#lower operating costs

[hsmagazine254]

Electric Cars: Accelerating Towards a Sustainable Future

Embracing the Revolution of Electric Vehicles In recent years, the automotive industry has witnessed a significant shift towards electric vehicles (EVs), marking a crucial step in our journey towards a greener and more sustainable future. Electric cars offer numerous advantages over traditional combustion-engine vehicles, including reduced emissions, lower operating costs, and a thrilling driving…

[empresa-journal]

Will Tesla (TSLA) dominate the Auto Business?

Tesla (TSLA) could dominate the auto business with an old-fashioned business strategy: discounting. To explain, Tesla Motors’ (TSLA) production costs could fall so low. Competitors cannot match them. Hence, Tesla could dominate the market with cheap electric vehicles. Tesla has cut the cost of its vehicles in half in the last five years, Eletrek claims. Elektrek provides no numbers but a new…

[queerliblib]

QLL in the media again! Love what we’re doing?! Help us keep doing it 🌈 📚

[sheena6sharma]

[nasa]

What We Learned from Flying a Helicopter on Mars

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter made history – not only as the first aircraft to perform powered, controlled flight on another world – but also for exceeding expectations, pushing the limits, and setting the stage for future NASA aerial exploration of other worlds.

Built as a technology demonstration designed to perform up to five experimental test flights over 30 days, Ingenuity performed flight operations from the Martian surface for almost three years. The helicopter ended its mission on Jan. 25, 2024, after sustaining damage to its rotor blades during its 72nd flight.

So, what did we learn from this small but mighty helicopter?

We can fly rotorcraft in the thin atmosphere of other planets.

Ingenuity proved that powered, controlled flight is possible on other worlds when it took to the Martian skies for the first time on April 19, 2021.

Flying on planets like Mars is no easy feat: The Red Planet has a significantly lower gravity – one-third that of Earth’s – and an extremely thin atmosphere, with only 1% the pressure at the surface compared to our planet. This means there are relatively few air molecules with which Ingenuity’s two 4-foot-wide (1.2-meter-wide) rotor blades can interact to achieve flight.

Ingenuity performed several flights dedicated to understanding key aerodynamic effects and how they interact with the structure and control system of the helicopter, providing us with a treasure-trove of data on how aircraft fly in the Martian atmosphere.

Now, we can use this knowledge to directly improve performance and reduce risk on future planetary aerial vehicles.

Creative solutions and “ingenuity” kept the helicopter flying longer than expected.

Over an extended mission that lasted for almost 1,000 Martian days (more than 33 times longer than originally planned), Ingenuity was upgraded with the ability to autonomously choose landing sites in treacherous terrain, dealt with a dead sensor, dusted itself off after dust storms, operated from 48 different airfields, performed three emergency landings, and survived a frigid Martian winter.

Fun fact: To keep costs low, the helicopter contained many off-the-shelf-commercial parts from the smartphone industry - parts that had never been tested in deep space. Those parts also surpassed expectations, proving durable throughout Ingenuity’s extended mission, and can inform future budget-conscious hardware solutions.

There is value in adding an aerial dimension to interplanetary surface missions.

Ingenuity traveled to Mars on the belly of the Perseverance rover, which served as the communications relay for Ingenuity and, therefore, was its constant companion. The helicopter also proved itself a helpful scout to the rover.

After its initial five flights in 2021, Ingenuity transitioned to an “operations demonstration,” serving as Perseverance’s eyes in the sky as it scouted science targets, potential rover routes, and inaccessible features, while also capturing stereo images for digital elevation maps.

Airborne assets like Ingenuity unlock a new dimension of exploration on Mars that we did not yet have – providing more pixels per meter of resolution for imaging than an orbiter and exploring locations a rover cannot reach.

Tech demos can pay off big time.

Ingenuity was flown as a technology demonstration payload on the Mars 2020 mission, and was a high risk, high reward, low-cost endeavor that paid off big. The data collected by the helicopter will be analyzed for years to come and will benefit future Mars and other planetary missions.

Just as the Sojourner rover led to the MER-class (Spirit and Opportunity) rovers, and the MSL-class (Curiosity and Perseverance) rovers, the team believes Ingenuity’s success will lead to future fleets of aircraft at Mars.

In general, NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions test and advance new technologies, and then transition those capabilities to NASA missions, industry, and other government agencies. Chosen technologies are thoroughly ground- and flight-tested in relevant operating environments — reducing risks to future flight missions, gaining operational heritage and continuing NASA’s long history as a technological leader.

You can fall in love with robots on another planet.

Following in the tracks of beloved Martian rovers, the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter built up a worldwide fanbase. The Ingenuity team and public awaited every single flight with anticipation, awe, humor, and hope.

Check out #ThanksIngenuity on social media to see what’s been said about the helicopter’s accomplishments.

Learn more about Ingenuity’s accomplishments here. And make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

[communistkenobi]

the things about gentrification that are “good,” ie, increased walkability of neighbourhoods, renewal and renovation of unused buildings, increased mixed-use zoning, the opening of a variety of businesses that (theoretically) increase access to more diverse goods, are (correctly) interpreted as portents of doom by local residents not because poor people are stupid and reactionary and hate good things, but rather because the privatised character of urban “renewal” (gentrification) means these goods are only available to the middle classes who are coming into these neighbourhoods and “flipping” them. walkability and access to goods are not evil, but privatising them is, and that is what gentrification is - it is renewal in privatised form. I think it’s helpful to view it this way, both to call attention to the fact that a public, state-led version of this kind of renewal is possible, a version where these things benefit all residents, and also to respond to YIMBYism, to the middle classes who stand to benefit from gentrification because it provides comparatively lower costs to operate businesses, own property, and pay rent than in other parts of cities or other cities altogether. this is part of the same phenomenon as people “flipping” homes (a part of the process of gentrification itself); it is not to create a pretty and liveable home where there was once an abandoned one, but to turn a profit

[follow-up-news]

Organizations that help pay abortion costs are capping how much they can help as travel costs rise and the wave of “rage giving” that fueled them two years ago has subsided. Abortion funds, which have operated across the U.S. for decades, in many cases as volunteer groups, ramped up their capacity fast after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, ending a national right to abortion. Donations rolled in from supporters who saw the groups as key to maintaining abortion access as most Republican-controlled states implemented bans. The expansion of the funds and increasing access to abortion pills are major reasons the number of abortions has risen slightly despite bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy in 14 states and after about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant, in another four. But the funds have found that even with record budgets, it’s not enough to fill all the gaps between the cost of obtaining abortions and what women seeking them can afford as they have to travel farther for legal procedures. The National Abortion Federation, which helps people seeking abortions across the country, used to cover half the cost of the abortion for callers who couldn’t afford it. Since July, it’s pulled back to 30%. Brittany Fonteno, the organization’s president and CEO, said the allocations had to be cut because of the rising demand and costs — even though the fund has a record $55 million budget this year. “We’re at the point now where we know that people who are most impacted by funding shifts — and by abortion bans which have caused the funding shifts — are the people who can least afford to be kept away from care,” Fonteno said. “And that includes people of color, younger people, immigrants and people with lower incomes.” Other groups have also imposed limits on aid to keep from exhausting their funds.

