Dachau Liberation Day

April 29 happens to be my birthday, but I no longer regard this as something to be celebrated. I choose instead to remember it as the anniversary of the liberation of Dachau, 63 years ago today. For information and images I suggest having a look at the following websites (not an exhaustive list):

ScrapbookPages/Dachau Concentration Camp (1933-1945)

Jewish Virtual Library/Dachau

The Nizkor Project/Dachau

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum/Dachau

Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site

Wikipedia/Dachau

There are, of course, many more that can be found easily by an Internet search. These include personal accounts of survivors, witnesses, and liberators. The above sites and many others are also entries to expanded viewpoints, including histories of other camps, the Holocaust, and World War 2. Thinly disguised revisionist/denial sites are also available. It's worth noting that there are a number of misunderstandings and controversies surrounding what went on at Dachau before and during the liberation, but I think this is a good time just to acknowledge the enormity of the Holocaust and the camps, as well as what it took to put an end to them; to celebrate the historical fact of liberation, and leave some of the details for another day.

Poking around Nørrebro (5)

Okay, this isn't really Nørrebro, but it's close enough. Søpavillonen, the popular (so I'm told) København day and night spot located at Gyldenløvesgade 24, on the southern edge of Peblingesø, has been the subject of countless photos, postcards, and paintings since it was built in 1896. That isn't going to stop me from posting mine.

Søpavillonen After Dark—View from the west side, looking east (13 April 2008)

Poking around Nørrebro (4)

"Politistat 2 (Now you see it, now you....)"

Construction at Folkets Park—View from Griffenfeldsgade (19 April 2008)

As a newcomer to the neighborhood, I'm a thorough outsider on the local politics surrounding Folkets Park. These photos and the titles on some of them are observations, not commentaries. Which doesn't mean I don't have opinions, it's just that in this case I'm short of information. For what it's worth, and I'm sure it isn't much, my first impression of Folkets Park, when I arrived at the beginning of February, is that was a svineri, and could have used some cleaning up. It may be that I was just looking at the normal over-Winter landscape, and it may be that the locals organize a work party every Spring to clean up the place. If I had found out something like that was going to happen, I would gladly have joined in; it wouldn't be the first time I've pitched in with local volunteers to clean up a park. Or it may be that was not going to happen. The only thing I could say for sure was that the "Politistat" graffito on the building to the right was going to get painted over sooner rather than later (for an earlier photo of the same scene, see my Blog entry, Poking around Nørrebro (1), 06 April 2008).

Poking around Nørrebro (3)

Griffenfeldsgade—View south toward intersections with Rantzausgade and Åboulevard (13 April 2008)

Poking around Nørrebro (2)

Sankt Johannes Kirke—Front entrance facing Sankt Hans Torv (06 April 2008)

Poking around Nørrebro (1)

"Politistat"

Construction at Folkets Park—View from Griffenfeldsgade (06 April 2008)