Liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army, January 1945.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Day, or the International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, is an international memorial day on 27 January that commemorates the victims of the Holocaust, which resulted in the genocide of one-third of the Jewish people along with countless numbers of individuals of other minority groups, by Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945: an attempt to implement its “Final Solution” to the Jewish question. The choice of 27 January for the annual commemoration aligns with the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army in 1945.

The day commemorates the systematic extermination of 6 million Jews, representing two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population, alongside the deaths of millions of others perpetrated by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.^[1][2] It was designated by United Nations General Assembly resolution 60/7 on 1 November 2005.^[3] The resolution was developed following a special session convened on 24 January of that year to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps and the conclusion of the Holocaust.^[4][5][6][7]

Many countries have instituted their own Holocaust memorial days. Many, such as the United Kingdom’s Holocaust Memorial Day, also fall on 27 January; others, such as Yom HaShoah (27 Nisan on the Hebrew calendar), the commemoration day observed by the State of Israel and much of the broader Jewish community, are observed at other times of the year.

Resolution 60/7, adopted by the General Assembly on 1 November 2005, established 27 January as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The resolution urges every member nation of the UN to honor the memory of Holocaust victims, six million Jews, “one third of the Jewish people, along with countless members of other minorities,” and encourages the development of educational programs about Holocaust history to help prevent future acts of genocide. It rejects any denial of the Holocaust as an event and condemns all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief. It also calls for actively preserving the Holocaust sites that served as Nazi death camps, concentration camps, forced labor camps and prisons, as well as for establishing a UN programme of outreach and mobilization of society for Holocaust remembrance and education.^[3]

Resolution 60/7 and the International Holocaust Day was an initiative of the State of Israel. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel, Silvan Shalom, was the head of the delegation of Israel to the United Nations.^[8]

The essence of the text lies in its twofold approach: one that deals with the memory and remembrance of those who were massacred during the Holocaust and the other with educating future generations of its horrors.

The International Day in memory of the victims of the Holocaust is thus a day on which we must reassert our commitment to human rights. […]

We must also go beyond remembrance, and make sure that new generations know this history. We must apply the lessons of the Holocaust to today’s world. And we must do our utmost so that all peoples may enjoy the protection and rights for which the United Nations stands.

— Message by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the second observance of the Holocaust Victims Memorial Day on 19 January 2008^[9]

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#ces #radar #radarsensor

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Here are a few birthday traditions from around the world:

China

Traditional Chinese birthdays aren’t even counted the same way as they are in the West. A child’s first year of life is counted as one instead of zero, so that a child is two years old in his second year (their first birthday as we could count it), three years old in his third year (his second birthday), and so on.

In traditional Chinese culture, a baby’s first month birthday is celebrated with a red egg and ginger party. Before modern medicine, infant mortality was very high in many countries, so a child that survived through their first month had a much greater chance of staying alive. This party is when the baby is formally introduced to friends and family and the baby’s name is officially announced for the first time.

Traditionally, the most important birthday in Chinese culture is the 60th. In Chinese culture 60 years is one cycle of life, so 61 is the beginning of a new life. On their birthday morning the person celebrating will eat a bowl of long noodles to symbolize their long life.

England

An old English birthday custom is to mix a coin and thimble into the birthday cake batter. Superstition says that the person who got the coin in their slice of birthday cake would be wealthy, while the unlucky finder of the thimble would never marry.

When someone turns 21 in England (they can legally drink at 18, so it’s not quite the party like it is here in the States), they are sometimes given a key to the house as a symbol of their coming-of-age. The key means their parents have given the birthday boy or girl permission to come and go as they please.

Germany

Historians say that birthday cake tradition started in Germany when the cakes given as treats on Christmas started being given out to celebrate children’s’ birthdays. German birthday cakes are supposed to have candles that burn all day, one for each year they are celebrating.

Never wish a German “happy birthday” before their actual birthday. No cards, no gifts, no nothing! It’s considered bad luck.

If a German man turns 30 and still isn’t married, he is supposed to sweep the steps at City Hall to show they are good husband material to the eligible women in town. Meanwhile, a single woman is supposed to clean all the doorknobs in her house. The only way out of the chore is to get a birthday kiss from a member of the opposite sex!