[reasonsforhope]

"The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, has announced plans to ban political donations from state elections, paving the way for nation-leading electoral reforms.

The state’s electoral amendment bill announced on Wednesday [June 12, 2024] night will ban electoral donations and gifts to registered political parties, members of parliament and candidates. The state will provide funding to allow parties and candidates to contest elections, run campaigns and promote political ideas.

Malinauskas said his bill would put South Australia on the “cusp of becoming a world leader in ending the nexus between money and political power”.

“We want money out of politics. We know this is not easy. These reforms may well face legal challenge,” Malinauskas said.

“But we are determined to deliver them, with this bill to be introduced in the parliament in the near future.”

In a subtle challenge to his federal and state counterparts, the premier told Guardian Australia he thought it was “something that democracies everywhere should be pursuing”.

The Albanese government pledged to introduce spending and donation caps, and truth in political advertising laws, as revealed by Guardian Australia after the 2022 federal election and confirmed by a parliamentary inquiry that reported last July.

The special minister of state, Don Farrell, said last month an agreement between the major parties and the crossbench had not yet been reached. An amendment bill is still expected by the middle of the year.

In order to level the playing field for newly created parties and independent candidates, the South Australia bill will allow candidates to receive donations up to $2,700, although they will remain subject to campaign spending caps.

Those spending caps have been set at $100,000, multiplied by the number of candidates up to a maximum of $500,000.

If the bill is passed, a registered political party will be entitled to a one-off payment of $200,000 before 31 August 2026. Whichever is lower out of $700,000 or the number of party members of parliament multiplied by $47,000 will also be given to parties for operational funding.

Membership fees will be allowed to continue but will be capped at $100 or less a year.

To deter attempts to circumvent the proposed changes, a maximum penalty of $50,000 or 10 years’ imprisonment will apply.

The guide acknowledges the proposal would lead to a rise in the cost of South Australia’s electoral system, but says a tightening of expenditure and party registration rules will keep costs to a minimum.

The Albanese government is under crossbench pressure to introduce electoral reforms before the next federal election.

Lower house independents, including Kate Chaney, Zali Steggall, the Greens, David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe and the Jacqui Lambie Network, joined forces to introduce a bill for fair and transparent elections in March [2024].

The bill contained a suite of reforms including truth-in-political advertising, a ban on donations from socially harmful industries including fossil fuels, and tightening the definition of gifts to capture major party fundraisers, including dinners and business forums."

-via The Guardian, March 18, 2024

[amesliu]

*all prices are unlikely to but can change

PRE ORDERS OPEN: JAN/FEB 2025

WHATS NEW

The shop will be operating on Ko-Fi instead of BigCartel

SPBH has slightly smaller dimensions for production reasons

International shipping is available (but expensive)

There will be stock available for purchase after preorders are closed

SHIPPING PRICES

Shipping prices listed are approximate. Canadian shipping costs are varied based on distance from BC. For non-USA/Canada residents, a spreadsheet with more precise pricing can be found here

Because shipping out of Canada is incredibly expensive, preorders are typically packed and then driven cross-border to be shipped out of Washington in order to take advantage of lower costs.

Items ordered after preorders will need to be shipped directly out of Canada and shipping prices will be approximately 25-50% more. (except items shipping within Canada).

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Amazon’s financial shell game let it create an “impossible” monopoly

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in TUCSON (Mar 9-10), then San Francisco (Mar 13), Anaheim, and more!

For the pro-monopoly crowd that absolutely dominated antitrust law from the Carter administration until 2020, Amazon presents a genuinely puzzling paradox: the company's monopoly power was never supposed to emerge, and if it did, it should have crumbled immediately.

Pro-monopoly economists embody Ely Devons's famous aphorism that "If economists wished to study the horse, they wouldn’t go and look at horses. They’d sit in their studies and say to themselves, ‘What would I do if I were a horse?’":

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/27/economism/#what-would-i-do-if-i-were-a-horse

Rather than using the way the world actually works as their starting point for how to think about it, they build elaborate models out of abstract principles like "rational actors." The resulting mathematical models are so abstractly elegant that it's easy to forget that they're just imaginative exercises, disconnected from reality:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/03/all-models-are-wrong/#some-are-useful

These models predicted that it would be impossible for Amazon to attain monopoly power. Even if they became a monopoly – in the sense of dominating sales of various kinds of goods – the company still wouldn't get monopoly power.

For example, if Amazon tried to take over a category by selling goods below cost ("predatory pricing"), then rivals could just wait until the company got tired of losing money and put prices back up, and then those rivals could go back to competing. And if Amazon tried to keep the loss-leader going indefinitely by "cross-subsidizing" the losses with high-margin profits from some other part of its business, rivals could sell those high margin goods at a lower margin, which would lure away Amazon customers and cut the supply lines for the price war it was fighting with its discounted products.

That's what the model predicted, but it's not what happened in the real world. In the real world, Amazon was able use its access to the capital markets to embark on scorched-earth predatory pricing campaigns. When diapers.com refused to sell out to Amazon, the company casually committed $100m to selling diapers below cost. Diapers.com went bust, Amazon bought it for pennies on the dollar and shut it down:

https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/13/18563379/amazon-predatory-pricing-antitrust-law

Investors got the message: don't compete with Amazon. They can remain predatory longer than you can remain solvent.

Now, not everyone shared the antitrust establishment's confidence that Amazon couldn't create a durable monopoly with market power. In 2017, Lina Khan – then a third year law student – published "Amazon's Antitrust Paradox," a landmark paper arguing that Amazon had all the tools it needed to amass monopoly power:

https://www.yalelawjournal.org/note/amazons-antitrust-paradox

Today, Khan is chair of the FTC, and has brought a case against Amazon that builds on some of the theories from that paper. One outcome of that suit is an unprecedented look at Amazon's internal operations. But, as the Institute for Local Self-Reliance's Stacy Mitchell describes in a piece for The Atlantic, key pieces of information have been totally redacted in the court exhibits:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/02/amazon-profits-antitrust-ftc/677580/

The most important missing datum: how much money Amazon makes from each of its lines of business. Amazon's own story is that it basically breaks even on its retail operation, and keeps the whole business afloat with profits from its AWS cloud computing division. This is an important narrative, because if it's true, then Amazon can't be forcing up retail prices, which is the crux of the FTC's case against the company.

Here's what we know for sure about Amazon's retail business. First: merchants can't live without Amazon. The majority of US households have Prime, and 90% of Prime households start their ecommerce searches on Amazon; if they find what they're looking for, they buy it and stop. Thus, merchants who don't sell on Amazon just don't sell. This is called "monopsony power" and it's a lot easier to maintain than monopoly power. For most manufacturers, a 10% overnight drop in sales is a catastrophe, so a retailer that commands even a 10% market-share can extract huge concessions from its suppliers. Amazon's share of most categories of goods is a lot higher than 10%!

What kind of monopsony power does Amazon wield? Well, for one thing, it is able to levy a huge tax on its sellers. Add up all the junk-fees Amazon charges its platform sellers and it comes out to 45-51%:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/25/greedflation/#commissar-bezos

Competitive businesses just don't have 45% margins! No one can afford to kick that much back to Amazon. What is a merchant to do? Sell on Amazon and you lose money on every sale. Don't sell on Amazon and you don't get any business.

