January 27, 1945: The Soviet Red Army liberates Auschwitz concentration camp.
Although there are certainly doubts of whether the Soviet liberation was as “noble” as their propaganda enjoyed portraying it as, the liberation of Auschwitz has become something larger than it was - a symbol of the end of the Holocaust as a whole (although many camps, including Dachau, Sachsenhausen, and Buchenwald were not freed until later in the spring). Still, January 27 is now recognized as a memorial day - International Holocaust Remembrance Day - by the United Nations.
For millions, liberation came too late. Before the Red Army and other Allied forces could free the camps, an estimated 6 million Jews had been killed in the camps (78% of the entire population of European Jews), nearly 2 million Poles, up to 1.5 million Romani, and hundreds of thousands of disabled, Freemasons, Homosexuals, and other individual groups.
Specifics and exacts are difficult to determine, however, for the SS made every attempt to hide their crimes. In a last-ditch attempt, the SS command ordered the death of all the prisoners on January 17, ten days before the Soviets arrived; fortunately, these orders where never carried out amidst the chaos of retreat. The crematoria and gas chambers, on orders from Himmler, were destroyed before the liberation, but there was no undoing what the chambers - and the men working them - had accomplished in a few years. An Auschwitz commandant later testified that an estimated 3 million people had died there.
A little over two years after the camp was liberated, the first commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, was fittingly hanged in front of the crematorium.
(via historyofeurope)
These were posted on an Australian Tourism Website and the answers are the actual responses by the website officials.
- Q: Does it ever get windy in Australia ? I have never seen it rain on TV, how do the plants grow? ( UK ).
- A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around watching them die.
- Q: Will I be able to see kangaroos in the street? ( USA )
- A: Depends how much you've been drinking.
- Q: I want to walk from Perth to Sydney - can I follow the railroad tracks? ( Sweden)
- A: Sure, it's only three thousand miles, take lots of water.
- Q: Are there any ATMs (cash machines) in Australia? Can you send me a list of them in Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville and Hervey Bay ? ( UK )
- A: What did your last slave die of?
- Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Australia ? ( USA )
- A: A-Fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe.
- Aus-tra-lia is that big island in the middle of the Pacific which does not
- ... Oh forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Kings Cross. Come naked.
- Q: Which direction is North in Australia ? (USA )
- A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees. Contact us when you get here and we'll send the rest of the directions.
- Q: Can I bring cutlery into Australia ? ( UK )
- A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do...
- Q: Can I wear high heels in Australia ? ( UK )
- A: You are a British politician, right?
- Q: Are there supermarkets in Sydney and is milk available all year round? ( Germany )
- A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of vegan hunter/gatherers.
- Milk is illegal.
- Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Australia, but I forget its name. It's a kind of bear and lives in trees. ( USA )
- A: It's called a Drop Bear. They are so called because they drop out of Gum trees and eat the brains of anyone walking underneath them.
- You can scare them off by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking.
- Q: Do you celebrate Christmas in Australia ? ( France )
- A: Only at Christmas.
If You Support the Death Penalty,
You’re a fucking idiot. True Story.
“I have been raised up in a different world than you have been raised up. I’ve been raised up in the penitentiary. There’s no weakness in the penitentiary. There’s no sorrow or remorse in the penitentiary. You come to the cell and you go in and you find Jesus or you don’t. You either find Jesus or you run with the Devil.”
— Charles Manson, 1985
- (Source: Geraldo)
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was a Victorian novelist. His works included: Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, A Christmas Carol, and many more. None of his books have ever gone out of print since they were first published. He used his novels to shine a spotlight on social issues that were being ignored in Victorian England.
Charles Dickens is my ultimate history crush. Not only was he hot but I adore his novels. My favorite male literary character is David Copperfield who has often been described as Dickens’ most autobiographic character.
