.......for those who have passed...the most angering issue we have about vulnerable social issues that most of the trauma, the suffering, the deaths including those taking their own lives, is predictable therefore avoidable.
KAMPALA, Uganda - A prominent Ugandan gay rights activist whose picture was published by an anti-gay newspaper next to the words "Hang Them" was bludgeoned to death. Police said Thursday his sexual orientation had nothing to do with the killing and that one "robber" had been arrested.
Activists were outraged over the death of David Kato, an advocacy officer for the gay rights group Sexual Minorities Uganda. His slaying comes after a year of stepped up threats against gays in Uganda, where a controversial bill has proposed the death penalty for some homosexual acts.
Kato, who had received multiple threats, was found with serious wounds to his head caused by an attack with a hammer at his home late Wednesday in Uganda's capital, Kampala. Kato later died on the way to the hospital.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and colleagues," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said. "We urge Ugandan authorities to quickly and thoroughly investigate and prosecute those responsible for this heinous act. David Kato tirelessly devoted himself to improving the lives of others.
Human Rights Watch called for an urgent investigation, saying that Kato's work as a prominent gay rights campaigner had previously seen him face threats to his personal safety.
"David Kato's death is a tragic loss to the human rights community," said Maria Burnett, senior Africa researcher at HRW. "David had faced the increased threats ... bravely and will be sorely missed."
A Ugandan tabloid newspaper called Rolling Stone listed a number of men they said were homosexuals last year, including Kato. Kato's picture was published on the front page, along with his name and a headline that said "Hang Them."
Kato and two other gay activists sued Rolling Stone over claims that it had violated their constitutional rights to privacy and won the case earlier this month. A judge issued an injunction banning the publication of the identities and personal details of alleged homosexuals.
A police spokesman, Vincent Sekatte, said Kato was killed by robbers who have so far killed more than 10 people in that area in the past two months. He said there was no indication the death was connected to any anti-homosexual sentiment. Kato was hit by a hammer that has been recovered by police, Sekatte said.
Police arrested one suspect, a driver for Kato, Sekatte said. A second suspect is being hunted. That suspect had been hired as a house helper and had recently been released from prison, Sekatte said.
Kato's lawyer told The Associated Press on Thursday that his client had become noticeably more worried about his safety in the wake of the Rolling Stone publication.
"He was conscious that something could happen," said John Francis Onyango.
Family, friends and neighbours gathered to mourn at Kato's house on Thursday. Several women lay on the floor of the living room. The room where he had been killed was closed off by the police. A funeral is planned for Friday.
"I feel very lonely," said John Mulumba Wasswa, Kato's older twin brother. "My brother was a very brave person, very courageous."
Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda and gay men and women face regular harassment. The controversial bill introduced in 2009 and still before the country's parliament would see the death penalty introduced for certain homosexual acts. The bill prompted international condemnation and hasn't come up for a vote
Human Rights Watch called on the Ugandan government to offer gay people in the country sufficient protection.
In a statement, the group said that witnesses had told police that Kato was hit twice on the head by an unknown assailant who had been spotted entering his property. The assailant was then seen leaving by vehicle, the statement said.
Frank Mugisha, the chairman of Sexual Minorities Uganda, said he has asked religious and political leaders and media outlets to stop demonizing sexual minorities in Uganda.
"Across the entire country, straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex Ugandans mourn the loss of David, a dear friend, colleague, teacher, family member and human rights defender," said Mugisha.
The introduction of the anti-homosexual bill in 2009 followed a conference in Kampala that was attended by American activists who consider same-gender relationships sinful. The U.S. evangelicals believe gays and lesbians can become heterosexual through prayer and counselling. Some gay Ugandans still resent that American intervention.
"David's death is a result of the hatred planted in Uganda by U.S evangelicals in 2009," said Val Kalende, a Ugandan gay rights activist. "The Ugandan government and the so-called U.S evangelicals must take responsibility for David's blood."
With humane service delivery and compassionate policies and educated and healthy public servants the quality of life of the vulnerable inherently increases to that of a civilized standard we can all be proud of.
Please take the moment in respectful silence for those who have passed....then take many moments in unsilent outrage for those who needlessly died in poverty...casualties of welfare...casualties of classism, casualties of fragging, casualties of corrupt, illegal , unethical and /or inhumane government practices...
casualties...
casualties...
~~~~~~
HUMANITY- sorely missed by those who are victims of the nefarious, unmonitored and oppressive strategies and practices of government, public servants, elected officials and those who enable them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum: www.en.auschwitz.org.pl/m/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Auschwitz decays, prompts preservation effort
Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum: www.en.auschwitz.org.pl/m/
OSWIECIM, Poland - The red brick barracks that housed starving inmates are sinking into ruin. Time has warped victims' leather shoes into strange shapes. Human hair sheared to make cloth is slowly turning to dust.