The only answer: raise prices on Amazon. After all, Prime customers – the majority of Amazon's retail business – don't shop for competitive prices. If Amazon wants a 45% vig, you can raise your Amazon prices by a third and just about break even.

But Amazon is wise to that: they have a "most favored nation" rule that punishes suppliers who sell goods more cheaply in rival stores, or even on their own site. The punishments vary, from banishing your products to page ten million of search-results to simply kicking you off the platform. With publishers, Amazon reserves the right to lower the prices they set when listing their books, to match the lowest price on the web, and paying publishers less for each sale.

That means that suppliers who sell on Amazon (which is anyone who wants to stay in business) have to dramatically hike their prices on Amazon, and when they do, they also have to hike their prices everywhere else (no wonder Prime customers don't bother to search elsewhere for a better deal!).

Now, Amazon says this is all wrong. That 45-51% vig they claim from business customers is barely enough to break even. The company's profits – they insist – come from selling AWS cloud service. The retail operation is just a public service they provide to us with cross-subsidy from those fat AWS margins.

This is a hell of a claim. Last year, Amazon raked in $130 billion in seller fees. In other words: they booked more revenue from junk fees than Bank of America made through its whole operation. Amazon's junk fees add up to more than all of Meta's revenues:

https://s2.q4cdn.com/299287126/files/doc_financials/2023/q4/AMZN-Q4-2023-Earnings-Release.pdf

Amazon claims that none of this is profit – it's just covering their operating expenses. According to Amazon, its non-AWS units combined have a one percent profit margin.

Now, this is an eye-popping claim indeed. Amazon is a public company, which means that it has to make thorough quarterly and annual financial disclosures breaking down its profit and loss. You'd think that somewhere in those disclosures, we'd find some details.

You'd think so, but you'd be wrong. Amazon's disclosures do not break out profits and losses by segment. SEC rules actually require the company to make these per-segment disclosures:

https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3524&context=lawreview#:~:text=If%20a%20company%20has%20more,income%20taxes%20and%20extraordinary%20items.

That rule was enacted in 1966, out of concern that companies could use cross-subsidies to fund predatory pricing and other anticompetitive practices. But over the years, the SEC just…stopped enforcing the rule. Companies have "near total managerial discretion" to lump business units together and group their profits and losses in bloated, undifferentiated balance-sheet items:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/public-purpose/publications/2021/dec/crouching-tiger-hidden-dragons

As Mitchell points you, it's not just Amazon that flouts this rule. We don't know how much money Google makes on Youtube, or how much Apple makes from the App Store (Apple told a federal judge that this number doesn't exist). Warren Buffett – with significant interest in hundreds of companies across dozens of markets – only breaks out seven segments of profit-and-loss for Berkshire Hathaway.

Recall that there is one category of data from the FTC's antitrust case against Amazon that has been completely redacted. One guess which category that is! Yup, the profit-and-loss for its retail operation and other lines of business.

These redactions are the judge's fault, but the real fault lies with the SEC. Amazon is a public company. In exchange for access to the capital markets, it owes the public certain disclosures, which are set out in the SEC's rulebook. The SEC lets Amazon – and other gigantic companies – get away with a degree of secrecy that should disqualify it from offering stock to the public. As Mitchell says, SEC chairman Gary Gensler should adopt "new rules that more concretely define what qualifies as a segment and remove the discretion given to executives."

Amazon is the poster-child for monopoly run amok. As Yanis Varoufakis writes in Technofeudalism, Amazon has actually become a post-capitalist enterprise. Amazon doesn't make profits (money derived from selling goods); it makes rents (money charged to people who are seeking to make a profit):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/28/cloudalists/#cloud-capital

Profits are the defining characteristic of a capitalist economy; rents are the defining characteristic of feudalism. Amazon looks like a bazaar where thousands of merchants offer goods for sale to the public, but look harder and you discover that all those stallholders are totally controlled by Amazon. Amazon decides what goods they can sell, how much they cost, and whether a customer ever sees them. And then Amazon takes $0.45-51 out of every dollar. Amazon's "marketplace" isn't like a flea market, it's more like the interconnected shops on Disneyland's Main Street, USA: the sign over the door might say "20th Century Music Company" or "Emporium," but they're all just one store, run by one company.

And because Amazon has so much control over its sellers, it is able to exercise power over its buyers. Amazon's search results push down the best deals on the platform and promote results from more expensive, lower-quality items whose sellers have paid a fortune for an "ad" (not really an ad, but rather the top spot in search listings):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/29/aethelred-the-unready/#not-one-penny-for-tribute

This is "Amazon's pricing paradox." Amazon can claim that it offers low-priced, high-quality goods on the platform, but it makes $38b/year pushing those good deals way, way down in its search results. The top result for your Amazon search averages 29% more expensive than the best deal Amazon offers. Buy something from those first four spots and you'll pay a 25% premium. On average, you need to pick the seventeenth item on the search results page to get the best deal:

https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/3645/

For 40 years, pro-monopoly economists claimed that it would be impossible for Amazon to attain monopoly power over buyers and sellers. Today, Amazon exercises that power so thoroughly that its junk-fee revenues alone exceed the total revenues of Bank of America. Amazon's story – that these fees barely stretch to covering its costs – assumes a nearly inconceivable level of credulity in its audience. Regrettably – for the human race – there is a cohort of senior, highly respected economists who possess this degree of credulity and more.

Of course, there's an easy way to settle the argument: Amazon could just comply with SEC regs and break out its P&L for its e-commerce operation. I assure you, they're not hiding this data because they think you'll be pleasantly surprised when they do and they don't want to spoil the moment.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/01/managerial-discretion/#junk-fees

Image: Doc Searls (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/docsearls/4863121221/

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

[hsmagazine254]

Choosing The Right Fuel: Diesel vs. Petrol vs. Electric

Navigating the Fuel Landscape: A Comparative Analysis When it comes to choosing the right fuel for your vehicle, the options can be overwhelming. In this article, we’ll provide a comprehensive analysis of the pros and cons of diesel, petrol, and electric vehicles to help you make an informed decision. Diesel Vehicles 1. Fuel Efficiency Diesel engines are known for their superior fuel efficiency,…

[redtsundere-writes]

Part 12: Apprentices

King!SukunaRyomen x Servant!FemReader

Summary: You used to be just another servant among the army of humans operating under the command of the terrible king, Sukuna Ryomen. An ordinary human who only knows how to wash, clean and cook. Until one day, he notices something in you that you hadn't seen before.

Tags: MDNI. +18. Murder. Blood. Cannibalism. Sukuna Ryomen Is The Warning Itself. Nudity. Sexual Display. Vaginal. Fingering.Sometimes fluff, sometimes angst.

Word Count: 4881 words.

Beginning. | ← Previous | Next →

Your gaze fixed on the target. The curse holding it was walking from side to side in a straight line as it mocked your poor aim. Practicing with the curses still wreck your nerves as not being used to seeing them as equals. They were supernatural beings that killed humans for hunger or simple fun, the main enemy in your universe. They were grotesque, mean and rude to all servants, constantly threatening that they would have been eaten already if it wasn't for King Sukuna. He is the one who decides when and how much the curses under his charge eat. Living in the castle of the great man-eating tyrant was like a rabbit living in a cage with hundreds of tigers. 

