'Disturbing' lack of Holocaust knowledge in US

A new study reveals that roughly 11% of young adult respondents in the United States believe that Jews caused the Holocaust. Nearly half were unable to name one of Europe's 40,000 camps and ghettos.



A new study released Wednesday revealed a "disturbing" lack of basic Holocaust knowledge among young US adults, with 11% believing that Jews caused the Holocaust.

The US Millennial Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Survey, released by the Claims Conference, an organization that negotiates compensation payments from Germany for Holocaust victims, also found that nearly two-thirds of respondents did not know that 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, and that 36% thought that "two million or fewer Jews" were murdered.

Read more: German Chancellor Angela Merkel: 'Many Jews do not feel safe in our country'

Additionally, nearly half were unable to name one of the 40,000 camps and ghettos in Europe during the Holocaust, while a similar figure did not know what Auschwitz-Birkenau was.


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The Last Witnesses: Return to Auschwitz

"The results are both shocking and saddening and they underscore why we must act now while Holocaust survivors are still with us to voice their stories," said Gideon Taylor, president of the organization, which negotiates compensation for Holocaust survivors.

"This needs to serve as a wake-up call to us all, and as a road map of where government officials need to act," said Taylor.

Analysis showed that New York had a particularly large number of people who thought Jews were responsible for the Holocaust, at nearly 20%.

Read more: 

70 years of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, 'a meaningful voice that is needed'

Low 'knowledge scores'

The study also revealed that Wisconsin scored highest in Holocaust awareness, while Arkansas had the lowest score, with less than 17% of respondents meeting the basic knowledge criteria.

The "knowledge score" was calculated by using the percentage of young adults who have definitively heard about the Holocaust, can name at least one concentration camp, death camp or ghetto, and know that 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents indicated that they believe that something like the Holocaust could happen again. Meanwhile, around half of respondents reported seeing Holocaust denial or distortion posts online, and roughly a third had seen Nazi symbols on their social media platforms or in their community.

Read more: Holocaust survivors urge Facebook to remove denial posts

"Not only was their overall lack of Holocaust knowledge troubling, but combined with the number of Millennials and Gen Z who have seen Holocaust denial on social media, it is clear that we must fight this distortion of history and do all we can to ensure that the social media giants stop allowing this harmful content on their platforms," said Claims Conference Executive Vice President Greg Schneider.

The data was collected from 200 interviews in each state, with adults aged 18 to 39. The respondents were chosen at random.

German infantry's role in Holocaust to be added to war memorial

Litigation by three Holocaust survivors has swayed Germany's northern city of Lüneberg to add wording to a controversial war memorial. It spells out the former Wehrmacht division was involved in genocide.



The court case brought by elderly Holocaust survivors before Lüneburg's Adminstrative Court ended Wednesday with the city agreeing to add wording to its explanatory plaque located next the often-smeared infantry monument.

It will spell out that the former 110th Infantry Division, created in the northern German city for Hitler's 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, was "thus also involved in the genocide of Jews during the Shoah in the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944," court spokeswoman Ines Mayer-Albrecht told DW.

The complainants had originally demanded — back in 2017 — that the memorial, erected by Wehrmacht veterans in 1960, be covered with a shroud.

Read more: How WWII affects the grandchildren of the war generation

In recent years it has often been defaced. Placed a few meters away is a city notice board elaborating on the former division that was decimated by Soviet forces near Minsk in July 1944.

One of the complainants, a Holocaust survivor living in Budapest, had spotted the infantry memorial in 2015 while attending the Lüneburg trial of Oskar Gröning as a joint plaintiff.

Gröning, notoriously called Auschwitz's "bookkeeper," was convicted in 2015 of having been an accessory to the murders of 300,000 people.

Lüneburg in Lower Saxony state was also where in late-1945 a British military court tried 45 personnel of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where at least 52,000 neglected prisoners died of hunger and disease, including Anne Frank.

That trial ended in 11 being sentenced to death, including Bergen-Belsen's former camp commander Josef Kramer, with the site (70 kilometers, 43 miles southwest of Lüneberg) subsequently becoming a memorial for its victims.

ipj/dr (dpa, epd, KNA)




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WW3.0
India digs deep to boost defences on crucial China frontier

Issued on: 18/09/2020 - 
 

The Atal Rohtang Tunnel will allow India to deploy troops to the frontier area in minutes compared with the current four-hour high-altitude crossing Money SHARMA AFP


ATAL ROHTANG TUNNEL (India) (AFP)

A tunnel nearing completion in the Indian Himalayas will slash by hours the time it takes troops to reach the Chinese border, part of an infrastructure blitz by New Delhi that is gathering pace since a bloody border clash.

