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Neighbours star under investigation after alleged Nazi salute

Former Neighbours star Damien Richardson is under investigation by police after allegedly performing a Nazi salute at an event in September. Richardson, who played Gary Canning in seven seasons of Neighbours, was recorded performing the gesture during a speech at an event run by the National Workers Alliance (NWA), who bills itself as a nationalist organisation dedicated to the "preservation of Western Culture and Identity". <div> </div> In an excerpt of his speech, which was aired as part of an ABC 7.30 investigation into the rise of the far-right movement in Australia, the actor is heard stating, "There is a war on men". "I thought it was a war on Western tradition, Western values… and actually it's an anti-white-male-agenda," the actor said at the event. He is then seen appearing to perform a Nazi salute and mockingly asking if he would be locked up for it, saying, “Am I allowed to do that? Am I allowed to do that, or am I going to be fined now? Am I going to go to jail for five years?” “Oh, Richardson did the salute. I mean, really. I mean this is absurd. This is insane. It’s crazy. It’s so crazy you can’t believe it’s even happening.” In October 2023, laws came into effect making it an offence to perform a Nazi salute in public or in public view. A person who commits an <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/fact-sheet-nazi-symbol-prohibition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offence</a> could face fines of $23,000, 12 months in prison, or both. Victoria Police has confirmed it is investigating the incident, saying in a statement, “Police are investigating vision which shows a person performing a Nazi salute, believed to be in Victoria." “The circumstances surrounding the incident are yet to be established and an investigation is ongoing.” While Richardson's actions were applauded by neo-Nazi organisation National Socialist Network (NSN), both Richardson and the organiser of the NWA said they are not neo-Nazis. "There has been a lot of misinformation spoken about the event, Damien, the National Workers Alliance and myself," Matt Trihey told the ABC. "Neither Damien or I have ever been members of Nazi organisations and we have no connection with the NSN. I am a free speech advocate and have no control over who purchases online tickets to my events." Image credits: ABC

Legal

99-year-old woman declared accessory to over 10,000 murders

A court in Germany has upheld the conviction of a 99-year-old woman who, during the Second World War, was the secretary to the SS commander at a Nazi concentration camp. The Federal Justice Court on Tuesday rejected the appeal of Irmgard Furchner, who was convicted of being an accessory to more than 10,000 murders and was given a two-year suspended sentence in December 2022. Furchner was accused of being a key part of the apparatus that helped the camp near Danzig, now the Polish city of Gdansk, function, and was subsequently convicted of being an accessory to murder in 10,505 cases and an accessory to attempted murder in five cases. At a federal court hearing in Leipzig in July, Furchner's lawyers cast doubt on whether she really was an accessory to crimes committed by the commander and other senior camp officials between 1943 and 1945, and on whether she had truly been aware of what was going on at Stutthof. The court said that judges were convinced that Furchner “knew and, through her work as a stenographer in the commandant’s office of the Stutthof concentration camp from June 1st 1943, to April 1st 1945, deliberately supported the fact that 10,505 prisoners were cruelly killed by gassings, by hostile conditions in the camp,” by transportation to the Auschwitz death camp and by being sent on death marches at the end of the war. Germany's main Jewish leader welcomed the ruling. “For Holocaust survivors, it is enormously important for a late form of justice to be attempted,” Josef Schuster, the head of the Central Council of Jews, said in statement. “The legal system sent an important message today: even nearly 80 years after the Holocaust, no line can be drawn under Nazi crimes,” he added. During the original court proceedings, prosecutors said that Furchner’s trial may be the last of its kind, however, a special federal prosecutors’ office in Ludwigsburg tasked with investigating Nazi-era war crimes says three more cases are pending with prosecutors or courts in various parts of Germany. With any suspects now at a very advanced age, questions increasingly arise over suspects’ fitness to stand trial. Image credits: Sky News

