Remember, remember...the 31st of January?

On November 5th, many people post on Facebook about the Gunpowder Plot of England in 1605. The Plot was lead by Robert Catesby and was an attempt to kill King James I because he was not sympathetic to Catholics. November 5th is now known as Guy Fawkes Day because Guy Fawkes was the conspirator who was caught, tortured and gave up the names of his compatriots.

January 27th, 1606, the conspirators were tried. They were convicted and sentenced to death. Even after being tortured in the London Tower, their deaths included more torture. Between January 30th and January 31st, the conspirators were dragged through the streets, hung (but not killed), disemboweled and quartered. Guy Fawkes was sent to his death on the 31st and managed to die while hanging and avoided the rest of the torture.

Why do Americans always remember Guy Fawkes Day? The majority of Americans are not Catholics so that's not the reason. Perhaps it is because someone attempted to kill the king of England. Of course, Americans today are obsessed with the Royal Family. Guy Fawkes Day commemorates the failed assassination of the King. Generally, assassinations and terrorism are not activities condoned by Americans. Who knows.

(Photo: Entrance to the Tower of London)

The Holocaust: More than We Even Know

Today, everyone knows what is meant when someone says "The Holocaust." But do you know what the word holocaust actually means? Did you know that it was a word prior to the 1940s? It means "great destruction of life, especially by fire" or "a sacrificial offering consumed by fire."

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/holocaust

It wasn't until the 1970s and 1980s that the definition of "The Holocaust" (as well as the capitalization of the word) came about. During the war and immediately after the war, the atrocities were not discussed much because survivors were attempting to move on with their lives. In the 1970s and 1980s, their children wanted to discuss and remember what happened to their parents and their people.

Most people think of the Holocaust as the systematic killing of the concentration camp prisoners. But what about the people who were killed in their villages? What about the people who were killed on the way to the camps? What about the people who were killed while in ghettos?

January 27th is the international Holocaust Remembrance Day as well as the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps. We should remember what the Nazis did to millions of innocent people because they were prejudiced against others. At Dachau, there is a memorial to the victims that says "Never Again." Never again can we allow the systematic extermination of people. This also means that we need to be able to identify genocide earlier, even if it is a controversial topic.

(Photos from Terezín)

(Photos from Dachau)

(While a gas chamber, labeled as "Brausebad" meaning bath, was built at Dachau, it was never actually used.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/28/world/europe/a-light-on-a-vast-toll-of-jews-killed-away-from-the-death-camps.html?_r=0

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/auschwitz-survivors-mark-liberation-anniversary-22182125

Sir Winston Churchill

January 24th, 1965, Sir Winston Churchill died. He was the UK's Prime Minister during World War II and collaborated with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt about the Allied strategy.

While he was not the Prime Minister in the 1930s, he warned about the dangers of Nazi Germany. When Neville Chamberlain retired in May 1940, Churchill replaced him. Chamberlain represented the policy of appeasement while Churchill represented the policy of unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany.

In 1963, US President John F. Kennedy named Churchill an honorary US citizen. He was the first to be named. It has been 140 years since Churchill was born.

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." -Churchill

(Photo by Hilary Grabowska)

MLK Day Part II

Only a few weeks ago, a 1962 speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. was rediscovered. English King Alfred's bones were also recently rediscovered. Both were found in storage in museums. The speech was discovered because the New York State Museum was working on digitalizing its audio and visual recordings.

The discovery of this speech comes at a very important time. We are currently in the midst of commemorating the Civil War as well as the Civil Rights Movement. It also occurs during the first black President's second term. This discovery just reinforces, for me, that history is a part of the present and is not dead.

As King quoted in his speech,

"'Lord, we ain't what we oughta be. 

We ain't what we want to be.

We ain't what we gonna be. 

But, thank God, we ain't what we wuz.'"

The speech is now a part of the NYSM's online exhibit if you want to visit it and hear the speech. 

http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/mlk/

Happy MLK day. 

(pictured: King giving the speech, which was rediscovered)

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

January 18, 1943, the SS began the final stages of liquidating the Warsaw Ghetto. However, many of the Ghetto inhabitants were a part of resistance groups and fought back. This marked the beginning of the Uprising and halted deportations until April. 

(Monument to the Ghetto Uprising)

The film "The Pianist" tells the story of Jewish piano player and composer Władysław Szpilman. Szpilman survived Nazi occupation, deportations from the Ghetto and finally the Soviet invasion. While he was not in the Ghetto during the  uprising, he was still in Warsaw the entire time. It won the Oscars for Best Actor, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay in 2002. 

(Image from film)

Cultural Icons

January 17, 1985, the iconic red telephone booths of London were retired. Many people did not want to see them disappear and some have remained. Of those remaining, a few have become internet kiosks. 

America and Alcohol

January 16th, 1919, the US 18th Amendment was ratified. At the time of ratification, the meaning of "intoxicating beverages" was not made clear in the amendment. Many believed that beer and wine would be exempt but this was disproved by the Volstead Act. A year after ratification, Prohibition went into effect. 

http://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1901-1950/The-Volstead-Act/

(http://billofrightsinstitute.org/resources/educator-resources/lessons-plans/prohibition-download/)

MLK Day

January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was born. He became the leader of the peaceful Civil rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. 

