Stalin's Son

Read this interesting story about Stalin today from Iconic Photos blog. 

Of course, this prompted a foray into Wikipedia entries about Stalin's children, which were not particularly happy campers. The most bizarre fact: the youngest daughter, Svetlana Iosifovna Alliluyeva, is still alive, living somewhere in Richland Center, Wisconsin. 

Source: http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2010/01/03/stalins-son/


Stalin’s son, Jakov Djugashvili Stalin was an engineer by profession, During the Second World War, he served as a senior lieutenant and battery commander of the 14th Howitzer Regiment, attached to the 14th Tank Division and was captured on 16 July 1941 near Vitebsk by the Nazis.

On discovering that their prisoner was Stalin’s son, the Germans attempted to exploit him for propaganda purposes, but did not succeed. Refusing privileges, he asked to remain with the rank-and-file soldiers. In all the photographs of jakov, he deliberately refuses to look directly at the camera. This didn’t prevent the Germans from leafletting to Red Army soldiers “Do not shed your blood for Stalin! He has already fled to Samara! His own son has surrendered! If Stalin’s son is saving his own skin, then you are not obliged to sacrifice yourself either!”

After the battle of Stalingrad, Hitler suggested through the Swedish Red Cross that Jakov be exchanged for Field Marshal Paulus. Stalin refused, saying: “A marshal would not be exchanged for a lieutenant”. Hitler’s counter proposition to exchange Jakov for Hitler’s nephew Leo Raubal was not accepted either. (Jakov never got along with his dad, who called him a “mere cobbler.”) Djugashvili died on the electrified wire of Sachenhausen concentration camp on 14 April 1943, below. Much controversy surrounded the death. Some believe it was suicide, others a failed escape attempt. Some saw the dirty hand of the German SS behind.

After the war, in an uncharacteristic move, Stalin offered a $250,000 reward in East Germany to anyone who could provide details of how Jakov died. In 1945, U.S. and British intelligence teams found a letter by Heinrich Himmler on details of the failed escape attempt and attached was the below picture of young Stalin stretched out on the camp fence. They decided, however, to withhold the information from Stalin in order to spare him any personal pain.

My New Favorite Art Exhibit

Today, I went to the Hamburger Bahnhof, an old Berlin train station that was converted to a modern art museum. It was incredible. 

There were some awesome Warhol pieces in the Marx Collection, which I will happily fun fact vomit about if you so desire. 

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But, the best part was, by far, Carsten Höller’s SOMA.

The closest approximation of my initial reaction would probably be walking through a closet and exiting into Narnia. It was the most whimsical, dream-like thing I have ever seen. I rounded a corner, and there it was. A sterile petting zoo? I’ll let the image speak for itself:

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Keep in mind, this was right in the middle of a museum. Front and center. And every animal you see is very much ALIVE.

I have never seen an artist do whimsical in such a neat, precise, meticulous, and clean way. My favorite piece is the hanging scale with the bird cages on either side. Juxtaposition of justice and freedom? Heavy stuff.

Amazing.

The Most Boring Day In The Last Century

April 11, 1954 was the most boring day in recent history.

  • Nobody significant died that day.
  • No major events (apparently) occurred.
  • Only one slightly notable person, Abdullah Atalar, a Turkish academic, was born.

For some reason, I feel very sorry for April 11, 1954. If there was a way to calculate the most boring person that ever lived, I think most people would not want to know.

Thanksgiving List

  1. Thank you for making that one night so incredibly memorable.
  2. Thank you for making this summer the best summer of my life.
  3. Thank you for teaching me about myself.
  4. Thank you for putting things into perspective.
  5. Thank you for genuine, warm conversations.
  6. Thank you for cheering me up when I was down.
  7. Thank you for sending me those emails when I needed them the most.
  8. Thank you for offering me a place to stay.
  9. Thank you for asking how I was. And actually wanting to know the answer.
  10. Thank you for being kind and honest.
  11. Thank you for standing up for me.
  12. Thank you for making me laugh everyday.
  13. Thank you for keeping me ambitious.
  14. Thank you for opening so many doors for me.
  15. Thank you for sharing your stories with me.
  16. Thank you for your words of wisdom.

I used to write this list every year when Xanga was popular, and I kind of missed it. I have a lot of reasons to be grateful this year, and almost everyone I can think deserves a thank you. Happy Thanksgiving!

Three Examples of Courage

A few days ago, I read an article in NYTimes that broke my heart. Three Iowa Supreme Court Justices, who had upheld same-sex marriage in Iowa, lost their jobs after losing their retention elections, in light of a particularly aggressive removal campaign funded by out-of-state conservative organizations.

In an election that was meant to be as apolitical as possible, the opposition spent more money to remove the judges than any other retention election campaign in the entire previous decade, combined.

(Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/us/politics/04judges.html)

After reading the article, I took a stab at guessing the email addresses of the judges, and sent all three of them a thank you email.

I was touched and amazed when I got this reply within 24 hours from Justice Michael J. Streit:

Sharon:

Thank you for your kind comments. Conrad Ray, Stanford’s Golf coach, is my nephew. I love the Stanford community.

For about 20 years I have taught new Judges about the personal courage they may be called upon to use in their job.  This is something we live with.  I have attached an Iowa story I occasionally use to demonstrate my point. Little did I know, I would have the Varnum case to use as a personal story.

It has been quite a blow to me, my family, and to our court.   I am sure we will be assessing this for quite awhile.  I know this:  I will be OK and will be moving forward.  Thanks again for your thoughts.

Justice Michael J. Streit

The Varnum case that he referenced was an inspiring read, especially with these lines that we would all do better to remember often:

The rule of law protects the civil, political, economic, and social rights of all citizens, not just the rights of the most vociferous, the most organized, the most popular, or the most powerful.

It is deeply saddening to see three judges with a deep sense of commitment to justice be removed because the rights of the minority did not align with the most popular beliefs of the public.

I am not a political person. I am not particularly familiar with the platforms of the Democrats or Republicans. I don’t follow the commentary on foreign policies or the legislation from Capitol Hill. However, I know courage, and I know integrity.

Thank you, Marsha Ternus, Michael Streit, and David Baker for showing us.

Three Quotes About Chicago

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“Hollywood is hype, New York is talk, Chicago is work.”
- Michael Douglas

“The greatest and most nearly beautiful city of our young nation is probably Chicago. Eventually I think that Chicago will be the most beautiful great city left in the modern world.”
- Frank Lloyd Wright

“You know what they say about Chicago. If you don’t like the weather, wait fifteen minutes.
- Ralph Kiner

The Széchenyi Chain Bridge

Went to Budapest, Hungary for the past three days, and there I heard a very sad, interesting story about the Széchenyi Chain Bridge. 

As the story goes, the bridge was built in 1839 by an engineer named William Tierney Clark. Upon completion, Clark declared the bridge perfect and wagered that if anyone could find a single thing wrong with the bridge, he would kill himself. Of course, the bridge is rather marvelous and the wager goes unchallenged for many years.

Then one day, his young daughter says, “Daddy, the lions at the ends of the bridge have no tongues.”

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Shortly after, William Tierney Clark jumps off the bridge to his death.

Side note: Hungarians are the most emo people ever, they used to all wear black whenever they felt oppressed by foreigners which was pretty much 80% of the past century.