lifeasdaddy

There are no atheists in foxholes: A World War Two soldier's Bible.

Here's an interesting pocket Bible.  It was given away to soldiers across the British Empire during  World War Two by the British and Foreign Bible Society. This one to a soldier in the Australian Army.

It cannot be rare, however I am unable to  find any identical in the online catalogues of the usual Australian cultural institutions.  If you know of any similar examples - please let me know.

This one bears the symbol of His Majesty King George VI.  It is 120mm high and 76mm wide.

 

Inside the front cover is a tipped in presentation page plus a stapled Bible Reading hints insert.  The slightly corroded staples have created a slight brown stain. Otherwise the bible is almost unmarked after 70 years:

 

His Majesty's message to his loyal troops is also included.  The message is dated just 2 weeks after the start of World War Two:

 

Interestingly it was printed at the University Press, Oxford:

 

I just checked the Integrated Catalogue of the British Library and cannot find it there either.

Oskar Schindler's list is in Sydney.

Last week I saw a piece of history.

In the midst of the Nazi steamroller, and himself a Nazi, Oskar Schindler showed that true heroes do exist. 

Schindler sheltered more than 1000 Jews via the cover of his factory in Poland between 1939 and 1945; using bribery and contacts in the Nazi regieme - he saved their lives.  To be on his list of enamel factory workers was to be given a chance at life when the alternative was likely death in a camp.

Light first shone on the story of Oskar Schindler and the list of his factory workers when Thomas Keneally wrote his book Schindler's Ark (Schindler's List in the USA market) which won the Booker Prize in 1982 and gained a much broader audience via the 1993 film Schindler's List.

In early 1945, as the Soviet Army began to edge across Poland, the Nazis permitted  Schindler to move his factory workers to Brněnec (then Brünnlitz) in what is now the Czech Republic.  He compiled a list of his workers who were required to transfer to the new location for submission to the government in 1945.

 

The original lists were submitted to the government as required, and no originals have been discovered since.  A few carbon copies of the list are believed to exist in the world, and one was recently rediscovered by Dr. Olwen Pryke amongst Tom Keneally's literary papers at the State Librry of New South Wales.  It was found by Dr. Pryke whilst she was examining six boxes of papers relating to Keneally's book.  The papers were acquired by the library in 1996, but nobody had recognised the significance of the flimsy pices of yellowing paper.

Tom Keneally was reunited once again with his manuscript and papers relating to his book at the State Libraryof New South Wales, and is shown here with the rediscoverer, Dr. Olwen Pryke.

 

(above) Dr. Olwen Pryke and Thomas Keneally discuss the copy of Schindler's List arrayed on the table in front of them.  ML MSS 6154/6

(photograph courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales)

The  List is on display at the Nelson Meers Foundation Heritage Collection in the State Library of New South Wales. It is accompanied in the display by the original manuscript of Keneally's book.  Until November 2009.

You can also see it online here.

 

Dr. Mohammad Khatami interviewed by Father Dave

My friend Father Dave Smith somehow managed to interview Dr. Mohammad Khatami, the former President of Iran during the latter's recent Australian visit.

There is plenty of content, but one of the things Mr. Khatani says (in English translation) is "Judaism is a great religion" in the context of an ecumenical question from Father Dave.

..

the spirit of giving that is Christmas

Here's the story of B. Virdot, anonymous benefactor of Canton, Ohio in 1933.

Gettin' ready for Christmas

For the past couple of years we have made a gingerbread house for our family's children to enjoy at Christmas luncheon and this year is no exception.  Edward has also been very keen to make a Nativity Scene, to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

The actual gingerbread components were purchased in a kit from Ikea. 

Gabrielle made some icing from pure icing sugar which doubles as glue to stick the pre-fabricated components together. 

The white icing also gives a snow like effect.  Although snow has no physical relationship to the Christmas period here in Australia owing to 25 December falling in the middle of our summer.  However due to the British, European and North American influence on our culture the visual and psychological association of snow with Christmas is surprisingly strong.  Besides, it gives us something with which to stick the confectionery to the gingerbread.

It's a little hard to see in these photographs but the finishing touch is a small chocolate Santa Claus peeping out of the chimney.

The finished product is something that kids love, and it looks festive too.

Next, Gabrille and Ed made a Nativity scene.

These wooden clothes pegs become the figures.  A shoe box becomes the stables.

