The statue of King Sejong

I have now been living in Seoul for just over a month. Things haven’t been as easy as I thought they would have been but I now feel as though I am starting to settle in and enjoy myself. Having arrived in the winter time with temperatures dropping as far down as minus 13 there isn’t a whole lot that you want to do apart from hibernate and keep warm. Unfortunately this results in you living the life of a recluse and you do start to feel a fair bit of hatred towards the country you have just decided to relocate to. However once you have adjusted (and got your heating fixed) you soon start to cheer up and venture out into the huge world that South Korea is. Now normally I would have done a lot more sight seeing than what I have in this past month, however I am not a fan of the cold and will not be making the stupid mistake of visiting a country in it’s winter time again...especially when it’s winter time is worse than the one I have grown up with. 

So when I say I haven’t done much sightseeing..I actually mean that I have only managed to visit one tourist spot. This doesn’t mean that I haven’t visited a number of different places and areas in Seoul, but of course they were for the essentials, drinking and shopping. After a while I started to realise that I know very little about South Korea so I decided to take it into my own hands (gloved of course) and battle the cold in hope for some Korean knowledge. Last week I went to visit the statue of Kings Sejong which also has a museum underneath. King Sejong was the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea and his reign was from 1418 - 1450. He is widely celebrated in Korea as he is known for creating the Korean writing system, best known here as Hangul. Before Hangul was put together the Korean people used Chinese characters for writing but as this was very complex and difficult to understand King Sejong decided to come up with a script directly for Korean people, therefore establishing a cultural identity. 

I also had the chance to learn about Admiral Yi Sun-shin who was a Korean naval commander, he is best known for leading the flight against the Japanese invasion in 1592. Unfortunately he was killed in the final battle and (according to the museum I went to) in his dying moments requested that none of his men know of his death as it would distract them from the battle. Here in Korea he is considered extremely heroic. This was a good day out and as soon as it warms up I intend on visiting a lot more places, especially the palaces. 

My first few weeks in Korea

I arrived in Seoul almost three weeks ago to begin my years contract in teaching English to  Korean children. So far the job has been great, training was a bit tedious but all worth while and the temporary accommodation was definitely livable...but difficult to settle into especially when you knew you were to be moving again within two weeks. But now I have moved into my own little apartment, been to the local supermarket (Tesco) and am properly teaching my own classes everything seems a whole lot better...apart from the weather! Whilst I am writing this blog it is minus 8 outside....probably about minus 5 in here but I have my trusty hot water bottle with me, thanks to a certain Winder ;p. I have also recently purchased a fan heater as I devastatingly got told that January is Korea’s coldest month where it will be expected to drop into double figures of minus. 

Due to this I haven’t been able to do much sight seeing yet as not even my trusty poncho is able to tackle the this extreme weather. I complain about how cold it is in the North of England (especially Jeffs house) but from the day I land back in England Im really going to try to not moan about the weather. 

The children I teach are 5 years old Western age..In Korea they are 6 as the Koreans believe that you are one from the day you are born.I am not a fan of this notion as in Korea I am already 25. I teach 11 students and my voice is normally quite sore after having shouted at them all day to sit down and listen to me. The day it snowed was definitely a kindergarten teachers worst day, nothing I said would stop them jumping around and screaming excitedly about the prospect of snowball fights after school. Despite all this I do love my class (especially after seeing what the other foreign teachers have to put up with) because they are all very sweet and extremely clever. Their English is great and they communicate very well.
A major difference that I noticed straight away with the teaching in Korea compared to England is that you are expected to be very cuddly with the children, you are urged from day one to hug them, stroke their hair and pick them up. At first this did feel a bit strange but now Ive completely adjusted to the sight of Korean children dangling from their teacher and it does feel very natural. The school is lovely, its a very warm and colourful place and all the teachers are very friendly. Despite not actually doing any sight seeing..I have managed to check out some bars :) My first weekend here I was taken to Hondai and Itaewon ( I expected this place to be great as soon as I heard about “hookers hill” - an area of the city where the bars used to be brothels waaaay back in the day) and Im glad to say it did not disappoint. The food here is great, there is so many different choices of Korean restaurants and Western places, that you can find anything you want at almost any time, so far it appears that Seoul does not sleep..The 24 hour burger king down the road from me has seen me a fair few times since I moved in! So my only issue is that I miss everyone, being 9 hours in the future of you all makes it very difficult to arrange sociable contact hours, however I am very excited about the idea that I will be in 2013 before you all, expect a drunken email ;) lots of love from Korea xxxxx

And I'm off again...

