Looking back: May 31, 2013 newsletter
Lifting of a ban on German-Jewish publications from 1933-1945. The Holocaust at Eton College. And, Israelis cheering for... Bayern München? Wha-at?
We are not uploading all of our old newsletters to this Substack. Only the ones that give you, our readers, a glimpse at the work that has gone before.
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! [We have missed our communications with you!] — 2024 note: Nick died in Oxford on January 16, 2023 at the age of 74.
Nuremberg Institute for Holocaust Studies
Jim Tobias of the Nuremberg Institute for Holocaust Studies happily reports that Holocaust-era issues of AUFBAU have now been uploaded to the Web, thanks to the Leo Baeck Institute. As reported in earlier newsletters, the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek had taken down all German-Jewish newspapers and magazines from 1933-1945, citing potential copyright issues. Tobias worked to obtain copyright permission from some publishers and authors. Center for White Rose Studies offered our assistance to the DNB and Jim Tobias.
But the DNB would not be deterred. German-Jewish documents stayed offline.
So Tobias and his colleagues are changing direction. Here is Tobias’s (German-language) update on the topic. Link takes you to a HaGalil article. If you don’t know HaGalil, enjoy!
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.
© 2013 Denise Heap, Exclamation! Publishers, and Center for White Rose Studies. All rights reserved. Please contact Exclamation! Publishers for permission to quote.