In the SS' Service: Female guards at Germany's Ravensbrück concentration camp

An exhibition in the memorial at Ravensbrück offers a disturbing look at life under the Nazis in the all-female camp.





Bad conscience? Regret? Maria Mandl did not remotely experience either of those. "There was nothing bad about the camp," said the senior overseer of the all-women's concentration camp in Ravensbrück, Germany. The 36-year-old was hanged in 1948 after a Krakow court sentenced her to death as a war criminal.

Her career of cruelty is part of the new exhibition about female concentration camp guards at the memorial site. Over 140,000 people, mainly women and children, from over 30 countries were imprisoned in Ravensbrück, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Berlin, between 1939 and 1945. The camp was also the main training and recruiting place for female guards. Some 3,300 of them worked in Ravensbrück.


German shepherds were used as guard dogs at the Ravensbrück camp

The Austrian Maria Mandl was exactly what the self-proclaimed proponents of the "master race" wanted their female guards to be: loyal and merciless.

Someone like Mandl could go places under the perverse hierarchy of the Nazis. In 1942, after three years in Ravensbrück, she was transferred to work at the death camp Auschwitz. There, she created the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz that was forced to play music during prisoner transports and executions.

In 1940, after World War II had begun, the female guards became subsumed under Hitler's elite death squad the SS (Schutzstaffel, Protection Squadron in English.) The freshly designed and updated exhibition, "In the SS's Service," first conceived in 2004, does not shirk from details. The location of the exhibition was also carefully considered: The old barracks for female camp guards, right next to the former camp. Only a wall and barbed wire separated the perpetrators from their victims.

Read more: Auschwitz: A scene of atrocities even before the horrors of the Holocaust


Female guard Johanna Langefeld lived with her son at the camp

'You are a lady, but I can hit you'

Audio files of the torment and capricious abuse carried out on the prisoners can also be heard in the exhibition. Some of the interviews with witnesses are more than 20 years old. Ursula Winska from Poland, for example, explains in a video how Maria Mandl beat an older woman especially brutally on a pathway in the camp. When a fellow inmate came to her aid, she in turn ended up in the bunker. For months after, she was hit in the face every day, with the mocking comment: "You are a lady, but I can hit you."

There were some female guards who occasionally showed some humanity. According to another Polish prisoner, Henryka Stanecka, her group of prisoners were permitted a dip in the lake after finishing a muddy day's work in a sugar beet field. "One guard even gave us a towel," Stanecka said.

Read more: The German company that enabled the Holocaust

The main requirement to work at the camp was loyalty to the Nazi party
'Attractive as mindless assembly line work'

The longer the war went on, the more difficult it became for the Nazis to find volunteer guards. New staff were recruited through advertisements in newspapers. The words "concentration camp" did not feature in these job descriptions. For example, a 1944 advert in the Hannoverscher Kurier read: "Looking for healthy female workers aged 20-40 for a position in military service." Compensation was accorded based on tariffs for public servants. Furthermore, the role promised: "Free accommodation, catering and clothing (uniform)."

Prospects like this were enough for many women to volunteer. One woman identified only as Waltraut G. was among them. In a 2003 interview, she explained that she took the job for financial reasons. She was the oldest of five siblings. "So I really did not think about it for too long, all I thought was: If I can earn more there then I'll take the job." Anna G. also had no scruples in taking the job. She found the work in the camp quite simply "attractive as mindless assembly line work," like in a factory.

Read more: Auschwitz, 75 years later: A race against time

Only some went to trial

Apparently, only a very small number of the guards quit or expressed any kind of opposition. But exhibition curator Simone Erpel says "we have found no indication that anyone who quit or voiced any kind of opposition was persecuted in any way.

"That is important because after the war the guards said in their defense, that they would have been thrown into a concentration camp had they dared to refuse to follow orders, but we find no indication of that, so it must have been possible for them to make their own decisions," Erpel says.


Curator and historian Simone Erpel put the exhibition together

The majority of female camp guards had little to fear after the war. Only 77 of them had to stand trial, according to Erpel, who is also a historian. Death sentences, like in the case of Maria Mandl, or long prison sentences were rare. Later investigations were mostly without consequence for those geriatric female camp guards who were still alive. Most recently, proceedings in eight cases were officially closed in February 2020 by the German state of Brandenburg, where Ravensbrück is located: seven because the defendants were unable to be questioned or attend hearings and one because of a lack of sufficient evidence.

Read more: Germans want to uphold culture of Holocaust remembrance

Some female guards were put in US prisoner of war camps in 1945

A genuine Nazi uniform?