A radical decision has been made. I have decided to relocate to South Korea and work as an english teacher for a year. The inspiration for this idea came to me in Thailand at the Elephant Nature Park, where I met an American by the name of Kate. She had just completed her years work in Seoul and loved it. She told me that the company she went through provided pre paid flights to and from Korea, a furnished apartment and a good salary, ideal for the broke graduate. I pondered over the idea for a few months before finally committing to it. I am now five weeks away from going and I am completely bricking it :S I have been so consumed with paperwork and contacting the right people that i completely forgot to let the decision sink in and all of sudden i feel like “what the f*** am I doing?” I definately have a mix of emotions as one part of me is super excited to be doing something different in a part of the world that I would never have thought I would travel and another part of me is considerably attached to my boyfriend who, by the time I leave, I will have been with for over a year. However I have decided to grow some balls and (try) to stop worrying and just go with it...at the end of the day if things go terribly wrong i can always come home...i will be jobless but I can come home. 

I have decided that whilst I am over there I will blog about my experiences, therefore helping anyone who wants to do something like this, learn about it through me. 

The company I have gone through is YBM, they have assisted me throughout the process and answered any questions/concerns I have had. I have also had help of my friends brother in law, Matt, who is currently over there. He has been great answering any questions which I have felt are too stupid to bother YBM about. Because we all ask those questions which start with “I don’t know if i’m being a bit thick,but...” His blog provides a step by step account on how to apply and what to expect when dealing with YBM and this kind of job. Here it is http://mattroundtheworld.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/how-to-get-job-teaching-english-in.html

At the moment there isn’t much to report, i guess the countdown has begun. 

My trip to Eastern Europe :)

This year i decided that I didn’t want the typical holiday. I mean i love beaches, cocktails and warm nights but this year I felt the need to explore something different...So thats what I did. I had heard off my friend Ellie that Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, was a beautiful place to visit and the flights didn’t cost an arm and leg so I looked in to it and finally settled on the idea that it was the ideal place to go. However since I have been well and truly bitten by the travel bug I didn’t want to stop there. I decided to look at a map (this will disgust my friend Jen who believes people should already know where every country is ;)) and realised that Russia was an hours flight away from Tallinn. I was sold. With the flights and hotel booked excitement was quick enough to set in.....This was until I realised my research methods had been seriously flawed and I had over looked the fact that you need a visa for Russia. Now this is not a simple Visa you buy online when booking your holiday nor is it a visa you can get much information on from english travel agents, especially as their typical holiday bookings are Benidorm and Ibiza (no judgement...well...:p) this was a visa that was going to give me a few sleepless nights and hours of worrying over. However I eventually got through the whole process and once everything was submitted and I was financially ripped off things went a lot smoother :D 

Saint Petersburg, Russia

Now to write in compete detail about my trip will take far too long and probably bore a lot of you s***less however if you do have an interest in Russian history then St.Petersburg is the place to go, formerly known as Leningrad during the communist regime. Full of betrayals, and blood thirsty monarchs Russia is defintely an interesting place to visit, during my three days there we managed to visit many of the top spots for tourists including the Bronze horseman, the Winter palace and the Yusupov palace (my personal favourite as this place was where the legendary Rasputin was murdered.) However the language barrier is a big thing to take into account if you are wanting to visit Russia...they don’t speak english or smile that much so ordering food for the full three days was a big problem especially if your partner’s main hobby is eating (Jeff ;p). But overall it was an interesting place to visit and i’m glad I went. I also managed to pick up a Russian doll :D 

Tallinn, Estonia

This has gone down as one my favourite holidays so far. Defintely a place I would revisit. With it’s quaint little streets and medieval feel any one can get lost in Tallinn’s charm. The Old Town is beautiful and full of atmosphere, there are restaurants of all kinds and every corner you turn there is some old church, museum or castle to look around. Estonia welcomed the Euro is 2011 so it’s not as cheap as it used to be, however it wasn’t overly expensive either. The tourist spots cost a few euro a time and you had the choice to go in to the old tunnels underneath the city walls, learn about Tallinn’s occupation, climb the highest tower in Tallinn (only recommended for people with strong legs), go round ghost tours and visit an old KGB prison. It was a fascinating little town with plenty of things to do and lots of fruity cider to taste. Despite the country only being free from occupation a little over twenty years ago most people speak english and were very friendly. Overall I had an awesome time and would love to go again.