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/photos/gallery/martin-luther-king-jr/

Travel

January 14, 1943, President Franklin Roosevelt traveled by plane from Miami to Morocco to meet with Winston Churchill. FDR was the first president to travel by plane while in office. 

It was at this conference, which Stalin did not attend, that unconditional surrender of the Axis Powers was the only option. 

http://ww2today.com/14th-january-1943-churchill-and-roosevelt-meet-at-casablanca

Polish History

January 13, 1964, Karol Wojtyla was named Archbishop of Krakow. He would later go on to become Pope John Paul II. 

As a Pope, he was the second longest serving Pope and the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years. The Poles in Krakow loved Pope John Paul II. He visited the Salt Mines in Krakow but was unable to do so as a Pope. But a miner made a salt statue and placed it in the Saint Kinga cathedral in the Salt Mines in honor of the Polish Pope. 

(Saint Kinga cathedral. Pope John Paul II's statue is hidden by the railing in the bottom left corner.)

(KeithMajor, Feb 2008)

Issues with the United Kingdom

When Greece was a part of the Ottoman Empire, many of the Ancient Greek artifacts were being destroyed. Thomas Bruce, the British Ambassador to Constantinople "saved" the artifacts and in 1816, the British Museum purchased them. 

The exhibit in the British Museum states that sculptures from the Parthenon are equally divided between the British Museum and the Nee Acropolis Museum. The British Museum also says that now, visitors can view the sculptures at eye level (because they aren't at the top of the Parthenon) and they can be connected to world history. 

The Greeks see it differently. In 2009, the New Acropolis Museum opened and it houses most, if not all, sculptures found on and around the Acropolis. It has also been said that the museum was a way to tell the Brits and the French that the Greeks would like their cultural artifacts back and that they have a proper way to house them. 

Who do you think should have the Ancient Greek artifacts? 

Tower of London

Yeoman Warders, guards at the Tower of London, have been serving since 1485. Under Henry VIII's rule that they earned the nickname of Beefeater because they received a ration of beer and beef. At the time, beef was expensive and reserved only for the privileged.

British Judicial System

The Supreme Court of the UK was established by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 to emphasize the separation of powers. Prior to the Act, the highest court was a part of Parliament. 

London

January 9, 1863, 151 years ago today, the London Underground, also known as The Tube, opened. 

http://www.historytoday.com/stephen-halliday/down-tube

History is Alive

As I finish my class trip in Central Europe, I am now more of the opinion that history is always relevant and that it is still being discovered. 

While I was visiting Concentration camps and seeing the Nazi party parade grounds, a Pacific theater World War II battlefield was discovered! What are the chances and... HOW COOL?! 

 http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/07/lost-wwii-battlefield-found-war-dead-included/

Dachau

Originally, Dachau was an artist community and when it became a concentration camp, it primarily held people who were in opposition to the Nazis. 

When the camp was liberated, 60,000 people were freed but many died later. It was the former prisoners who fought to make Dachau a memorial site. 

Munich

In the 1300s, the "Old Town Hall" in Munich was built. In 1874, the government was moved to the "New Town Hall." While the Old Town Hall looks newer, it is actually 400 years older. 

In 1938, Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, gave a speech in the Old Town Hall which called the party members to action and resulted in Kristallnacht.

(Old Town Hall)

(New Town Hall)

Nuremberg

Hitler was very involved in the designing of the Nazi parade grounds, he was the self-proclaimed "Supreme Master Builder." On the topic of the buildings in Nuremberg, Hitler had this to say: 

"These buildings are not intended for 1940 or even 2000 but should reach out like the cathedrals of our past into the centuries of our future."

Today, only part of the grounds are as they were. The rest have been replaced by an athletic stadium and soccer practice fields. There isn't a single swastika to be seen. 

Terezín: Nazi propaganda

Anton Burger was the camp commander of Terezín and was charged, by Adolfo Eichmann, with making Terezin "a treasure house good enough to pass inspection by the media and the Red Cross." Fake shaving rooms and fake money were placed in the camp for the ruse and a film was produced to show how perfect life was for the Jews of Terezín. 3,000 people were killed in the camp. 

Jewish Burial Practices

In 1493, the first Jew was buried in the Jewish cemetery in the town center of Prague. The cemetery could not expand so over the years, people were buried in layers. In 1787, the cemetery closed. There are about 7-10 layers of graves. 

(Cannot take pictures of cemetery. This is beside the entrance)

Krakow Ghetto

In 1939, the Nazis invaded Krakow. A Jewish ghetto was established where it held 15,000 Jews in an area that had originally held 3,000 people. In 1942, the ghetto was liquidated, meaning it's inhabitants were removed. Most were sent to the death camp Belzec. Today, there are at least 150 Jews in Krakow. The Jewish population prior to the war had been here since the 1200s. 

(Pictured: memorial to the Jews in the ghetto. Each chair represents 1,000 victims.)

Krakow

A long long time ago, a dragon lived under the hill in Krakow. He was a danger to the people until a brave shoemaker came to the city. He was able to defeat the dragon and he became the ruler of the city. His name was Krak.