Newsletter: May 31, 2013

Nicholas Welsh, Eton College

     Congratulations to Nicholas Welsh of Oxford, England on his retirement! Welsh has long engaged his students with the Shoah's sticky wickets, coaxing them to think of that history in terms of informed dissent and civil disobedience. "At what point would YOU say no?" We have enjoyed hearing his teaching ideas, the curriculum content that can make a real difference.
     Nick, Eton College won't be the same without you!

Nuremberg Institute for Holocaust Studies

     Jim Tobias of the Nuremberg Institute for Holocaust Studies happily reports that the Holocaust-era issues of AUFBAU have now been uploaded to the Web, thanks to the Leo Baeck Institute. As we have reported in earlier newsletters, the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek has taken down all German-Jewish newspapers and magazines from 1933 - 1945, citing potential copyright issues. Tobias has worked to obtain copyright permission from some publishers and authors, and we offered to make that a special project of the Center for White Rose Studies.
     But the DNB would not be deterred. The German-Jewish documents have stayed offline.
     So Tobias and his colleagues are changing direction. Here is Tobias's (German-language) update on the topic.
     An interesting by-product of this otherwise discouraging matter: Pressure has been put on the German government to finally move forward with a revision to copyright laws. Long debated and usually ignored, the new law will hopefully place "orphaned" documents in the public domain.
     After all, most of the publishers and authors in question for these German-Jewish newspapers and magazines died in concentration camps. Their voices should not be silenced any longer.

Karamba Diaby

     On an upbeat note: The New York Times reported on May 31, 2013 that Germany is thi-is close to electing its first ever black member of the Bundestag. Mr. Karamba Diaby from Senegal stands a very good chance of becoming exactly that.
     Update 10/12/2021: Mr. Diaby did in fact win his seat in September 2013. He currently serves as deputy chair of the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid.
     Not anticipated in May 2013: A second Black candidate also won a seat in the Bundestag in September 2013. Mr. Charles Huber, son of a Senegalese father and German mother, won his seat - but on the opposite side of the aisle from Mr. Diaby. Diaby is SDU, Huber CDU.
     Similarly, an article by Eli Chazan in HaGalil.com notes that in Israel, it's no longer taboo to root for a German soccer team. Bayern München has an official fan club in Israel, with German soccer ("football") matches broadcast in Hebrew.
     This sort of progress provides hope for the future.

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