"Not guilty" — that's how the few female guards whose cases did make it to trial pleaded. As far as the perpetrators were concerned, that was all that needed to be said. None said anything that could have helped their victims at all. This chapter of German case law is now "history" — 75 years after the liberation of the Ravensbrück camp — according to one state prosecutor, in an interview that can be heard at the exhibition.

There is also a room which deals with "Facts and Fiction." This looks at the figure of the female camp guard in literature and film, along with the trade in Nazi memorabilia. Next to the novel The Reader by Bernhard Schlink, which has been translated into 50 languages and made into a movie with Kate Winslet, you can see a field-gray SS uniform. "It could be a fake," the accompanying text reads, explaining the uncertain origin of the piece of clothing — but there is a female guard's cap that is definitely real. It was given to the Ravensbrück museum by a former French prisoner.

Doll in SS uniform

A doll in an SS uniform

Around the final corner of the exhibition you can find a glass cabinet with a doll in it. Her name is Silken Floss and she is an action figure based on the main character in Frank Miller's 2008 movie The Spirit. Scarlett Johansson plays the hero in a tale based on a comic strip by Will Eisner from the 1940s and '50s. The original comic is a crime thriller with mystical and comedic elements. The doll in the memorial at Ravensbrück has blonde hair and wears an SS uniform. You can buy things like this very easily online — but you might also find that in bad taste.

 I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A BIG FAN OF THE SPIRIT COMICS AND WILL EISNER 

Silken Floss | Tranquil Tirades Wiki | Fandom

https://tranquiltirades.fandom.com › wiki › Silken_Floss

Silken Floss is an antagonist in the 2008 film, The Spirit. She is played by Scarlett Johansson...

Silken Floss | DC Movies Wiki | Fandom

https://dcmovies.fandom.com › wiki › Silken_Floss

Silken Floss is the Octopus' assistant.

The Spirit (2008) - Scarlett Johansson as Silken Floss - IMDb

https://www.imdb.com › title › characters

Quotes · Silken Floss : We knew there had to be a better way of keeping someone alive other than cutting them up like some free-range chicken. · [On the Subject of ...

The Spirit (film) - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › The_Spirit_(film)

In a secret lair, the Octopus and Silken Floss discover their chest contains the Golden Fleece, not the Blood of Heracles, as expected. Sand and Mahmoud visit ...

‎Plot · ‎Cast · ‎Production · ‎Reception

Silken Floss (Character) - Comic Vine

https://comicvine.gamespot.com › silken-floss

For the live-action adaptation directed by Frank Miller, Silken Floss is the Spirit's enemy, and the Octopus' secretary. She is portrayed by actress Scarlett ...

Scarlett Johansson portrays Silken Floss in The Spirit.

www.edmontonjournal.com › story

Scarlett Johansson portrays Silken Floss in The Spirit. 07.23.2014. Scarlett Johansson portrays Silken Floss in The Spirit. Scarlett Johansson portrays Silken ...

Silken Floss rewritten for Scarlett Johansson

https://www.smh.com.au › entertainment › silken-floss-rewritten-for-scarlett-...

Dec 9, 2008 - Director Frank Miller has revealed he rewrote the role of Silken Floss in his upcoming film The Spirit to capitalise on Scarlett Johansson's ...

The eclectic filmmaker: Wim Wenders at 75

A key figure in New German Cinema, Wenders is renowned for arthouse classics such as "Paris, Texas" and "Wings of Desire" and Oscar-nominated documentaries.


THE FILMS THAT MADE WIM WENDERS CULT
Wim Wenders' cinematic vision

A filmmaker and photographer, artist, music lover and much more: Wim Wenders, who was born on August 14, 1945 in Düsseldorf, released his first feature film, "Summer in the City," 50 years ago. As he turns 75, here's a look at some at the director's most memorable works.
THIS WAS THE FIRST WIM WENDERS AT AN ART HOUSE

SHOWING IN TORONTO. IT IS A GREAT MOVIE. YES

I AM A  DENIS HOPPER FAN TOO

Neo-noir: 'The American Friend'

In 1977, the film "The American Friend" followed, which indicated where director Wim Wenders' journey would later take him: to the USA. With lead actors Bruno Ganz (left) and "Easy Rider" star Denis Hopper, Wenders shot a crime story about art fraud, male bonding and the dream of another life, far away from home.