Your arms tensed as you drew the bowstring taut. The feather at the end of the arrow tickled your fingers, tempting them to let go. It was your first time practicing with moving targets. You took a deep breath before your fingers let go of the string. The arrow swam like a salmon against the current until it stuck against the top of the target’s perimeter. You lowered the bow with an exasperated sigh. 

“It was a good shot,” Kenjaku, who was supervising today’s training, cheered you on as he applauded your attempt. 

“I don't need it to be good, I need it to be perfect,” you took another arrow out of the quiver. 

You loaded the weapon and looked for the easiest target to hit from your position,  noticing the curse approaching the center of your field of vision. You reviewed the advice Sukuna had given you in your previous lessons. As you remembered his soft purr against your ear, his beefy body next to yours, his breath against your cheek and his hands covering yours. He always caused you to lose your concentration, sabotaging your attempts to focus by projecting memories of their times together into your mind. You were beginning to miss him as your teacher. 

It had been a couple of weeks since Sukuna told you that Yorozu would be his new sorcerer's apprentice. You faked surprise even though you had overheard their conversation and you were dying of worry inside. Your head was filled with all the possible scenarios where everything could go wrong. Being the older sister, your priority was to protect Yorozu at any cost. You had to make sure she ate well, slept in a comfortable place and that Sukuna didn't kill her at the slightest provocation. Luckily, you could watch your little sister practice her new skills from the library window while you studied. You had to be careful, though. If Kenjaku caught you distracted, he would hit you over the head with whatever he had in his hand to get your attention back. 

You found Yorozu's powers fascinating. From what little you had picked up of her cursed technique, she could recreate any object she knew. Sukuna began her training by showing her the various weapons in his possession for her to recreate with the help of her cursed energy. They then went on to observe various insects and birds to test if she could recreate animal materials. She could. You almost fainted the first time you saw her grow a pair of firefly wings between her shoulder blades. She was getting more powerful every day and it scared you.

Even though Yorozu was emasculating and foolish, Sukuna could not afford to waste her abilities. A sorceress with a technique so powerful that she was willing to serve him was good, too good to be true. During her lessons, he had dedicated himself to analyzing her movements and every word she uttered to decipher what she wanted from him. He knew that human interactions are based on transactions. Communication, buying and selling, democracy, almost everything they have built is based on I give you something so that you give me something in return. Yorozu could appear to be happy serving him, but he knew perfectly well that it was a facade to get something.

You hated the idea of Sukuna being close to your sister. It bothered you to see them so close when the king was correcting her posture when it came to wielding a sword or inspecting her new creations. The thought of him taking advantage of her or hurting her in any way drove you crazy. You didn't want her to go through what you went through in your early days at the castle. Psychological, physical and verbal humiliation from a tyrant was something you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy, much less your little sister. Luckily, it didn't seem to be like that... for now. If Sukuna even thought of laying a finger on her, you'd make him pay.

The very thought of him being near her at all times, of him holding her hip, or of his voice being as gentle as it was with you caused you a discomfort you had never felt before. The next thing you knew, your fingers were no longer holding the arrow. The arrow flew along with your dark thoughts. You barely realized what you were feeling. Your body froze for a second until the arrow slammed into the head of the curse holding the target. 

The curse staggered from the impact, but quickly regained its balance and yanked the foreign object out of its skull. You were shocked to see what you had done. You hurt a curse that was helping you. When you were about to apologize for your terrible mistake, the curse growled at you in annoyance as its skull regenerated by its reverse curse technique. It looked at you with a "If you do that again, I'm going to kill you" face. It was only restrained by the fact that Sukuna had ordered them not to mess with you. 

“That one wasn't so bad,” Kenjaku smiled at you so you wouldn't feel bad about hurting someone by accident. 

“I didn't mean to,” you replied sadly. 

“A little more meaning and you'll be ready to kill someone,” Kenjaku joked, but you didn't laugh. The fact that he saw death as a joke bothered you, but you had learned to tolerate it. “Let's take a break, what do you say?” Your teacher changed the subject immediately upon noticing your discomfort.

You took off your quiver and gloves while your teacher told the curses to take a break. As we reached the coldest days of winter, Sukuna had gotten you a fur cloak so you could practice outdoors without dying of hypothermia. You put on the plush hat and wrapped yourself in the cloak as if it were a blanket. It wasn't that cold today, but the material was so soft you just wanted to rub your face on it. 

You laid the equipment on the table as you watched Kenjaku carefully. He was a strange creature. Even though you knew he was a body invaded by a curse, you weren't afraid of him like Sukuna or Uraume. It helped that he had the body of a really attractive man. His long dark hair reminded you of the same night you see through the window. His traditional clothes were always ironed and moved delicately. His sharp, yet radiant eyes were what caught your attention the most, they looked full of life for someone dead. 

“Tell me about yourself,” you asked him as if you were asking him to tell you a bedtime story. 

“What do you want to know?” Kenjaku asked you, turning his attention back to you. 

“Whose body are you possessing?” 

“Don't you recognize it?” Your master raised an eyebrow in surprise. 

“Should I?” He let out a loud laugh. 

“Right. Sometimes I forget that you come from humble beginnings.” He loved to emphasize to you the abysmal difference in class between you. “The person in front of you is King Suguru Geto.” 

You knew that name perfectly. Like King Satoru, he was a highly sought-after king among the nation's single women. After the death of King Geto, his handsome son had to take over the kingdom earlier than planned. He was rumored to be a kind-hearted, powerful man and had a brilliant mind as the only kingdom to have a direct relationship with the Gojo kingdom. Your mother went on and on about how much she wanted one of her daughters to marry him. You could only shake your head at her delusions. "As if we could get close to him" you thought amusedly. 

“Is this man King Suguru Geto?” You asked, still trying to process that you were in front of the corpse of a king. 

“It was,” Kenjaku said with a mocking smile. 

“Did you kill him?” You asked even more surprised. 

When King Suguru was killed, the news spread like wildfire among the villages. All you knew was that he was found dead of poisoning on the morning of the fifth anniversary of his coronation. His death had become quite a mystery, as he had no enemy kingdoms and was in good health the night before. 

“I wish. I took over his body before they wanted to revive him,” Kenjaku replied. 

“It is a pity that you died, your majesty,” you said as you bowed to him. 

“There is no need to call me that, miss. Suguru Geto died years ago,” Kenjaku clarified, uncomfortably, at the bow. 

“I believe the bodies are sacred. It’s the temple we live with all our lives and it is the memory we leave of our existence,” you explained. “Humans deserve respect, even if they are no longer here.”

You learned that when your father died. Your mother was so deep in her mourning that she didn't even want to get out of bed for the small funeral they had planned. You and Yorozu were the ones in charge of burying your father with tears falling on the ground, while Nanako and Mimiko picked flowers to place on his grave. The weight on your heart did not compare to the weight of the incomplete body as they placed him in his makeshift coffin, a wooden box they had built with rusty nails. 

