Iconic Images of Human Rights Violations (86): Nazi “Death Train”
(source) You’ll never see a more beautiful depiction of utter joy and relief. Read the full story here. More on the Holocaust. More iconic images.
Search Results for: nazi
Human Rights Nonsense (31): Dalai Lama is Nazi, Says China
(source) I did hear about some similar cases before - for example, North Korea lecturing Japan on human rights, and the late Gaddafi lecturing Switzerland (!) on human rights - but this is the best: A state-run Chinese website has launched a bitter attack on the Dalai Lama, accusing the exiled Buddhist leader of Nazi racial policies and inciting Tibetans to […]
Nazism Between Utopia and Anti-Utopia
On the one hand, Nazism was clearly a utopian movement. It wanted to create a perfect world for the pure Aryan race, devoid of degenerating forces. In a sense, it was idealistic. It had an ideal view of humanity and wanted to realize it, in part by way of the destruction of the less than […]
Human Rights Maps (112): Ethnic Cleansing of Jews by Nazi Germany
(source, map courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum) (source) These are the German concentration camps in Europe: (source) The title of the map below is: “Jewish Executions Carried Out by Einsatzgruppe A”, from the December 1941 Jager Report by the commander of a Nazi death squad. Marked “Secret Reich Matter,” the map shows […]
Iconic Images of Human Rights Violations (32): Book Burning in Nazi Germany
(source, read the full story here) More iconic images of human rights violations are here. Something about freedom of speech is here. And here is a case of quasi book burning. And here’s a nice cartoon to remind us that this isn’t something that only happened in a certain country at a certain time: (if you […]
The Causes of Human Rights Violations (52): Not Enough Bias
If I count correctly, I have blogged about at least 12 ways in which our psychological or mental biases can lead us to violate other people’s rights: spurious reasoning justifying our actions to ourselves post hoc the role distance plays in our regard for fellow human beings the notion that what comes first is also […]
The Ethics of Human Rights (73): The Link Between Corporate Social Responsibility and Reparations for Slavery
(source) Daimler-Benz … avidly supported Nazism and in return received arms contracts and tax breaks that enabled it to become one of the world’s leading industrial concerns. (Between 1932 and 1940 production grew by 830 percent.) During the war the company used thousands of slaves and forced laborers including Jews, foreigners, and POWs. (source) Can […]
What’s So Special About the Holocaust?
History has seen many genocides and large scale killings. Some of those resulted in more deaths than the Holocaust. So why is the Holocaust special? It’s special because it was the first and last example of the industrial production of corpses. It was, quite literally, a murder machine. The murders were not the actions of […]
What is Totalitarianism?
It sounds like a somewhat antiquated concept and it may very well be true that it’s useless as a descriptive device for current politics. However, I believe that it remains a necessary tool for the correct understanding of 20th century history. Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia and Mao-era China were very different countries and very different political regimes, […]
Annals of Heartlessness (30): Taking a Break
For those of you who have been reading the “annals of heartlessness” series on this blog – already 29 stories about the uncaring among us: it has probably destroyed your faith in humanity, or at least inflicted some serious damage. In which case, two images that may restore it: Even genocidal bastards can be nice sometimes.
Iconic Images of Human Rights Violations (88): The Liberation of Buchenwald
Some of the iconic photos taken by Margaret Bourke-White during the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald, in April 1945: (source) More Bourke-White. More iconic images of the holocaust. More information on the holocaust. See the whole series on iconic images of human rights violations.