ANOTHER WENDER'S FILM ABOUT ONE OF GREAT PRIVAT EYES

OF AMERICAN PULP FICTION AND THE AUTHOR WHO WROTE HIM

Film still 'Hammett' (picture-alliance/United Archives)

Unhappy in Hollywood

A big fan of American cinema, Wenders traveled to the US in 1977 to shoot several movies, yet it wasn't the experience he had hoped for. He didn't want to integrate himself into the Hollywood system and considered himself an artist more than a commissioned director. Yet his 1982 Hollywood film "Hammett," which tells the story of crime writer Dashiell Hammett, is still one of his top works.

A comeback with music

HIS BIGGEST COMMERCIAL SUCCESS 

Beyond the films that made him a major figure of the New Cinema Movement, Wenders also became famous later in his career for his documentary features. The documentary "Buena Vista Social Club," about a group of senior Cuban musicians, ravished the world in 1999.

Iconic: 'Paris, Texas'

The image of Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) walking in the Texan desert on his way to nowhere became part of film history. "Paris, Texas," is a German film set in the United States in a dreamlike desert landscape. It helped pave the way for the success of director Wim Wenders. It wowed audiences around the world and won him the Golden Palm at the 1984 Cannes film festival.

Woman in red: Nastassja Kinski

Actress Nastassja Kinski played the role of her life in "Paris, Texas." Performances such as hers helped make the film a success and turn Wenders into a big name in the international film scene. The West German director continually reinvented himself and was also celebrated for his documentary films.

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When the German film industry freed itself from the tight corset of the stuffy and history-forgotten post-war cinema in the 1960s, Wim Wenders was one of the leaders of the pack. Along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Edgar Reitz, Werner Herzog, Margarethe von Trotta and Volker Schlöndorff, Wenders was part of a new generation of German filmmakers who brought a breath of fresh air to the scene and enjoyed experimenting with different storytelling formats.

The Düsseldorf-born director, who now turns 75 on August 14, became one of the most influential figures in the New German Cinema wave, a movement that emerged in the 1960s and still greatly influences the German film scene.

Many of his colleagues have not had the same level of fame as Wenders, who remains very prolific to this day. Fassbinder passed away in 1982, Kluge works primarily in television and writes books and the others occasionally shoot, but have not managed to receive the same recognition as Wenders. Only Werner Herzog has remained as impressively active.

In addition to his work with film, Wenders has been involved in a variety of creative pursuits. He exhibits his photography worldwide, works as a university lecturer, is a member of juries, is present at award ceremonies and at many public art events and has even directed operas at Berlin's State Opera.
Masterpieces: Paris, Texas and Wings of Desire

Wenders is perhaps best known for his film Paris, Texas, an expression of love for American cinema and the United States itself, where he lived for many years. The 1984 film won him the prestigious Golden Palm award at the Cannes Film Festival and paved his path to success.

Another of his well-known poetic masterpieces is the 1987 film Wings of Desire. The black-and-white film presents a romantic view of the still-divided German capital from the perspective of two angels.

Yet Wenders had been making films since long before these two successes. His early films like, Alice in the Cities and Kings of the Road, were road movies of a different kind.

The 1977 film, The American Friend, starring Easy Rider actor Dennis Hopper, marked the cinematic turning point in which Wenders began to shoot in dreamy, lonely landscapes in the US. Then the success of Paris, Texas opened doors for the director and gave him an open invitation to Hollywood.

Dennis Hopper in 'The American Friend'

Not a huge fan of Hollywood

Hollywood didn't sit well with Wenders, in part because of the nature of his work. He felt he did not have the creative autonomy he sought as he was working within the Hollywood system. And so, after 16 years in the USA, he moved back to Germany, where his output failed to obtain the acclaim of his earlier films. After several years, he reemerged as a successful documentary filmmaker.

His documentaries are shot with sensitivity and great care for their subjects. Wenders uses the narrative skills he developed earlier in his career to tell engaging stories. His comeback was in 1999 with Buena Vista Social Club, a celebrated documentary about a group of Cuban musicians.

Pina, a 2011 documentary about the life of celebrated contemporary dance choreographer Pina Bausch, as well as The Salt of the Earth (2014), about Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado, both earned Wenders an Oscar nomination for best documentary, just like Buena Vista Social Club did. His latest documentary release in 2018 was a film about Pope Francis, titled Pope Francis: A Man of His Word.

Wenders has also kept directing dramas as well, but his latest efforts, such as Every Thing Will Be Fine (2015) and Submergence (2017), received unfavorable reviews and bombed at the box office.