Auschwitz the experience

I honestly don't know where time has gone, I can't believe how long it's been since my last blog and to be honest I have been battling with what topic to focus on. But following on from my previous blog I did go to Auschwitz and it was definitely an experience worth having. However it was one topic I have really struggled writing about, I have tried numerous amounts of times but failed miserably so I thought it would be easier to express a small opinion on it and then upload my photos for all to see :)

To say I "enjoyed" it would seem callous and misrepresentative of the experience I had when visiting the former concentration camp however I am glad I went. I have always had a thirst for knowledge when it concerns WW2 and I would recommend any one with the same interests as me to go and see it for themselves. The tour guides are amazing with the amount of information they give you especially when they are telling you some of the  inspiring stories from some of the survivors. The grounds and camp have been kept in pristine condition and the memorial at the end is beautiful and respectful. I have been asked a few times if I found the place "eerie" and the answer to that is No. Far from it. There is and has been so many people going there to show love and grievances for what happened that if anything it feels peaceful. Still and peaceful. What happened to those people is unforgivable and I'm not going to lie, coming out of there I felt anger and that anger stayed with me for a few days, some of it is still with me now. The stupidity of what happened...of what people believed...of what people followed..infuriates me still. But I imagine that most people feel that when they come out of a place where unnecessary death happened. That is something you need to be prepared for when visiting. I hear that Morecambe High School is now taking some of its GCSE history students round as a school trip...I have mixed feelings about this as I don't think that I would have been able to appreciate the full impact of this at the tender and innocent age of 15, however I may be wrong about that. I am just glad that I went at a time when I was ready to see it. My heart goes out to all the victims and relatives of the concentration camps, especially the Jewish people, who were punished for nothing more than a belief.

The Vegan Fair

For all people interested in making a positive difference to the world showing up at the Friends Meeting House in Lancaster on May 12 is a must. From 11am-5pm West Lancashire Vegan Fair will be holding the biggest vegan event in Lancashire.

Designed not only for vegans and vegetarians their aim is to educate as many people as possible about the vegan lifestyle, showing the real reasons why this way of life is adopted and how easy it is to follow.

For many people being a vegan just means that they don’t eat meat or any products that are produced from animals. However it is a far more complex theory than that. By becoming a vegan you are adopting a much healthier lifestyle and are protesting against the cruelty that animals are subjected to when they are being farmed for their produce. 

Most people feel that by purchasing free range they are making sure that they are only buying products from well looked after birds. Unfortunately most people don’t realise that free range just means that the birds were given an opportunity to go outside, there are no other requirements needed. Sadly, this means that thousands of birds are still caged up in a shed with only one small door that leads to a tiny outside area. The conditions they are subjected to are dreadful. Many of them die from asphyxiation and obtain injuries that aren’t treat, such as broken legs. To learn more about this feel free to visit www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/animals.html 

It is also not just about standing up against animal cruelty any more it is about investing in our future and our children’s future. With population figures rising the UN are now urging people to adopt a vegan lifestyle as it will help tackle climate change, world hunger and fuel poverty. This has been based upon the prediction that our population will be at a massive 9.1 billion by 2050 and “western tastes for diets rich in meat and dairy products are unsustainable.” This is according to the report from the United Nations Environment Programme’s international panel of sustainable resource management. 

There will also be a great range of speakers at the fair which will include Dominic Berry, Manchester’s award winning vegan poet, Sea Shepherd, the international organisation who campaign against the killing of dolphins, seals, whales and sharks, Dean Bracher, who helps teach the vegan lifestyle and Brett Lund who helps run Beautiful Planet, Preston’s vegetarian/vegan cafe. She will be explaining how the cafe gets grants and how they promote veganism by handing out free recipe booklets and vegan food. 