Auschwitz is crumbling — the world's most powerful and important testament to Nazi Germany's crimes falling victim to age and mass tourism. Now guardians of the memorial site are waging an urgent effort to save what they can before it is too late.
Officials last week intensified a global campaign to raise 120 million euros (US$165 million) to create a "perpetual fund" whose interest can be drawn on indefinitely to repair barracks, watchtowers, crematoria and other structures at the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum and memorial in southern Poland.
The Nazis opened Auschwitz soon after invading Poland in 1939, the act that triggered the Second World War, using it first as a concentration camp for Poles and political prisoners. As they implemented a plan to exterminate Europe's Jews, Gypsies and others, they built the neighbouring death camp of Birkenau.
The Germans ended up transporting people in cattle cars from across the continent to the death camp in the heart of Europe, and murdered at least 1.1 million in gas chambers or through other acts of barbarity.
Museum director Piotr Cywinski made an emotional appeal for help during ceremonies last week marking the 66th anniversary of the camp's liberation by Soviet troops, as he launched the fundraising campaign. Called "Intervene Now," the campaign's message has been spread on Facebook, in newspapers and elsewhere.
"There are no more remains of Treblinka, Kulmhof, Sobibor and Belzec," Cywinski said, referring to extermination camps that the Nazis destroyed in an effort to hide their crimes. "Let us not allow the biggest of these death camps — and the only one that is still recognizable — to fall into decay due to the ravages of time and our indifference."
The efforts have gotten a big boost with a donation of 60 million euros ($82 million) from a still repentant Germany. Together with pledges from the United States (12 million euros), Austria (six million euros) and smaller amounts from other countries, the fund has now raised 80 million euros — about two-thirds of what is needed. Now officials are also calling on individuals worldwide and more governments to help with the new campaign launched last week.
The museum plans to start putting the money to use with a massive effort in 2012 to save 45 brick barracks at Birkenau where freezing, starving women once piled together onto hard wooden bunks before being worked or gassed to death.
Just a few years ago, visitors could enter all of the barracks. Today only four can be viewed in the best weather conditions, as marshy ground and tourism take their toll. Even those in the best shape have badly buckled floors strewn with loose bricks, walls that are cracked and roofs held up by damp wooden beams.
"We really can't wait any longer," Cywinski said in an interview. "In 10 years, these will be ruins."
Part of the challenge comes from the fact that the barracks and other structures at Auschwitz were built in a rush during the war to serve a murderous purpose and were never made to last. Add to that the pressure of modern tourism: the site drew nearly 1.4 million visitors last year — triple the number in 2001.
Tourism has increased as Poland, formerly a communist nation behind the Iron Curtain, has been transformed into an economically vibrant member of the European Union. Budget flights now bring in tourists to nearby Krakow from all over Europe.
But the growing interest also stems from the iconic role that Auschwitz holds in Holocaust memory — a fact underlined by the many people visiting not just from Europe, Israel and the U.S., but also from as far away as South Korea and Japan.
"A visit to Auschwitz is more than just a visit to a memorial," said Paul Shapiro, director of the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
The Germans blew up gas chambers and burned warehouses at Auschwitz as the Red Army moved in, but their retreat was made in chaos and they did not manage to destroy everything. Today many original structures still stand, making the site a powerful visual testament to the crimes committed there.
It also helps people today understand what happened at places like Treblinka and Belzec, extermination sites that the Germans completely destroyed. Today those are marked only by memorials.
"You can actually picture the full horror of what happened there," Shapiro said. "You can picture what took place in the death camps that were built by the Third Reich."
With time against them, conservation experts in white lab coats and gloves work in modern laboratories at Auschwitz to save what they can. Recently, brown leather shoes were laid out on a table as experts worked with great care to undo some of the deformity wrought by time.
In one room, a woman used a state-of-the-art machine to scan a massive trove of SS papers. In another, a worker photographed pieces of the "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign — the notorious and ironic slogan meaning "Work Sets You Free" which spanned the entrance gate at Auschwitz. It was stolen in December 2009 and cut into pieces before police tracked it down and arrested the thieves. So vandalism, too, is taking its toll.
The preservation department is staffed by many young, highly trained people, many of whom began their studies thinking they would one day restore art masterpieces. Instead, they find themselves grappling with questions like how to preserve toothbrushes and other everyday objects from the early 20th century that are almost never the object of meticulous preservation work.