The 75-year-old director also celebrates 50 years of filmmaking this year: His first feature length work, Summer in the City, was released in 1970. His varied career has definitely led to a series of outstanding works that will forever leave their mark on German film history.

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Wim Wenders: 'As a photographer, I'm a listener'

Making a movie is a group project. That's why filmmaker Wim Wenders appreciates the solitude of photography, he tells DW. His works are now on show at Dusseldorf's Kunstpalast.

Bruno Ganz: The actor who mastered Hitler and then moved on

He played Faust, a fallen angel and even Adolf Hitler. While Bruno Ganz has a penchant for problematic roles, he's performed them all with skill and elegance. The Swiss actor turns 75 on March 22.

Traveling the USA and Europe with Wim Wenders' Polaroid photos

He took pictures of raw landscapes, film crews and himself. The world-famous film director is also a photographer and early fan of the Polaroid camera. Discover gems from Wenders' collection of 12,000 shots.


Date 13.08.2020
Author Jochen Kürten (sh)
All galleries in Media Center
Related Subjects New German Cinema, Wim Wenders
Keywords Wim Wenders, New German Cinema, film

Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3gpx6

New documentary explores Gaza in black-and-white photos

Armenian photographer Kegham Djeghalian captured life in Gaza, between Israel and Egypt, from the 1940s to the 1970s. A DW documentary retraces his work.

Collected Memories - Photographs of Gaza

At his home in Gaza City, Marwan Tarazi keeps a little treasure wrapped in plastic bags and stored in boxes: photos and negatives from the 1940s to the 1970s. They portray a part of life in the Gaza Stripduring that period and are part of the legacy of Armenian photographer Kegham Djeghalian, who opened one of the first photo studios in Gaza City in the 1940s. "These negatives and prints are very important to me. They are our heritage, our culture. What you see in the picture is what lives on," says Tarazi, who aims to preserve the collection.

The black-and-white photos show a little-known side of Gaza, which has been ruled for over a decade by the Islamist group Hamas and has been tightly closed off by Israel and partly by Egypt as well.

Some photos show the train station along the Gaza-Egypt railroad which has been long destroyed. Others are artistically lit studio portraits from the pre-selfie era, when a visit to a photographer was something special.

Kegham's lens also captured political events: The Palestinian refugee crisis after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 and the Egyptian rule in Gaza until 1967. "After the war in 1948, many Palestinian refugees fled to Gaza. His family knew a similar situation in Armenia," says Marwan Tarazi, adding that Kegham thought of Gaza as his "second homeland" and started to take pictures of everything around him.


Portrait of the Armenian photographer Kegham Djeghalian

Gaza, the new homeland

Djeghalian's mother had to flee with him as a toddler when the Armenian Genocide took place after 1915. First, they were displaced to Syria. Later, when his mother died, he was sent as a teenager to stay with relatives in Jerusalem, which was under the British Mandate at that time.

Then in the early 1940s, Kegham Djeghalian went to Gaza and started to work as photographer. "I don't know why my father went to Gaza at that time," says his daughter Anahid Boutin, who was born in Gaza and lives in France today. "Maybe my father thought this is the best place to find work," she adds, as many Armenians went to the Middle East looking for work at the time.

Several prominent Armenian photographers became known for documenting events in Jerusalem and other places during the early part of 20th century.

In Gaza, only a few photographers were around but there is not much documentation about them. Later, in the 1960s, a whole generation of young Palestinian photographers learned the trade. Among them Marwan's brother, Morris Tarazi, who started to work at Kegham's studio.

Decades later, the Tarazis took over the studio after Kegham passed away, and "Photo Kegham" became "Photo Morris."
Visual memory of the past

Many of the traditional photo studios — among them Photo Morris — have long gone.

More recently, generations of photojournalists have documented Gaza's eventful history — from the first Intifada in 1987 to the three wars between Hamas and Israel in the past decade.


Photographer Shareef Sarhan in Gaza City

Shareef Sarhan takes pictures of the ongoing conflict and also documents daily life in the closed-off territory. "I try to convey that Gaza is multi-faceted. What we know, or what people are used to, is Gaza's image in media which talks about war, destruction, the blockade and the occupation. But at the same time there is also hope, love and work in Gaza's streets and homes, and a different life," he says.