Holland

In Holland certain birthdays (5, 10, 15, 20, and 21) are called “crown” years. The birthday child (or teen or adult) is supposed to receive an especially large gift that year. Their family also decorates the birthday boy’s/girl’s chair at the table with seasonal flowers or paper streamers, paper flowers and balloons.

In the Netherlands, a man’s 50th birthday is known as “Abraham” after the Biblical patriarch Abraham, who supposedly lived to be 175. Women are known as “Sarah” on their 50th who, according to the Bible, lived until she was 127.

Vietnam

Birthdays as we know it are only really celebrated in the most urban areas of Vietnam, those cities most heavily influenced by Western Culture. Everyone celebrates their birthday on New Year’s Day in Vietnam, also known as “tet.” Vietnamese tradition is that an individual’s actual day of birth is not to be celebrated. Rather, people become a year older every year at tet, regardless of when they were actually born.

• South Korea – Seaweed Soup. PIN IT. …
• Russia – Personalized Pie. PIN IT. …
• China – Longevity Noodles. PIN IT. …
• Australia – Fairy Bread. PIN IT. …
• The Netherlands – Taarties and Pancakes. PIN IT. …
• Sweden – Princess Cake. PIN IT. …
• Ghana – Oto. PIN IT.

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The International Holocaust Remembrance Day, or the International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, is an international memorial day on 27 January that commemorates the victims of the Holocaust, which resulted in the murder of one third of the Jewish people, along with countless members of other minorities between 1933 and 1945 by Nazi Germany, an attempt to implement their “final solution” to the Jewish question. 27 January was chosen to commemorate the date when the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Red Army in 1945.

https://ushmm.org/

#holocaust #holocaustsurvivor #mantra #valuable #memory #victims #murder #jewish #nazi #1933 #1945 #germany #auschwitz #camp #redarmy #army #liberated

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THESE SOLDIERS ARE BOTH TECHNICAL EXPERTS AND COMBAT LEADERS HELPING SOLVE THE ARMY RESERVE’S MOST CHALLENGING PROBLEMS. AND TODAY WE’RE HONORING THEM IN CELEBRATION OF THEIR 104TH ANNIVERSARY.

HERE TO TELL US MORE ABOUT THE IMPORTANT ROLE THESE MEN AND WOMEN FULFILL IS CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER 5 PATRICK R. NELLIGAN (pronounced NELL-I-GAN), COMMAND CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER OF THE U.S. ARMY RESERVE COMMAND.

BIO-Chief Warrant Officer 5 Patrick R. Nelligan
Command Chief Warrant Officer, U.S. Army Reserve Command

Chief Warrant Officer 5 Nelligan assumed the duties as the 8th Command Chief Warrant Officer of the United States Army Reserve Command, United States Army Reserve on March 31, 2021. In this position, he is responsible for all Army Reserve Warrant Officers within the Army Reserve Command.

His previous duty was the 6th Command Chief Warrant Officer of the Army Reserve Medical Command, United States Army Reserve October 2018 to March 2021. 2nd Command Chief Warrant Officer of the 75th Innovations Command, United
States Army Reserve July of 2015 to September 2018. Special Mission Warrant Officer Accessions Chief, ARCD February 2015 to July 2015, 2nd Command Chief Warrant Officer of the 81st Regional Support Command (RSC from March 2012 to February 2015), Supply and Service Officer (S4) for the 405th Combat Support Hospital from October 2010 to March 2012, Officer in Charge of the Northeast Region for the Strength Management Initiative Task Force and 1st Command Chief Warrant Officer of the 804th Medical Brigade from1 October 2008 until 30 September 2010, and the 2nd Command Chief Warrant Officer of 94th Regional Readiness Command from 1 February 2006 until its deactivation on 30 September 2008.

CW5 Nelligan enlisted in the Army in March 1982, completing Basic Training and Field Artillery Cannon Crewman (OSUT) at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He was assigned

to the 3/35th Field Artillery (8” self-propelled) West Germany, where he served as an Advanced Party, Gun Driver, and Battery Commander’s Driver. He left active duty in 1984 and joined the 340th General Hospital and was sent to the United States Army Medical Equipment and Optical School, Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center to become a medical equipment repairman from which he completed both the basic and advanced courses and was named honor graduate. He has served
in Honduras and Guatemala providing medical equipment maintenance support to each respective task force. In June of 1990 he was appointed as a WO1, Health Services Maintenance Technician in July 1990 and was assigned to the 819th Station Hospital which converted to the 405th Combat Support Hospital in 1992.