The manger is made from some light cardboard cut up and shaped into a box.

The clothes pegs have a piece of shiny pipe-cleaner like things wrapped around them to make arms and a couple of pieces of tinsel stuck on to make a beard for Joseph. 

Clothes are made from some scrap material.

To make a smaller figure for baby Jesus the bottom of one of the pegs is cut off to size.  His bedding is made from cotton wool, as is his blanket.

The gabled roof of the stables is made from an inverted vee shaped piece of cardboard topped off with the guiding star.

Some spiked leaves from a palm frond make up some greenery around the stables.

C'est voila.

the conundrum of comments - what to do?

Yesterday friend Trevor Cook lamented the personal invective and other undesirable stuff which can be associated with some comments sections on blogs.

As a low-profile blogger on a hard to find street corner I manage to avoid much of that - even though I do have a modest political statement visible in the lower right hand corner of this blog which I knew would one day inevitably draw some adverse comment. 

Today I opened this blog to find an anti-semite dropped by with an example of his intellect. [ It is the third comment down in this comment stream ]Update 18 December 2008:  offensive comment has been deleted.

What to do?  Leave it displayed as testimony that proves my and Nico's points about holocaust deniers, or tip it out as one would any other foul smelling piece of garbage?

I'll render my decision to myself in a couple of days.

UPDATE:  18 December 2008.  Offensive comment has now been deleted.

Undereducated Australians

My friend Nico, who happends to be a German, commented on my blog piece about Holocaust deniers.   In my response to Nico I wrote that one of my concerns is the parlous lack of knowledge today about the events of World War II amongst younger people in Australia.

Here is an example from The Adelaide Advertiser newspaper in a piece by Matt Neagle.  Early this week a Nazi flag was flying from a flag pole at an Adelaide home. 

Let's just review a couple of comments by the man named Will, who lives at the house. 

The Croydon man, who only gave his name as "Will", said the Nazi flag went up as a joke at a "drunken" house party a few weeks ago.

"It's the funniest story around... well I found it funny, apparently the community is not finding it too funny," Will said.

"We meant no offence, just a drunken party, bit of fun, never took the bloody thing down, caused a whole heap of offence, we're sorry about that, but you know..."

When asked by AdelaideNow if he knows the symbolism of the flag, Will replied:

"Not really, no."

I see no reason not to accept what Will says as the truth.  He just did not know that flying the Nazi flag could or would cause any offence.

Partly his responsibility.  Partly the responsibility of our education system.  Partly the responsibility of all of us.

It's useful to remember that there are many people in our nation, just like Will.

 

Where are the books about atheism?

If you went into a bookstore and wanted to find some books about atheism, where would you look?

Borders Bookstore thinks the logical place is the Religion section.  I wonder it that galls my friend and prostlytising atheist Cam Reilly?

After all, to be an atheist is to take a profoundly held position on the existence of God.

Wanna see a Gutenberg Bible? Or three? Get thee to The Morgan

Once, several years ago, I was able to visit The Morgan Library and Museum.  I remember thinking about the fact that although there is not one single copy of a Gutenberg Bible in Australia, The Morgan has three.

Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust, ‘Biblia Latina’ (1455).
(Morgan Library & Museum)

 

At the moment, for the first time in more than a decade, The Morgan is displaying all three of the Gutenberg Bibles in one exhibition.

 

You have until 26 September.

 

For the Biblically inclined, I remember shelf upon shelf of bibles  in the library.

 

 

Mr. Morgan's Library

( Morgan Library & Museum )

 

 

 

 

  Unsurprising  considering its importance in the history of printing.

 

GOOD BACKGROUNDER:

 

If you want to know more about Gutenberg's Bibles and why they are important, then check out the online information from the British Library here, which they have put together to accompany their mere two copies.

A fighter pilot repays his dept to the fuzzy-wuzzy angels.

I recall as a boy listening to radio broadcasts of Parliamentary debates, and hearing Tom Uren speaking passionately about Australia's debt to the Fuzzy wuzzy angels of New Guinea who saved the lives of many Australian soldiers during the gruelling World War II campaigns to our north.

It turns out it wasn't only Australian lives who were saved.  Fred Hargesheimer, a US Army pilot was shot down in 1943, and his life was saved by the New Guinea natives.

In the 1960's he returned to build a school for the remote villagers, and dedicated much of his life since then to the cause of education there.

This is his story.

[ tip from Steve Holden ]