In the last few years, the memorial stones known as Stolpersteine have been laid all over Germany and Austria. The meaning of Stolperstein in English is literally "stumbling block" but it can also mean "rememberance marker". They are the project of a German artist which was at first little known outside Cologne and Berlin, but has now become well-known in other parts of the country.
The Stolpersteine are usually laid in front of the houses of Jews who were deported to concentration camps in the Nazi era. They are sometimes also laid for Jews who emigrated during this time and survivors of camps, as well as for other persecuted groups, but mostly they are for deported Jews. The stones are square and replace a cobblestone in the street. They are covered with a brass top and inscribed with the name and birthdate of the person, where they were deported to, and when they died.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Silver October
The golden October we were enjoying only a few days ago has slipped seamlessly into a silver October with suddenly darker mornings and a soft, silent, silken rain that steeps my world in a silvery encasement.
When I was at university many decades ago, the academic year started in this week and I remember it always as a little cold, a little chill with a crisp morning air and a little mist that accompanied me on my way into classes. I always felt that the cold air did something to make my pale complexion even paler, highlighting my makeup and making it seem more vibrant, and somehow making my red hair appear even redder.
October was the time when you exchanged your pretty summer dresses and t-shirts for your sweaters and pants, you settled down and became more serious again, and like the year itself, the older year, the wiser year, you left the innocent frolicking of the summer and the long, warm, casual days behind and welcomed in the more experienced, crisper, shorter and sober days of the fall.
When I was at university many decades ago, the academic year started in this week and I remember it always as a little cold, a little chill with a crisp morning air and a little mist that accompanied me on my way into classes. I always felt that the cold air did something to make my pale complexion even paler, highlighting my makeup and making it seem more vibrant, and somehow making my red hair appear even redder.
October was the time when you exchanged your pretty summer dresses and t-shirts for your sweaters and pants, you settled down and became more serious again, and like the year itself, the older year, the wiser year, you left the innocent frolicking of the summer and the long, warm, casual days behind and welcomed in the more experienced, crisper, shorter and sober days of the fall.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Good Little Girls
When I was at primary school in the 1960's, the classes were divided up into what we called "streams". Due to the vast amount of children born in the 1950's and 1960's, we had three very large streams for each year. The top ability children were placed in stream A, the medium ability into stream B and the low ability into stream C.
I was in the A stream class, which had a total of 40 children, 26 of which were boys and 14 of which were girls. From this, you might assume the following:
- many more boys than girls were born in our birth year
- the boys were cleverer than the girls
- ability was measured in a different way back then.
I was in the A stream class, which had a total of 40 children, 26 of which were boys and 14 of which were girls. From this, you might assume the following:
- many more boys than girls were born in our birth year
- the boys were cleverer than the girls
- ability was measured in a different way back then.
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