The nuclear-armed Asian giants blame each other for a brutal high-altitude battle in June that left 20 Indian soldiers dead and an unspecified number of Chinese casualties.

Both have sent massive troop reinforcements, but India has also stepped up its activities behind the frontlines -- belatedly so, analysts say.


Its stepped-up infrastructure programme includes roads and bridges as well as high-altitude helipads and airstrips for civilian and military aircraft.

The showpiece is a $400-million tunnel in Himachal Pradesh state, providing an all-weather route for military convoys to avoid a 50-kilometre (30-mile) trudge through mountain passes that are snow-bound in winter and subject to frequent landslides.

From late this month, what used to be a four-hour, winding, high-altitude crossing will be cut to a 10-minute dash through the mountains in the state-of-the-art tunnel.

"There have been times on the pass route when vehicles have broken down, causing traffic jams of even six to eight hour," said Lieutenant-General Harpal Singh, head of India's Border Roads Organisation (BRO).

"This tunnel and the other infrastructure plans change a lot for the troops," he told AFP.

- Engineering feat -

Labourers are working overtime to get the tunnel ready before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to open it later this month.

Currently, essential items such as arms, ammunition and food have to be transported up in bulk before winter starts in an area where temperatures can plunge to minus 40 Celsius (minus 40 Fahrenheit).

Constructed at an altitude of more than 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) and stretching nine kilometres (six miles), the Atal Rohtang tunnel is also a feat of engineering.

A decade in the making, freezing winter temperatures meant work could only take place from April to September. Workers wore special microchips to help locate them if they got trapped in an avalanche.

Still, India's efforts only belatedly mirror those of China, experts say.

"Earlier administrations wasted two decades," said Harsh Pant, from the Observer Research Foundation think-tank in New Delhi.

"China, and its infrastructure, is much stronger today."

- Training the locals -

Sanjay Kundu, the Himachal Pradesh police chief, has also proposed arming locals and training them to report possible Chinese spies and drone and helicopter sightings.

"Ultimately, whether it is at the border or the hinterland, people need to be trained and they need to be trained in defending themselves," he told AFP.

The government hopes it will reassure worried villagers.

"In the last few weeks they've seen a lot more activity of fighter planes over the region," said Lobsang Gyaltsen, an elected representative from a village around 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border.

"They often wonder if China is attacking," Gyaltsen told AFP.

- Tanks -

The BRO says it has built more strategic roads -- most in the high-tension zone next to China -- the last four years than in the previous decade and aims to complete 15 more key routes by the end of 2021.

Labourers are upgrading a recently-completed 250-kilometre stretch parallel to the Chinese frontier that cuts journey times from Ladakh's capital Leh from one week to less than a day.

Significantly, by next month all bridges along the route will be able to support the weight of a 70-tonne T-90 tank on a trailer, or a truck carrying a surface-to-air missile, according to press reports.

There are several strategic high-altitude tunnels as well as 125 bridges at different stages of planning in the states of Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim bordering Tibet and Xinjiang.

This will boost the local economy and attract more people to the sparsely populated area, and so make it less prone to cross-border incursions by the Chinese, the government hopes.

© 2020 AFP

Midas touch: Singapore exchange touts gold to the masses

SOUNDS LIKE THE PERFECT LOCATION FOR A HEIST NOVEL

Issued on: 18/09/2020 -
  

Investors can turn up to admire their treasure whenever they want Martin ABBUGAO AFP/File

Singapore (AFP)

Fancy owning your own gold bars that you can admire and take selfies with?

With the coronavirus fuelling demand for safe-haven assets for investors to park their cash, a Singapore exchange is offering mom-and-pop investors what it says is an easier way to get their hands on the precious metal.

The Singapore Precious Metals Exchange is seeking to do away with the notion trading in bullion is only for professional investors or the super-rich, by offering small amounts for reasonable prices that can be bought using a phone app.

"When we first started our business a decade ago, obviously we attracted the elite group, people who had money," chief executive Victor Foo told AFP.

"But it's our aspiration to be able to reach the mass market."

The price of an ounce of gold topped US$2,000 for the first time last month -- fuelled by worries about the economic impact of the virus as well as future inflation -- and Foo says sales have risen.

But 80 percent of his customers are still high-net-worth individuals and the exchange's most popular offering is a one kilogram (2.2 pound) gold bar -- setting them back more than US$60,000.

Foo is, however, keen to stress you can start much smaller.

For around US$70 you can buy one gram -- a wafer the size of an SD memory card -- while mini-bars weighing five, ten, 50 and 100 grams are also available.

SGPMX says it is the world's first precious metals exchange entirely backed by physical bullion, and investors can turn up whenever they like to admire their trove.

While virus-related travel curbs have halted most visits from overseas for now, there is a steady stream in usual times -- with Japanese particularly keen to check out their investments.