Legal

Crowd cheers as fan booted from US Open after vile Nazi slur

During a US Open tennis match held early on Tuesday morning, a spectator found themselves ejected from the event following an incident involving German tennis player Alexander Zverev. The disruption arose when Zverev, seeded number 12, was locked in a fierce fourth-set battle against Italy's Jannik Sinner, seeded number six. At a critical juncture in the match, just as he was about to serve, Zverev approached chair umpire James Keothavong and pointed out a fan situated right behind the umpire's chair. Zverev raised the issue, stating, "He [the fan] just said the most famous Hitler phrase there is..." Zverev then expressed his strong disapproval, exclaiming, "It's unacceptable, this is unbelievable." In response to Zverev's concerns, Keothavong scanned the crowd and repeatedly asked, "Who said that? Who said that?" amid raucous boos from the audience. The umpire swiftly made a decision, asserting, "We're going to get him out," much to the relief of those watching in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Keothavong also took a moment to remind the crowd to maintain respect for both players. Shortly after, during a changeover, spectators seated near the offending fan identified him, and security promptly removed him from the venue. The crowd responded with cheers as the fan was escorted up the stadium stairs. A US Tennis Association spokesperson, Chris Widmaier, confirmed the incident, stating, "A disparaging remark was directed toward Alexander Zverev. The fan was identified and escorted from the stadium." Despite the disruption, Zverev went on to triumph over Sinner in a gruelling five-set match and secured his spot in the quarterfinals, where he would face the defending US Open champion, Carlos Alcaraz. This epic match, which Zverev won with scores of 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, endured for an impressive four hours and 41 minutes, making it the lengthiest match of the tournament up to that point. The contest concluded at 1:40 am local time in New York. Reflecting on the incident in the post-match press conference, Zverev revealed that while he had encountered fans making derogatory comments before, this was the first time he had experienced an incident involving Hitler. He shared: "He started singing the anthem of Hitler that was back in the day. It was ‘Deutschland über alles’ and it was a bit too much. "I think he was getting involved in the match for a long time, though. I don’t mind it, I love when fans are loud, I love when fans are emotional. But I think me being German and not really proud of that history, it’s not really a great thing to do and I think him sitting in one of the front rows, I think a lot of people heard it. So if I just don’t react, I think it’s bad from my side.” Despite the disturbance, Zverev remained composed and noted, “It’s his loss, to be honest, to not witness the final two sets of that match.” Image: Getty Images

News

“It was a terrible mistake”: NSW premier admits to wearing Nazi costume

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has admitted in a televised press conference that he dressed up in a Nazi uniform at his 21st “fancy dress” themed birthday party. During the press conference, Mr Perrottet said he chose to make the public admission after being called by a colleague two days ago who said they knew about the costume. “When it was raised to me two days ago, I realised I needed to tell the truth and not someone else,” he told reporters. Mr Perrottet also revealed that no-one else at the party wore Nazi garb, and that his mother and father – who also attended the party – told him the next day that his choice of costume was “in poor taste”. In an interview with 2GB’s Chris O’Keefe on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Perrottet clarified he did not dress up as Adolf Hitler and did not wear a fake moustache. Mr Perrottet said that he was unaware whether any images existed of him wearing the costume, but that he wanted to address the “massive mistake”. He said he was “deeply ashamed” of the decision and apologised for the hurt it would cause the wider community: “I wish I could go back in time and do that day again.” The premier admitted he studied World War II history in school and had Jewish friends at 21 but says he was “naive” and did not realise the gravity of his actions. “It was a terrible mistake at that age in my life, I just did not understand the gravity and the hurt of what that uniform means to people not just in our state but around the country and around the world,” he continued. Mr Perrottet said he had considered addressing the incident several times in the past and was aware that it was important the revelation came from him to apologise for “the hurt and the pain this is going to cause”. “When it was raised with me I didn’t want this difficult truth of a grave and terrible mistake that I made at my 21st birthday party to be told by someone else,” he said. “I have grappled with this. It has been something that’s personally anguished me.” In response, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies posted a statement on their Facebook page and said they hoped the incident would “serve as a lesson” and reminder of the “abhorrent nature of the Nazi regime”. They also said Nazi symbolism should “not to be taken lightly and dressing as a Nazi is not a joke”. “We appreciate that the Premier personally reached out to the Jewish community this afternoon to express his deep and sincere regret about his poor choice of costume as a young man,” the post reads. “The Premier has been a staunch supporter and friend of the NSW Jewish community throughout his time in public life. In particular, as Treasurer, he ensured the Sydney Jewish Museum received funding to ensure that it could continue educating the community about the Holocaust and the horrors of the Nazi era. “The Premier has acknowledged this, recognising that wearing the costume was offensive and will distress many in our community.” The premier has also said he has spoken with Jewish leaders and would continue to apologise to the community. “I’ve become a very passionate supporter of the Jewish community,” he said. The revelation comes just months after Mr Perrottet spoke out strongly against a group of soccer fans who were spotted throwing Nazi salutes at the Australia Cup final, saying there should be lifetime bans for the act. “What we saw the other day was terrible. It was absolutely horrendous,” he said in October. “It has no place, not just at sporting games, but anywhere in our state.” Image: Twitter

