#but still. a human carved that. people were here. 600 years later we remember them

[arsenicflame]

Graffiti from Winchester Cathedral

[uk-news-talking-politics]

Hidden history: The Nazi-Soviet pact which Russia now tries to deny

By Dan Kaszeta

Russia rightly embraces various anniversaries of the Second World War. The Soviet Union made great sacrifices to defeat Nazi Germany and it suffered greatly during the war. Heroism was displayed by millions. But it's also worth remembering the aspects of that period with the Russian government tries to pretend never happened.

Eighty years ago tomorrow, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin signed a Nazi-Soviet non-aggression treaty known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop agreement.

You can read the text of the treaty in English here. From the very beginning of the Second World War until the Nazi invasion of the USSR in June 1941, the Soviet Union was on the same side of the war as Hitler.

Everyone remembers Hitler invading Poland on September 1st 1939. A lot of people conveniently forget that the USSR invaded Poland from the east only a few weeks later. Indeed, Soviet and German troops staged a joint parade at Brest, along their newly defined frontier.

The Soviet occupation of Eastern Poland meant that 200,000 square kilometres of Poland and over 13 million Polish citizens found themselves under the yoke of Soviet oppression. A quarter of a million Polish prisoners of war found themselves in Soviet camps, not German ones. Many were massacred at Katyn in 1940. The German Gestapo and Soviet NKVD even held a series of conferences on how to cooperate in the oppression of occupied Poland.

The alliance was economic as much as geopolitical. The amount of trade between the two nations during the 1939-1941 period was staggering. Massive amounts of raw material flowed from the USSR to Nazi Germany, including 1.6 million tons of grain and 900,000 tons of oil. The fascist army that invaded France, Belgium, and the Netherlands was literally fed by communist grain. Bomber planes over London were fuelled by communist oil.

In return, Stalin received a low interest loan from Germany for the equivalent of billions in modern money and bought technology and manufactured goods. Soviet factory orders actually took high priority in Germany, right up until the invasion. German technology was incorporated in the Soviet T-34 tank. A Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser, the Lützow, was sent to the USSR and it became the Petropavlovsk. The USSR was Hitler’s ally up until the day that the Third Reich invaded it in June 1941.

The pact carved up much of Eastern Europe. Poland was partitioned. Stalin invaded Finland, as it was firmly assigned by the treaty to the Soviet sphere of influence. Finland, greatly outnumbered and outgunned, fought the Red Army to a standstill, but had to eventually concede defeat and give up various border regions to Soviet control. The region of Karelia remains under Russian control to this day, a testimony to the lasting impact of the pact. By the end of the fighting in early 1940, over 100,000 Soviet soldiers and 25,000 Finnish soldiers had died.

What is now the nation of Moldova was carved off from Romania in 1940. Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia were 'given' to the USSR by this agreement, which had no right to do so. Based firmly on the agreement, these three Baltic states were forcibly annexed into the USSR in 1940. Soviet occupation in the three Baltic states was fierce - both in its original 1940 incarnation and when they were re-occupied in 1944. It stayed that way until 1991.

Russian nationalists should find this episode in history deeply embarrassing. It was official policy in the USSR after the war to deny it ever existed. It wasn't mentioned in books or lectures.

But at the time, it wasn't secret. It was widely reported around the world.

In an attempt to retrospectively quash history, the very existence of the pact was ignored for decades. It was only in late 1989 that the Gorbachev government officially acknowledged that it ever existed. The Russian-language copy of the text of the treaty was not published in Russia until 1993, after the end of the USSR.

There is a curious mixture nowadays of people who either defend the pact or deny it ever happened. President Putin is in the former camp. He made the case for it in meetings with Chancellor Merkel in 2015. On the other side of the spectrum, one Russian citizen was fined 200,000 rubles by a Russian court for pointing out that the USSR had, in fact, invaded Poland in 1939. Russian textbooks play down the existence of the pact and insist that the Second World War started in 1941.

The pact helps explain the political geography of Eastern Europe to this day.  It divided up much of the region between Germany and Russia.

Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and the part of Romania now known as the nation of Moldova were 'given' to Stalin in this treaty. The borders of Poland, Romania, Finland, and Belarus are affected by the treaty. Karelia is still in Russia. Many cities that were once Polish are now in Ukraine or Belarus.

For the peoples stuck between Germany and the USSR, this pact became a symbol of the rest of the world throwing them under the bus. It sealed the fates of millions of people for many decades. The 23rd of August became a rallying point for the independence movements in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

The official denials of the treaty do not square up with the memories of people who had been alive at the time and do not match the daily reality of Baltic residents. If the pact did not exist, why were they in the USSR?

In one of the largest acts of passive resistance in human history, approximately two million people formed a human chain in 1989 which stretched 600 km from Tallinn in the north, to Vilnius in the south. This amounts to one person in four. Everything came to a halt for these people to protest a treaty that their occupiers still claimed did not exist.

It was a powerful symbol that is now part of the modern political history of the Baltic states and catalysed the independence movements in all three countries. The following year, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania all re-asserted their independence.

We should remember this pact for what it was – a tragic and cynical alliance between despots that had horrific effects on millions of people. It is no coincidence that the European Union declared in 2009 that 23 August is European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism. Let us commemorate that day and not let them wipe it from history.