Sarhan is currently working on a book about traditional professions that are slowly disappearing in Gaza; like Kegham who featured such trades in his portraits. For Sarhan, photography is the visual memory of a society. But nostalgia for the past is not part of it. "Some people are not interested at all in old pictures, and that's understandable given the situation in Gaza. But, others like me search for old pictures, I want to know how my parents and my grandparents lived years ago," says Sarhan.
Difficult archiving process

Parts of Gaza's visual history is preserved in the photo archive of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, in Gaza City. The photo archive has been digitized over the past years. It mainly shows the lives of Palestinian refugees since they were displaced in 1948 as captured by UN photographers. Kegham's younger brother, Hrant, used to work as one of the UN photographers. In Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, some cultural institutions collect photos from family albums of the past decades to create a photo archive.

As for Kegham’s archive, Marwan Tarazi has digitalized and cataloged most of the prints on his own, using his phone and other simple tools. But he recognizes how storing negatives in boxes and plastic bags is far from ideal. Many of the negatives have not been developed yet and their quality only diminishes over the years. "I hope that the young generation takes interest in them and sees their value," says Tarazi.

Far away in France, Kegham's daughter hopes that the photos will be kept safe. Anahid Boutin has not been able to visit Gaza for many years because of the strict Israeli travel restrictions, but she keeps in contact with her childhood friends who are still there. She cherishes the photos for how they connect different generations in different places. "It would be good to put things together to keep the history, at least the history that we know," Boutin says. "The prints are here. I hope we could put them together to represent a part of history of Gaza, an agitated [turbulent], and a moving history."

The documentary "Collected Memories - Photographs of Gaza" by Tania Krämer airs on DW TV on August 14.

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Coronavirus: Gaza faces worst-case scenario

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Coronavirus in Gaza: Trying to avert disaster

What was long feared has now become reality — the COVID-19 pandemic has reached the closed-off Gaza Strip. It's a race against time to head off the outbreak and stop a catastrophe.
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Collected Memories - Photographs of Gaza

Opinion: A mere €10 million for Germany’s colonial-era genocide in Namibia?

Talks on reparations between the two countries are said to be close to wrapping up. But disturbing quotes and figures are leaking from the Namibian presidential office, says DW's Claus Stäcker.


The number was suddenly right there in the room for everyone to see: €10 million ($11.8 million) — €10 million for genocide.

News agencies published the number after it was first reported in the country's largest daily newspaper The Namibian, quoting a spokesperson for President Hage Geingob, who in turn had heard it during an address by the president's predecessor back in June. The spokesperson called Germany's reparations offer for crimes in its former colony "unacceptable," adding that the figure was "an insult to Namibia."


Claus Stäcker: 'The figure is shameful and ridiculously low'

And it's true: The figure is so shameful and ridiculously low that it in no way resembles a serious offer of reparations. €10 million can in no way be the result of five years of interrupted negotiations following the mass murder of the Herero and Nama people exactly 116 years ago after the battle of Waterberg, which was to become the first genocide of the 20th century.

Although the death toll and other details of the genocide vary depending on who may be trying to turn them to their favor, one thing remains clear and cannot be glossed over. And that is that negotiations must be concluded and that an official German apology is long overdue.


Germany to apologize to Namibia for colonial genocide
Read more: Namibia rejects Germany's reparations offer for genocide

'I don't know where this figure came from'

Back in 2015, the German negotiator, CDU politician Ruprecht Polenz, said he saw the possibility of concluding talks by the end of the legislative session, in 2017. There's now speculation that a deal won't be reached until 2021. Since both parties agreed not to disclose the negotiations, the 10 million euro figure has remained unchallenged for months. In an interview with DW, Polenz refused to say more than that he had no idea where the €10 million figure came from.

But according to well-informed sources, the estimated sum will be much higher. It is expected to be earmarked for health, education and infrastructure projects, and if possible, in regions especially hard hit by the genocide.

Read more: Did Germany offer €10 million for colonial-era genocide in Namibia?

Namibians want Germany to remove monuments

Only following this would there be an official request for an apology, made directly by the German president in person, which would then be followed by Namibian officials accepting his apology.

Namibians are weighing the seriousness of Germany's intent as well as the results of negotiations — that's to say the concrete offer put on the table. That Namibia is the largest recipient of development aid in Africa and has received more than €1 billion in aid since independence in 1990, doesn't enter into this equation.


The President of Namibia Hage Geingob is waiting for an apology from Germany for its genocide and war crimes in the former colony.

Read more: Namibia says Germany ready to apologize for genocide

Better explanation needed from Germany

Germany needs to do a much better job of explaining itself, and Namibia's President, Hage Geingob, will be using this fact to his political advantage in the meantime.