News

State-run German museums disclose works acquired during Nazi era

A Munich-based foundation that oversees the art collections of museums located throughout the titular German state is set to publicly disclose the origins of over 1,000 works acquired during the Nazi rule. The Bavarian State Painting Collections is launching an extensive database that includes information regarding over 1,200 paintings that researchers have found were acquired during the National Socialist period, or had ownership links to Nazi officials. There are a series of artworks that were given to museums and galleries during this time that are often subject to legal claims from descendants of persecuted Jewish families. Operating since 1999, a specialised unit dedicated to origin research has been reviewing all the ownership records of each and every artwork in the Bavarian State Paintings Collections that were created before 1945, and have been acquired since 1933. Throughout the database notes, a statement will accompany each artwork to alert people of its proper origins. This protocol is in keeping with the 1998 Washington Principles and the 1999 Joint Declaration of the Federal Government, both of which mounted calls for greater transparency surrounding the provenances of artworks believed to be subject to restitution claims. Other initiatives have been put into practice around the world, with <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/entertainment/art/new-york-museums-now-required-to-acknowledge-art-stolen-under-nazi-rule">museums and galleries in New York</a> now now legally required to acknowledge art stolen under the Nazi regime. The new state law requires New York museums to display signage alongside works of art from before 1945 that are known to have been stolen or forcibly sold during the Nazi rule. According to legislation and expert testimony, the Germans looted 600,000 works of art during World War II. Image credits: Getty Images

Art

New York museums now required to acknowledge art stolen under Nazi rule

Museums and art galleries in New York are now legally required to acknowledge art stolen under the Nazi regime. The new state law requires New York museums to display signage alongside works of art from before 1945 that are known to have been stolen or forcibly sold during the Nazi rule. According to legislation and expert testimony, the Germans looted 600,000 works of art during World War II. As well as the new public recognition law, works that were created before 1945 that changed ownership in Nazi Europe are now required to be registered in the <a href="https://www.artloss.com/about-us/">Art Loss Register</a>, a private database of more than 700,000 works of lost, stolen and looted art. Over the last few decades, museums in New York have been at the centre of discussions of who has rightful ownership of artworks that changed hands during the Nazi era. Both the Guggenheim and the Metropolitan Museum of Art have gone a step further, and returned artworks stolen by the Nazis to surviving members of the families who owned them before they were looted during World War II. Despite this, several New York museums have also successfully fought to keep allegedly looted art from the Nazi era in their halls. In 2021, a federal appeals court ruled that the Metropolitan Museum of Art can keep a $100 million Picasso painting that the family of the previous owner says was sold to fund the owner's escape from Nazi Germany. Image credits: Getty Images

