#historyandmemory

[lecoupdedeuxveuves]

Den Juden Polens

Dem Andenken von Szmul Zygielbojm

Aus den polnischen Städten und Dörfern hört man keine Schreie der Verzweiflung, die Verteidiger des Warschauer Ghettos fielen wie eine Kampftruppe... Meine Worte tauche ich in Blut, mein Herz in großer Trauer, für euch, o polnische Juden, der polnische Wanderpoet.

Nicht Menschen, sondern blutige Hunde, und nicht Soldaten, sondern Henker kamen, um euch, eure Kinder und Frauen mit dem Tod zu treffen: Euch in Gaskammern zu ersticken, in Waggons mit Kalk zu töten und über die Sterbenden, Wehrlosen und Erschreckten zu spotten.

Doch ihr habt den Stein erhoben, um ihn auf den Kanonier zu werfen, der das Geschütz aufstellte, um euer Haus vollständig zu zerstören... Söhne der Makkabäer! Auch ihr könnt sterben, den hoffnungslosen Kampf aufnehmen, begonnen im September.

Dies muss wie in Stein in das polnische Gedächtnis eingraviert werden: Unser gemeinsames Haus wurde zerstört und das vergossene Blut verbindet uns, uns vereint die Mauer der Hinrichtung, uns vereint Dachau, Auschwitz, jedes namenlose Grab und jedes Gefängnisgitter.

Der gemeinsame Himmel wird über dem zerstörten Warschau leuchten, wenn wir unseren blutigen, langjährigen Kampf mit dem Sieg beenden: Jeder Mensch wird Freiheit, ein Stück Brot und das Recht erhalten und eine höchste Rasse wird entstehen: edle Menschen.

Władysław Broniewski

Żydom Polskim Pamięci Szmula Zygielbojma

Z polskich miast i miasteczek nie słychać krzyków rozpaczy, padli, jak hufiec bojowy, warszawscy obrońcy getta… Słowa me we krwi nurzam, a serce w ogromnym płaczu, dla was, o Żydzi polscy, polski tułaczy poeta.

Nie ludzie, lecz psy okrwawione, i nie żołnierze, lecz kaci przyszli, by śmiercią porazić was, wasze dzieci i żony: gazem w komorach wydusić, wapnem w wagonach wytracić i szydzić z umierających, bezbronnych i przerażonych.

Lecz wyście podnieśli kamień, by cisnąć nim kanoniera, który nastawiał działo, by dom wasz zburzyć do szczętu… Synowie Machabeuszów! i wy potraficie umierać, podjąć bez cienia nadziei walkę, we Wrześniu zaczętą.

Oto, co trzeba wyryć, jak w głazie, w polskiej pamięci: wspólny dom nam zburzono i krew przelana nas brata, łączy nas mur egzekucyj, łączy nas Dachau, Oświęcim, każdy grób bezimienny i każda więzienna krata.

Wspólne zaświeci nam niebo ponad zburzoną Warszawą, gdy zakończymy zwycięstwem krwawy nasz trud wieloletni: każdy człowiek otrzyma wolność, kęs chleba i prawo i jedna powstanie rasa, najwyższa: ludzie szlachetni.

[dabbler-photographer-blog]

#InteractiveSession #historyandmemory #notes #history #memories #interaction #nationalgalleryofmodernart #modernart #mumbai #exploring #leavingtoreturn #leaving2return #photography #mumbai_ig #shotononeplus6 #shotononeplus #placestovisitinmumbai #explore #artist #mumbaidiaries (at National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, INDIA) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu8IZLTlohm/?igshid=1vqr2ibffehrz

[ghostsandmirrors]

‘ everyone i have ever loved is long gone. i sing to the sky alone. ’ (Blair to Jim)

ask meme: ‘growling suggestion’ edition

This was another time where Jim had zoned out while staring at something and zoned back in at exactly the wrong moment. He paused, then looked to Blair with a confused frown tugging his brows in.

"What the feck are you talking about?" he asked. "Am I gonna have to apologise to the neighbours now?" Not that he would. If anything, he'd make her do it like a proper- he paused at the idea that he'd adopted her before internally deciding that he just wasn't the sort to apologise for someone else.

[thecloudgate]

Vilnius, veiled in vestiges. #historyandmemory #shorashim #onequarterlithuanian #roots #rootsbeforebranches (at Vilnius, Lithuania)

[ourhistorywskg]

Ben Affleck’s Misplaced Embarrassment

I like Ben Affleck. He is an excellent actor and producer of quality films.  He also is very involved in various public service efforts including his NGO, the Eastern Congo Initiative whose goal is to fund organizations in the Congo who support survivors of rape and sexual violence; return and reintegrate child soldiers into their communities and run community-level peace and reconciliation programs.  Ben Affleck, from what I can tell, is committed to humanitarian causes and this is all to the good.

It is then all the more surprising that apparently after participating in the PBS show “Finding Your Roots’ with Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., he asked the producers to omit the discovery of a slave owner in his family.  It is surprising that he would not see what an opportunity this would give him as a humanitarian to share his obviously contrary views and also to help America reflect on the legacy of slavery.  The bottom line for Affleck and all is: there is nothing to be embarrassed about.   He is not personally responsible for what his ancestors did.  I might add, he is also not responsible for the good that some did either.  Moreover, if we are going to claim the good, we also have to claim the bad or at least allow ourselves to wrestle with it.

Ben Affleck, however,  is not alone with his selective memory.

After 25 years of teaching African and African Diaspora Studies, I often hear people of color talk about  the possibility of African queens and kings in their past.  Now, that is altogether possible. The historical record does show that at certain periods in the 350 year history of the slave trade, anyone could be sold -even kings and queens.  As I recalled stories of the slave trade in my book, African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Beyond the silence and shame, even leaders of a slave trafficking community could be sold.  This led me to conclude that if some were not free, all were not free.   But the hard truth is that some of us are descended from petty criminals because the people who were the first to be sold away were often those involved in petty crimes ( theft, adultery etc.)   That was the beginning of the trade. Things changed when it became a major commercial and transatlantic effort and then anyone could be bought and sold.

So it was a mixed bag as life is in general and we should be neither ashamed nor embarrassed. The past after all, is still the past. We celebrate what there is to celebrate and then we grapple with that which gives us pause.

So I am heartened by Mr. Affleck’s apology today and his comment that: “…the degree of interest in this story suggests that we are, as a nation, still grappling with the terrible legacy of slavery. It is an examination well worth continuing. I am glad that my story, however indirectly, will contribute to that discussion.”

Let’s hope everyone else comes to the same conclusion.

Posted by: Anne Bailey

[creativenestlings]

When will @cityofct celebrate the heroes that fought against colonialism/apartheid. There is a lot of talk around History & Memory, celebrating "our great heritage" in this city yet no #publicart to celebrate/commemorate this "interesting" past. All around the CBD it's just statues of colonizers in all their might. That Mandela statue is not enough. #publicart #historyandmemory #apartheid #colonisation #capetown #citiestalk #futurecaptown #future (at Grand Parade Cape Town)

[uraveragetomato]

Sun #study #hsc #historyandmemory #nedkelly #nature (Taken with Instagram)

[creativenestlings]

When will @cityofct celebrate the heroes that fought against colonialism & apartheid. ---------------//-/----------// It was interesting to watch those elderly ladies who grew up durin apartheid/colonialism interact with the statues in Company Gardens. I am sure they would love to see their heroes immortalized in public. #cityofcapetown #vscocam #publicart #history #memory #heroes #apartheid #colonialism #capetown #historyandmemory #sculpture (at Company's Gardens, Cape Town)