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Discovery Network joins the global education initiative of the USC Shoah Foundation in support of the Auschwitz 70th Anniversary
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 16, 2014 — USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education is partnering with Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms, on education components of Auschwitz: The Past is Present, a global communications and education program that will support the official observance of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on January 27, 2015.
Later this year, Discovery Education will also integrate content into its official website, discoveryeducation.com, its digital textbook, Discovery Education Social Studies Techbook™ and its comprehensive digital content service, Discovery Education Streaming for educators to incorporate into instruction.
Discovery Channel will premiere two holohoax feature films on Jan. 25 in more than 220 countries globally
Jan. 16, 2014 – To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Discovery Channel will premiere two feature films, One Day in Auschwitz and Schindler’s List, across its international channels, Discovery Communications announced on Friday.
On Jan. 25, the network will air both films without commercial interruptions.
Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List will premiere nationwide on American Heroes Channel and air internationally in the U.K., Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
One Day in Auschwitz will have its domestic premiere on both Discovery Channel and American Heroes Channel and air on Discovery Channel in more than 220 countries globally.
Airing in partnership with the USC Shoah Foundation, One Day in Auschwitz is an hour long special that chronicles the journey of Holocaust survivor Kitty Hart-Moxon as she returns to Auschwitz 70 years following her liberation from the German-Nazi concentration camps.
“One Day in Auschwitz shares a first-hand account of an important historical lesson, which is critical for us to preserve for future generations, as we lose more survivors and witnesses with each passing day,” David Zaslav*, President and Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Communications [since 2007], said in a statement. “We are honored to share Kitty’s story of inspiration, courage and hope, and proud to work with Steven Spielberg and his USC Shoah Foundation to broadcast these films to our global audience.”
Discovery Education has also partnered with USC Shoah Foundation to provide global education programs in remembrance of the tragedy for students in grades K-12. The IWitness program, an online site that provides an in-depth look into testimonies and witness accounts of the Holocaust, is offered through Discovery Education’s digital services. In addition, the partnership will host Auschwitz: The Past is Present, a communication program established to support all of the activities planned to honor the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, on Jan. 27. Zaslav will chair the program committee.
*Kitty Hart-Moxon is a known fabricator and falsifier about her experience at Auschwitz. Her stories are not believable and lack common sense.
**David Zaslav earned a law degree from Boston University and is an attorney. He serves as a Trustee of The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and is a director for National Geographic Television Cable in the Classroom and Center for Communications in New York, among many other directorships. No information is given for Zaslav’s religion or family origins.
Putin to send his Administrative Chief Sergei Ivanov to represent Russia at Auschwitz commemoration
Jan. 20 – Putin will not attend the 70th Anniversary Commemoration at Auschwitz-Birkenau, it was announced Tuesday, but has decided to send the head of his administration, Sergei Ivanov in his place.
“The Russian side have confirmed that the delegation participating in the anniversary events will be led by Sergei Ivanov,” Bartosz Bartyzel, a spokesman for the museum organizing the commemoration, told Reuters.
Russia accuses Poles of “Mockery of History” over Auschwitz
WARSAW, Poland (AP) Jan. 22 — Russia has accused Poland of engaging in a “mockery of history” after the Polish foreign minister credited Ukrainian soldiers, rather than the Soviet Red Army, with liberating Auschwitz 70 years ago.
The exchange underlines the deep tensions between Russia and Poland, which is hugely critical of Russian actions in Ukraine. Those strains are casting a shadow over the 70th anniversary commemorations of the liberation of the Nazi camp, which will be held Tuesday in Poland.
Poland has apparently snubbed Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will not attend even though he was at the 60th anniversary event in 2005. The situation is particularly awkward since Auschwitz was liberated by Soviet troops on Jan. 27, 1945, and some of the more than 1.1 million victims were Soviet citizens, including Jews and prisoners of war.
In a radio interview Wednesday, Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna was challenged over what the journalist called the “pettiness” of not inviting Putin, given that he is the inheritor of the Soviet Union and that the Red Army freed Auschwitz.
Schetyna replied that “maybe it’s better to say … that the First Ukrainian Front and Ukrainians liberated (Auschwitz), because Ukrainian soldiers were there, on that January day, and they opened the gates of the camp and they liberated the camp.”