Iconic Images of Human Rights Violations (87): “Die Flucht”
(source) (source) At the end of and immediately after WWII, millions of ethnic Germans were cleansed from the eastern parts of Europe and sent to the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria, partly in retaliation for wartime cleansing by Nazi Germany. The areas of expulsion included pre-war German provinces as well as […]
The Causes of Human Rights Violations (40): Polarization as a Novel Way of Violating the Right to Free Speech
The traditional ways of silencing people are still all too common: libel or blasphemy laws, threats, the physical targeting of journalists, censorship, book burning or indexing, political correctness, exaggerated respect for people’s sensibilities etc. However, the silencers have developed new and increasingly sophisticated means. And I’m not thinking about tactics like internet filtering – this […]
Political T-Shirt (19): “Hitler Chic” in Bangkok
Apparently, some Thai youth are strutting around in T-shirts bearing cartoonish images of the Nazi dictator. Hilarious. Critics blame it on political ignorance. Even Ronald McDonald gets the treatment: (source) Maybe it’s not ignorance but a slippery slope: after all, if it’s OK to wear t-shirts with portraits of Mao and Che – which apparently […]
Animalization, A Collection of Images
Depicting the enemy as some kind of animal is a time-honored method of dehumanization. And once the enemy is no longer human, a lot of our usual moral inhibitions fall to the wayside. Here are some examples: (source) (source unknown) (source unknown) (source unknown) (source unknown) (source unknown) (source unknown) (source unknown) (source unknown) More […]
The Ethics of Human Rights (60): Absolute Human Rights and Threshold Deontology
(source) There’s this difficult contradiction between two moral intuitions about human rights. On the one hand, we tend to feel very strongly about the extreme importance of a particular subset of human rights. Especially the right to life, the right not to be tortured and the right not to be enslaved are among those human […]
Political T-Shirt (16): With a Secret Message
(source) Fans at a recent right-wing extremist rock festival in Germany thought they were getting free T-shirts that reflected their nationalistic worldview. But after the garment’s first wash they discovered otherwise. The original image rinsed away to reveal a hidden message from an activist group. (source) The message “Hardcore Rebels – National and Free” gave way […]
Antisemitism, A Collection of Images (4)
There are many themes in anti-semitism. A prominent one, at least in contemporary anti-semitism, is nazism and the holocaust: Israel and the Jews in general are often depicted as imitators of the Nazis, with the Palestinians in the role of the Jews and the Jews in the role of the Germans: (source) (source) And then […]
Antisemitism, A Collection of Images (3)
Conspiracy is a common theme in anti-Semitism. Hence the recurring use of the image of the octopus, often depicted spanning a globe with its tentacles, such as in this picture. The globe then represents the worldwide nature of the supposed conspiracy. This theme has of course some variations: (French cartoon from the end of the 19th century; […]
The Causes of Human Rights Violations (33): Nefarious Political Metaphors
(source unknown) I want to go out on a limb here and argue that most if not all human rights violations as they have occurred throughout human history can be explained and have been directly caused by the persistent and widespread use of metaphors. (Which doesn’t mean that there are no other causes). But before […]
The Ethics of Human Rights (55): The Widening Circle of Equality
(source) Allow me to engage in some simplistic historical generalizations. Although, like most us, I have abandoned my youthful illusions about the overall progress of humanity, I still think we’ve taken giant steps towards the moral ideal of human equality. See what you think about this: During the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, with the […]
Why Do Countries Become/Remain Democracies? Or Don’t? (21): Education Again
(source) The claim that education leads to democracy has a lot of intuitive appeal. Educated people are probably more inclined to demand political participation, and those in power who hesitate about granting democratic rights will be less hesitant when they have to grant these rights to educated people. The claim is also supported by the […]
Human Rights Maps (147): Casualties in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars Between 2004 and 2010
Based on the Wikileaks data, this map by Max Braun dramatizes the number of casualties by way of “drops of blood” on the location of each casualty: (source) It’s obviously an exaggeration. And there’s nothing wrong with that in this case because it’s clear that the map doesn’t intend to convey statistically accurate information, although […]
The Ethics of Human Rights (45): Is There A Right To Do Wrong?