Berlin so far has been reluctant to use the word "reparations" in discussing the issue, choosing instead to speak in more flowery terms of "healing the wounds in their shared past," a strategy which only enrages Namibia, as it continues to push for material damages of far more than €10 million.

In the end the sum will be higher. And Germany's government negotiators in Namibia are very aware of this.

Herero and Nama Genocide — United States Holocaust ...

https://www.ushmm.org › collections › bibliography › herero-and-nama-g...

Between 1904-1907, German military forces, called Schutztruppe, committed a genocide against indigenous people in their colony of German Southwest Africa ...

  

Herero Genocide in Namibia - Montreal Holocaust Museum

https://museeholocauste.ca › resources-training › herero-genocide-namibia

Between 1904 and 1908, more than 80% of the Herero population and 50% of the Nama population of Namibia was wiped out by German soldiers.

Germany: Laptop-stealing wild boar could be shot

Last week, a video of a naked man chasing a wild boar that had run off with his bag went viral. The plucky pig is part of a growing boar population that could be culled amid safety fears.



The wild boar who starred in a viral video after stealing a bag at a Berlin beauty spot could be culled, local media reprorted Friday, as concerns grow over increasing interactions between the local wild boar population and humans.

The sow, who was filmed running away with a yellow bag containing a nudist bathers laptop and followed by her two piglets next to Teufelssee lake, would be "primarily taken" — meaning culled, Katja Kammer, head of the Grunewald forestry commission told public broadcaster rbb24.

Wild boars can be aggressive and carry diseases but they usually avoid people being naturally shy, explained Kammer. However, the coronavirus pandemic has seen many more people head outdoors for a socially-distanced summer, making it more difficult for boars to get their own space.

The boars were also attracted to the lake due to the extreme summer heat and the "huge amount" of litter left by bathers.

Once they have moved into an area, the wild pigs would not freely leave, meaning culling is the only option to reduce interactions between animals and humans, said Kammer.

"Fortunately there have not yet been any serious clashes between wild boars at Teufelssee," said Kammer.

Wild boar culling is business as usual to keep boar numbers under control in the 3,500 hectare Grunewald area where they have no natural predators, she added.

A hog's hope

There is still some hope for the viral hog due to her being "an especially intelligent sow," according to Kammer.

While wild boar culling is legal, laws state that a mother boar with piglets under six months old cannot be shot.

Finally, her chosen home next to the lake could also save her, as hunters are banned from firing shots with so many people around.


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Could a solution to marine plastic waste threaten one of the ocean's most mysterious ecosystems?

Little is known about the neuston, but marine biologists fear this community of organisms living on the ocean surface could be decimated as nets sweep up plastic pollution.


In May 2017, shells started washing up along the Ligurian coast in Italy. They were small and purple and belonged to a snail called Janthina pallida that is rarely seen on land. But the snails kept coming — so many that entire stretches of the beach turned pastel.

An unusual wind pattern had beached the animals. And for the people who walked the shore, this offered a rare encounter with a wondrous ecosystem that most of us have never heard about: The neuston.

The neuston, from the Greek word for swimming, refers to a group of animals, plants and microorganisms that spend all or large parts of their life floating in the top few centimeters of the ocean.

It's a mysterious world that even experts still know little about. But recently, it has been the source of tensions between a project trying to clean up the sea by skimming plastic trash off its surface, and marine biologists who say this could destroy the neuston.

The Ligurian coast has been swept by snails turning its colour pastel

A world between worlds

The neuston comprises a multitude of weird and wonderful creatures.

Many, like the Portuguese man-of-war, which paralyzes its prey with venomous tentacles up to 30 meters long, are colored an electric shade of blue, possibly to protect themselves against the sun's UV rays, or as camouflages against predators.

There are also by-the-wind sailors, flattish creatures that raise chitin shields from the water like sails; slugs known as sea dragons that cling to the water's surface from below with webbed appendages; barnacles that build bubble rafts as big as dinner plates; and the world's only marine insects, a relation of the pond skater.

They live "between the worlds" of the sea and sky, as Federico Betti, a marine biologist at the University of Genoa, puts it. From below, predators lurk. From above, the sun burns. Winds and waves toss them about. Depending on the weather, their environment may be warm or cool, salty or less so.


Sea snails can make up the neuston


Velella velella jellyfish living on the surface of the ocean

But now, they face another — manmade — threat from nets designed to catch trash. A project called The Ocean Cleanup, run by Dutch inventor Boyan Slat, has raised millions of dollars in donations and sponsorship to deploy long barriers with nets that will drift across the ocean in open loops to sweep up floating garbage.