Your father passed away one night on his way home from work. He was walking through the tall grasses under the dark sky, excited to get home to see his family. The night was so dark that he never saw the group of curses stalking behind him coming. They pounced on him and did not hesitate to eat him alive. According to neighbors who lived nearby, the cries of pain and pity were so loud that they woke them up. When the neighbors arrived with torches and guns, your father was no longer breathing. 

Your poor father was missing his legs, arms and part of his torso, but still, they moved his body carefully as if he were whole. Despite his tragic and unexpected death, your father deserved a decent funeral even though they didn't have much money. Among his entire family, they placed the coffin in the grave they had dug while a neighbor sang a ballad about his life. His wife and daughters did not keep their feelings in the minute of silence. Maybe he wasn’t the most brilliant, rich nor exceptional man, but he will be missed and they won't forget about him. 

“Humans and curses have something in common,” Kenjaku approached you so you could look him in the eye. “Our bodies may rot and turn to dust, but our souls always live on.” 

“Really?” You asked. 

“I assure you,” Kenjaku took your cheek to caress it with his thumb in an attempt to comfort you. 

Even though Sukuna was a ridiculously giant curse, he was a master of vigilance. Unbeknownst to you, he was always watching you. Whether it was with his own eyes or through one of his curses, he knew what you were doing and with whom every moment of the day. Today was no exception. He clenched his fist as he saw how close Kenjaku was to you. They should be practicing as he had instructed, not fondling you in broad daylight. Luckily, you had arrived at the right time to stop him. He walked out of the castle with Yorozu following him like a well-behaved duckling to where they were to stop the scene. 

“Why the fuck aren't you practicing?” Sukuna scolded Kenjaku with a fierce roar. Seeing him, he and you bowed at his arrival. 

“She had been practicing for an hour. Rest is important so as not to wear out the muscles of humans,” Kenjaku explained without a weight of guilt. Sukuna looked at you, there was no trace of guilt on your face either. "I'll let it go this time," he thought in annoyance. 

“Sister, look at the dress the king got me! Isn't it pretty?” Yorozu approached you. 

She opened the black cloak that covered her from the cold to show the white dress that Sukuna had commissioned Uraume to make for her practices. It had long sleeves, tied at the waist with a long ribbon and the skirt came below her knees so she could move freely. It wasn't as elegant or complicated as yours, but it was better than the maid's uniform. 

“It is very nice. Our king has very good taste,” you said as you saw your sister happy about her new garment. 

Yorozu has loved dresses for as long as you can remember. The delicate fabric, the pretty beading, the interesting designs and how the skirt moves on the dance floors. You remembered the birthday when your father gave her a set of crayons that was incomplete, she got so excited that she started running and screaming all over the house. Since then, you used to see her sitting at the small desk you shared, drawing her own designs. She was the reason her mother spent money on dresses. Yorozu would promise her that if she bought her one, she would flirt with the richest man at the ball. She never did, playing with her mother’s narcissist feelings.

“The king told me that if I behave well, I can have a dress as beautiful as yours. Isn't that right, my king?” Yorozu said before returning to Sukuna to hug him by the arm. 

Your left eye twitched when she approached him with such confidence. You could never do something like that, afraid the king would take it the wrong way. You didn't understand how Yorozu could be so trusting as to act so naturally. 

“I'll get you one when you prove you deserve it,” Sukuna said reluctantly because she was touching him without his permission. 

Training Yorozu turned out to be more complicated than he thought it would be. She was a completely different girl from you, more so than he thought. She was shrill, distracted, and sometimes more cloying than chocolate ice cream. You wanted to push her against the ground like you used to, but this time you held back the urge because you were right in front of them. Yorozu squealed with delight at the response. 

“Today I want Yorozu to learn how to use a bow,” Sukuna explained. “I want you to show me how much you have learned in this time that I have not been training you.” He turned to you, that only made you feel more nervous. 

“I think it's an excellent idea. The best method of study is teaching,” Kenjaku commented. 

“This is going to be so much fun!” Yorozu squealed excitedly. You just nodded complacently. 

The first stage of the training was for Yorozu to create her own archery equipment. This would be of great help to them in the future. In case you were in the middle of an invasion, the moment you ran out of arrows, Yorozu could create more easily. She took your bow to examine it closely. Her black eyes examined its elements and details with utmost care, memorizing each part to perfection. Her hands molded to the wooden body and her fingers felt the thickness of the string. You had never seen Yorozu so focused in your life. 

She handed the bow back to you to generate her own from her own hands. It was the first time you had seen her power at such close quarters. The wood, the strong string and the feathers of the arrows began to emerge from a strange energy emanating from her. It was a wonderful power if it could create anything. She could fix what was broken or help those in need. There were endless possibilities that Yorozu had at her fingertips. It was a shame that she had decided to use her power to hurt others. 

Your sister ended up with a stronger and sturdier bow than yours that she had customized herself. The wood looked of better quality and the arrows had purple feathers to distinguish them from yours, which were white. Yorozu showed the king her new creation with a proud smile. You may not have agreed that she would fight for the king, but the important thing was that she was happy. 

The afternoon passed slowly as you taught Yorozu everything you had learned so far. You taught her the correct T-position, how to release the arrow correctly and how to hit as close to the center as possible. Sukuna and Kenjaku were watching from a considerable distance, they could hear all the advice that both of them had given you in the last weeks. 

Sukuna was proud that you had really memorized everything he had taught you. He was beginning to see the leader within you come to the surface. Just as he had planned, but this was only the beginning. There were many more things you had to learn. All at its time. 

After an hour of basic archery class, Yorozu was ready to aim on her own. She loaded the bow, held the arrow in a T-position and looked at the target as you had taught her. She released the arrow with force and missed the target. She missed once, twice, three... so many times to the point that she got fed up and broke the bow in half with the help of her knee. Kenjaku looked at her in grief, while Sukuna grabbed his forehead in disappointment. You approached your sister to calm her down. 

“Take it easy. It's a skill that takes practice,” you told her with a smile to cheer her up, just like Kenjaku sometimes did with you. 

“I need motivation.” Yorozu said before creating another bow with her cursed technique. That's when she got a great idea. “Let's hold a competition. Whoever hits the target closest wins.” She encouraged you. This sparked the interest of the teachers that were looking at them. 

“Sounds like fun,” You told her excitedly. This would be like playing with her again like they used to do when you were kids. 

“Let's bet something to make it more interesting,” Yorozu said excitedly. 

“I like that idea.” You thought of something you wanted from her. “If I win, I want you to give me a foot massage,” you told her with a wicked little smile. 

“Ew, gross.”

Sukuna smiled to himself to see you laughing and joking like that. It was a side he never thought he would see up close. Being a large, carnivorous curse, those below him on the food chain feared him with good reason. He was so used to seeing you cry, suffer and beg for your lives that he had forgotten that you can also rejoice, thrill and be passionate. I had completely forgotten that you were once a free girl with a say who tells jokes, plays with her sisters and enjoys cooking for her family. He would like to see you more like that, to be the real you without being afraid of him.