(source) Absolutely, there is. People have a right to vote for incompetent politicians; to express hatred; to organize hate groups; to insult and mock people; to burn books etc. All of these things are wrong in most plausible conceptions of morality, and yet they are part and parcel of human rights, and should be, to […]
Measuring Human Rights (17): Human Rights and Progress
We’re all aware of the horrors of recent history. The 20th century doesn’t get a good press. And yet, most of us still think that humanity is, on average, much better off today than it was some centuries or millennia ago. The holocaust, Rwanda, Hiroshima, AIDS, terrorism etc. don’t seem to have discouraged the idea […]
Human Rights Stories (15): A Doll’s House
Excerpt from A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen: Nora: I must stand quite alone, if I am to understand myself and everything about me. It is for that reason that I cannot remain with you any longer. Helmer: Nora, Nora! Nora: I am going away from here now, at once. I am sure Christine will […]
Human Rights Maps (110): Ethnic Cleansing in Europe After WWII
(source, from “Redrawing Nations: Ethnic Cleansing in East-Central Europe, 1944-1948″, Edited by Philipp Ther and Ana Siljak; click on the image to enlarge) After WWII, millions of ethnic Germans were cleansed from the eastern parts of Europe, partly in retaliation for wartime cleansing by Nazi Germany. Read the whole story here. Here’s another version of […]
Iconic Images of Human Rights Violations (58): Child Dying in Warsaw Ghetto
(source) (source) Read the story about the Warsaw Ghetto here. More iconic images of the holocaust are here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. More textual information on the holocaust is here. More iconic images of human rights violations in general are here. Related Articles Rare Nazi Warsaw Ghetto film released (bbc.co.uk) Richard Z. […]
Iconic Images of Human Rights Violations (57): Child Survivors of the Holocaust
(source) Child survivors of the Holocaust filmed during the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army, January, 1945. More iconic images of the holocaust are here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. More textual information on the holocaust is here. More iconic images of human rights violations in general are here.
Why Do Countries Become/Remain Democracies? Or Don’t? (14): Assassination
(read more) If we agree that democracy is something important, then we need to know why, how and when countries turn to or away from democracy. So, here’s another installment in our ongoing series: Assassinations are a persistent feature of the political landscape. Using a new data set of assassination attempts on all world leaders […]
What is a Moral Dilemma?
We have a long running series on this blog asking people to tell us what they think about particular moral dilemmas. However, since this is (in part) a philosophy blog, it’s useful to take a step back and ask ourselves what we are talking about. What precisely is a moral dilemma? Definition of moral dilemma […]
What Are Human Rights? (22): Part of the Rule of Law
(This post follows a similar one on the link between democracy and the rule of law). The claim here is not the trivial one that human rights depend on the rule of law because they can’t be enforced without it. The more interesting question is the opposite one: whether there can be a rule of […]
Freedom of Expression and the Internet
(source) The internet is undoubtedly a huge boost for freedom of expression, and not only a quantitative boost. It has certain qualitative characteristics that older media don’t have, which make it particularly beneficial for free speech. A first reason why the internet promotes free speech is its relative cost: it has made speech much less […]
Crime and Human Rights (9): A Human Right to Possess and Carry Firearms?
(source) Well, possessing and carrying firearms certainly isn’t a human right since it’s not mentioned in any global human rights treaty or declaration. Neither is it a right that’s demanded by the majority of people in the world. It seems to be an exclusive preoccupation of many in the U.S., where the Second Amendment to […]
Religion and Human Rights (29): When Freedom of Association and Anti-Discrimination Clash
In a recent court case in the US, a Christian student group objected to a university decision to withdraw recognition of the group. This withdrawal was justified by the university on the basis of the group’s discrimination of gays. Gays can only join the group when they “repent”. This policy by the group was deemed discriminatory by […]
Antisemitism, A Collection of Images
More descriptive information on antisemitism is here. More on the related topics of the holocaust, holocaust denial and segregation. (source, jewish world domination) (source, I like the “caution” ribbon; more about Israel and Palestine) (source, more about antisemitism in Arab countries) (source) (source) (source, nazi caricature of jewish banker sitting on a bag of money; […]
The Causes of Human Rights Violations (17): Private Interests and the General Interest
(source, more cartoons by Nicholson here) What kind of state do we desire? What kind of education for our children and for the children of the future? What kind of health care, not just for ourselves but for all citizens? How will we leave the environment for future generations? These questions and many others concern […]
Iconic Images of Human Rights Violations (39): Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
(source) During the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the Jews imprisoned there by the Germans occupying Poland during World War II, attempted unsuccessfully to oppose the Nazis’ effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to Treblinka extermination camp. The poorly armed resistance was crushed by the German troops. It was the largest single revolt by the Jews during the Holocaust. Approximately […]
Human Rights Maps (77): Hate Groups in the U.S.