The vegan food fair will not only be educational but a fantastic day out because there will be more than 50 stalls spread around two floors, free vegan food, vegan cookery demos, films, free recipe booklets, a vegan cafe and a children’s area. So even if you haven’t adopted the vegan lifestyle but have an interest in learning about it pop down and see for yourself what it has to offer. Lets help make the world a better place. 

This piece featured in atLancaster magazine, feel free to check it out and to also get some great ideas for vegan meals :) 

http://issuu.com/atlancaster/docs/may2012website/5

The South Yorkshire Infidels....what a JOKE!

The other night I struggled to sleep and decided to snoop around on Facebook, as I went from link to link I came across this page, The South Yorkshire Infidels. This is what they have posted on their about section,

“The SYI are a group of right wing patriots, loyalists, and nationalists. We will stand with anyone willing to fight the enemies of Britain and for the right of its indigenous people. We are against Islamic jihad, the Islamic takeover of parts of the UK, militant Irish republicanism, Zionism, Immigration, EU membership, Multiculturalism, Communism and the militant left.

We are not part of any other...... counter jihad group but we do have alliances with various other Infidel, Patriot, Loyalist, Nationalist and Right Wing groups. We are not connected to any political party nor do we discriminate against any member of a political party. All are welcome.

We say it as we see it, if you don't like it, you know what to do! The End.

What's best for our people and Britain, S.I.N.A.O. KTF”

Completed bewildered i continued to scroll through comments, status updates and pictures and can not for the life of me understand how this web page has been allowed by Facebook to even exist. They highlight the racist attacks on white people and how white people are the real victims where the police ignore them and refer to them as a minority. Trust me the police aren’t exactly renown for coming to the aid of racist attacks on people from different races either, dare i mention Stephen Lawrence, Rolan Adams, Quddus Ali, Mukthar Ahmed and Ricky Peel.

Seeing the following comment proved that this website is a hate campaign designed to fuel hatred and anger within racist nobodies, in March this comment was left,

“Racist african living at 321 lowedges rd, sheffield, s8 7hs. Called our lass a "white" bitch and as usual cops refuse 2 do owt as shes a minority. Hope sum1 repays favour NFSE KTF GSTQ”

Racism on any angle angers me....since I was a young girl I have always been surrounded by people from different races and not once have I felt any prejudice or indifference to them...I do not believe that “immigrants are stealing our jobs” I do not believe that “immigrants are lazy and take our benefits.” These are old age beliefs from narrow minded people who have (all their life) lived in a country that is (compared to others) financially stable and not run by a dictatorship.

We are from Britain, not an african village where people are murdered in front of us, we haven’t had to endure total governmental collapse like the Albanians did or go through a savage and murderous war like they had to in Bosnia. People have a right to seek asylum, people have a right to want a better life, people have rights no matter what their colour or religion.

However I am not totally ignorant that with some religions and races their comes extremists, but that gives no one the right to generalize a whole population. Through out our entire British history we have had extremist views some of which have influenced the whole country, for example witch burnings.

This page sickens me and to know that there are more out there angers me. There are racist attacks all over the world and there is forms of terrorism from every nation. I am all up for opinions and freedom of speech but not when its from people who are only giving half truths.

The page also has a link to this recent attack,

“We have been given a picture of a young boy in a bad way, this happened in Hyde, Greater Manchester. The boy was attacked by a group of ’asian’ (newspeak for Muslim) thugs on Saturday, 4th February 2012. No more details as yet, but it makes you wonder after the Rhea Page incident, if they DO get caught, will they also get a ‘slap on the wrists’? Our children should NOT be victims to these sort of attacks, the sooner this country wakes up and realises what the hell is going on, the better, NS!

Jojo

Update, his name is Daniel, he was attacked by 10 muslim youths. Kav and Dan were walking up Market Street, Hyde..minding their own business when a gang of at least 10 asian lads beat them up. Dans in hospital awaiting surgery……kav is home, bruised, battered, shook up.”

Sure this case is terrible and my heart goes out to the agony and suffering those lads went through but dare this be used as an example that only white people have to endure racist attacks?!? For every case that is shown of a white person being racially abused I will find one right back of an asian or black person being attacked, for example the murder of Anuj Bidve, a young Asian man from Lancaster University in December 2011. Out in Salford with nine of his friends when he is shot in the head by a WHITE thug! When questioned in court for his crime the only answer he gave was to state that his name was Kiaran “Psycho” Stapleton.

