiveness of all those he had offended, and for the forgiveness of the entire Catholic church. » | Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent | Sunday, March 03, 2013
BBC: Swiss voters have overwhelmingly backed proposals to impose some of the world's strictest controls on executive pay, final referendum results show.
Nearly 68% of the voters supported plans to give shareholders a veto on compensation and ban big payouts for new and departing managers.
Business groups argued the proposals would damage Swiss competitiveness.
But analysts say ordinary Swiss are concerned about a growing economic divide in the country.
The vote came just days after the EU approved measures to cap bankers bonuses.
'Fat cat initiative'
The final results showed that all 26 Swiss cantons backed the proposals.
In all, 1.6 million voters said "Yes" against 762,000, who rejected the idea.
The BBC's Imogen Foulkes, in Berne, says multibillion dollar losses by Swiss banking giant UBS, and thousands of redundancies at pharmaceutical company Novartis, have caused anger in Switzerland - because high salaries and bonuses for managers continued unchanged.
The new measures will give Switzerland some of the world's strictest corporate rules, our correspondent adds. » | Sunday, March 03, 2013
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The Queen has been admitted to hospital in London after experiencing symptoms of gastroenteritis, Buckingham Palace said today. All official engagements for this week will be either postponed or cancelled as a precaution, the Palace added.
Her Majesty, who is 86, is expected to stay at the King Edward VII hospital in London for two days and is otherwise said to be in “good health and good spirits”.
A Royal visit to Rome planned for later this week will be cancelled or postponed, Buckingham Palace confirmed.
The Queen gave a long-service award to a member of staff this morning but started to feel unwell after lunch and was admitted to hospital about 3pm.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement: “The Queen is being assessed at the King Edward VII's Hospital, London, after experiencing symptoms of gastroenteritis.
"As a precaution, all official engagements for this week will regrettably be either postponed or cancelled." » | Wesley Johnson | Sunday, March 03, 2013
BBC: Queen cancels Swansea visit after suffering from gastroenteritis: The Queen has been forced to cancel a visit to Swansea on Saturday to celebrate St David's Day, after developing symptoms of a stomach bug. » | Saturday, March 02, 2013
THE GUARDIAN: Poland's first democratic-era president said he believed gay people had no right to sit on front benches in parliament
A national committee devoted to fighting hate speech and other crimes in Poland has filed a complaint with prosecutors in Gdansk accusing Lech Walesa of promoting a "propaganda of hate against a sexual minority", after the Nobel peace prize-winner said gay people had no right to a prominent role in politics.
Walesa said in a television interview on Friday that he believed gay people had no right to sit on the front benches in parliament and, if there at all, should sit in the back "or even behind a wall".
"They have to know that they are a minority and adjust to smaller things, and not rise to the greatest heights," he told the private broadcaster TVN during a discussion of gay rights. "A minority should not impose itself on the majority."
Walesa, Poland's first democratic-era president, is a deeply conservative Roman Catholic and a father of eight who has never advocated progressive social views. The democracy he helped create in 1989 from the turmoil of strikes and other protests has, however, been undergoing a profound social transformation in recent years.
A key symbol of the change is a new willingness to tackle gay rights, long a taboo subject. In 2011, voters elected Poland's first openly gay and first transsexual members of parliament. » | Associated Press in Warsaw | Sunday, March 03, 2013
Verwandt »
Saturday, March 02, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A plan to limit pay to executives based in Switzerland is expected to be passed on Sunday, as people vote on the referendum against “rip-offs” remuneration.
Under the proposal, shareholders will be given the right to hold a binding vote on executive remuneration. Companies would also no longer be able to pay so-called “golden hellos” and “golden parachutes”, whereby senior managers receive a one-time cash lump sum, often running into millions of pounds, when joining or leaving a company.
Polls show the majority of Swiss plan to vote “yes” in the referendum, despite businesses warning it will drive out companies from the country.
The move will also be a blow to the many foreign firms that have moved their headquarters to Switzerland in recent years to benefit from better tax deals, including from Britain.
The Swiss vote comes after Vince Cable, the UK business secretary, pushed through plans to give shareholders a greater say over executives’ pay, including a binding vote on remuneration, last year. The UK measures are due to take effect from October as part of an effort to boost transparency and curb compensation levels when the performance of the business does not warrant it.
Elsewhere in Europe, countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark already have similar legislation allowing shareholders at least a binding vote on executive compensation. » | Louisa Peacock | Saturday, March 02, 2013
My comment:
The plucky Swiss are doing it again. The Swiss are a courageous people. Hats off to the Swiss!
I have lived in Switzerland for over four years. It was the most wonderful experience of my life. Switzerland is a wonderful country to reside in; and the Swiss understand how to keep it that way. I have only respect for the Swiss.
That is exactly what I do not have fo this excuse of a government. When the EU proposed clipping the wings of the greedy bankers this week, all we got from Cameron was excuses and circumlocution. In short, he doesn't have the balls to call the bluff of the bankers. Let the bastards find somewhere else to fill their coffers. Running a country is not all about letting the greedy stuff their bank accounts full with ill-gotten gains; rather, it's about creating a fair society for all. And when there is a period of austerity, we really should all be in this together. Those shouldn't be just fine words uttered by a prime minister. They should have some resonance.
If Cameron has any hope of being re-elected––and it is looking pretty grim for him right now––he needs to understand that he, above all people, cannot afford to be viewed as a soft touch for the über-rich. In short, he needs to grow a pair.
Along with so many other people in this country, I am sick and tired of the greed of bankers and CEOs who have no understanding of humility and fairness. Nobody expects them to live in penury; but we do expect them to toe the line. Now back to the Swiss: Bravo! – © Mark
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TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Nike, Apple, Facebook, John McCain, Clint Eastwood... Les appels à la légalisation du mariage entre personnes de même sexe affluent vers la Cour suprême américaine qui doit se prononcer fin mars sur le sujet.
L'administration Obama, des grandes entreprises, des élus républicains et Clint Eastwood en personne: les appels se bousculent au portillon de la Cour suprême des Etats-Unis pour demander à la plus haute juridiction du pays de légaliser le mariage homosexuel, fin mars.
Les neuf «sages», qui font la pluie et le beau temps sur les grands sujets de société, siègeront les 26 et 27 mars pour examiner la question sensible de l'union des couples de même sexe, interdite au niveau fédéral mais légale dans neuf Etats américains sur cinquante et dans la capitale Washington.
Situation inédite, le gouvernement américain a formellement demandé, la semaine dernière, à la haute Cour d'abroger un texte de son propre arsenal législatif, définissant au niveau national le mariage comme l'union «entre un homme et une femme».
La loi dite de «Défense du mariage» (DOMA) datant de 1996 est «inconstitutionnelle» car elle «empêche des dizaines de milliers de couples homosexuels, légalement mariés selon la loi de leur Etat, de jouir des mêmes avantages fédéraux que les couples mariés hétérosexuels», a ainsi écrit l'administration Obama. » | afp/Newsnet | samedi 02 mars 2013
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