Read more: Time to clean up the ocean garbage dump
Collecting with the current

"Plastic could outweigh fish in the oceans by 2050. To us, that future is unacceptable," The Ocean Cleanup declares on its website.

But Rebecca Helm, a marine biologist at the University of North Carolina, and one of the few scientists to study this ecosystem, fears that The Ocean Cleanup's proposal to remove 90% of the plastic trash from the water could also virtually wipe out the neuston.

Read more: Dutch inventor unveils river barge to scoop plastic before it enters oceans

One focus of Helm's studies is where these organisms congregate. "There are places that are very, very concentrated and areas of little concentration, and we're trying to figure out why," says Helm.

One factor is that the neuston floats with ocean currents, and Helm worries that it might collect in the exact same spots as marine plastic pollution. "Our initial data show that regions with high concentrations of plastic are also regions with high concentrations of life."

Waste collection in the Pacific Ocean heralded by The Ocean Cleanup

The Ocean Cleanup says Helm's concerns are based on "misguided assumptions."

"It's true that neustonic organisms will be trapped in the barriers," says Gerhard Herndl, professor of Aquatic Biology at the University of Vienna and one of project's scientific advisors. "But these organisms have dangerous lives. They're adapted to high losses because they get washed ashore in storms and they have high reproductive rates. If they didn't, they'd already be extinct."

Helm says they just don't know how quickly these creatures reproduce, and in any case recovering from passing storm is very different from surviving The Ocean Clean Up's systems which could be in place for years.
Communication breakdown

The Ocean Cleanup invited Helm to a symposium on the topic in December, where both sides presented their points of views and didn't seem to find much common ground. Since then, direct communication between them has stopped, says Helm. "They're not interested in talking to me anymore."

Both sides agree that much is still unknown about the neuston. But one thing that has been established is that most of the oceans' fish spend part of their lifecycle in the neuston. "More than 90% of marine fish species produce floating eggs that persist on the surface until hatching," Betti says.

Pacific Plastic

The Ocean Cleanup has undertaken one of the few studies into this ecosystem, collecting data on the neuston on the relative abundance of neuston and floating plastic debris in the eastern North Pacific Ocean during a 2019 expedition to the Pacific Garbage Patch, an area where plastic pollution has accumulated on a vast scale. But it is not yet sharing what it has found. The information was being prepared for publication in an as of yet unspecified journal, probably some time next year, an Ocean Cleanup spokesperson said.
Inshore solution?

Helm believes the best way to tackle the marine plastic problem would be to position the barriers closer to land — across river mouths and bays — to catch garbage before it reaches the sea.

Read more: Plastic waste and its environmental impact

"Stopping the flow of plastic into the ocean is the most cost-effective — and literally effective — way to ensure that it's not entering our environment," she says.

As for the plastic already floating in open waters, she does not believe it is worth sacrificing parts of neuston and wants to see more research first.

The Ocean Cleanup has made barriers across rivers a part of its mission. But it is also going ahead with its original vision of pulling trash from the open water. In late 2018, the project deployed a 600-meter, u-shaped prototype net into the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

The system ran into difficulties, failing to retain plastic as hoped, and needing to be brought shore for repairs and a design upgrade, after which Ocean Cleanup says it gathered haul of plastic that it will recycle and resell to help fund future operations.

Over the next two years, the project hopes to deploy up to 60 such barriers to collect drifting flotsam. Helm isn't the only one concerned about these plans.

"We should think twice about every action we take in the sea," Betti says. "In nature, nothing is as easy as we think, and often, we've done a lot of damage while trying to do a good thing."



THE UGLY FACE OF PLASTIC POLLUTION
The age of plastic
Plastic is lightweight, durable — and wildly popular. We've produced 8.3 billion metric tons of the material since mass production began in the 1950s. Because it doesn't easily biodegrade, much of what we've made now lives in landfills like this one on Nairobi's outskirts. Rubbish pickers there hunt for recyclable plastics to earn a living. But a lot of plastic also ends up in the ocean ... 


Rivers of plastic
Much plastic enters marine habitats through rivers like, the Yangtze, the Indus, the Ganges, Pearl River, and the Mekong. These rivers run through highly populated areas with a lack of adequate waste disposal infrastructure. Here, a fisherman in the Philippines removes a fish and crab trap from plastic-filled waters.


A plastic welcome to the world
Some animals have found uses for plastic waste. This swan nested in garbage on a Copenhagen lake that is popular with tourists. Her cygnets hatched surrounded by waste. It's not the best start to life. But for some animals the consequences are much worse ...