"They visit us once a year, they see their thing, take pictures, 'wefie', then they go," Foo said.

The bullion is stored at Le Freeport, a fortified, Fort Knox-like vault near the city-state's main airport set up to house treasures from around the world and private art collections.

Most investors are from Europe and the United States, but Foo predicts the number from Asia will increase in the coming years.

It may be hard to change age-old habits however. While gold is popular among many Asian communities, it is typically bought in the form of jewellery to give as gifts at special occasions, rather than in bars and coins.

© 2020 AFP

US Open virus success points way for Tokyo Games: wheelchair tennis champ


Issued on: 18/09/2020 - 

Tokyo (AFP)

The successful staging of the US Open Grand Slam proves that next year's Olympics and Paralympics can be held safely despite the coronavirus pandemic, wheelchair tennis champion Shingo Kunieda said on Friday.

The 24-time Grand Slam singles champion, widely considered the best player wheelchair tennis has seen, said the US Open's ability to stave off the virus was a hopeful sign for next year's postponed Games.

Although France's Benoit Paire tested positive after entering the Grand Slam's bio-secure 'bubble', there were no clusters of cases and the tournament went off smoothly behind closed doors in New York.


"The US Open... ended safely without making a cluster happen. I think this showed a step toward" holding the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Kunieda told reporters via videolink.

The world number one and three-time Paralympics gold medallist, who captured his seventh US Open men's singles title on Sunday, held an online meeting with Tokyo 2020 organisers to discuss anti-virus measures.

The 2020 Games were postponed in a historic decision earlier this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, with a potentially scaled-down version set to be held from July 23, 2021.

Top officials have spoken openly about the possibility of cancelling the Games altogether, as the pandemic continues to rage. But Kunieda said he took heart from his experiences in New York.

"If measures are taken firmly, international competitions can be held safely. I think the US Open is a good example," which Tokyo organisers should learn, he told an online news conference.

"If measures are taken firmly, athletes can take part in competitions comfortably. This is very important," Kunieda added.

Kunieda briefed Tokyo 2020 organisers about the US Open's frequent virus tests and strict isolation measures at hotels and the venue.

He urged the Tokyo officials to adopt stringent measures against the virus, which he described as "the most important key" to the Games' success.

Earlier this month, Japanese officials and Tokyo 2020 organisers began talks on the mammoth task of how to hold the Olympics safely while the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage.

© 2020 AFP

 Bolivia's conservative interim president, Jeanine Anez, pulled out of next month’s general election on Thursday, a move that should strengthen other candidates running against the front-running socialist party of ex-leader Evo Morales.

Swedish scientists are working on a radical Covid-19 blocker involving alpacas

MERS WAS A ZOONOSIS SPREAD BY CAMELS TO HUMANS

ALPACAS ARE RELATED TO CAMELS THOUGH NOT TO SWEDEN

Issued on: 18/09/2020 - 
  

Tyson the alpaca could hold the key to finding a vaccine for the coronavirus, according to the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. © FRANCE 24 screengrab.

Text by:FRANCE 24

Video by:Catherine NORRIS-TRENT|James ANDRE

Tyson the alpaca could hold the key to developing a process to block the coronavirus. FRANCE 24's Catherine Norris-Trent and James André report from the prestigious Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

Leading scientists in Stockholm are working on a pioneering treatment involving llamas and alpacas such as Tyson in the fight against Covid-19.

"Tyson has the antibodies against SARS-Covid-2 virus," explains Dr Gerald McInerney, Associate Professor of Virology at the Karolinska Institute. "Camels, and alpacas and llamas and other animals from that family have special, small single-chain antibodies.Tiny antibodies they've proved can block Covid-19."

The institute is studying how to put these tiny antibodies on cells, blocking the virus from getting in and to stop patients from developing the disease.

From alpaca blood samples the researchers can clone antibodies en masse in the laboratory. They hope to produce a short term treatment, most likely as a mouth spray, or inhaler.

"We are very excited that we have something that's very functional," says Dr McInerney.

Japan top court sides with tattoo artist in test case

Issued on: 18/09/2020 
 

Tattoos are often associated in Japan with members of criminal groups known as the Yakuza Behrouz MEHRI AFP/File

Tokyo (AFP)

Japan's top court has sided with a tattoo artist who was fined for practising without a medical licence, in a case that revived debate about the country's uneasy relationship with body ink.

Though tattoos have a long history in Japan and the nation has long boasted leading artists, body ink is still often associated with "anti-social" elements, particularly members of criminal groups known as the yakuza.

People with tattoos are often prevented from using public facilities like swimming pools or baths, and in 2015, Osaka tattooist Taiki Masuda was arrested for allegedly violating the Medical Practioners' Act by tattooing people without a doctor's licence.