The driving philosophy of the work is, above all, to protect authenticity and do no harm. In practice, this means preserving Auschwitz as it was at war's end, when the Germans had just bombed the crematoria and gas chambers before the Red Army moved in.
It also means accepting that not everything can be saved.
The human hair, shaved from victims' heads and recycled into cloth, will be allowed to decay completely. Today one of the most moving exhibits at Auschwitz is an enormous mound of hair shaved from the victims. Once, the hair was of various colours, but it has since turned into a mostly mangled mass of grey, with only an odd blond strand or braid standing out.
Cywinski said that to intervene and try to save the hair would amount to a "brutal and morally unjustified disturbance" of these human remains, and all that can be done is to keep them in conditions will help them last as long as possible.
Auschwitz is crumbling — the world's most powerful and important testament to Nazi Germany's crimes falling victim to age and mass tourism. Now guardians of the memorial site are waging an urgent effort to save what they can before it is too late.
Officials last week intensified a global campaign to raise 120 million euros (US$165 million) to create a "perpetual fund" whose interest can be drawn on indefinitely to repair barracks, watchtowers, crematoria and other structures at the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum and memorial in southern Poland.
The Nazis opened Auschwitz soon after invading Poland in 1939, the act that triggered the Second World War, using it first as a concentration camp for Poles and political prisoners. As they implemented a plan to exterminate Europe's Jews, Gypsies and others, they built the neighbouring death camp of Birkenau.
The Germans ended up transporting people in cattle cars from across the continent to the death camp in the heart of Europe, and murdered at least 1.1 million in gas chambers or through other acts of barbarity.
Museum director Piotr Cywinski made an emotional appeal for help during ceremonies last week marking the 66th anniversary of the camp's liberation by Soviet troops, as he launched the fundraising campaign. Called "Intervene Now," the campaign's message has been spread on Facebook, in newspapers and elsewhere.
"There are no more remains of Treblinka, Kulmhof, Sobibor and Belzec," Cywinski said, referring to extermination camps that the Nazis destroyed in an effort to hide their crimes. "Let us not allow the biggest of these death camps — and the only one that is still recognizable — to fall into decay due to the ravages of time and our indifference."
The efforts have gotten a big boost with a donation of 60 million euros ($82 million) from a still repentant Germany. Together with pledges from the United States (12 million euros), Austria (six million euros) and smaller amounts from other countries, the fund has now raised 80 million euros — about two-thirds of what is needed. Now officials are also calling on individuals worldwide and more governments to help with the new campaign launched last week.
The museum plans to start putting the money to use with a massive effort in 2012 to save 45 brick barracks at Birkenau where freezing, starving women once piled together onto hard wooden bunks before being worked or gassed to death.
Just a few years ago, visitors could enter all of the barracks. Today only four can be viewed in the best weather conditions, as marshy ground and tourism take their toll. Even those in the best shape have badly buckled floors strewn with loose bricks, walls that are cracked and roofs held up by damp wooden beams.
"We really can't wait any longer," Cywinski said in an interview. "In 10 years, these will be ruins."
Part of the challenge comes from the fact that the barracks and other structures at Auschwitz were built in a rush during the war to serve a murderous purpose and were never made to last. Add to that the pressure of modern tourism: the site drew nearly 1.4 million visitors last year — triple the number in 2001.
Tourism has increased as Poland, formerly a communist nation behind the Iron Curtain, has been transformed into an economically vibrant member of the European Union. Budget flights now bring in tourists to nearby Krakow from all over Europe.
But the growing interest also stems from the iconic role that Auschwitz holds in Holocaust memory — a fact underlined by the many people visiting not just from Europe, Israel and the U.S., but also from as far away as South Korea and Japan.
"A visit to Auschwitz is more than just a visit to a memorial," said Paul Shapiro, director of the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
The Germans blew up gas chambers and burned warehouses at Auschwitz as the Red Army moved in, but their retreat was made in chaos and they did not manage to destroy everything. Today many original structures still stand, making the site a powerful visual testament to the crimes committed there.
It also helps people today understand what happened at places like Treblinka and Belzec, extermination sites that the Germans completely destroyed. Today those are marked only by memorials.
"You can actually picture the full horror of what happened there," Shapiro said. "You can picture what took place in the death camps that were built by the Third Reich."
With time against them, conservation experts in white lab coats and gloves work in modern laboratories at Auschwitz to save what they can. Recently, brown leather shoes were laid out on a table as experts worked with great care to undo some of the deformity wrought by time.