Art

101-year-old reunited with painting looted by Nazis

A Nazi-looted painting has been returned to its owner after being lost for 75 years. 101-year-old Dutch woman Charlotte Bischoff van Heemskerck was reunited with the 1638 portrait of the Dutch merchant Steven Wolters, which was stolen by the Nazis during the occupation of The Netherlands in World War II. The painting had once hung in Charlotte’s childhood bedroom and was a much-loved possession of her father, who went into hiding after refusing to accept Nazi orders. Charlotte’s father had stored the painting in the Amsterdam Bank to protect it, where it was later stolen, along with countless other works, by Nazi invaders. The portrait was then lost for decades before being acquired by a private collector in Germany in 1971, where negotiations with the collector led to the painting being returned to Bischoff van Heemskerck in 2021. Recalling the moment that she saw it again, she told the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/12/i-am-amazed-101-year-old-dutch-woman-reunited-with-painting-looted-by-nazis?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other&fbclid=IwAR1Xn3-h5Nt_HwsEJ3yE8S-HXjc1A0iw5paSLZEQ2JUEp3h1P7pMSWi3JC4">Guardian</a>, “I was amazed.” Charlotte’s father died in 1969, but she said he would have been “so happy that it came back”. After treasuring the painting in her possession for six months, the family have decided to sell the portrait at Sotheby’s auction house in London, where it is expected to sell for between $50,000 and $90,000. She said: “I had five brothers and sisters. There are 20 offspring and they are very sweet, so I never had the feeling that it was mine. It’s from the family.” Image credits: Getty Images

Art

Art gallery investigates links to Holocaust

The Wollongong Art Gallery in New South Wales is grappling with shocking new revelations that a major donor with a gallery named after him may have been a Nazi collaborator before emigrating to Australia from Lithuania. Bronius "Bob" Sredersas donated approximately 100 works by revered Australian artists to the gallery in 1976, just six years before he died. Despite working as a steelworker at Port Kembla, he saved his money to meticulously collect valuable paintings. However, after the gallery’s 40th birthday celebrations in 2018, which also celebrated the central role Sredersas played in its establishment, former councillor Michael Samaras noticed he was described as a policeman for the Lithuanian government's Department of Security. The councillor found the findings suspicious and decided to investigate further. "When all the publicity happened for the 40th anniversary of the gallery there was media, including on the ABC Illawarra webpage, about the fact that he was a policeman in Lithuania before the war," he said. "And I just knew from general knowledge that a lot of the police from Lithuania ended up in what was called the Auxiliary Police Battalion, which actually did much of the killing in the Holocaust.” "The Wollongong City Library local studies section has a whole three boxes of material on him so I got his birth certificate." In uncovering these devastating claims, the Wollongong council, who owns the gallery, has been put on the back foot, with Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery receiving letters from the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies who have offered to help work with the council to investigate. "That has to be dealt with in a way that does not hide the past, recognises the allegations if they are proven and how we deal with the Sredersas Collection and how that's represented or interpreted," Mr Bradbery said. While the investigation is ongoing, Dr Efraim Zuroff, director of the Jewish human rights organisation the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, has suggested council remove the name of Bob Sredersas from the gallery in the meantime. He said, "I think it's important that a decision is made to remove his name as it's basically a statement that we do not want to honour people who participate in the crimes of the Holocaust." Image credits: Wollongong City Council