Masuda was fined 150,000 yen ($1,400) by an Osaka district court, but the ruling was overturned on appeal in 2018.

Prosecutors decided to take it to the Supreme Court, which this week rejected their appeal, a court spokeswoman told AFP on Friday.

The Supreme Court backed the earlier ruling that tattooing should not require a doctor's licence because it carries little risk of injury or health problems.

"Tattooing is not considered medical treatment nor an act linked to health care," the verdict upheld by the Supreme Court said.

The upheld ruling noted tattooing is "a practice seen since ancient times as part of regional customs" in Japan.

While there is still widespread aversion to tattoos in much of Japanese society, attitudes have started to change, especially after the country hosted the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

The event featured a large number of players sporting tattoos, including Samoans for whom the body art is an important part of their culture.

© 2020 AFP

Seven dead, dozens infected after 'superspreader' wedding in rural US

Issued on: 18/09/2020 - 

For the community and wider region, news of the 'superspreader' wedding was a brutal wake-up call Joseph Prezioso AFP

Millinocket (United States) (AFP)

A wedding in rural Maine became a coronavirus "superspreader" event that left seven people dead and 177 infected, renewing fear of the disease in the northeastern US state that had hoped the worst of the pandemic was behind it.

The nuptials in early August were attended by 65 people, breaking the official limit of 50 allowed at a gathering.

A ceremony at a church was followed by a reception at the Big Moose Inn -- both venues near the picturesque town of Millinocket, whose population numbers just 4,000.


Ten days later, two dozen people associated with the wedding had tested positive for Covid-19 and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Maine opened an investigation.

The center's local director Nirav Shah on Thursday gave the latest toll for the event, adding that none of the seven people who died had actually attended the wedding.

Contact-tracers linked the wedding to several virus hotspots across the state -- including more than 80 cases in a prison 230 miles (370 kilometers) away, where one of the guards had attended the ceremony.

Another 10 probable cases were found in a Baptist church in the same area, while 39 infections -- and six of the deaths -- were at a nursing home 100 miles from Millinocket.

For the community and wider region, which had relaxed social-distancing rules introduced earlier in the crisis, the news was a brutal wake-up call.

"When we heard of the outbreak... everyone really hunkered down," said Cody McEwen, head of the town council.

"As soon as the outbreak happened, we completely closed the town again."

- Recriminations -

Some of the residents were clearly angry at the event's organizers -- starting with the tavern, whose license was temporarily suspended.

"I don't think they should have had the wedding. I think it should have been limited like they were supposed to," said Nina Obrikis, a member of the Baptist church where the ceremony was held.

"We can't go nowhere or do nothing," she said.

Maine Governor Janet Mills on Thursday issued a warning to the 1.3 million residents of the state.

Such flare-ups "threaten to undo the gains we have made at the drop of a hat," she said.

"Covid-19 is not on the other side of the fence, it is in our yards."

Since the start of the pandemic earlier this year, similar superspreader events have been reported around the world.

The first in the United States were a biotech conference in Boston in February attended by around 175 people, and a funeral in Georgia where more than 100 people caught the virus.

In recent weeks, such clusters of infections have been seen on university campuses, forcing students to be sent home.

The university of Oneonta, in northern New York state, had more than 670 Covid cases confirmed in one month.

© 2020 AFP

Trump administration wrote controversial US agency guidelines on testing: report



Issued on: 18/09/2020 - 

Washington (AFP)

President Donald Trump's administration posted controversial recommendations on coronavirus testing to the US health agency's website against its objections, the New York Times reported Thursday.

The guidelines, which said testing was not necessary for people who were exposed to Covid-19 but not displaying symptoms, were criticized when they were issued last month.

That is because healthcare experts at the time were pushing for more, not less, testing to help track and control the spread of the respiratory disease that has now killed almost 200,000 people in the United States.


The newspaper said the recommendation was posted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website "despite their serious objections," citing internal CDC documents and unnamed officials familiar with the issue.

"The Department of Health and Human Services did the rewriting and then 'dropped' it into the CDC's public website, flouting the agency's strict scientific review process," the newspaper said.

A federal official told the paper that the document came from the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, and from the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

"That policy does not reflect what many people at the CDC feel should be the policy," the official said.

The Times said healthcare experts at the CDC had "serious objections" to the document, and noted that it contained "elementary errors" as well as recommendations "inconsistent" with the CDC's advice, making it obvious it came from elsewhere, a senior CDC scientist told the paper under condition of anonymity.

The Times said that at the time of the guidelines' publication, administration officials had said the "document was a CDC product and had been revised with input from the agency's director, Dr Robert Redfield."

© 2020 AFP