Life After Auschwitz-- Part 2: There Were Actually Two Auschwitzes

Fromthe January 26, 2020, Chicago Tribune.

The 75th Anniversary of its Liberation

On Monday January 27, 2020-- 75 years after its liberation --  hundreds of survivors from across the world will travel to Auschwitz for official anniversary commemorations.

Auscwitz today is many things at once: an emblem of evil, a site of historical remembrance and a vast cemetery.  It is a place where Jews make pilgrimages to pay tribute to ancestors whose ashes and bones remain part of the earth.

Auscwitz is not one camp, but two:  Auscwitz I, built in an abandoned Polish military base, and Auschwitz II, or Birkenau, a much bigger complex that went up later about two miles away to expedite the Nazis' Final Solution.

Early on, Auschwitz I operated as a camp for for Polish prisoners, including Catholic priests and members of the nation's underground resistance against the German occupation.  Later in the war, Birkenau was created for the mass killing of Jews and others who were transported there from across Europe.

--GreGen

World War II Poster for June: British Forward to Victory

Poster shows crew of an anti-aircraft gun fighting during a nighttime German air raid with searchlights in the background.  Two of the searchlights cross and make a "V".

Forward to Victory,  British World War II.

The British Victory or V Campaign" proved a successful drive during World War II.

The "V" became not only a symbol of victory, but also resistance.  People throughout German-controlled Europe painted the "V" on almost any flat surface.  The German military responded by prosecuting 6,200 people in Paris alone for using the symbol to demonstrate defiance to the occupation.

"V" Me.  --GreGen

The Paperclip Becomes a WW II Symbol

From Gizmodo "How the Humble Paperclip Became a Secret World War II Symbol."

In April 1940, Germany invaded Norway and soon occupied it. By 1945, some 400,000 German troops were stationed there.

In Autumn 1940 students at Oslo University began wearing paperclips on their lapels as a non-violent symbol of resistance. Eventually, paperclip jewelry became popular.

Why was the paperclip chosen? Some say it is to exhibit the binding together of the resistnce. Others believe that Johan Vaaler of Norway, the supposed inventor of the paperclip was the reason. The Germans eventually discovered the symbolism in the paperclips and wearing one became a criminal offense.

Mama Don't 'Low No Paperclips 'Round Here.  --GreGen

Deaths: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Fighter

BORUCH SPIEGEL, 93

One of the last remaining survivors of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising where 750 Jewish fighters launched an attack on their German occupiers April 19, 1943, (we just had the 70th anniversary of it, but I came across no mention of it, sadly).  Outnumbered and outgunned badly, they defied odds and held on for nearly a month before being crushed.

They became a symbol of resistance.

A few dozen fighters were able to escape to the so-called "Aryan" side of Warsaw.  German revenge was harsh and every building in the ghetto was destroyed.  Then, Mr. Spiegel and his wife joined the Polish partisans fighting the Germans and took part in the 1944 Warsaw Revolt.

Sadly also, it is not known how many of those 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising fighters are still alive, but there can't be too many.

Heroes--  GreGen