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Nazi concentration camps featured a hopeful sign for the incoming prisoners. “Arbeit Macht Frei” means Work Sets You Free and helped keep up the guise of these “work camps”.

Someone just stole the sign from Auschwitz.

I took this photo of the Small Fortress in Terezin, Czech Republic. It’s hard to understand how horrible these camps were until you’ve actually visited one.

At one point the guide showed us one of the prisoner cells where people were so cramped they had to sleep side by side on wooden bunk beds. She then took us to the cell for Jewish prisoners. It was 1/4 the size, had no furniture, and the only source of light/air was a tiny window (4 inches by 4 inches) about 6 feet up in the air.

Here’s some information about Terezin from wikipedia

The Small Fortress in Terezin was also used as a punishment prison for Allied POWs who persisted in escape attempts. POWs from Australia, New Zealand, England and Scotland were imprisoned and witnessed the horrendous inhuman mistreatment of the largely Jewish population. Keeping POWs in such a camp was against the Geneva Convention, and the camp was under the direct control of the Gestapo who refused to acknowledge the POWs’ special status. They saw that elderly Jewish inmates were given food every second day and forced to do hard labour constructing a 1 km long tank trap,mainly using their hands. Prisoners who stopped jogging, with handfuls of dirt, were beaten unmercifully. Prisoners were forced to sit on the head and legs of a victim while the guard repeatedly struck the victim with a nailed post, reducing their buttocks to pulp. Jews were also whipped with strips of thin wire that tore their bodies apart. Prisoners were forced to collect the bloody parts and load them on a cart.

I wish work could have set these people free. Unfortunately life wasn’t that easy for the people tortured in the death camps.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Auschwitz ‘Work Sets You Free’ sign stolen (msnbc.msn.com)
• Police: Auschwitz ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ sign stolen (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Auschwitz death camp sign stolen (guardian.co.uk)
• Sign at Auschwitz Memorial Is Stolen (nytimes.com)

The keywords for a politician’s campaign web site can tell you a lot. It shows you who they expect to be supported by and what they hope to accomplish. You’d expect them to be either focused or scatter shot.

This is the keyword string for George Hutchins, a candidate for Virginia’s 4th district. I’m not adding a link, but the address is GeorgeHutchins.com.

<meta name=”key words” content=”FOX NEWS, Glenn Beck, Udo Voigt, NPD, william b.j.lawson, gay rights, david price, gangs of new york, new york draft riots, gay right, gay marriage, fags, faggots, webster university, university of texas at el paso, second armored division, 1991 gulf war, u.s. marines, u.s. regular army, hell on wheels, general patton, ronald reagan, vfw, veterans of foriegn wars, liberation of kuwait medal, john wayne, the alamo, elizabeth dole, george hutchins, u.s. congress, north carolina, 2010, 4th republican North Carolina district, Raleigh, Cary, Durham, Morrisville, Apex, North Carolina 4th Fourth U.S. Congrressional District, Berlin Wall, Spanish American War, 2010 Elections, David Price, Gangs of New York, Draft Riots, U.S. Civil War, Berlin Wall, Cold War, Impeach Obama, Nobama, brandenburg gate, Germany, Berlin, NIM, N.I.M. International Political Lobby, National Independents Movement, Hutchins for U.S. Congress 2010″>

Good luck Virginia. You’re gonna need it.

Neda is a name in the news today. A name that millions billions of people are talking about. This reminded me of another name. Nina Simone’s “Four Women”

My skin is black
My arms are long
My hair is wooly
My back is strong
Strong enough to take the pain
It’s been inflicted again and again
What do they call me
My name is aunt sarah
My name is aunt sarah

My skin is yellow
My hair is long
Between two worlds
I do belong
My father was rich and white
He forced my mother late one night
What do they call me
My name is siffronia
My name is siffronia

My skin is tan
My hair’s alright, it’s fine
My hips invite you
And my lips are like wine
Whose little girl am i?
Well yours if you have some money to buy
What do they call me
My name is sweet thing
My name is sweet thing

My skin is brown
And my manner is tough
I’ll kill the first mother I see
Cos my life has been too rough
I’m awfully bitter these days
Because my parents were slaves
What do they call me
My
Name
Is
Peaches
Nina Samone

R.I.P. Nina and Neda

But these are frigging terrifying!