He was activated in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and deployed to
Kuwait in 2002. His assignments included Property Book Officer, Supply and Services Officer, and Unit Logistician (Forward).
CW5 Nelligan has completed the Brigade Pre-Command Course, Warrant Officer Senior Staff Course, Warrant Officer Staff Course, Officer Advanced Course, Master Fitness Trainer Course, Medical Logistics Management Course, Medical X- Ray Survey Techniques Course, Health Services Maintenance Technician Course, US Customs Border Agent Course, and United States Department of Agriculture Food Inspector Training Course.

CW5 Nelligan’s awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster , Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal with 9 Oak Leaf Clusters, National Defense Service Medal with 1 Bronze Star, Global War On Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with Gold Hourglass and with “M” Device, Noncommissioned Officer’s Professional Development Ribbon with Numeral 2, , Army Service Ribbon, Army Overseas Service Ribbon, Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon with Numeral 2, Driver Badge with Driver-W Bar.

CW5 Nelligan received an Associates Degree in Biomedical Equipment Maintenance, two Bachelor’s Degrees; one in Applied Behavioral Studies and the other in Liberal Studies, and a Masters in Business Administration with a Health Care Concentration.

CW5 Nelligan resides in Bristol Connecticut with his wife Nancy. They have three adult children, daughter Darby, son Thomas (who is an SMP Minute Man Scholarship recipient and Army Reservist), and son Owen. He also is employed by the Veterans Administration where he works as the Lead Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (BESS) onsite at the Newington Connecticut campus.

#chiefwarrantofficer #patricknelligan #armyreserve #leadershippositions #combatleaders #medical #healthservices #germany #honduras #hospitals #care #guatemala #nancynelligan

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The march began Sunday afternoon at the Place de la Republique, near the Charlie Hebdo offices where 12 people were killed Wednesday.

French officials say about 1.3 million people huddled in the windy streets — some appearing solemn, some upbeat — marching with French flags and “Je suis Charlie” — “I am Charlie” — signs. Some sang and clapped, and portions of the crowd spontaneously burst into applause as they marched.

It was the largest demonstration in French history, according to officials.

The march broke up into three sections — one down Boulevard Voltaire, one down Rue Bastille, and the third down Rue Philippe Auguste. All three marches later reunited at Place de la Nation.

Cafes and bistros along the route overflowed with marchers who stopped to rest along the walk, some carrying handmade signs reading “No Fear” and “Not Afraid.”

The march was a response to the massacre at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical weekly newspaper, and a subsequent pair of hostage situations Friday, one of which involved the suspected gunmen. Seventeen people were killed during the three days of violence.

French police say they took extra precautions during the march, with more than 2,000 officers in the area and another 2,000 officers and 1,000 soldiers stationed throughout Paris.

Gerard Araud, the French ambassador to the United States, told ABC News that it is “very likely” that the country will face more attempted terrorist attacks.

“We have to consider the threat that we are facing. You have in Europe thousands of young radicals — thousands of them — and of course, we are democracies and you don’t arrest somebody because of his ideas,” he said.

Araud called it a “very specific threat,” noting the hundreds of Frenchmen who went to Syria or Yemen for military training with various extremist groups.

“We don’t know when these people are coming back and whether they are coming back and we don’t know when they’re — whether these radical people are going suddenly to become terrorists,” he said. “So for the moment … it’s very likely, unfortunately, that we are going to face other attempts of terrorist acts.”

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The 25th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall with Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, Germany. http://www.gewandhaus.de/gewandhaus-orchestra/

With today’s performance, the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig and its music director, Ricardo Chailly, wish to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall, which took place exactly 25 years ago, on November 09, 1989.

A month earlier on October 09, Germany’s Peaceful Revolution reached a crucial point in Leipzig when more than 70,000 protesters rallied without intervention from East Germany security forces. The peaceful demonstrations culminated with the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The occasion of this 25th anniversary has enormous meaning for the members of the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, who are honored to share this important occasion with New York audiences.

