Heil Hitler, Das Schwein ist Tot! (which I think translates as Heil Hitler, The pig is dead)

An interesting review of a new German book about anti-Nazi humour in Germany during the life of that regime.

"Did You Hear the One About Hitler?"

Given my monkey obsession my favourite anecdote from the article concerns a man and his apes,

Many found the Heil Hitler salute with its outstretched arm ridiculous. A circus director in the western city of Paderborn, a confirmed Social Democrat opponent of the Nazis, trained his chimpanzees to raise their right arm whenever they saw a uniform, and they even took to saluting the postman.

He was denounced and a received an official notice forbidding the chimpanzees from making the salute and threatening "slaughter".

Downfall

No it doesn't compare to the industrial nightmare of the Holocaust, it was sadly just another 19th Century tale of English colonial expansion followed by a 20th century sequel of condescension, ignorance and unfairness. Part three for the 21st Centruy looks like a tale of struggle to achieve a level of parity with European culture in this country, one that starts to redress the wrongs of the past and help people achieve a degree of pride and a sense of cultural worth. I wonder what Australia's inexorable (but glacial) shift to a new European/Asian culture will do? Can it accomodate this? Or will it be as hard and as unforgiving as past wrongs?

The Other Side of the Frontier: Aboriginal Resistance to the European Invasion of Australia

For anyone interested in Australian colonial history I recommend the works of Henry Reynolds. He writes very accessible histories of the struggle of culture between black and white Australia and many Australians in particular will be continually surprised as they read these books about just how robust Aboriginal culture in Australia was in the face of white incursion.I wonder what jokes they were telling as they encountered and resisted the whitefellas?

piracy

An interesting (although very brief) article on the Jewish origins of many of the Carribean pirates of the 17th Century. Ed Kritzler is writing a book arguing that many Spanish Jews, expelled by the Inquisition, took their hatred and desire for revenge against the Spanish Empire to the seas and practiced piracy, some on a grand scale.

Ahoy, mateys ! Thar be Jewish pirates!

These little nuggets of history just add to my love of history, humanity and the (cliche time) rich tapestry of life. As mentioned previously one of my current reads is Rivers of Gold, a history of Spain from the fall of Granada to the voyages of Magellan so little things like this just add wonderful layers of context to everything else you read.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day is this Tuesday the 19th of December.

LNL 2006-07-03

A great Late Night Live with Phillip Adams as he talks about the nature of Athenian democracy with two leading scholars on the subject. They examine the parallels between American and Athenian democracy by arms and the risks it poses to the democratic state. A great listen.