Mail was allowed to be sent from the concentration camps under strict censorship. It had to be written in the German language and the number of lines was limited. Only simple information about health and daily life was allowed. The Blockführer had to read and sign the mail and then it went to the censorship office. Jews were forced to write that they were in a labour camp to reassure those left behind. This mail was collected in bulk and sent to Berlin.
Meier Vieijra was born on 26 December 1918 in Nieuwe Kerkstraat in Amsterdam. He was the son of Jacob Vieijra and Rachel Simons and had two brothers, Joop (Joseph) and Piet (Louis), and three sisters Elisabeth, Clara and Branca. Like his father and his brothers, Meier was a tailor by trade. They all worked together in his father’s company.
• On 9 August 1939, he married Blanche Nabarro. • On Saturday afternoon, 22 February 1941, a convoy of German trucks arrived near Waterlooplein. Meier was one of the men who were arrested during the raid in Amsterdam. • On 28 February 1941, he arrived in Buchenwald (prisoner no. 4754). • Then he was deported to Mauthausen on 22 May 1941.
Meier sent six letters and postcards to his wife Blanche from Buchenwald.
Below is the translated text of one of those letters
31 August 1941
Dear Blanche,
Thank you for your letters and money orders. Today I have the opportunity to write to you. Blanche, please thank Aunt Aggelen for the money order. You ask in your letter if you can send me 15 RM weekly. It is probably allowed. Blanche, if it will be a boy, name him Jacob Ben Meier. If it is a girl, name her Rachel…
Please send regards to the entire family and especially to Clara and Chellie, and consider yourself warmly greeted and kissed by your loving Meier Vieijra.
Dear Parents and Mother-in-Law! How are you? Well, I hope. Please write to me sometimes.
Regards, Meier Vieijr
The handwriting in the letter was not Meier’s. It had been re-written and was also censored. The text that was censored apparently expressed condolences on the death of Samuel Vieijra. Samuel, Meier’s uncle, his father’s brother, was murdered on 7 August 1941 in Mauthausen. Only the signature was original.
Even the written word was controlled, monitored and silenced by the Nazis.
On 17 September 1941, Meier Vieijra died from the consequences of his hard life in Mauthausen. He may not have been gassed or shot but he was murdered nonetheless.
Blanche gave birth to a baby daughter on 2 October 1941 and called her Rachel. In May 1943, Blanche and her daughter went into hiding in Oldebroek with the Flier family. Both Blanche and Rachel survived the Holocaust.
The title of this blog is a quote from Heinrich Heine’s play “Almansor” which he had written in 1821. Heine was a Jewish German poet, writer and literary critic. His words would ring true just over a century after he wrote them.
The Holocaust didn’t start with the mass murder of Jews and other so called “undesirables”. It was a gradual process. It was not just the destruction of life but also the destruction of art and culture that did not suit the Nazis philosophy.
In a symbolic act of ominous significance, on May 10, 1933, university students burned upwards of 25,000 volumes of so called “un-German” books, heralding a period of state censorship and control of culture. The disturbing part of this ,it was university students doing this, Supposedly well educated people. In an effort to synchronize the literary community, Goebbels had a strong ally in the National Socialist German Students’ Association (Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund, or NSDStB).
On the evening of May 10, in most university towns, right-wing students marched in torchlight parades “against the un-German spirit.” The scripted rituals required for high Nazi officials, professors, university rectors, and university student leaders to address the participants and onlookers.
The event was organised by the Ministry of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment. There are 3 definitions for enlightenment:
1.the act or means of enlightening : the state of being enlightened 2capitalized : a philosophical movement of the 18th century marked by a rejection of traditional social, religious, and political ideas and an emphasis on rationalism —used with the 3. Buddhism : a final blessed state marked by the absence of desire or suffering.
None of the definitions applied here.
Below are just some of the books which were deemed harmful to the German people, according to the Nazis .
Bambi, a Life in the Woods; Time Machine; War of the Worlds; The condition of the working class in England; All Quiet on the Western Front; The Lord of the Rings; Ivanhoe.
As you can see from those titles there was absolutely no justification, nor will there ever be, for banning and burning books.
In Berlin, some 40,000 people heard Joseph Goebbels deliver a fiery address: “No to decadence and moral corruption!” Goebbels enjoined the crowd. “Yes to decency and morality in family and state! I consign to the flames the writings of Heinrich Mann, Ernst Glaeser, Erich Kästner.”