As i have said earlier in this post, racism on any level should not be tolerated whether it is aimed at a black, white or asian person, however their should not be websites up promoting revenge attacks on any one. These people can only be described in one way and that is “THICK.” If you come across any pages similar to this one I urge you to report it, racism needs to be stamped out and equality needs to be promoted!

These are a few more of the South Yorkshire Infidels status updates,

“just think all these ppl out of work strugglin this year saving every penny to get things in for ur kids and family saving every penny just to get ur decorations or even a xmas fuckin dinner wud this be happening if ther was so many immegrants wud ther be this much uproar if our country was still urs, wud ther fuck ther wud be xmas jobs coming out of ur ears ther wud be benifits for those who do struggle ther wud be money for every 1 BURN THE LOT OF EM OR BOOT EM BACK...2012 MAKE GREAT BRITAIN GREAT AGAIN........either that or turn muslim or jewish”

“Hitler walks into the meeting room and turns to his trusted staff, "I want you to organise the execution of 10,000 Jews and 1 kitten."

Everyone looks around the table and after a long silence, Goering pipes up, "Mein Führer, why do you want to kill a kitten?"

Hitler smiles and turns to the rest of the table, "You see, no one cares about the Jews."

“seems that we've been screen shotted again by some fuckin little tick worm SAD FUCKIN LOW LIFE LEFT WING BASTARDS I HOPE YOU GET GANG RAPED BY 100 MUSLIMS”

Just to clarify these comments are from the South Yorkshire Infidels web page on Facebook, I’ve highlighted them to show how disgusting these people are. I have also reported the page to Facebook in hope that it is removed!

100th anniversary of the "unsinkable ship"

A hundred years ago the Titanic represented dreams, glamour and a new life...it was a romantic idea that, sadly, never got fulfilled.

Despite the incident happening a century ago there aren’t many people out there who won’t have heard about the tragic demise of the ship.

on the 10th of April 1912 the Titanic set sail from Southampton to New York with 2,224 people on board. This included some of the wealthiest people in the world and the first class section of the boat was designed to be the definition of comfort and luxury. She was built complete with libraries, restaurants, a gymnasium and a swimming pool. Unfortunately she was also accompanied with the nickname “the unsinkable ship.”

On the 14th of April the Titanic hit an iceberg which caused 5 of her 16 watertight compartments to flood with icy water, which led to the ship sinking and breaking in half within 2 and a half hours. Winthin a couple of hours the biggest ship afloat at the time was no longer visible because she laid at the bottom of the sea along with many of her passengers. 1,514 people died that night, many froze to death in the water but almost 1,000 people were still on board when she broke in half and sank.

The irony of the incident was highlighted in the fact that the ship had modern advanced safety features, such as water tight compartments and doors, unfortunately the Titanic was not equipped with enough life boats, in fact there was only enough to evacuate a third of the passengers.

That night itself has flooded British history in grief, upset and anger. Not only did the lack of life boats prove the naivety and over confidence of the ships owner and captain but the inadequate training of the crew was also highlighted. They believed that if they filled the life boats fully they would buckle, they were not aware that the life boats were strong and had been repeatedly tested before the ship set sail. This mistake led to some of them only being half filled. Nothing but panic and fear consumed that night which not only led to further mistakes but unfortunately resulted in the worst maritime disaster in history.

Since Cameron’s 1997 film Titanic further interest surrounded the history of the ship but with this week being the 100th anniversary of the sinking a Titanic memorial cruise is taking place. The MS Balmoral will take the same journey as the Titanic as it tries to recreate the original voyage. It is expected to arrive at the wreck site in time for the scheduled memorial services at the weekend. Our thoughts should go out to the victims whilst we hope that nothing this tragic happens again. Despite some grievances I have with the BBC this link shows an interesting step by step guide on what happened when the Titanic started sinking http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17511820

More corruption in Thailand

If you have read my previous blogs it will be of no surprise to hear that I had an amazing time at the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand. It is a relaxed, caring and joyous sanctuary for previously abused elephants to live out their final days without the fear of being starved or beaten.