In Russia, Schetyna’s comments were seen as a cynical insult and drew an avalanche of angry official comments. The Foreign Ministry accused Schetyna of “anti-Russian hysteria” and disrespecting the memory of those who died liberating Europe from Hitler.
“It’s common knowledge that Auschwitz was liberated by the Red Army, in which all nationalities heroically served,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “We believe that the mockery of history needs to be stopped.”
The group of forces involved in the liberation of Auschwitz was called the First Ukrainian Front after it pushed the Nazis back across the territory of then-Soviet Ukraine before moving into Poland.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called Schetyna’s comments “sacrilegious and cynical.”
“Auschwitz was liberated by the Red Army, which included Russians, Ukrainians, Chechens, Tatars and Georgians, among others,” Lavrov said.
At the United Nations, Russia’s envoy Vitaly Churkin addressed the Polish envoy, telling him that the First Ukrainian Front, like other Red Army forces, contained representatives of the Soviet Union’s more than 100 ethnic groups and asking him to convey the information to Schetyna.
The organizers of the ceremonies, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and the International Auschwitz Council, did not issue specific invitations to national leaders this year, but asked nations contributing funds to the site — including Russia — if they were going to attend.
Poland appears to have used this form of protocol as a way of avoiding a direct invitation to Putin. Some Poles have been critical of this, saying politics should not intrude on such a major Holocaust commemoration, the last one where a significant number of Auschwitz survivors can still be expected to attend.
Schetyna, though, put the blame on Putin for not attending, saying it was his decision.
Western leaders bypass the 70th anniversary commemoration at Auschwitz. Not even Elie Wiesel will be there!
Jan. 25 – It turns out that President Francois Hollande of France is the only truly “hands-on” leader of his country who will be present at the Auschwtiz-Birkenau formal ceremony on Tuesday, to which all European leaders were invited.
David Cameron will not be representing the UK and it has not been announced who will.
Joachim Gauck will represent Germany, not Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Heinz Fischer will do the same for Austria, while Chancellor Werner Faymann stays home.
Pietro Grasso, president of the senate, will represent Italy.
Belgium, The Netherlands and Denmark will be represented by royal personages rather than their elected leaders: King Philippe, King Willen-Alexander and Crown Prince Frederik, respectively.
President Putin of Russia said ‘nyet’ and is sending his Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov in his place.
From Australia comes Josh Frydenberg (Jew), a lowly Assistant Treasurer, and from Canada Tim Uppal, a turban-wearing Sikh who is multiculturalism minister.
Neither Obama nor Vice-President Biden will attend, but Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, an orthodox Jew, will lead the delegation of mostly fellow Jews from the USA.
I guess it’s all too boring and a waste of the time of busy leaders. It’s good they recognize that.
Two notable Germans were born on January 27: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Kaiser Wilhelm II
Of Wilhelm, the first grandson of Queen Victoria of England, his biographer Lamar Cecil wrote of his so-called “well-developed anti-semitism.”
“Throughout his life he believed that Jews were perversely responsible, largely through their prominence in the Berlin Press and in leftist political movements, for encouraging opposition to his rule.” How correct he was to believe so. “He prevented Jewish citizens from having careers in the army and the diplomatic corps, and frequently used abusive language against them.” LaMar Cecil (1996). Wilhelm II: Emperor and Exile, 1900–1941. UNC. p. 57.
In December 1919, Wilhelm wrote to Field Marshal August von Mackensen blaming “the tribe of Judah” for forcing his abdication and thus bringing shame upon the German people. He said “Let no German ever forget this, nor rest until these parasites have been destroyed and exterminated from German soil.” John Röhl, The Kaiser and His Court: Wilhelm II and the Government of Germany (Cambridge University Press, 1994), p. 210
Was he wrong? Of course not. If Wilhelm had carried out his wish and “exterminated the parasites from German soil,” Adolf Hitler would not have had to do it later and the parasites would not have been able to manufacture a “holocaust” which now weighs so heavily on all our heads.
The lesson here is that it is better to take action right from the beginning of a problem, rather than put off action onto future generations. The problem only gets worse.