“The era of extreme Jewish intellectualism is now at an end. The breakthrough of the German revolution has again cleared the way on the German path…The future German man will not just be a man of books, but a man of character. It is to this end that we want to educate you. As a young person, to already have the courage to face the pitiless glare, to overcome the fear of death, and to regain respect for death – this is the task of this young generation. And thus you do well in this midnight hour to commit to the flames the evil spirit of the past. This is a strong, great and symbolic deed – a deed which should document the following for the world to know – Here the intellectual foundation of the November Republic is sinking to the ground, but from this wreckage the phoenix of a new spirit will triumphantly rise.”
— Joseph Goebbels, Speech to the students in Berlin.
Not all book burnings took place on May 10, as the German Student Association had planned. Some were postponed a few days because of rain. Others, based on local chapter preference, took place on June 21, the summer solstice, a traditional date for bonfire celebrations in Germany.
The really scary things is this is happening again, the burning has been replaced by cancelling, and the banning of books is happening more and more.
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Growing up in the Netherlands there was a tradition on Good Friday. Every year on Good Friday the Dutch radio would play the ‘Top 100 of all time’, basically the greatest songs ever recorded. The majority would be rock songs.
The top 4 would always be ‘Child in Time’ by Deep Purple; ‘Stairway to Heaven’ by Led Zeppelin; ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by Queen, and ‘Hotel California’ by The Eagles.
I would be totally happy with these 4 songs in the top spots, sometimes the sequence of the position would change but I didn’t care about that, because they also happened to be my favourite songs of all time. I would find it difficult enough to place them in a sequence of 1 to 4.
Then Metallica decided to release the album “… And justice for all” on the album was a track called ‘One’ of 7.27 minutes long. How dared they messing up my 4 favourite songs. Immediately after I heard the song for the 1st time, all the others were put in a shadows. Decades of finding the 4 perfect songs for me, destroyed.
Recently I went for a walk, as I would do for every walk I plug in my earplugs into the phone, select the music player, and listen to the music whilst on the walk. This time however, I was nearly home when ‘One’ came up on the player. it forced me to extend my walk by 7+ minutes. 7 minutes of missing out on a lovely cup of coffee.
That, ladies and gentleman. is why I hate ‘One’ by Metallica so much. Because the song is addictive and it is impossible not to love.
Even the video is so compelling to watch. It is intercut with scenes taken from the 1971 anti-war film ‘Johnny Got His Gun’.
In this tragic, dark, anti-war movie , a patriotic young American in WW1 is rendered blind, deaf, limbless, and mute by a horrific artillery shell attack, played by Timothy Bottoms. Trapped in what’s left of his body, he desperately looks for a way to end his life.
Metallica could have taken scenes from any other war movie but no they had to choose ‘Johnny Got His Gun’ ,written and directed by Dalton Trumbo.
Dalton Trumbo, the Oscar-winning screenwriter, arguably the most talented, most famous of the blacklisted film professionals known to history as the Hollywood 10. How did Metallica know that aside from music my other passion is History? How did they know I would be compelled to research that video? In a pre internet and Google era, that was not an easy task.
I am sorry to do this to all of you but I have no choice but to end this piece with that notorious piece pf music I hate so much, and yet I love it more then any other piece of music.
On this day 30 years ago the British Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, issued a notice under clause 13 of the BBC Licence and Agreement to the BBC and under section 29) of the Broadcasting Act 1981 to the Independent Broadcasting Authority prohibiting the broadcast of direct statements by representatives or supporters of eleven Irish political and military organisations. The ban prevented the UK news media from broadcasting the voices, though not the words, of ten Irish republican and Ulster loyalist paramilitary groups, these included IRA, INLA, UVF and UDA as well as Sinn Féin.(bizarrely enough it did not include Ian Paisley’s DUP).
The Government’s notice on Northern Ireland broadcasting restrictions came into force on 19 October 1988 after an escalation in paramilitary violence over the preceding summer months.
Home Secretary Hurd, told the Commons that the ban was being instituted because ‘the terrorists themselves draw support and sustenance from access to radio and television .the time had come to deny this easy platform to those who used it to propagate terrorism. Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, said it would “deny terrorists the oxygen of publicity”.
The ban did not have the desired effect and any one with a common sense would have been able to guess that.
It did create a few ironies though.
The ban sparked the creativity of broadcast organisations and actors were hired to do voice overs. Actors became so skilled in lip-syncing sound clips for news bulletins that viewers barely noticed the dubbing.Some actors could earn up to £120 per session.
Stephen Rea, who was among the actors to voice Gerry Adams in interviews, later told the Irish Times he tried to speak the lines “as clearly and neutrally as possible, Stephen Rea’s wife though had been an IRA volunteer at the time.
The restrictions also applied to non news or current affair TV Shows.In December 1988 the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Tom King, ordered Channel 4 to cancel an episode of the US drama series Lou Grant that featured the story of a fictional IRA gunrunner, even though it had aired previously.