Thailand is famous for being a beautiful and picturesque country but underneath all the appealing cosmetics lies a deeply corrupt government that carries out severe actions when anyone speaks out against them.

The elephant has always been a trademark for Thailand, they are symbolized as an object of worship. Their main beer is named “Chang” which is Thai for elephant, their houses and shops are lined with ornaments in the shape of elephants and many wear clothes and jewellery with the sacred animal on. However their hypocrisy goes on to amaze the western tourists, as your visit to the ENP will teach you, they far from treat them as the gentle and peaceful animals they indeed are.

They are seen as domesticated animals, not wild (despite their rapid decline) so it is perfectly acceptable for Thai people to beat them into submission from babies, to stab them in the eyes if they don’t do what they are told and to wander the busy streets of Thailand preforming tricks in exchange for food.

The ENP was set up by Sangduen Chialert, or “Lek” to people that know her, she has always been disgusted by the Thai peoples treatment of elephants and consistently, throughout her life, campaigned against this. However this has caused her many problems with the Thai government who have, many times, intercepted her acts of goodness.

Unfortunately corruption struck again on the 8th of Feb as the the ENP was raided,

“On Wednesday 8 February approximately 100 government people descended on The Elephant Nature Park. They claimed they had an anonymous phone call alleging that the park was hiding some 70 wild elephants. They disrupted the park from early morning till evening, some 13 hours. They found nothing but fully documented elephants living in sanctuary. Some were old, some sick, some wounded but all were properly documented and well cared for. It’s public knowledge that there are 35 elephants at ENP. ENP’s attorney was on hand and presented the proper documentation”

This was taken from a blog shown on the ENP Facebook page http://www.asianelephantstories.blogspot.com/2012/02/wfft-enp-both-raided-but-why.html

Definitely worth a read!!!

However what is even more interesting is the theory behind why the ENP was so randomly attacked. It appears that some time in December last year 2 wild elephants from the Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi were found slaughtered for their bones, ivory and meat. Their carcasses were then burnt. According to http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/276010/weekly-highlights The Kaeng Krachan Parks chief was involved in it all.

Now you may be wondering what this has to do with Lek and her lovely park, but hold on as all will be unravelled soon!

It turns out that when news got out about the slaughter of the elephants the only 2 organizations that stood up and actually did something about finding out who the real culprits were was ENP and Wildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand (WFFT). They managed to find strong evidence that The National Park Service were actually involved (Despite that fact that they themselves had declared they would punish the real culprit.)

Lek had amazingly managed to get hold of a video clip which would show who was behind the elephant trading, however (not surprisingly) the government didn’t want to know. Now this is where the power of the press got involved, after interviewing Lek and the founder of WFFT 5 park rangers from the national park were arrested on involvement.

Since then both ENP and WFFT have been raided. Unfortunately the raid at WFFT was far more severe, with heavily armed government officials showing up, visiting school children intimidated and the president of WFFT, Khun Jansaeng Sangnanork being arrested. Apparently it was also made clear at the raid that this was the consequence for speaking out.

Fortunately Lek was not at the Park when the raid at ENP took place, if she was there are fears that she too would have been arrested. Gladly though she is now back and according to the blog http://www.asianelephantstories.blogspot.com/2012/02/wfft-enp-both-raided-but-why.html

she is equipped with even more evidence of elephant trading in Thailand.

The fight continues and I know who’s side I'm on, so if you would like to show your support to these amazing organizations here are some sites for you to check out.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/urgent-plea-for-rescued-thai-wildlife/

Elephant Nature Park and ENP Facebook

Wildlife Friends of Thailand and WFFT Facebook

Auschwitz

Sat in my GCSE history class in year 11 at high school I was immediately enthralled by the topic of WW2, I didn’t struggle with it, I didn’t dread going to classes and I certainly didn’t find the homework a hassle. So it wasn’t much of a surprise when I passed my class with a Grade A. Unfortunately when I got to sixth form at lancaster Girls Grammar the topic was on the 16th Century revolution, unlike Ripleys sixth form who got to study WW2 in more depth (no bitterness at all). Since then I have always been interested in books based on or around that period of time, especially on Auschwitz. This is what has fueled my desire to actually go to Poland and see Auschwitz for myself, hopefully in May this year.