In one room, a woman used a state-of-the-art machine to scan a massive trove of SS papers. In another, a worker photographed pieces of the "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign — the notorious and ironic slogan meaning "Work Sets You Free" which spanned the entrance gate at Auschwitz. It was stolen in December 2009 and cut into pieces before police tracked it down and arrested the thieves. So vandalism, too, is taking its toll.
The preservation department is staffed by many young, highly trained people, many of whom began their studies thinking they would one day restore art masterpieces. Instead, they find themselves grappling with questions like how to preserve toothbrushes and other everyday objects from the early 20th century that are almost never the object of meticulous preservation work.
The driving philosophy of the work is, above all, to protect authenticity and do no harm. In practice, this means preserving Auschwitz as it was at war's end, when the Germans had just bombed the crematoria and gas chambers before the Red Army moved in.
It also means accepting that not everything can be saved.
The human hair, shaved from victims' heads and recycled into cloth, will be allowed to decay completely. Today one of the most moving exhibits at Auschwitz is an enormous mound of hair shaved from the victims. Once, the hair was of various colours, but it has since turned into a mostly mangled mass of grey, with only an odd blond strand or braid standing out.
Cywinski said that to intervene and try to save the hair would amount to a "brutal and morally unjustified disturbance" of these human remains, and all that can be done is to keep them in conditions will help them last as long as possible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ugandan gay activist slain after photo published
Activists were outraged over the death of David Kato, an advocacy officer for the gay rights group Sexual Minorities Uganda. His slaying comes after a year of stepped up threats against gays in Uganda, where a controversial bill has proposed the death penalty for some homosexual acts.
Kato, who had received multiple threats, was found with serious wounds to his head caused by an attack with a hammer at his home late Wednesday in Uganda's capital, Kampala. Kato later died on the way to the hospital.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and colleagues," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said. "We urge Ugandan authorities to quickly and thoroughly investigate and prosecute those responsible for this heinous act. David Kato tirelessly devoted himself to improving the lives of others.
Human Rights Watch called for an urgent investigation, saying that Kato's work as a prominent gay rights campaigner had previously seen him face threats to his personal safety.
"David Kato's death is a tragic loss to the human rights community," said Maria Burnett, senior Africa researcher at HRW. "David had faced the increased threats ... bravely and will be sorely missed."
A Ugandan tabloid newspaper called Rolling Stone listed a number of men they said were homosexuals last year, including Kato. Kato's picture was published on the front page, along with his name and a headline that said "Hang Them."
Kato and two other gay activists sued Rolling Stone over claims that it had violated their constitutional rights to privacy and won the case earlier this month. A judge issued an injunction banning the publication of the identities and personal details of alleged homosexuals.
A police spokesman, Vincent Sekatte, said Kato was killed by robbers who have so far killed more than 10 people in that area in the past two months. He said there was no indication the death was connected to any anti-homosexual sentiment. Kato was hit by a hammer that has been recovered by police, Sekatte said.
Police arrested one suspect, a driver for Kato, Sekatte said. A second suspect is being hunted. That suspect had been hired as a house helper and had recently been released from prison, Sekatte said.
Kato's lawyer told The Associated Press on Thursday that his client had become noticeably more worried about his safety in the wake of the Rolling Stone publication.
"He was conscious that something could happen," said John Francis Onyango.
Family, friends and neighbours gathered to mourn at Kato's house on Thursday. Several women lay on the floor of the living room. The room where he had been killed was closed off by the police. A funeral is planned for Friday.
"I feel very lonely," said John Mulumba Wasswa, Kato's older twin brother. "My brother was a very brave person, very courageous."
Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda and gay men and women face regular harassment. The controversial bill introduced in 2009 and still before the country's parliament would see the death penalty introduced for certain homosexual acts. The bill prompted international condemnation and hasn't come up for a vote
Human Rights Watch called on the Ugandan government to offer gay people in the country sufficient protection.
In a statement, the group said that witnesses had told police that Kato was hit twice on the head by an unknown assailant who had been spotted entering his property. The assailant was then seen leaving by vehicle, the statement said.
Frank Mugisha, the chairman of Sexual Minorities Uganda, said he has asked religious and political leaders and media outlets to stop demonizing sexual minorities in Uganda.
"Across the entire country, straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex Ugandans mourn the loss of David, a dear friend, colleague, teacher, family member and human rights defender," said Mugisha.
The introduction of the anti-homosexual bill in 2009 followed a conference in Kampala that was attended by American activists who consider same-gender relationships sinful. The U.S. evangelicals believe gays and lesbians can become heterosexual through prayer and counselling. Some gay Ugandans still resent that American intervention.