Art

Clive Palmer buys Adolf Hitler's Mercedes from Russian billionaire

Mining magnate Clive Palmer has made headlines for the second time in just a week, after two years of negotiations resulted in him <a href="https://www.perthnow.com.au/politics/clive-palmer/clive-palmer-purchases-adolf-hitlers-mercedes-benz-for-gold-coast-museum--c-5859570" target="_blank" rel="noopener">purchasing</a> Adolf Hitler’s bulletproof Mercedes Benz from an unnamed Russian billionaire. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/02/nazi-car1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> Clive Palmer has purchased a vehicle belonging to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Image: Getty Images Palmer bought the Mercedes-Benz 770 Grosser Offener Tourenwagen - which features bulletproof glass and armoured panelling - for a museum of vintage cars he hopes to build in Queensland. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Clive Palmer is really that Texan billionaire from The Simpsons <a href="https://t.co/CrylLGLKZ6">https://t.co/CrylLGLKZ6</a> <a href="https://t.co/n8hnWtSrNy">pic.twitter.com/n8hnWtSrNy</a> — Evan Smith (@evanishistory) <a href="https://twitter.com/evanishistory/status/1498145874030915586?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2022</a></blockquote> The car was seized by US forces in France at the end of WWII, and has had several owners before Palmer claimed ownership. It was previously listed for auction in Scottsdale, Arizona in 2018 and was <a href="https://www.thedrive.com/news/19072/hitlers-parade-car-bought-by-anonymous-buyer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> sold to an unknown buyer outside of the United States. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/02/nazi-car2.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> The car was last sold in 2018 at an auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, to an unknown buyer. Image: Getty Images He also purchased a 1929 Rolls-Royce owned by King Edward VIII which is also expected to end up in his car museum. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Australian oligarch buys dictator & mass murderer's car from Russian oligarch amid worldwide sanctions against Russia- telling us exactly who he is & what he really cares about. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/moralwasteland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#moralwasteland</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/auspol?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#auspol</a> <a href="https://t.co/j13JSpiMpj">https://t.co/j13JSpiMpj</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/newscomauHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@newscomauHQ</a> — Diana (@ElephantFlowers) <a href="https://twitter.com/ElephantFlowers/status/1498082458969178112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2022</a></blockquote> The vehicle - which many online have dubbed “Nazi memorabilia” - was secretly shipped from London to Queensland and is now being kept at a high-security location. Though the final purchase price hasn’t been confirmed, it is believed to have cost Mr Palmer more than $200,000. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> I cannot believe I have posted twice in one day about my 2022 bingo card but here we are. Clive Palmer buying Adolf Hitlers mercedes from a Russian billionaire was *definitely* not on my bingo card and I feel that whoever is writing this season of our lives has jumped the shark. — Dr Kate Miller (@DrKate_Miller) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrKate_Miller/status/1498098388919013377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2022</a></blockquote> The purchase comes after the unvaccinated United Australia Party member <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/clive-palmer-rushed-to-hospital" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made headlines</a> last week when he and his wife were rushed to hospital with Covid-like symptoms. Three ambulances reportedly arrived at their Paradise Point home in Queensland on Thursday morning, taking the 67-year-old and his wife Annastacia to Pindara Private Hospital. Image: Getty Images

News

Outrage over Nazi flag used at funeral

Italian Catholic and Jewish officials have condemned an outrageous act of right wing extremism, as a flag with a swastika was placed on a coffin outside a church after a funeral, as mourners in attendance gave Nazi salutes. Rome's Catholic archdiocese shared a statement that said priests at the parish of St. Lucy in a neighbourhood in central Rome, including the one who presided at the funeral, had no idea the stunt would happen. Pictures have surfaced on the internet of the coffin bearing the body of Alessia Augello, a former member of the right-wing extremist group Forza Nuova, covered by the Nazi flag. The diocese statement called the flag "a horrendous symbol that cannot be reconciled with Christianity" and said the stunt was an offensive example of "ideological exploitation" of a religious service. Italian police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. The Jewish community of Rome have expressed their outrage and devastation that such events could still happen more than 70 years after the Holocaust and the fall of Italy's fascist dictatorship. <div class="block-content"> <div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa">"It is unacceptable that a flag with a swastika can still be shown in public in this day and age, especially in a city that saw the deportation of its Jews by the Nazis and their fascist collaborators," the statement said.</div> </div> The Jewish community statement said the funeral incident was "even more outrageous because it took place in front of a church." In October 1943, a raid on Rome's Jewish neighbourhood saw more than 1,000 of the capital's Jewish people deported to the Auschwitz death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. Only 16 people returned. Image credits: Getty Images / CNN

