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/)