"David's death is a result of the hatred planted in Uganda by U.S evangelicals in 2009," said Val Kalende, a Ugandan gay rights activist. "The Ugandan government and the so-called U.S evangelicals must take responsibility for David's blood."
RESPONSE:What a crying shame.......Einstein tells us those who are about advancing our species are persecuted, assassinated, impoverished and incarcerated, they/we are threat to the status quo who seeks to destroy all things intelligent and humane
_____________ Memorial recalls plight of Jews fleeing Nazis
MICHAEL MACDONALD
HALIFAX - It is a gleaming monument intended to shed light on one of the darkest chapters of Canadian history.
The Wheel of Conscience, designed by renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, will be unveiled Thursday at Pier 21, Canada's immigration museum in Halifax.
The cylindrical steel sculpture memorializes Canada's shameful decision in 1939 to turn away a steamship carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. The luxury liner, MS St. Louis, was forced to sail back to Europe, where about 250 of its passengers later died in the Holocaust.
Libeskind has said the central elements of the imposing mechanical sculpture are four spinning gears, symbolic of the guts of a ship's engine and "a cynical bureaucracy."
The words hatred, racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism appear on the face of each gear, with an image of the St. Louis in the background. The shiny cylinder is surrounded by the map of the world showing the ship's route.
"The gears ... provide the mechanism to move the wheel in the vicious circle that brought tragedy to so many lives and shame to Canada," Libeskind says on his website.
The son of Holocaust survivors in Poland, Libeskind is best known as the master planner behind the ambitious 2003 proposal to create a row of cascading office towers to replace the World Trade Centre complex destroyed by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001.
The architect also designed Berlin's Jewish Museum, the Imperial War Museum in Manchester, England and the expansion of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, among other high-profile projects.
The Halifax sculpture was commissioned by the Canadian Jewish Congress after Citizenship and Immigration Canada set aside about $500,000 for the monument and an education program that includes a national, bilingual curriculum for high school students.
Bernie Farber, CEO of the congress, says the memorial brings the enormity of the Holocaust into sharp focus.
"Here we have an opportunity to take a small story out of a very large and tragic event — a story that people can relate to," Farber said in an interview. "On this boat were representatives of all walks of Jewish life: young children, teenagers, lovers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters."
Canada's Jewish lobby had campaigned since the late 1980s to create a permanent reminder of a human rights tragedy that came to symbolize the world's indifference to Nazi Germany's escalating violence against Jews.
Farber says the story presents a poignant contrast to Canada's enduring reputation as a country that has long welcomed immigrants to its shores.
"History is fluid that way. There are peaks and valleys. There were times when Canada was open and there were times when Canada was not just closed, it was closed because of shear and utter hatred. That's what this story tells us."
The doomed voyage of the St. Louis started May 15, 1939, when the ship left its home port in Hamburg, Germany, destined for what the passengers thought was a safe haven in Cuba.
But when the Hamburg-America Line ship arrived at Havana on May 30, Cuban authorities denied entry to all but a few, prompting some desperate passengers to attempt suicide.
Two days later, after several failed attempts to secure safe passage to another Latin American port, the ship was forced to leave Cuba.
U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt dispatched a coast guard gunboat to ensure the St. Louis could not be purposely run aground on the American coast.
As the plight of the exiles started making headlines in Canada, a group of 40 academics and religious leaders sent a telegram to Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, requesting he grant the refugees sanctuary in Canada.
"They begged the government of the day to take heed on Jewish refugees fleeing for their lives," said Farber, whose predecessor at the congress, Samuel Bronfman, led the effort.
"And we weren't the only ones. In United States, the New York Times wrote an incredible editorial begging for their lives. That, too, was ignored."
As for King, he was in Washington at the time, preoccupied with a visit to North America by King George. He left the matter to his under-secretary of state for foreign affairs, Oskar Douglas Skelton, then the acting prime minister.
According to archival records, Skelton consulted with Ernest Lapointe, the justice minister, and Frederick Charles Blair, the immigration director. Both men were opposed to letting the refugees enter Canada as the St. Louis waited at the approaches to Halifax harbour.
In a telegram to King, Skelton cites Canada's strict immigration rules before mentioning that Lapointe was "emphatically opposed" to offering asylum to the Jews.
With nowhere else to go, the ship steamed back to Europe, where the governments of Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands offered temporary shelter. The following year, Hitler's invading troops would soon track down many of those remaining in continental Europe.
"Refuge Denied," a book published in 2006, painstakingly tracked the St. Louis passengers after they left the ship and found that about a third died in Western Europe at the hands of German occupiers.
The Canadian government's historical attitude toward Jewish immigrants was exposed in 1982 by Irving Abella's book, "None is Too Many.''
