Today is the birthday of British singer Marianne Faithfull Geburtstag. Besides, she is not only one of the most sucessful groupies of pop history (having been Mick Jagger’s lover), but also the great-grandniece of the (in)famous Austrian Ukrainian writer Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (Venus in Furs). Her mother and grandmother were born in Vienna and in 1945, after the end of WW2, raped by Soviet soldiers. Marianne was born in 1946 as the daughter of an English officer of the British occupation forces.
Faithfull’s Austrian roots
Posted in Uncategorized with tags 1945, Austria, Great Britain, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Marianne Faithfull, Mick Jagger, pop music, rape, Soviet Union, Venus in Furs, Vienna on 29 December 2013 by delclemWhat if… the Germans had won WWI?
Posted in Uncategorized with tags Germany, history, Twentieth Century, World War I on 28 December 2013 by delclem
“With the war’s centenary near, this is not a parlour game. Counterfactual
conjecture allows us to see the conflict far more objectively.” >essay
(c) THE GUARDIAN, 2013; photo (c) Virginia Mayo/AP:
David Cameron visits the graves of WW1 soldiers in Zonnebeke, Belgium.
“How Hitler Tried to Redesign Christmas”
Posted in Uncategorized with tags Germany, Hitler, National Socialism, Santa Claus on 24 December 2013 by delclem
“When the Nazis took power in 1933, Christmas was one of their first targets.
Not even Santa was safe.” >full text (c) FAST CO. DESIGN, 2013
“Inward-Looking Portraits”
Posted in Uncategorized with tags Austria, exhibition, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Lucian Freud, Sigmund Freud, Vienna on 22 December 2013 by delclem
The Lucian Freud exhibition at the Kunsthistorisches Museum was one of the highlights of the autumn 2013 exhibition season. Those who have not yet done so are well advised to check it out before 12 January. It’s worth it! >Text (a bit odd;) & album with images (c) wieninternational.at 2013 Also see another text posted earlier.
Reconsidering prostitution in Germany
Posted in Uncategorized with tags ban, Feminism, Germany, prostitution, sex work on 10 December 2013 by delclem
“Germany rethinks its liberal ways on sex workers. Prostitution was decriminalised in ‘the bordello of Europe’ in 2002. Now feminists want to overturn that law.” The sex workers resist. >text & photo (c) THE GUARDIAN, 2013
Story of a Kindertransport survivor
Posted in Uncategorized with tags 1938, Germany, Greta-Britain, Judy Benton, Kindertransport, London on 9 December 2013 by delclem
“I escaped Hitler’s Germany and built a new life. As one of the Kindertransport refugees, I arrived in London knowing no one: 75 years later I’m blessed with my own family.” memoir (c) THE GUARDIAN, 2013
“Bosnia, in Peril Once More”
Posted in Uncategorized with tags Barack Obama, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bosnian War, Nationalism, politics on 8 December 2013 by delclem
“Early in President Obama’s first term, in May 2009, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. paid a visit to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Addressing the Parliament, he told Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian members, ‘My country is worried. (…) We have seen a sharp and dangerous rise in nationalist rhetoric.'”
>full text & illustration (c) NYT, 2013
“How History Broke Us”
Posted in Uncategorized with tags America, anti-Semitism, Belarus, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, family history, Holocaust, Jews, Judaism, pogroms on 7 December 2013 by delclem
“How to tell the story of the rise and destruction of European Jews? Perhaps the most compelling way is through family history, as David Laskin does in his fascinating new book.” >review & photo (c) THE DAILY BEAST, 2013
From Goulash-Communism to Goulash-Authoritarianism?
Posted in Uncategorized with tags authoritarianism, Communism, Hungary, transition, Victor Orban on 6 December 2013 by delclem
“Some Comments on Political Discourse and Regime-Building in Post-Transition Hungary.”>full text (c) tr@nsit 2013
Krampus: Santa’s dark side
Posted in Uncategorized with tags Alps, Austria, customs, folklore, Germany, Krampus, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nicholas Day, Santa Claus, Yule on 5 December 2013 by delclem
“While Saint Nicholas may bring gifts to good boys and girls, ancient folklore in Europe’s Alpine region also tells of Krampus, a frightening beast-like creature who emerges during the Yule season, looking for naughty children to punish in horrible ways — or possibly to drag back to his lair in a sack.” >text & photo album (c) THE ATLANTIC, 2013 – more questions: see another text (c) THE GUARDIAN, 2013
delirium clemens 