Deadly consequences
Although plastic is highly durable and can be used for products with a long lifespan, such as furniture and piping, about 50 percent goes to disposable products, including single-use cutlery and six pack rings that end up in the natural environment. Animals, like this penguin, are in danger of becoming entangled and dying as a result.

Eating plastic
Other animals mistake the material for food. This albatross chick was found dead on Sand Island in Hawaii with multiple pieces of plastic in its stomach. According to one study of 34 seabird species in northern Europe, Russia, Iceland, Svalbard, the Faroe Islands, Scandinavia and Greenland, 74 percent had ingested plastic. Eating the material can lead to organ damage and blockages 

Whale killer
Even larger animals aren't immune to the effects of consuming plastic. This whale was found struggling to breathe and swim in a Thai canal. As rescuers attempted to save the animal, it vomited five plastic bags and later died. During the necropsy, vets found 80 shopping bags and other plastic garbage had clogged up the whale's stomach, so the marine creature could no longer digest nutritious food.

 
Visible and invisible plastic
We're well aware of the large pieces of plastic bobbing on the ocean's surface, as is pictured here off the Hawaiian coast. But did you know, trillions of tiny particles less than 5 millimeters in diameter are also floating around in there? These particles end up in the food chain. Sea plankton, which are an important source of food for fish and other marine animals, have been filmed eating them.

THE UGLY FACE OF PLASTIC POLLUTION
An end in sight?
Tentative measures to cut down on disposable plastic have already been taken in some African countries with bans on plastic bags, while the European Union is looking into prohibiting single-use plastic products. But if current trends continue, scientists believe there will be 12 billion metric tons of plastic on the planet by 2050.

Author: Jennifer Collins

Opinion: Israel-UAE deal means goodbye to independent Palestinian state

The US has orchestrated a diplomatic rapprochement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. What is good for the region, however, leaves one tragic loser, says DW's Rainer Sollich.

    

You don't have to agree with the choice of words, but Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' assessment was spot on: The historic agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a "betrayal" of Palestinian interests.

Although the deal that Abu Dhabi agreed to requires a suspension of Israel's annexation plans in the occupied territories, it does nothing to end them — as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately pointed out after the agreement was signed.

Hypocritical pledges of solidarity from all sides

Still, the question remains of whether the UAE could have done more for its "Palestinian brothers" as it negotiated the deal with Israel and the US. It seems apparent that it just didn't matter that much to them. The UAE has other strategic interests and solidarity with the Palestinians was never anything more than hypocritical posturing anyhow.

DW editor Rainer Sollich

That is unfair and no doubt bitter for the Palestinians, but it is simply part of an unstoppable trend in the region. These days, it is not Israel, but rather Iran — and increasingly Turkey — that most leaders view as a dangerous "invader." Therefore, it has become a top priority to keep both adversaries at bay. In this regard, Israel has also become an attractive and natural partner — especially when it comes to Iran. Israel is at the cutting edge, both militarily and technologically, and it rightly views Iran, and its allies in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and Gaza, as the biggest threat to Israeli national security.

It was to be expected that Tehran and Ankara would sharply reject the deal. But the agreement will also afford both the opportunity to present themselves as unyielding allies of the Palestinian people, buttressing their claims to power within the Muslim world. Yet, their solidarity with the Palestinian people, too, is little more than a cheap veil designed to mask their true interests.

The abysmal failures of Palestinian leadership

Truth be told, the Palestinians long ago lost their fight to create an independent state alongside Israel. The harsh reality is that no one really cares anymore. That is not because of Israeli settlement policies, a shift in priorities in the Arab world or Donald Trump's own reelection efforts. No, it is because Palestinian leaders have, for decades, been unable to develop a vision — beyond protest and violence — that could mobilize the support of the international community.

Thus, Palestinian leadership bears at least some responsibility for the fact that new alliances are being forged between Israel and other countries throughout the Middle East — with more to come no doubt. It is certainly tragic for the Palestinians that they are being left out in the cold as neighbors agree to peace with Israel, but that peace is good for the rest of the region.

SEE
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/08/dont-be-hoodwinked-by-trumps-uae-israel.html
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/08/mbz-uae-strongman-behind-historic-deal.html
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/08/uae-excusing-and-accepting-israels.html
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/08/backgrounder-uae-efforts-to-normalise.html
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/08/opinion-israel-uae-deal-means-goodbye.html
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/08/rashid-khalidi-israel-uae-deal-to.html