Abella found correspondence in the archives from Blair that exposed the depth of official anti-Semitism at the time of the St. Louis incident.
"The attempt of Jews to get into Canada reminds me a good deal of what I have seen on the farm at hog-feeding time when they are all trying to get their feet into the trough at the same time," Blair wrote a fellow official at External Affairs in May 1941.
The Wheel of Conscience, designed by renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, will be unveiled Thursday at Pier 21, Canada's immigration museum in Halifax.
The cylindrical steel sculpture memorializes Canada's shameful decision in 1939 to turn away a steamship carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. The luxury liner, MS St. Louis, was forced to sail back to Europe, where about 250 of its passengers later died in the Holocaust.
Libeskind has said the central elements of the imposing mechanical sculpture are four spinning gears, symbolic of the guts of a ship's engine and "a cynical bureaucracy."
The words hatred, racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism appear on the face of each gear, with an image of the St. Louis in the background. The shiny cylinder is surrounded by the map of the world showing the ship's route.
"The gears ... provide the mechanism to move the wheel in the vicious circle that brought tragedy to so many lives and shame to Canada," Libeskind says on his website.
The son of Holocaust survivors in Poland, Libeskind is best known as the master planner behind the ambitious 2003 proposal to create a row of cascading office towers to replace the World Trade Centre complex destroyed by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001.
The architect also designed Berlin's Jewish Museum, the Imperial War Museum in Manchester, England and the expansion of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, among other high-profile projects.
The Halifax sculpture was commissioned by the Canadian Jewish Congress after Citizenship and Immigration Canada set aside about $500,000 for the monument and an education program that includes a national, bilingual curriculum for high school students.
Bernie Farber, CEO of the congress, says the memorial brings the enormity of the Holocaust into sharp focus.
"Here we have an opportunity to take a small story out of a very large and tragic event — a story that people can relate to," Farber said in an interview. "On this boat were representatives of all walks of Jewish life: young children, teenagers, lovers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters."
Canada's Jewish lobby had campaigned since the late 1980s to create a permanent reminder of a human rights tragedy that came to symbolize the world's indifference to Nazi Germany's escalating violence against Jews.
Farber says the story presents a poignant contrast to Canada's enduring reputation as a country that has long welcomed immigrants to its shores.
"History is fluid that way. There are peaks and valleys. There were times when Canada was open and there were times when Canada was not just closed, it was closed because of shear and utter hatred. That's what this story tells us."
The doomed voyage of the St. Louis started May 15, 1939, when the ship left its home port in Hamburg, Germany, destined for what the passengers thought was a safe haven in Cuba.
But when the Hamburg-America Line ship arrived at Havana on May 30, Cuban authorities denied entry to all but a few, prompting some desperate passengers to attempt suicide.
Two days later, after several failed attempts to secure safe passage to another Latin American port, the ship was forced to leave Cuba.
U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt dispatched a coast guard gunboat to ensure the St. Louis could not be purposely run aground on the American coast.
As the plight of the exiles started making headlines in Canada, a group of 40 academics and religious leaders sent a telegram to Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, requesting he grant the refugees sanctuary in Canada.
"They begged the government of the day to take heed on Jewish refugees fleeing for their lives," said Farber, whose predecessor at the congress, Samuel Bronfman, led the effort.
"And we weren't the only ones. In United States, the New York Times wrote an incredible editorial begging for their lives. That, too, was ignored."
As for King, he was in Washington at the time, preoccupied with a visit to North America by King George. He left the matter to his under-secretary of state for foreign affairs, Oskar Douglas Skelton, then the acting prime minister.
According to archival records, Skelton consulted with Ernest Lapointe, the justice minister, and Frederick Charles Blair, the immigration director. Both men were opposed to letting the refugees enter Canada as the St. Louis waited at the approaches to Halifax harbour.
In a telegram to King, Skelton cites Canada's strict immigration rules before mentioning that Lapointe was "emphatically opposed" to offering asylum to the Jews.
With nowhere else to go, the ship steamed back to Europe, where the governments of Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands offered temporary shelter. The following year, Hitler's invading troops would soon track down many of those remaining in continental Europe.
"Refuge Denied," a book published in 2006, painstakingly tracked the St. Louis passengers after they left the ship and found that about a third died in Western Europe at the hands of German occupiers.
The Canadian government's historical attitude toward Jewish immigrants was exposed in 1982 by Irving Abella's book, "None is Too Many.''
Abella found correspondence in the archives from Blair that exposed the depth of official anti-Semitism at the time of the St. Louis incident.