Auschwitz was a network of concentration camps built in Poland, just outside Krakow during the war (1939-1945) by the Germans.

Auschwitz 1 was the base camp

Auschwitz 2 (Birkenau) was the extermination camp

Auschwitz 3 was a labour camp

It also consisted of 45 satellite camps.

Throughout the years of 1942-1944 thousands of Jews from all over Europe were taken there and gassed to death. They had no idea what was happening to them and a few last letters that have been discovered are on display at the London Imperial War Museum (complete must see for history geeks like myself)

Despite the devastating and disgusting things that went on at Auschwitz a common belief is that it only happened to Jewish people. The German army targeted anyone that was different, and this included Jehovah’s Witnesses and people from minorities.

It is now common knowledge that medical experiments also took place in Auschwitz 1 on the prisoners.One of the most well known physicians from this period of time was SS captain Dr.Josef Mengele, also known as The angel of death due to his cruelty when deciding who would retain for work on the camps and who would perish in the gas chambers. To read more on Mengele check out http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007060

The types of medical experiments that took place were pseudoscientific research on infants, twins and dwarfs as well as preforming forced sterilizations, castrations and hypothermia experiments on adults. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005189

The above website also supplies details and figures on how many Jewish people were transported to Auschwitz to be exterminated,

Hungary - 426,000

Poland - 300,000

France - 69,000

Netherlands - 60,000

Greece - 55,000

Bohemia and Moravia - 46,000

Slovakia - 27,000

Belgium - 25,000

Yugoslavia - 10,000

Italy - 7,500

Norway - 690

The majority of these people will have immediately been sent to the gas chambers, a small amount of them will have been sent to work in the labour camps and will have eventually succumbed to death due to starvation, disease or murdered by one of the guards.

In Auschwitz stood “the black wall” were SS guards would execute thousands of prisoners. This type of inhumane treatment is excellently portrayed in the film Schindler's List and innocently hinted at in the book The boy in the striped pyjammas.

As well as these a book I thoroughly enjoyed and successfully brought me to tears was The man who broke into Auschwitz. This book is an account of the life of Denis Avey, who was a British solider serving in WW2. He was captured and made prisoner at Auschwitz, witnessing the terrible things that took place. He managed to befriend a couple of the Jewish people and one day swopped places, exchanging his British uniform for their striped one. This way he got to witness first hand the horrific conditions the jewish people had to endure, living and sleeping in filth, slowly being starved to death, whilst at the same time being expected to work to their full potential all day long. If these requirements were not met, for example falling over or passing out due to exhaustion, they were shot.

This book is definitely worth a read.

I have always had an interest in history but as I have said before WW2 and the regime of Nazi Germany is a real interest of mine.

There is a lot to take in and learn about WW2 but i do recommend London’s imperial war museum for any one that is interested in learning in depth about what and why it occurred. I will be sure to blog about my experiences and put up my pictures from my trip to Auschwitz.