This was a special performance at the Lincoln Center presents White Light Festival, fifth anniversary
October 7 – November 11, 2014

“Their performance of Bruckner was out of this world, the city of Leipzig many years ago welcomed and appreciated Bruckner and his work, including the Symphony No. 7 in E Major. As a result of their love for his music played it with all their hearts and the audience was mesmerized by the beauty of the performance.” Paul Sladkus, Founder of Good News.

HISTORY

HISTORY
The earliest roots of the Orchestra can be traced back to the year 1479, in which the City Council first appointed three musicians – Kunstpfeifer (“artistic pipers”) – as municipal employees. This small ensemble remained in civic service until 1840, by which time their number had increased to seven. The musicians played a central role in Leipzig’s cultural life, performing at functions in the City Hall, providing the musical accompaniment for services in the city’s churches and participating in theatre productions, as well as forming a part of the orchestra of the Große Concerte (“Grand Concerts”).
This concert enterprise was founded in 1743 by a society comprising both nobility and regular citizens alike – the first venture of its kind in Leipzig. The original “Große Musicalische Concerte” were held in the more spacious of homes of Leipzig society. The concerts’ popularity soon, however, necessitated the hire of a hall in the hostelry “Zu den drei Schwanen”. For over thirty years, this inn played host to those citizens of Leipzig who could afford the society’s substantial annual membership fee, from which the musicians were renumerated. The original orchestra comprised sixteen musicians, half of whom were professionals (the Kunstpfeifer), half students of the city’s university.
The year 1766 saw the opening of the Komödienhaus (“Comedy Theatre”). This theatre employed no musicians and ensemble of its own, rather hosting itinerant theatrical and operatic troupes, for which the Leipziger Stadtmusiker were engaged as orchestra. As time passed and the demands of the theatrical productions increased, the orchestra was to be ever more frequently bolstered by the musicians of the Große Concerte. So began the gradual symbiosis of Leipzig’s concert and theatre orchestras.
At this time, the Gewandhaus, the trading house of the city’s textile merchants, had no use for a substantial part of the upper floor of the building. On the initiative of the Mayor, this space was converted into a concert hall. In November 1781, the firstGewandhauskonzert took place. The audience consisted of the members of the society which had promoted the concerts in the inn; the 32-man orchestra comprised the musicians who had given the Große Concerte, the majority of whom were, by this time, also employed regularly by the theatre. The orchestra of these Gewandhaus Concerts, therefore, soon came to be known as the “Gewandhaus and Theatre Orchestra”.
In 1786, the musicians of the Gewandhaus- und Theaterorchester signed a reciprocal agreement, in which the organisational, disciplinal and artistic affairs of the Orchestra were ordered, as well as the founding of a pension fund for the members. This constitution included, for instance, measures to ensure the “good reputation of the Orchestra”, as well as the communal pledge “to stand, all for one and one for all.” This solidarity contract can be regarded as the genesis of the Orchestra as an independent body.
In 1789, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart travelled to Leipzig in order to give a concert in the Gewandhaus. The hall was, by this time, well established as the centre of Leipzig’s concert life and would remain so for the subsequent 100 years.
Ludwig van Beethoven’s 5th Piano Concerto received its first performance in the Gewandhaus in 1811 and the first complete cycle of his symphonies worldwide was to follow in the 1825/26 season – during the composer’s lifetime.
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s celebrated tenure as Gewandhauskapellmeister(conductor and music director of the Gewandhaus Orchestra) began in 1835. His “Scottish Symphony” and Violin Concerto in E minor were both premiered in the Gewandhaus. Mendelssohn conducted the first performances of symphonies of Robert Schumann and of Franz Schubert’s “Great” C major Symphony.
In later years, both Richard Wagner’s “Meistersinger” Prelude and Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto were first presented to the world in the Gewandhaus, conducted in both cases by the composers themselves.