"The attempt of Jews to get into Canada reminds me a good deal of what I have seen on the farm at hog-feeding time when they are all trying to get their feet into the trough at the same time," Blair wrote a fellow official at External Affairs in May 1941.
RESPONSE:
Thank you Libeskind for finally telling the truth about the passively polite Canadians.I takes a lot of maturity to speak it, it takes as much to hear it, it takes as much to own it.....thank you for this wonderful bittersweet monument of humanity and the lack thereof..
Fairfax wanted to touch lives
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you Libeskind for finally telling the truth about the passively polite Canadians.I takes a lot of maturity to speak it, it takes as much to hear it, it takes as much to own it.....thank you for this wonderful bittersweet monument of humanity and the lack thereof..
~~~~~~~~~
Fairfax wanted to touch lives
Pastor remembered for dedication to helping people
|
 "Among his long list of accomplishments, Rev. Donald Fairfax was a founding member of the Black Cultural Centre near Dartmouth.")
Rev. Donald Edward Fairfax, a religious leader, educator and member of the Order of Canada, has died at 90.
Pastor at Victoria Road United Baptist Church in Dartmouth from 1947 to 1997, Fairfax was a former principal at Nelson Whynder Elementary School in North Preston and two-time moderator of the African United Baptist Association of Nova Scotia.
The father of six also served as the first black president of the board of directors of the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children, which has named a chapel in his honour.
Fairfax also worked at the Nova Scotia Hospital in Dartmouth for 25 years.
His long list of affiliations and the boards he served on include the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, the Nova Scotia Mental Health Association, the Children’s Aid Society of Nova Scotia and Nova Scotia Legal Aid.
His church operated one of the first food banks in the Halifax area and was the first home of the Dartmouth Preschool Association.
Fairfax was also a founding member of the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia near Dartmouth and a source of strength and guidance for Henry Bishop, the centre’s chief curator and director.
"He created a foundation for us as young employees to set the standard high," said Bishop, who met the pastor when he started working at the centre when it opened in 1983.
"He was a very strong advocate of justice and fairness, and that was an indication to me he was a man of God and wanted the best for anyone in any circumstance. I sought counsel from him many times for difficult decisions I had to make."
Bishop said the pastor had a great presence about him.
"He was very dignified and had a sense of calmness about him. That was an attraction for a lot of people in dire needs or in stressful situations."
Born in Cherry Brook, Fairfax was also an acclaimed singer who studied and taught voice at the Halifax Conservatory of Music.
He was awarded honorary degrees from Acadia University in Wolfville and Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, as well as the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal.
Early in his teaching career, he was selected to tour black schools in 10 states south of the border, reporting his findings to the provincial Education Department Rev. Cheryl Beals, now the minister at Victoria Road United Baptist Church, said Fairfax will long be remembered for his dedication to helping people.
Beals said he ran the food bank at the church for about 35 years and only recently reluctantly gave it up.
"He cared about people who were not well off, the unfortunate, and really tried to make a difference in the lives of those who were in need. It was a lot of hard work and wanting to touch people’s lives."
Dianne Swinemar, executive director of Feed Nova Scotia, said the pastor ran the food bank with great humanity.
"He knew every person he was feeding. He knew them intimately and it was a true ministry. It wasn’t just passing out bags of grocries. He was a pretty incredible man."
Survived by his children and Marjorie, his wife of 60 years, Fairfax will be remembered at a Men’s Brotherhood homecoming memorial service at Victoria Road United Baptist Church at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
With Beals officiating, a funeral service will be held Thursday at 1 p.m. In order to handle the expected large turnout, the service will be held just down the road from her church at First Baptist Church.
| roses for the family |
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Our thoughts go to Rick Scott who passed away December 6 and his wife Gail.
For those who knew Rick his lack of eyesight never impeded his ability to 'see' what was going on in NS. As a vocal advocate for the rights and dignity of the Disabled and Poor, Rick will be missed. I especially enjoyed this courageous man who despite retaliation from a select blind few never waived his right to vote for whom he chose which was not the self appointed voice of the downtrodden, the NDP.
Rick exercised his right to vote for whomever he preferred and peer pressure be damned!
Rick, wherever you may be now I am sure you have taken your strong voice and will with you!
Rest in peace
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In Memorial of Nora Bernard...
Hats off to Nora for never giving up the fight against the wrongs done to many vulnerable human beings by every level of Canadian government..
Bernard was the native activist who spearheaded the class action lawsuit against the federal government.
The lawsuit sought compensation for loss of language and culture on behalf of nearly 80,000 residential school children who suffered physical and sexual abuse in residential schools from the 1870s to the 1970s.
The successful suit could be more than $5 billion and is believed to be the largest class-action settlement in Canadian history.'