Travel Trouble

Broadcaster apologises for offensive bungle

A Dutch public broadcaster has been forced to apologise for wrongly subtitling the German national anthem using Nazi-era lyrics while it was being played before the team’s Euro 2020 match against England. NPO issued the apology on Twitter, with the account saying “the wrong verse was accidentally shown” and apologising to viewers who were offended by the error during the match on the morning of Wednesday, June 30 (AEST). “During the live subtitling of the German national anthem at the European Championship match England-Germany, the wrong verse was displayed by mistake,” NPO said on Twitter. “This was a mistake by one of our subtitlers. We apologise to viewers who were disturbed by this.” The verse beginning with the words “Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles” was removed in 1945 following the end of World War II due to its association with the Nazi regime. The lyrics include the line “Germany, above all, above everything in the world” - which summed up Hitler’s desire to take over the world. Image: NPO

Mind

100-year-old man charged with 3,518 murders in WWII

<div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text redactor-styles redactor-in"> German prosecutors have charged a 100-year-old man with 3,518 counts of accessory to murder after allegations the man served during the second world war as a Nazi SS guard at a concentration camp. He is alleged to have worked at the Sachsenhausen camp between 1942 and 1945. The man's name has not been released in line with Germany privacy laws, but Cyrill Klement, the lead investigator, believes that the man was an enlisted member of the Nazi party's paramilitary wing. Despite being 100, the man is considered fit enough to stand trial, but accommodations may have to be made to limit how many hours a day the court is in session, according to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/09/man-100-charged-in-germany-over-3518-nazi-concentration-camp-murders" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. “The advanced age of the defendants is no excuse to ignore them and allow them to live in the peace and tranquillity they denied their victims,” Efraim Zuroff of the Simon Wiesenthal Center said. The case was handed to the Neuruppin office in 2019 by the special federal prosecutors' office in Ludwigsburg, which is tasked with investigating Nazi-era war crimes. The case against the 100-year-old man relies on a recently set legal precedent in Germany that establishes anyone who helped a Nazi camp function can be prosecuted for accessory to the murders that were committed there. The court has not yet set a date for the trial. </div> </div> </div>

Legal

They MUST be returned: Priceless pre-war jewellery stolen from Brisbane family

A distraught Brisbane mother was volunteering to help underprivileged kids and her house was raided by thieves. They took every piece of jewellery Hazel Hillier owned, including rings and necklaces that were smuggled out of Germany by her Jewish family during the Nazi rule. "Some were passed down four generations," Ms Hillier said to the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-15/qld-family-heirlooms-that-survived-nazi-raids-stolen-brisbane/12972372" target="_blank">ABC.</a> "I was in absolute shock. I just couldn't believe it. "I'm devastated, especially since they're items the Nazis didn't get their hands on." Her daughter, Dominique, said that many of the items that were stolen belonged to her mother and grandmother from pre-war Europe. "And of course, include items that the Nazis did not get to steal, which was the fate of so much other Jewish jewellery." <img style="width: 500px; height:281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7839229/missing-jewelery-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/824aaee5e25b414996c465eea4cd0cfe" /> <div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text redactor-styles redactor-in"> The family have turned to the community Facebook page for help as well as calling local pawn shops, but police believe the break and enter was random. There is still no sight of the priceless heirlooms a fortnight later. "The majority of break and enters are opportunistic," a police spokesperson said. "For your treasured belongings, especially jewellery, it is recommended to take photographs and file them so that you are able to assist police with returning your stolen items." The Hillier family are hopeful that reaching out to the local community will help them recover some of the unique pieces of jewellery. "I could have interrupted the thieves if I had returned home at my usual time … I don't even want to think about that situation," Ms Hillier said fearfully. She currently has one ring left that thieves dropped on the floor. </div> </div> </div>