(source/source, click on the image to enlarge) And this is the number relative to the population size of each state: (source) There’s also an interactive version of the first map here, where you can find more information on the groups involved. The Southern Poverty Law Center counted 926 active hate groups in the U.S. in 2008. […]
Political Graffiti (79): Dump Fascism
More on fascism and nazism. More political graffiti.
Human Rights Poem (71): First They Came…
(source) A classic, but well worth rereading: First they came…, Martin Niemöller When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat. When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; […]
Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics (10): How (Not) to Frame Survey Questions
(source, some more background on the controversial Lancet survey of casualties in Iraq following the U.S. invasion) I’ve mentioned before that information on human rights depends heavily on opinion surveys. Unfortunately, surveys can be wrong and misleading for so many different reasons that we have to be very careful when designing surveys and when using and […]
Hitler and Obama: Reductio ad Irrelevantum
The refuge of the politically desperate: compare your opponent to Hitler/fascists/nazis, even if the only thing they have in common is an irrelevant detail. This is usually called, in dog Latin, a reductio ad Hitlerum or reductio ad Nazium, and I’ve been accused of it myself. I wonder what the political right in the U.S. will do when their […]
Maps on Xenophobia, Migration and Asylum
Content internally displaced persons refugees refugee producing countries African refugee routes Iraqi refugee routes asylum seekers ethnic cleansing in Baghdad ethnic cleansing in Bosnia ethnic cleansing in Europe after WWII ethnic cleansing of Jews by Nazi-Germany ethnic cleansing in Cyprus the Trail of Tears, the story of Indian removal the American Indian wars the Armenian […]
Maps on International Intervention
Content caring for what happens in the world countries that have hurt the feelings of China countries that have accepted the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court how the world views Africa early 20th century views on civilization the scramble for Africa and the long-run effects of artificial borders on ethnic conflict imperialism in North […]
Hate, A Collection of Signs and Notices
(source) (source) (source, I like the “caution” ribbon) (source) (source) (source) (source) (source) (source) More on hate. More on hate speech. More collections of images.
Political Artist (29): John Heartfield/Helmut Herzfeld
(source) John Heartfield (19 June 1891-26 April 1968) is the anglicized name of the German photomontage artist Helmut Herzfeld. More on him here. More on nazism here. And something on the relationship between nazism and Christianity is here.
Censorship, A Collection of Images
(source) (source) (source unknown) (source) (source) (source) (source) More on censorship. More collections of images.
Human Rights Facts (34): The Recession and Anti-Semitism
(source) In an older post I mentioned some of the negative effects of the current economic recession on human rights. One effect I didn’t mention but which should have been too obvious to miss, is anti-semitism. The recession started as a financial crisis and a crisis of the banks. Given the historic association of anti-semitism with […]
Limiting Free Speech (25): Does Freedom of Religion Require Limits on Freedom of Speech?
(source) The UN Human Rights Council recently passed a Resolution on Religious Defamation. The main concern of the drafters of this resolution is islamophobia, defamation of Muslims, negative stereotyping of Muslims and Islam, and intolerance and discrimination against Muslims. The main targets are, obviously, western societies where, it is believed, “terrorism hysteria” has caused widespread […]
