We really don’t have a clue why among all the ethnies that wandered through Europe in late antiquity and early middle ages, the Jews, and later Gypsies, were the only ones that didn’t develop a self-defense concept. However it was a pretty dangerous world and they had to be aware of it and in those times there were plenty of mountains and forests that could serve as natural shelters and fortresses. Like the Moorish soldiers defeated by Charlemagne who found their niche in the Alps (today’s Valais), like the Druze … Read More
Category: History
Do Humans Change?
I had a debate with a friend who holds the politically correct opinion that humans evolve toward universal harmony as can be seen in world metropolises. Only a few “primitives” like those in the Balkans don’t understand this yet, and through persuasion, or force if necessary, everybody should be brought toward the ideal human condition of coexistence.
Since the most remote times leaders have tried to impose their ideals of perfection on societies at large and all they have achieved in the best of cases was truce not peace. Even … Read More
Dance of Eros — Dance of Thanatos
In my archives, I happened to fall upon a postcard reproduction of Blair Drawson’s, “Dance of the Free Spirits.” To this artwork which I enjoyed, I added my translation of the last lines of “The Dancing Socrates” by the Polish poet, Julian Tuvim:
“Let them know that the madman in trance
The clown with the ugly snout of a dog
Learn the truth, learn the dance
Hopsa, hopsa, hop, hop, hop”
Now the reverse of Eros, the dance of Thanatos:
A couple of Holocaust survivors talked to me. The husband … Read More
…Cracow
If the old city of Cracow is bursting with life, the old city of Warsaw, rebuilt from scratch after its total destruction by the Nazis and filled with tourists on a quest for souvenirs, is an unreal souvenir in itself, seemingly detached from the rest of the city. Modern Warsaw absorbs you into its dynamic whirlpool as well as into its vestiges of martyrdom and heroism from WW II.
Beautiful old Cracow is commercialized; so filled with business that it seems to be one big display window. The entire old … Read More