Stephen Lawrence case

The 3rd of January was a significant day for many who have always followed the brutal and cowardly murder of Stephen Lawrence. This was the day where 2 out of the 5 original suspects, Gary Dobson and David Norris, where sentenced to life imprisonment. However despite the air of relief that after 18 years some justice has finally been done for this young and promising man there are still the other 3 suspects that have evaded the law.
This case is not just about a racist murder but now represents how the Met had deep rooted steropical beliefs about black people and if they had acted accordingly and lived up to their job description these 5 men would have been caught alot sooner.
It all started in 1993, on the 22nd of April. Stephen Lawrence and Duwayne Brooks were waiting for a bus in Eltham, South London when a group of 5 white youths started towards them. Duwayne was lucky enough to have not been caught by them but unfortunately as soon as they caught up to Stephen they beat and stabbed him. As soon as they ran off, Stephen's adrenaline forced him to get up and start running with Duwayne, concealing the full effects of the attack. It wasn't long before he collapsed bleeding on the ground. Duwayne called the ambulance from a nearby phone box whilst passer-bys sat with Stephen. Due to the nature of the call and the awareness that both young men were black a police car showed up instead, this led to Stephen dying in the street and Duwayne being the main suspect. They didnt believe his story that this was a racist attack and refused to check out the area despite Duwayne telling them the direction that the murderers ran off in. Due to the colour of their skin the police made a rash and career threatening decision that this had been a fight between the 2 young black men. This case would go on to highlight the amount of murder cases where deep rooted racism had played a part in justice not being served. This was called the William Macpherson's inquiry in 1999.
The Inquiry was brought about as a response to the anger towards the police's negligant and lazy effort at securing a prosecution against the perpetrators. By this point it was well known that days after the murder many people contacted the police in different manners to name the group of racist thugs that have not only killed Stephen but have set upon many other people from different races. These names were Gary Dobson, David Norris, Luke Knight and Jamie and Neil Acourt (brothers) and still the police spent more time covering up their corruption and dealing with criticism from all angles.
Other racially motivated crimes where justice has not been served accordingly were brought up in the inquiry as evidence of racism within the police.
Rolan Adams - Killed in 1991 by a gang of white youths who called themselves the "Nazi turn outs." This happened in South London and Rolan was just 15 years old. Some of the same police that were involved in this case were also on the Stephen Lawrence case and similarities to how the murders were treat was highlighted in the inquiry.
Quddus Ali - He was subjected to a brutal racist attack from 8 white youths that left him in a coma. He was beaten and stabbed to the point where it was obvious that the attackers had intended to kill him. This happened in 1993 and in 1995 the only man to go to court over the attack, John Rutter, was cleared. Despite the fact that Rutters brother had said to an under cover cop that John had done it, this could not be used as evidence as it was not put forward in the trial.
Mukthar Ahmed - In 1994 the 19 year old was savagely beaten by a gang of 25 racists. His face was swollen and bruised, his scalp almost removed and his skull was fractured in 3 places. Nicky Fuller was eventually arrested for the crime after his ex girlfirend told poice that he had come met her in blood stained jeans boasting that he "done a paki". Unfortunately her selfless good deed didnt do much, Nicky Fuller was charged with causing GBH (Grievous Bodily Harm) and violent disorder. He pleaded guilty to the second minor charge which led to the CPS dropping the more serious charge. The judge then let him walk free from the court as he had already served 6 months on remand.
Shah Alam - A 17 year old student was set upon by a gang of 10-12 racist thugs. They hit him over the head with a hammer and repeatedly stabbed and kicked him. He was rushed to hospital where he had to have hours of surgery on his lungs, liver and kidneys. When released from hospital he had to be moved out of london for his safety beacuse whilst he was admitted his brother in law had recieved racist hate mail, one of which read "Be prepared for whats to come! You Paki!" A large gang of white youths ran down East London showing knives and sticks in broad day light with NO intervention from police. When they picked up one suspect he had blood on his shoes but the poice said that the amount was too small too test so they wrote to the family and said they were closing their investigation. After public pressure and positive ID's made from the victim and witnesses 5 youths stood trial. They were (surprisingly acquitted) They stood trial twice and due to the racist beliefs of the judge (both times) he said there was no case to answer against the 5. Whats worse is that when the 5 left court one of them went up to Shah's brother and punched him in the chest, the police did nothing and when people complained the police said that there was nothing they could do about it.
Ricky Peel - In 1997 Ricky had been racially abused and went missing. His body showed up in the River Thames and the police refused to investigate the racial incident and claimed that he must have slipped into the river. They had no evidence to back this theory up. An independent pathologist said that 3rd pary involvement can not be ruled out and pointed out various suspicious circumstances.
As well as re opening all these cases the Macpherson Inquiry also looked in to the amount of black deaths in police custody and concluded that there was nearly 8 times more black deaths than white and that no police officer has ever stood trial for one.
With 2 of Stephens suspects finally imprisoned all that can be hoped for is that every racist murderer be sent down. Through this blog I have hoped to highlight the disgust I felt when reading all about these cases, to me their is no lower than a racist and if we continue to ignore their crimes and walk away from their victims we are just making them stronger. Fight for Equality on all sides!

*Of course the Macpherson report included a lot more than I have gone into, it stood to make our police force a stronger and more fair one, it tackled racism and made sure all the police that were found to be racist and negligant were fired. I do recommend people go through it if you have the time of course,a summary of it can be found on http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/1999/feb/24/lawrence.ukcrime12