Legal

How legendary mime Marcel Marceau saved Jewish children from the Nazis

Marcel Marceau is remembered as a legendary mime artist who delighted audiences for decades as the character Bip the Clown and inspired Michael Jackson’s moonwalk. But he is also a Holocaust survivor who risked his life to help hundreds of Jewish children and adults escape Nazi-occupied France. Marceau’s story is told in Resistance, a new film starring Jesse Eisenberg and directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz. In an interview with Mirror, Jakubowicz said he was not aware of Marceau’s feat until he began researching the mime’s life for the scriptwriting. “I had no idea that he was Jewish or that he saved children in the war, that he found his art through the very act of saving children,” Jakubowicz said. “I felt like if that is the story behind him it needed to be told.” Jakubowicz tracked down Marceau’s cousin Georges Loinger, who recruited the performer into the Jewish Boy Scouts of France and French Resistance to entertain and soothe the children orphaned from the 1938 riots. “The Jewish Boy Scouts … suddenly had to take care of 123 orphans. They’re crying, they’re desperate and they are traumatised,” Jakubowicz said. “They only had Yiddish as the common language because the kids were German and Austrian and these guys were French.” Marceau – who had been miming in theatres at the time – agreed to help the orphans, finding ways to make them laugh with routines such as walking against the wind and passing a hand over his face to switch from ‘happy’ to ‘sad’. Marceau led Jewish children across the Alps to the Swiss border on three trips to prevent them from being sent away to labour camps. He also helped them survive with his mime. “The kids had to appear like they were simply going on vacation to a home near the Swiss border, and Marcel really put them at ease,” Loinger told the Jewish Telegraph Agency in 2007. Marceau mimed to keep the children calm when their papers were checked by the Nazi soldiers and to encourage them to <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/world/how-mayonnaise-sandwiches-saved-kids-from-nazis-20091128-jxwq.html#ixzz3tWDGsdXc">stay quiet as they were escaping</a>. In <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?cc=mqr;c=mqr;c=mqrarchive;idno=act2080.0041.111;g=mqrg;rgn=main;view=text;xc=1">a 2001 lecture</a> Marceau spoke about his father, who died in Auschwitz. “If I cry for my father, I have to cry for the millions of people who died,” he said. “Destiny permitted me to live. This is why I have to bring hope to people who struggle in the world.” Marceau passed away aged 84 on September 22, 2007. Jakubowicz spoke of his film: “It is important for moviegoers to see how much worse the world was not so long ago but also how much better it can get.”

Caring

BBC issues apology to Prince Harry over “seriously offensive” neo-Nazi image

The BBC has issued an apology to Prince Harry after they published a confronting image of him from a neo-Nazi social media group without warning. The news outlet came under fire after they released an image showing the royal with a gun to his head, with text calling him a “race traitor”. Shortly after, a complaint was lodged amid safety concerns for the royal family. Speaking to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.theguardian.com/au" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, a spokesperson raised “serious security concerns” for the Duke and “caused his family great distress specifically while his wife was nearly five months pregnant”. The image was shared on a far-right platform, and showed blood splattered over the father-of-one. The creator placed a swastika over the 35-year-old and captioned it: “See ya later race traitor. #racetraitor.” The BBC originally rejected the complaint, justifying the use of the image as public interest. But they’ve now changed their tune, issuing an apology for failing to warn the Duke and Duchess of Sussex before the report was published. The media corporation said it should have considered the impact of publishing “seriously offensive material”. “We need to be vigilant in balancing the impact on individuals against the wider good which may be served by publication,” read the statement. Addressing a letter to Harry, the BBC said it was working to strengthen its guidance on the use of possibly offensive content. Harry’s spokesperson responded: “His Royal Highness welcomes the letter from the BBC relation to the shocking image published by BBC News last year as part of a report on the activities of a British new-Nazi group with links in the US. “His Royal Highness raised the issue with Ofcom about the rebroadcasting of this racist image due to his concerns that hateful and dangerous propaganda had been spread globally by the world’s most important public service broadcaster. Due to the credibility of the BBC, their choice to publicise this material created an open door for all other media to reproduce it.” The statement then went on to say that Harry was completely against the decision of the image being published in the first place.