This period saw the development of the Gewandhaus- und Theaterorchester’sadditional role as orchestra of the city’s churches. The musical provision for the services held in Leipzig’s two principal churches, St. Thomas and St. Nikolai, was the responsibility of the Thomaskantor (Cantor of St. Thomas’s), who also embodied the position of Civic Music Director. The Thomanerchor (St. Thomas’s Choir) sang in both churches, accompanied by the Stadtmusiker. Here too, however, were the musical demands to increase; from 1789, the City Musicians were augmented by seven members of the Gewandhaus and Theatre Orchestra. During the following years, members of the Orchestra became increasingly involved in the realisation of the churches’ musical requirements until, in 1840, the Gewandhaus- und Theaterorchester was officially declared the “civic orchestra” by the City Council. The performance of sacred music has, since this time, formed a staple part of the Orchestra’s duties.
In 1868, a new opera house was opened in Leipzig. This theatre was able to accommodate significantly more ambitious, more elaborate stagings than the erstwhileKomödienhaus (remodelled as “City Theatre” in 1817). At this time, the Gewandhaus- und Theaterorchester numbered 58 musicians, a strength which was not sufficient, firstly, to satisfy the orchestral requirements of the larger-scale operas now being staged and, secondly, to fulfil these increased duties adequately in addition to its symphonic commitments in the Gewandhaus. The ensuing conflict between the theatre and Gewandhaus managements was resolved by the City Council’s decision to augment the Orchestra to a total of 72 players.
As time passed and the 19th century ran its course, the concert hall in the Gewandhaus became increasingly unable to cope with the demands placed upon it by the Orchestra’s steadily burgeoning public. Following several measures over the years to increase the audience capacity, the management of the Gewandhaus eventually bowed to the necessity of erecting a new concert hall. Following two-and-a-half years construction, the “New Gewandhaus” was inaugurated in December 1884.
The Neues Gewandhaus witnessed the tenures of Arthur Nikisch, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Bruno Walter, among others, as Gewandhauskapellmeister, as well as playing host to the likes of Johannes Brahms, Peter Tchaikovsky, Edvard Grieg and Richard Strauss conducting their own works. Anton Bruckner graced the New Gewandhaus with an organ recital. The new hall was also the scene of the Gewandhaus Orchestra’s first audio and film recordings.
The Gewandhaus Orchestra undertook its first foreign tour during, of all times, the First World War. Prior to this, the Gewandhaus directorate had been thoroughly opposed to such ventures, “due to the risk that our illustrious orchestra, which has, heretofore, served only noble causes, could descend to depths, such as those occupied by a philharmonic orchestra in Berlin with its commercial undertakings. Should the orchestra members begin to travel, they will very well take to the variety this affords and demand its recurrence.” On receiving an invitation from Switzerland in 1916, however, the City Council and Gewandhaus approved the enterprise, “on the grounds that it represents an artistic cultural mission of great significance.” Two further visits to Switzerland were to follow before the colossal undertaking of a first extensive tour of Europe in 1931. The political developments of the ensuing years were, sadly, to prevent the Orchestra capitalising on its newly-established reputation beyond Germany’s borders. The Gewandhaus Orchestra would have to wait until 1951 to represent Leipzig abroad anew.
Both the Neues Theater and the Neues Gewandhaus had been destroyed by bombing during the war. Since the cessation of hostilities in Europe in 1945, opera performances and concerts had taken place in temporary, sometimes somewhat makeshift locations in Leipzig.
Following the opening of the city’s new opera house in 1960, Leipzig would have to wait a further two decades for the construction of a new concert hall for theGewandhausorchester. The “New Gewandhaus” (named, as its predecessor, Neues Gewandhaus) opened its doors to the public in 1981 – the only dedicated concert hall to be built in the GDR (former communist East Germany). Overwhelming credit for the realisation and success of the project must be given to the Gewandhauskapellmeisterof the day, Kurt Masur.
Masur’s successor, Herbert Blomstedt, led the Orchestra – now numbering 185 musicians – into the 21st century, before handing the baton on to Riccardo Chailly.
Much has changed in Leipzig during the past decades – one thing, however, remains constant: the Gewandhausorchester performs in the Gewandhaus, in the Leipzig Opera and, together with the Thomanerchor, in St. Thomas’s Church. The combination of symphonic, operatic and sacred repertoire continues to imbue the Gewandhaus Orchestra with an artistic profile of unparalleled diversity and richness.

Claudius Böhm

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