Renaming of Auschwitz

According to an article on the BBC website, the Polish government wants Auschwitz to be renamed so that the crimes committed there are associated with German Nazis, not Poland. The government recently submitted a request to UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), in which it asked that the name of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp be changed to "Former Nazi German Concentration Camp Auschwitz-Birkenau."

What prompted the request:

"Polish officials have become unsettled by media references to Auschwitz as a 'Polish concentration camp'.

German newspaper Der Spiegel this week called the camp 'Polish', prompting anger in Warsaw." — from the BBC article

The Polish government's reasoning:

"In the years after the war, the former Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was definitively associated with the criminal activities of the national socialist Nazi regime in Germany," Polish government spokesman Jan Kasprzyk told a Polish news agency.

"However, for the contemporary, younger generations, especially abroad, that association is not universal." — again, from the BBC article.

To begin with, I think it is silly to assume that, if Auschwitz is not renamed, we will all start blaming Poland for the deaths of Jews, Communists, homosexuals, etc. in Auschwitz. Auschwitz is sometimes called a Polish concentration camp because it is located in Poland. I doubt that anyone who knows anything about the Holocaust would interpret such references differently.

Furthermore, I have yet to meet someone who doesn't know about the prominent role (understatement) played by German Nazis during the Holocaust. It was a German government that began implementing anti-Semitic policies, it was a German government that decided that Jews and other minorites needed to be exterminated, and it was a German government that forced its policies on Poland. In short, it was Germany that invaded Poland, not the other way around. I find it hard to believe that people will suddenly begin forgetting that.

That said, it does not do to imply that German Nazis were the only ones at fault, and that those who didn't call themselves Nazis are blameless. To change the name of Auschwitz is, I think, to undermine the lesson that we are all capable of cruelty and hate, and that few in Europe were entirely blameless during WWII.

In summary, I think that the Polish government's worries are needless, and that changing the name will either make no difference at all, or imply that the Holocaust — and genocide in general — is a purely German affair.

Afghan Convert

It seems that an Afghan, Abdul Rahman, managed to escape a possible death sentence for converting to Christianity. According to an article on the BBC website, he was released from prison after a judge ruled him mentally unfit to stand trial — a ruling that may have been influenced by international pressure. Rahman then apparently fled to Italy, which has welcomed him with open arms.

Now, to begin with, I was rather surprised to hear that this sort of thing is happening in Afghanistan at all. I suppose it was unreasonable and ignorant of me to assume that the Afghan government became secular after the overthrow of the Taliban. After all, Afghanistan has a long history with Islam, and recent events do not justify a complete change in that sense.

As for Rahman's case, I am glad that he was able to escape, and hope that he is safe in Italy. I think that this is one of the best possible outcomes, because no one can be confidently blamed (or congratulated) for Rahman's escape. It would have been worse if international pressure had been more forceful, or if someone had helped Rahman escape from prison.

I do have some quibbles with the matter. For example:

"Applications for political asylum in Italy normally take months to process, but Mr Berlusconi and several colleagues had said previously they favoured a quick decision in Mr Rahman's favour, says the BBC's David Willey in Rome." — from the linked article

I never like this sort of thing. Was Rahman's application fast-tracked because he was in danger of death or because his case got so much attention? It bothers me that there are doubtless thousands of cases where the applicants weren't so lucky, perhaps simply because they had the misfortune of not being special. One could hope that Rahman's experiences will raise awareness of refugees, and that it will prompt people to evaluate how refugees are handled by their governments. It doesn't seem likely, though.

That said, I obviously don't object to Italy's offer of asylum as such. I think they were right to welcome Rahman openly, whether or not it outrages folk in Afghanistan.
I find it a little difficult to justify my position, though. After all, I assume that Rahman was doing no wrong by converting to Christianity. I also assume that, whether or not he was trying to convert others, he wouldn't deserve a harsh jail term, not to mention the death penalty.
It would be very different if Rahman had murdered someone. Everyone can agree that murderers (if guilty) should be imprisoned (or sent to a mental institution, if necessary). Such measures would be taken for everyone's safety, if for no other reason.
Murder, of course, is different from converting from one religion to another, because it clearly harms another human being. Still, if Islam law in Afghanistan doesn't recognize the difference, how can one deal with that? I get the impression that many people in the Middle East already resent us enough as it is. Telling them that they're wrong about this sort of thing, or interfering with their affairs, probably won't do anything but increase the resentment.

Not exactly what I would consider a happy ending, in some ways.

Russian Banknote

Well, I may as well start things off with this thousand-rouble banknote (issued by the Provisional Government in 1917):

(Click on the above images or any of the ones below to see larger versions.)

I was trying to decipher the meaning of the words with the help of a Russian-English dictionary and a (rather bad) Russian textbook. Considering that I had next to no knowledge of the Russian language or alphabet when I began, and that some of the characters are obsolete, it was not so easy. Still, I managed to get the gist of most of the writing.

Some difficult parts:

Basically, from what I could make out, the above is an equation showing how much a rouble is worth in terms of gold. I don't know the exact translation, though, and would very much like to know how "1/15" and "17,424" factor into the equation.

Then there are these two signatures:

I find it somewhat surprising that the words to the left use characters (i.e the first and seventh characters in the first image) that have not been used in Russia since the eighteenth century. Why would those characters be used in this case? Also, what do the two words to the left mean?

Anyway, the point is that the banknote seems to be a goldmine of interesting details (perhaps you can see the faint swastika in the background in the middle of the green side of the banknote . . . the swastika, mind you, does not indicate that the Provisional Government was a bunch of Nazis; at the time it was simply considered a positive, neutral symbol that had been used for centuries in countries around the world).

Any explanations, references, or help in general would be appreciated.

Introduction

First things first: We come in peace! No worries, citizens of Canada (or any citizens, for that matter).

In any case, this blog really won't have much to do with a German invasion. I could pretend that the title is relevant, but any explanation of mine would be contrived! So, the posts that follow will be unapologetically un-German-invasion-related. Instead, I will post or link such images, texts, and maybe audio or video that interest me. I will then proceed to comment on them. Unoriginal, I admit, but enjoyable for me (I hope — it remains to be seen).

Enjoy! There should at least be variety. :o)