News

Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi” files for bankruptcy

Soupman Inc, the New York City food company made famous by Seinfeld, has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US, weeks after a top company executive was charged with tax evasion. Last month, federal prosecutors charged the company’s former chief financial officer with 20 counts of failing to pay federal income taxes, Medicare and Social Security to employees. Soupman licenses the recipes, likeness and name of Al Yeganeh, the man who inspired the “Soup Nazi” character in the television show. Soupman restaurants operate in the New York area and they also sell soups to grocery stores and online. <img width="496" height="279" src="http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/a9690e155854042a6d8751f33bdb8490" alt="Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Larry Thomas in Seinfeld." style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/> “The combination of legacy liabilities and recent company developments have made it necessary to seek bankruptcy protection,” Soupman chief executive Jamie Karson said in a statement. The company has lined up a $US2 million bankruptcy loan to keep its business running during the case. A Soupman representative declined to comment on the bankruptcy case. Yeganeh opened his Manhattan soup store in 1984. His fame spread after the 1995 Seinfeld episode in which an angry soup vendor, played by actor Larry Thomas, yells at customers standing in long lines for his legendary soup. The phrase “No soup for you!” has since become a pop culture reference.

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Holocaust survivor opens home to Nazi granddaughter

95-year-old Holocaust survivor Ben Stern has overcome a lot during his years. After being taken from his home in Poland by Nazis, Ben survived the ghettos and concentration camps. Decades later, Ben has combatted the way his life was treated by Nazis by opening his home to a granddaughter of a member of the Nazi Party. His housemate, Lea Heitfield, is studying at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and what makes their relationship unique is that her grandparents were active members of the Nazi party. Lea has not ignored her family history but has used it as inspiration to learn about Jewish people and history as is getting her master’s degree in Jewish studies. When describing what it was like opening his home to Lea, Ben told The Washington Post, “It was the right thing to do. I’m doing the opposite of what they did.” Despite the stark differences in their family history, the duo have found that they have lot to offer each other. Lea provides company to Dan whose wife recently went into a nursing home due to her worsening dementia. In the evenings, the pair watch the news together, have dinner and talk about history and current events. Last semester, Dan, who never went to high school or university, audited a graduate class with Lea and they walked to campus together every Thursday night. Lea believes Dan’s friendship is gift that reveals great kindness and resilience. “This act of his opening his home, I don’t know how to describe it, how forgiving or how big your heart must be to do that, and what that teaches me to be in the presence of someone who has been through that and is able to have me there and to love me,” she said. “That he was able to open the door for someone who would remind him of all his pain.” When Dan was taken by Nazis he endured the Warsaw Ghetto, nine concentration camps including Auschwitz and the death march from Buchenwald. After the end of the war, he could not find any of his family. Dan met this wife Helen in a displaced prisoners camp after the war and the couple journeyed to American with the hope for a new life. Dan could not speak English, had no money or education but had the strength to want to start again. “I was reborn. I did not forget what happened to me, but I was determined to rebuild the family that I lost and speak out on the pain and losses that so many people gave their lives for no reason only because they were hated because of their particular religion,” Dan said. “We found a mixture of religions being accepted and that was opening the door for a free life, that was a gift that until today I am thankful for the opportunity to enjoy the freedom to build the beautiful family that I have.” Dan’s mission is to inform others so that they won’t let injustice occur without taking a stand. “I feel like it’s important for the reason I survived to tell the world, to tell the next generation what to look out for to have a better, secure, free life,” he said. “It’s important for them to learn how to behave with other people, with other nations, religions. We’re different, but we’re all human and there is room for each and every one of us in this world. It should be in harmony instead of hatred, racism. … We are all born; we’re all going to go. While we’re here, we should try to improve the world.” Image credit: Lea Heitfeld

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