Unfortunately, if Sukuna wanted to achieve his goals, he had to keep your leash short. You had to be the perfect wife so that you would become the perfect mother that his future heir would need to become a strong leader. There was no time for the foolish things humans like to do. Sukuna's face returned to its serious countenance. 

“But if I win..." Yorozu thought out loud until she hyper-focused on what you were wearing. “I want your dress.” She dared you with her dark eyes. 

You weren't sure you could do that. Underneath your fur cloak, there was a sky blue dress with beautiful gems encrusted on the chest that flowed down to the skirt. It was one of the dresses Sukuna had given you. You couldn't give away something as precious as that. 

“The king gave it to me. I can't give it to you, choose another prize,” you said to Yorozu while looking at Sukuna. 

“Oh, come on! I've seen you wear seven different dresses in the last week! I don't think our dear king will mind if you give me one, right?” Yorozu looked at Sukuna with sad puppy dog eyes. 

You really liked that dress. It was the one that best accentuated your body of all the ones you had. It had hanging sleeves that allowed you to archery comfortably. All the other dresses were nice, but that one was your favorite. You looked at Sukuna as if you were asking him to say no.

“Bet it,” Sukuna finally spoke. You and Kenjaku were surprised at how easily he had agreed. 

“You are the best, my king!” Yorozu shouted happily. “Let's begin.” She shook your hand to start the competition. 

Being the one who had been practicing the longest, you went first. You saw the still target 50 meters away from you. You took a deep breath as you got into position. It was perfect. You pulled the arrow all the way under your chin. It was perfect. Your fingertips barely tensed the string as you drew the invisible trajectory. It would be a perfect shot. You could feel it. Finally, you released the string and the arrow traveled at full speed until it hit the top perimeter of the yellow center. It was as close as you've ever come to hitting the bullseye. 

“Good job, miss!” Kenjaku congratulated you as he clapped like a proud father. Sukuna just analyzed the target. It wasn't a perfect shot, but it was very close to it. 

“Not bad,” Yorozu said competitively as he positioned himself in front of the target. “Now watch and learn,” She smiled wickedly. She was up to something. 

She placed the arrow on the bow and did exactly what you did. Everything rigorously as you had dictated during the lesson. You analyzed what she did in case you could give her any advice. Yorozu was confident that she would win. Once she had the center in her sights, she made the arrow and bow increase in size under her fingers with the help of her technique. You recoiled as you noticed the drastic change. Unable to cope with the new weight of your weapon, she released the arrow to lower the bow as quickly as possible. You followed the arrow's journey with your eyes as your mouth opened at the tremendous impact, destroying the straw target completely. 

“Well, I think there is a clear winner,” Yorozu looked at you with malice. 

“It's not fair. You used your technique,” you said annoyed. 

“You never forbade me,” Yorozu declared. “Now, don't be a sore loser and give me my prize.” She raised her hand to you.

“Now?!” You groaned as you slammed your cloak shut. Yorozu nodded energetically. 

The blush of embarrassment crept up your cheeks. It was embarrassing, but you had accepted the deal. It hurt to give up that dress, but at least Yorozu would have something nice to wear, just like you. You closed the cloak and reached for the ribbons that tied it behind your back to get rid of the dress that wrapped around you. Luckily you were wearing a corset and a white bottom, so you wouldn't be naked. You jumped out of the dress and gave it to her. 

“Yay!” Yorozu shouted excitedly.

She yanked off her white dress, revealing that she was completely naked underneath. Kenjaku and you watched in horror, while Sukuna simply looked away. He really hated to see her naked during practice, so he forced her to at least put on a haori.

“Why aren't you wearing any underwear!” You scolded her, embarrassed. 

“Why are you wearing underwear?” Yorozu asked, playing it down as she put on the new dress. 

She pulled the dress up from the neckline and then put on the sleeves. She tied it in the back as best she could on her own and modeled it to her sister. It fit her...just fit her. She didn't quite fill out the bust, the sleeves swam, and it was tight around her waist. Some parts were tight, while others were too big. She could wear it, but it just didn't look right. 

“How do I look, my king? Don't I look beautiful?” Yorozu asked Sukuna as he modeled the dress for her. He analyzed her for a second.

“I ordered that dress especially for your sister, it is custom made for her,” Sukuna explained when he saw that it did not fill the bust. “It is unique and unrepeatable," Sukuna said as he looked at you. 

You closed the cloak over your chest at those words. Even though you knew he was talking about the dress, a part of you wanted to think that he was dedicating those words to you. Your cheeks reddened at the thought of something out of your imagination. Kenjaku noticed your embarrassment and thought you were embarrassed about being in too little clothing. Quickly, he approached you. 

“Put this on, miss," he said as he took off his yukata. 

You blushed more when you saw the splendid body the late king was hiding. Slim, but well-defined arms, smooth biceps and abs you could carve clothes on. Your lips parted slightly in shock. This was your first time seeing a shirtless man. 

Sukuna was annoyed at the scene he was seeing. Kenjaku was too close to you again, too close for his liking. "Is this how he usually treats her when I'm not around? I should increase my vigilance," he wondered as he watched the scene with disdain. 

As Kenjaku was about to put the yukata over your shoulders, his arms came off his body in the blink of an eye. You were stunned for a second before you could comprehend what on earth had happened. Your mind was awakened when you heard the thud of his arms crashing against the grass, still holding the yukata. Sukuna approached you, pushing Kenjaku by the torso away from you. 

He picked up the garment and draped it over your shoulders. You didn't know what to say about it. Sometimes his actions lacked logic and you found it hard to understand. His thick, clawed fingers brushed against your skin as he helped you tuck your arms into the sleeves. His hands traveled gently to your waist to tie the bow that closed the yukata. He was acting like a fairy tale prince...well, minus the fact that he cut off someone's arms to do it. You could only thank him with a whisper that only he could hear. 

Yorozu squeezed the skirt of her dress tightly, not intending to hide her jealousy. Why was Sukuna treating the woman who didn't want to marry him so tenderly? It wasn't fair. If she had arrived at the castle earlier, he would be in love with her, not you.

Kenjaku watched the scene intently as his arms slowly regenerated. On one hand, he had a spoiled sister who wanted the king's attention. On the other hand, he had the sister who had no idea what was going on. And last but not least, a jealous king who hasn't realized he's jealous. “I think I can do something about this,” he thought.

“Training is over today,” Sukuna grumbled before walking back to the castle at a quick pace to pretend nothing had happened, leaving you with your heart in your hand.

“Yes, my king,” Yorozu, Kenjaku and you said at the same time along with a farewell bow, each in their own world of thoughts.

“Sis, I’ll give you your dress back for a foot massage,” Yorozu told you reluctantly once Sukuna entered the castle.

“Deal,” you said with a smile, happy to have the dress you loved so much back.

“Shit, shit, shit…” Sukuna scolded himself as he walked through the castle halls, hiding his reddish face in shame for letting his emotions get the better of him. It was a good thing the servants feared him, because he didn’t want to talk to anyone. He locked himself in his office with a slam and leaned back in his chair. If he closed his eyes, he could still see your eyes looking up at him in disbelief as he felt your warm skin beneath his cloak. He brushed his hair back in exasperation. “What the fuck is going on?” he thought.