Restrictions were temporarily lifted during the 1992 general election, facilitating a political debate between the SDLP leader John Hume and the Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams to be heard during the election campaign, but the ban resumed once the polls were closed.
The Republic of Ireland had its own similar legislation that banned anyone with links to paramilitary groups from the airwaves, but repealed this in January 1994. The British government followed suit on 16 September 1994, two weeks after the first IRA ceasefire had been declared.
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They say that music soothes the savage beast. quite often this is true, but it can also have an equal opposite effect and sometimes it can be both.
The song ‘Adolf Hitler’s Lieblingsblume ist die Schlichte Edelweiss'(Adolf Hitlers favorite flower is the simple Edelweiss) ,composed in 1933 by Otto Rathke, with lyrics by Emil Gustav Adolf Stadthagen and made popular by the German Opera Tenor Harry Steier, was one of Germany’s favourite songs.
However by 1939 it ended up on the list of songs which were banned in the third reich. It suddenly was branded degenerate music along with music from Jewish composers and Jazz music.
The reason why it fell out of favor was because it was seen as kitsch and it was also perceived as a satire on Hitler. It took them 6 years to figure that out.
Below is a part of the English translation.
“High on steep cliff walls blooms a rare kind of flower,
to which the Kanzler quietly turns his thoughts.
A queen of the Alps this is his heart’s joy.
Adolf Hitlers favorite flower is the simple Edelweiss.
Take this song through all the districts,
plant it forth from mouth to mouth,
take a piece of the German soul around the whole world.
Plant it in hearts for the leader to praise and cherish.
Adolf Hitlers favorite flower is the simple Edelweiss”
Both composer and performer had died in 1936.
Now here is the real irony of this song, although it was banned by the Nazis, Some Neo Nazis are now endorsing it, another indication that aside from having some mental issues, they also know nothing about the history of the man they so adore.
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The word Censorship is perhaps a bit misleading since it was really a failed attempt to Censorship because it actually achieved the opposite effect.
This whole idea came from the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) which was headed by no other then the wife of former vice President Al Gore,Tipper Gore(no that is really her name).
Tipper Gore, left, wife of Sen. Albert Gore Jr., D-Tenn., testifies before the Senate Commerce Committee as Susan Baker, wife of Treasury Secretary James Baker III awaits her turn on Sept. 19, 1985 in Washington. The committee was holding hearings on record labeling. (AP Photo/Lana Harris)
The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was an American committee formed in 1985 with the stated goal of increasing parental control over the access of children to music deemed to be violent, have drug use or be sexual via labeling albums with Parental Advisory stickers. The committee was founded by four women: Tipper Gore, wife of Senator and later Vice President Al Gore; Susan Baker, wife of Treasury Secretary James Baker; Pam Howar, wife of Washington realtor Raymond Howar; and Sally Nevius, wife of former Washington City Council Chairman John Nevius. They were known as the “Washington wives” – a reference to their husbands’ connections with government in the Washington, D.C. area. The term was also a play on the title of Ira Levin’s book, The Stepford Wives. The Center eventually grew to include 22 participants.
The committee wanted certain songs banned but failed to do so, therefore they came up with a rating system, basically a sticker on every album with ‘explicit’ lyrics.
These are the 15 songs they found most objectionable, they called them the filthy fifteen.
Especially Sheena Easton and Cindy Lauper were known for their explicit behavior and filthy language throughout their career(NOT)
The movement got some traction after a few high profile court cases, one against Judas Priest.
The band got into some serious trouble after their alleged backwards messages tragically inspired two young men to commit suicide. In 1985, Raymond Belknap and James Vance were hanging out drinking beer and smoking a joint while listening to Judas Priest, when they went to a church playground and shot themselves with a .12 guage shotgun. Belknap was killed outright, but Vance survived before eventually dying three-years later from complications. “We had been programmed. I knew I was going to do it. I was afraid. I didn’t want to die. It’s just as if I had no choice,” he reported later. The men’s parents filed a lawsuit which claimed the song “Better By You, Better Than Me” encouraged suicide with a series of backwards messages saying, “Do it”.
Of course the fact that they were drinking,smoking dope and listening to heavy metal being played backwards wasn’t an indication of mental issues.Below is a clip of the song, it is the backward version so please don’t drink,smoke joints and put any guns away.
In August 1985, 19 record companies agreed to put “Parental Guidance: Explicit Lyrics” labels on albums to warn of explicit lyrical content. Before the labels could be put into place, the Senate agreed to hold a hearing on so-called “porn rock”. This began on September 19, 1985, when representatives from the PMRC, three musicians — Dee Snider, Frank Zappa, John Denver(Yes that filthy Rocker John Denver)—and Senators Paula Hawkins and Al Gore testified before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on “the subject of the content of certain sound recordings and suggestions that recording packages be labeled to provide a warning to prospective purchasers of sexually explicit or other potentially offensive content.