[srinivasjgm]

PC: Apurva mishra

In my previous blogs I said God does not play Dice, He pokes. This was about a bike trip to the Jain ish hot spot, Gometeshwara- Shravana belagola and I had talked about a few back to back events that were unexpected, unpredictable. I wanted to complete the travelogue soon but fate wanted something else. So I wrote couple of other blogs on the year 2016 and a promotional blog. For the later I got an Amazon gift card but then felt little pimp~ish for peddling wares for coupons, though it was a fun thing. Is this now an attempt at redemption ?

Anyways, as I said we all had an eventful start and a normal ride till the shrine . Once we reached the destination , usual group antics started. Club supremo went live on Facebook, censor-able comments were made, water drunk. Selfies flowed. Then we remembered the purpose for coming here. We slowly made towards the shops from the parking lot and promptly started to eat junk. We deposited out “gear” out there in the shop and made our mood to start 600+ steps climb.

Sun was out in its glory but air was pleasant. One has to climb bare foot here (that is the norm of Gometeshwara ) It felt nice at that time but guess by noon the steps would be too hot to handle. There are enterprising souls who will sell socks to “sensitive feet” people. For now we were comfortable. The motley group of me ( senior citizen ) with a dentist, a media man, several amateur photographers. Then there were the heavy weights who had enough wisdom already and so decided to skip the climb up and down.

As our climb progressed the group split into twos, threes and fives etc. but these were dynamic. They would form, split, reform based on the cadence, interests and desire to pose. Fitter ones would surge ahead and there by miss the fun laggards were having, regret and join back. While one of the last ones would get an idea for a shot and move forward to a perch. That is the law of a large group climbing up.

As we were climbing I thought that spiritual folks install their showcases on spectacular locations and make it tough to access. Usually on a top of a hill. This is deliberate so that pilgrim feels a sense of self accomplishment after the struggle to reach there. And then sees magnificence of the symbol and feels humble. Reflects. Of course tourists completely miss the point of. They are there to take a picture with a back drop that has a recognition quotient. We were a mixed bunch of both.

As you climb and take in the scenery you will see ancient inscriptions on stone after ~450 steps. The script is yet to be deciphered. If you want permanence then etch your words on stone. And another small climb of 50 more steps you come across the A three-celled temple that  has images of the Tirthankaras Adinatha, Neminatha and Santinatha. It was here that the younger members started to tease us oldies and we made them run for their youth. As the climb nears its end you see more of the sculptures. The ancient stone craftsmen were like kids. Any surface is a fair game to write on or carve. And they did a beautiful job of it. So many images depicting, humanity, nobility and nature. Finally we came to a doorway that has the sculptures of brothers Bharat and Bahubali (aka Gometeswara).

Who was Bahubali and why do we have this single stone statue of him on the hill top ? He was second of the hundred sons of King Rishabhanatha of Ikshvaku dynasty in Ayodhya. When this king wanted to retire and renounce the world he made his sons kings. Bharata got Ayodhya and Bahubali got south India. Bharata went on a conquering spree and won in all directions. Ninety eight brothers submitted to him. Yet when he went back to his capital his chariot stopped on its own. Signaling that Bahubali was yet to be conquered. Bahubali was wise , strong and well educated so he challenged Bharata to a fight instead of submitting. Apparatnly both the brothers were fairly advanced in their incarnations and could not be defeated by any weapon. So they had three contests and Bahubali won all. Yet, in victory he felt a remorse. He discarded all he had, including his clothes and went to seek liberation. He became a Digamber Monk. For a year he meditated standing as creepers and ant hills grew on him. Yet he was not at peace. He was troubled by thoughts that he was the cause of his brothers humiliation. Only when Bharata came to worship him that he got liberated and became a Siddha. The statue itself was erected by Chavundaraya, the Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief in the Talakad Ganga for his mother. It was funded by his king.

Towards the end of the climb there are small temples, inscription on stone from long forgotten people in a script that is yet to be cracked. The statue looks serene. Imposing but not scary. It was built in 9th century and still radiating the message of calm and permanence. It is as amazing as the story of Bahubali.

We started with so many unexpected events. We ended it a place that teaches that our life is transient, turbulent but we can find calm and stability. The imposing statue staring at the horizon says, take a deep breath, this life and its challenges are for you to experience the thrill of short lived existence.

The gods do not poke you nor play dice. In-fact Jain-ism says there is no god who created the universe. It is timeless. What you have are Siddhas who figured out the meaning of universe. You just carve out the destiny by reacting to situations. The situations are created by nature, cosmos and fellow transient beings. What you do with it and what you learn will future define what you will become.

In all of the travels, teachings, philosophy you must find a center in a belief to hold dear. The one point you will converge to once the disturbance is done and you are sorted. Even in chaos there is order if you look microscopically or telescopically. World may be an illusion or Maya but it is sure is an entertainer and a harsh teacher. Few souls can grasp its intricacies and can simplify living for lesser being. And they can do it for centuries, perched on top of a hill.

The pond that give this place its name

Order is in Chaos, dice and pokes do not matter In my previous blogs I said God does not play Dice, He pokes. This was about a bike trip to the Jain ish hot spot, Gometeshwara- Shravana belagola and I had talked about a few back to back events that were unexpected, unpredictable.