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[queerliblib]

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[clinicse]

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[mariacallous]

BERLIN — A German court has ruled that an 85-year-old woman and her son who live in a property sold under duress by its Jewish owners in 1939 must give up their home.

The ruling earlier this month capped a decade of legal wrangling over the home, located in Wandlitz, outside Berlin. For many paying attention to the twists and turns, the fight over the lakeside property came to symbolize the pain and turmoil of nearly a century of history — as well as the ways in which German families tell themselves complicated stories about their role during the Holocaust. It has also surfaced lingering resentments, some of them clearly antisemitic, about Germany’s efforts to repay Jews for its crimes against them.

The Wandlitz estate is likely one of the last property restitution cases to be adjudicated in Germany, as virtually all looted or “aryanized” property has already gone through the restitution process or been lost to history, with no one left to claim it. The deadline to file property claims passed decades ago.

The case centers on an estate, located in a bucolic area about 20 miles from central Berlin, that functioned in the 1930s as a summer retreat for an orphanage operated by two Jewish women, Alice Donat and Helene Lindenbaum. To comply with Nazi laws meant to expropriate Jewish wealth, they sold the land, complete with a structure in poor condition, to Felix Moegelin in 1939 for 21,100 Reichsmarks, a relative pittance.

Moegelin had to sign the statement “I am Aryan,” while the two women had to sign that they were Jewish according to the Nuremberg Laws of 1935.

The original house was torn down and eventually replaced, and Moegelin and his family settled in on Wegener Street. Donat and Lindenbaum were deported from Berlin by the Nazis in 1943 and murdered.

Today, Moegelin’s granddaughter, Gabriele Lieske, 85, still lives in the house with her son, Thomas Lieske, 61. They dug in their heels after a lower court ruled last year that they must give up the property or pay for it. Located in the suburbs of Berlin, where real estate is hot, the property is worth about $1.6 million today.

Now, the property will be seized by the state and transferred to the Conference of Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, the legal successor to unclaimed Jewish property in the former East Germany. No living heirs to the murdered owners were ever identified.

“I spent my whole life in the house and looked after my parents,” Gabriele Lieske said after the ruling, according to local media. “We don’t know where to go.”

The case drew national attention earlier this year after it was profiled in the prominent German newsmagazine Spiegel just after International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It vaulted back into public view this month when the Lieskes ran out of legal runway to appeal their case.

Seeking compensation, the Lieskes’ Munich-based lawyer, Raffael Nath, invoked a legal loophole that allows the German government to provide some payment to current owners who paid for rather than inherited the property from the original buyer who “Aryanized” the property. He argued that Gabriele Lieske actually did not inherit the property from her mother, Luise Moegelin. Instead, he asserted, Lieske purchased it in 1993 through an arrangement in which she would provide care for her aging parent and cover all the upkeep costs. Her mother died in 2012 at the age of 99.

The judge was not persuaded.

Gideon Taylor, the president of the Claims Conference, said media attention to the case was misplaced. “What the judge did was completely unremarkable,” he said, adding, “This is established principal in law that has been in place since the end of the war. A forced sale is not valid and that which was taken must be returned.”

Whether and when the Lieskes will move out is not clear. The Claims Conference has offered to let Gabriele Lieske remain as a tenant in her childhood home for the rest of her life.

Nath said in an interview earlier this year that Gabriele Lieske had turned down the offer because it would have come with an obligation to pay rent, and her son would not be allowed to live there after her death.

But no terms of a tenancy have been negotiated, Taylor said. “We are certainly willing to work out an arrangement with the family,” he emphasized.

Still, he noted that German law is clear about whether looted property can be inherited. “Where, as here, an Aryanizer took over Jewish property, it does not get passed to the heirs of the Aryanizer,” he said earlier this year.

The Wandlitz case is one of the last of its kind. Holocaust survivors, their heirs or the Claims Conference have received compensation or restitution for thousands of properties in Germany, starting in the west after the war, and in the east after unification.

A few cases are still pending, 79 years after the end of World War II. But some will never be heard, according to restitution lawyer Olaf Ossmann.

“So many families didn’t even start cases in the post-war period” because the legal hurdles and burdens of proof were so daunting, said Ossmann, who was born in Leipzig, Germany, and now lives in Winterthur, Switzerland, where he is president of the Jewish community. The task, he said, was “so depressing, in a way, that they stopped.”

In all, in the last 33 years, Ossmann estimates he has handled some 3,000 property cases — some for prominent German Jewish families, but mostly owners of smaller properties.

Ossmann, who today handles mostly looted art cases, still gets calls from people who found documents from their parents or grandparents and can’t make sense of them. “Fair and just” compensation is not really possible, he said. “The proper term I’m using normally is ‘the best you can get for the moment.’”

Very little is known about the two Jewish women who ran the children’s home. According to the Stolpersteine (Stumbling Block) memorial project, Alice Donat was born in 1898 in Vienna to Robert and Anna Donat, and had two sisters and a brother. She studied education in Berlin and later ran the private kindergarten and Jewish children’s home with Helene Lindenbaum. The two women purchased the property in 1932, according to the district court decision handed down in September 2023.

In his memoir, the late Emanuel Berger, an orphan who resided in the home and who survived the Holocaust, described Donat as loving and strict; she taught the children to sing and dance to her piano accompaniment.

Even less is known about Helene Lindenbaum, other than that she was born in 1888 in Berlin and was married.

When the women sold their property in 1939, about half the payment went to cover their mortgage. It is doubtful that they ever benefited from the rest, as the district court pointed out in its decision last year: A 1938 decree from the Reich and Prussian economics minister stressed the need to “secure Jewish assets” to prevent Jews from fleeing Germany with their money.

According to the Stolpersteine report, Lindenbaum and her husband, who is not named, were to be deported to Theresienstadt in 1943; they volunteered to go on the transport to Auschwitz with the two children from the orphanage, Emanuel Berger and his brother Erwin, but Alice Donat would not hear of it. Instead, Donat stayed with the two boys; they were deported together to Auschwitz in March 1943. Alice Donat and Erwin Berger were murdered in the gas chamber; Emanuel was selected for slave labor and survived.

Helene Lindenbaum, and presumably her husband, were deported from Berlin to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in March 1943, and from there to Auschwitz in October 1944, where Helene was murdered.

In the former East Germany, the process of restitution began after unification in 1990, when a two-year period of claims opened. Where no heirs came forward or were found, the Claims Conference submitted claims as successor at the end of 1992.

In 1998 the Claims Conference finally determined exactly which plot of land had belonged to Donat and Lindenbaum, according to Nath, the Lieskes’ lawyer.

That was when the German government could have informed the Lieskes of the claim, and barred them from selling, Nath said. He added, “Why it took another 17 or 18 years for them to inform the family, we don’t know.”

The Lieskes first learned from the government about the Claims Conference application in 2015, Nath said. They contested it. The court heard the case last September.

Gabriele Lieske told Spiegel magazine she’d rather die than leave the property. Her son felt the same. After all, they said, what happened was not their fault, but a twist of fate — one that ignored the family’s own history of having sheltered Jewish relatives during the war years.