Supporting witnesses
Paula Hawkins presented three record covers (Pyromania by Def Leppard, W.O.W. by Wendy O. Williams and W.A.S.P. by W.A.S.P.) and the music videos for “Hot for Teacher” by Van Halen, and “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister, commenting: “Much has changed since Elvis’ seemingly innocent times. Subtleties, suggestions, and innuendo have given way to overt expressions and descriptions of often violent sexual acts, drug taking, and flirtations with the occult. The record album covers to me are self-explanatory.”
Susan Baker testified that “There certainly are many causes for these ills in our society, but it is our contention that the pervasive messages aimed at children which promote and glorify suicide, rape, sadomasochism, and so on, have to be numbered among the contributing factors.” Tipper Gore asked record companies to voluntarily “plac[e] a warning label on music products inappropriate for younger children due to explicit sexual or violent lyrics.”
National PTA Vice President for Legislative Activity Millie Waterman related the PTA’s role in the debate, and proposed printing the symbol “R” on the cover of recordings containing “explicit sexual language, violence, profanity, the occult and glorification of drugs and alcohol,” and providing lyrics for “R”-labeled albums.
In addition, Dr. Joe Stuessy, a music professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, spoke regarding the power of music to influence behavior. He argued that heavy metal was different from earlier forms of music such as jazz and rock and roll because it was “church music” and “had as one of its central elements the element of hatred.” Dr. Paul King, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, testified on the deification of heavy metal musicians, and to the presentation of heavy metal as a religion. He also stated that “many” adolescents read deeply into song lyrics.
Opposing witnesses
During his statement, musician and producer Frank Zappa asserted that “the PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived piece of nonsense which fails to deliver any real benefits to children, infringes the civil liberties of people who are not children, and promises to keep the courts busy for years dealing with the interpretation and enforcement problems inherent in the proposal’s design.” He went on to state his suspicion that the hearings were a front for H.R. 2911, a proposed blank tape tax: “The major record labels need to have H.R. 2911 whiz through a few committees before anybody smells a rat. One of them is chaired by Senator Thurmond. Is it a coincidence that Mrs. Thurmond is affiliated with the PMRC?” Zappa had earlier stated about the Senate’s agreement to hold a hearing on the matter that “A couple of blowjobs here and there and Bingo! — you get a hearing.
Folk rock musician John Denver stated he was “strongly opposed to censorship of any kind in our society or anywhere else in the world”, and that in his experience censors often misinterpret music, as was the case with his song “Rocky Mountain High”. In addition, Denver expressed his belief that censorship is counterproductive: “That which is denied becomes that which is most desired, and that which is hidden becomes that which is most interesting. Consequently, a great deal of time and energy is spent trying to get at what is being kept from you.” When Denver came up to give his speech, many on the PMRC board expected him to side with them, thinking he would be offended by the lyrics as well.
Dee Snider, frontman and lead singer of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister, testified that he “[did] not support [RIAA president] Gortikov’s unnecessary and unfortunate decision to agree to a so-called generic label on some selected records”. Like John Denver, Snider felt that his music had been misinterpreted. He defended the Twisted Sister songs “Under the Blade”, which had been interpreted as referring to sadomasochism, bondage, and rape, and “We’re Not Gonna Take It”, which had been accused of promoting violence. Snider said about “Under the Blade”, a song Snider claimed was written about an impending surgery, that “the only sadomasochism, bondage, and rape in this song is in the mind of Ms. Gore.” He stated, “Ms. Gore was looking for sadomasochism and bondage, and she found it. Someone looking for surgical references would have found it as well.” Snider concluded that “The full responsibility for defending my children falls on the shoulders of my wife and I, because there is no one else capable of making these judgments for us.”
Notable snippets of audio from the hearing found their way into Zappa’s audiocollage “Porn Wars”, released on the Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention album. Senators Gore,Hollings, Gorton, Hawkins, and others appeared. The album cover featured a parody of the RIAA warning label. The LP included a note to listeners to send to Zappa’s Barking Pumpkin Recordsfor a free Z-PAC, a printed information package that included transcripts of the committee hearing, and a letter from Zappa encouraging young people to register to vote. Zappa’s full testimonial was released on a posthumous 2010 compilation called Congress Shall Make No Law…
The sticker actually worked as an incentive to buy albums, no matter how bad an album was if it had the Parental Guidance sticker it had to be cool.
Here are 2 video’s which were also deemed to be offensive but please don’t listen to them backwards
Funny enough none of the Stock Aitken and Waterman music were never subjected to censorship.
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History of Sorts 
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