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In memorial of Gus Wedderburn,
The founding philosophies of so many humane attempts in Nova Scotia... has passed. Almost 40 years ago this man recognized that black children and youth had unique needs that were being ignored by the mainstream school system of Nova Scotia. So to you Mister Gus...your visions and passions for equality will be very much missed...
Whereas African Nova Scotian teacher, lawyer, and activist, Hobartson Augustus James Wedderburn passed away on February 25, 2007, at the age of 77; and
Whereas Gus Wedderburn was widely admired for his charismatic leadership and desire to create an equal and just society, which led him to be involved in a variety of key organizations and initiatives during his lifetime;
and Whereas a few of those included being the founding member of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia and the former Black United Front, and he also provided leadership in the Black Educators Association and the Africville Relocation Committee;
Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House join me in a moment of silence honouring the accomplishments and the passing of Mr. Gus Wedderburn.
..we had the great opportunity to meet Gus at BEA who in turn came to one of our functions in support of our striving to achieve our goal of bringing corrupt and criminal public servants/govt officials and those who support them to task.. he knew like we did that our sociopathic government and apathetic by-standers such as partisan critics were/are suffocating the lives of vulnerable families in NS.
Thank you Gus for your support... it keeps us focused...despite the retaliation~~~~~~~~~~
Person's name unknown until confirmation of full name-Victim of Irvine Carvery-
This woman died on her birthday October 31 2003. Only two categories of persons' die on their birthday: extremely lucky/unlucky or those who end their lives for whatever reason. This woman was referred to me while I was in Mulgrave Park. She approached me in the second week of October 2003. She told me property manager Irvine Carvery told her that if she did not get her dog out of Housing he would evict her by the end of that month.
I told her I would file and present at Residential Tenancy-Access Nova Scotia on her behalf, being criminally poor, she just needed to wait to get her money at the end of that month.
I was not shocked that Irvine Carvery abused his authority in a racist manner, Carvery thinks he can invent law as he goes along as does any other corrupt sociopathic government employee.
Sadly, at the end of that month,October 31 2003, her birthday and what she believed to be her eviction day she was dead. She lived on her own and was an elder who obviously did not know Carvery was not allowed to do this and I took on her story to add to so many of mine that was compiled to get this dangerous criminal in prison for life.
She never made it to my home to sit down and write it all out and sign the statement. The official neighbourhood story is she died of an asthma attack.This may be true as asthma ian be brought on by unusual amounts of stress. All I know is that she was the ONLY responsible dog owner in my proximity, the ONLY one who cleaned up after her dog and the ONLY one that was white and owed a dog. No black persons were given the same threat, I asked around.
This story was sent to David Morse, Ombudsman Office, Police and the SPCA- who did nothing. So special thoughts to her who could not part with her best friend and would not be homeless-murdered by Irvine Carvery.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~We ask that the Memorials usually held in December by Community Action on Homelessness be boycotted for the hypocrisy they breed. They have been involved in several behaviours/ events/ decisions and have kept the company and colluded with those in power who have refuse to 'out' those who have harmed and/or killed vulnerable persons in HRM. CAH refuses to accept that they have sent the wrong message throughout the community when they took visible allegiance with Brunswick Street Church after the death of former employee Charles.
CAH has ignored, remained silent and has engaged in the fragging of persons who speak out against crimes and their hypocrisy in the community. As it is now CAH pays out handsome honorariums just to get poor people at their meetings-all under the guise of saying community voice is valuable. They are all about image to their government pals who pay their wages. The CAH is governed by a steering committee consisting of mostly government employees, have no doubt they are a store front shop pimping the poor.
CAH has ignored, remained silent and has engaged in the fragging of persons who speak out against crimes and their hypocrisy in the community. As it is now CAH pays out handsome honorariums just to get poor people at their meetings-all under the guise of saying community voice is valuable. They are all about image to their government pals who pay their wages. The CAH is governed by a steering committee consisting of mostly government employees, have no doubt they are a store front shop pimping the poor.
If they were not so afraid that the public would find out about the unethical business of their pals they would not have worked so hard keeping the meeting event of our debut (LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE ) from the list server.
Keep in mind I belonged to this organization for years where they benefited a lot from my contributions especially hours of my my free labour - but refused to send around our meeting event while at the same time sent around one for their NDP partner in crimes Maureen MacDonald. though claimed to not be in the office, the time stamp showed they lied.
If they were not so afraid of the truth then why did they work so hard making sure people would not hear it?
To have the audacity to host memorials for those who prematurely died from suffering at the hands of those they protect is the epitome of inhumanity.