Those relatives were Felix Moegelin’s niece, Margarete, and her daughter Irene, who was born in 1937. Margarete’s Jewish mother, Felix’s sister-in-law, was murdered in the Holocaust, according to the Yad Vashem database. Irene’s father was deported to Minsk and was likely murdered either in a mass shooting or by asphyxiation with motor exhaust fumes.

Meanwhile, as Gabriele Lieske recalls, her grandparents sheltered Margarete and Irene in Wandlitz. In an email to JTA, Lieske recalled that they “hid from the Nazis with us. Irene and I played together in the garden.” The extended family fled together when the Soviets took the area in the spring of 1945, but eventually returned, she said. Eventually, “Aunt Margarete and Irene moved back to Berlin.”

Documents at the Arolsen Archive indicate that Margarete and Irene both emigrated to the United States.

Gabriele Lieske only remembers her aunt and cousin visiting one more time, after the Berlin Wall went up in 1961: Margarete and Irene — then with a newborn child — visited Margarete’s sister Ella in Berlin. Irene’s husband also visited once, Gabriele Lieske said.

The Lieske family’s character, if this story proves it, was not relevant to the legal case, according to last year’s court ruling. “The fact put forward by the plaintiffs that the buyer hid a Jewish citizen on his property and thus saved her from the Nazis’ attacks has no connection with the purchase contract of February 8, 1939, and is therefore irrelevant here,” the court said.

Though no one has blamed the Lieske family for what their forefather did, several readers of the Spiegel article, at least, saw the legal process as unfair punishment.

“Can you still blame families if they live in such houses for the umpteenth generation?” asked one reader on the social media platform X. “Maybe without knowing how their ancestors got the house?”

Some have stood up for the Jewish victims. “If you accept an inheritance, you also accept the debts,” said one commenter on X, referring to German law, which transfers both assets and liabilities to heirs.

“Of course it’s bad for the current residents of the house, but in the end it doesn’t belong to them,” said another. “It never belonged to them. It was stolen — ripped from people’s cold, dead hands. Who wants to live in something like that anyway?”

(Another Wandlitz property burdened by the Holocaust, the opulent former estate of Third Reich propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, is on the market now. The German government, which owns it, has been unable to find anyone to assume ownership even for free.)

Some Spiegel readers suggested that Jews were inappropriately profiting from the Holocaust. “That’s almost 90 years,” one wrote. “It has to end at some point.”

Ossmann said the tendency of the German public to portray those who benefitted from the looting as the victims had always been a problem. Roughly two decades ago, he recalled, German citizens physically attacked journalists who were reporting on a restitution case. The reporters barricaded themselves inside a supermarket “to avoid being beaten to death,” Ossmann said.

The anger and resentment felt by some descendants of “Aryanizers” doesn’t fade, he said. But “if you take the perspective of the [original] victim, you would easily understand that it didn’t make a difference what you lost first or last, if you lost it by sale or confiscation or by whatever means,” he said. “Because at the end you lost everything.”

The Claims Conference uses most proceeds from sales of unclaimed Jewish property to help Holocaust survivors in need with medicine, food and home care. It recently determined that there were 245,000 survivors still alive around the world.

One German commentator, the columnist Gunnar Schupelius, recently cited them in his assessment of the Wandlitz case.

“The Lieske family feels that the return is an injustice. It is really hard for them. But what happened is what happened,” he wrote. “We who are alive today are not to blame for the genocide of the Jews, but we should take care of the survivors and their descendants. That is only fair.”

Taylor urged an interpretation of the case that is divorced from broader debates about the lengths Germany goes to atone for the Holocaust.

“This is not about compensation from the German government and how much should be given to Holocaust survivors,” he said. “It’s about a fundamental principle of German law, never mind morality or justice. And nobody has challenged that.”

[15-lizards]

ASOIAF modern AU class/wealth distinctions bc in the wise words of Mod Sam from the Inn at The Crossroads Discord: “i love modern aus where theyre like oh yeah the lannisters are filthy rich and here's the starks, piling into a minivan to go to public school. they would not fucking do that”

Lannisters: Private jets and COO/CEO/CFO positions at the family company and plain white tshirts that cost $5000. 1% of the 1%. They’re the Roys we already know this no need to elaborate.

Starks: they’re a rugged type of Minnesota/North Dakota/Wyoming wealth. Land rich. Own ranches and mining operations and oil drilling companies. Ppl think they’re normal bc they look like average farmers until they get a tour of their 300,000 acres and private mountain. Seem down to earth but grew up breeding ranch horses, don’t really understand what a car note is, and Nedcat paid for all the starklings college apartments. Also wear normal looking vests and ranching jeans and boots that cost absurd amounts

Tyrells: masters at the “quiet wealth” bullshit. Wayyyy older money compared to the Lannisters, and aren’t aggressive/scrappy like them bc of it. Literal aristocracy like lords or barons or some shit. Multiple residences, family tradition of politics, and loads of passive income. Maybe run a newspaper or two and own some global shipping companies bc of their merchant roots or whatever. Margaery was at one of those international debutante balls for the ubër-wealthy.

Tullys: Not as rich as the Tyrells or Lannisters but still nothing to scoff at. Not upper middle class but more like lower rungs of the upper class. Family tradition of sending all the kids to boarding school (that’s where Lysa got pregnant 🙂‍↕️) and they have some nice yachts and the like. Have one really nice permanent house on the river, a summer house upstate, and an apartment in the city. Normal enough to blend in with most people at their school. Also made their money thru shipping lanes.

Martells: Southern oil barons. Nymeria emigrated over and immediately discovered oil on her apparently shitty piece of land. Thousands of acres dedicated to drilling and cattle ranching. Awful for the environment but greenwash the fuck out of their business. Good at being a man of the ppl despite literally being in the one percent. Very publicly donate to progressive charities and causes to offset the backlash they get from pay the people who work for them slave wages. People stan them on Twitter because they’re hot and not like other billionaires.

Baratheons: slightly newer money but old enough to have no excuse to act the way they do. Loud annoying displays of wealth. Made their fortune mostly because they were good at being overly aggressive when it came to the stock market or sales or smthn idk what they do. Robert buys an egregious house in Florida where him and some other rich repulsive republicans do Labor Day weekend on their yachts with women they paid to be there. Absolutely terrible at saving their money (except Stannis and kinda Renly) and quite literally have to have their accounts frozen by their investment bankers. Actively going bankrupt.

Greyjoys: Not even rich anymore. Had a sizable shipping company at one point before they got poached bought out by the Lannisters. Also they engaged in too much tax fraud and embezzlement so now no one wants to touch them with a ten foot pole. Still live in their dilapidated cliffside house that’s literally ab to crumble into the sea. Theon got to live with the Starks bc once the Greyjoys got audited Ned felt bad.

Targaryens: REAL old money that stretches back like at least 500 years. Have had multiple income sources over the years and almost all of it is blood money of some kind and extracted through violence :) Giant ass portraits of their ancestors in their multiple residences, they all speak Valyrian at home, and they don’t even go to school it’s just private tutors. Obscene wealth that isn’t even fathomable to most people. Famously bred race horses and hunting dogs for a while until there was some familial infighting about ownership of the racetracks and stables and that collapsed. Got audited and investigated twenty years ago and Aerys just killed himself instead of going to jail.