Thursday, August 18, 2016

Rare historical photos that have been colorized

Rabbi Yehuda Lave

Whom Do You Want To Be?

What kind of person do you really want to be?

Writing this in the form of a mission statement or essay has a powerful effect on one's self-image. The act of writing that you want to be "kind" and "compassionate" motivates positive action.

Actually, the question "What kind of person are you?" is answered by the way you speak to others and what you do for them.

 

Love Yehuda Lave

We can't remember??

Rare Historical Photos In Color II

Stalin ordered Wallenberg's 'liquidation,' KGB boss's diary reveals

Document provides first confirmation that Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews during Holocaust was executed in Soviet prison

Joseph Stalin ordered the "liquidation" of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg — who saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust — in 1947, according to the diary of a former KGB chief.

 

The document offers a first confirmation that Wallenberg, who disappeared in 1945, was executed by the Soviet Union.

A young architect and businessman, Wallenberg volunteered to travel to Hungary in 1944 as a special envoy to aid a US effort to rescue Jews from extermination at the hands of Nazi Germany.

Wallenberg used his position to save tens of thousands of Jews by issuing them protective passports in the final months of World War II.

But in January 1945, while the Soviets were engaged in prolonged and bloody battle with the Germans over Budapest, the 32-year-old diplomat was called in for questioning at the Russian headquarters in Debrecen over allegations of espionage. He was never heard from again.

In 1957, the Soviet Union released a document saying Wallenberg had been jailed in the Lubyanka prison, the notorious building where the KGB security services were headquartered, and that he died of heart failure on July 17, 1947.

But the account has been questioned, with some historians maintaining Wallenberg was executed.

In 2000, the head of a Russian commission of investigation conceded Wallenberg had been imprisoned in 1947 for political reasons by KGB agents in Lubyanka, where he eventually died, but declined to provide hard evidence or elaborate on the circumstances of his death.

The evidence ultimately came to light when the diary of the first KGB chief, Ivan A. Serov, was published in Russia in June.

"I have no doubts that Wallenberg was liquidated in 1947," wrote Serov, according to report in the New York Times on Sunday.

The order to execute the Swedish diplomat apparently came from the leader of Soviet Union himself, Joseph Stalin, as well as Vyacheslav M. Molotov, then foreign minister

In his diary, Serov mentioned the interrogation of his predecessor as head of Soviet state security Viktor Abakumov, who was tried and executed in 1954. Abakumov revealed to Serov that Stalin had ordered the killing of Wallenberg.

Serov wrote that he was asked to investigate what had happened to the Swede by Stalin's successor. The former spymaster admitted he could find no evidence that Wallenberg had been involved in espionage.

For decades, historians have searched in vain for any official Soviet documents referring to Wallenberg. Not even a prisoner file exists for Wallenberg. But the file once existed and is mentioned in Serov's diary. It was apparently destroyed in a Soviet effort to cover up the young diplomat's death.

Marie Dupuy, Wallenberg's niece, cast doubt on the documentation, writing on her website that Serov's "notes include a number of factual errors which cast some doubt on the reliability of at least part of his recollections."

How the spymasters diary was uncovered

The remarkable document that revealed the long sought-after secret of Wallenberg's death was discovered four years ago in the garage of Serov's only grandchild who had inherited the dacha, located in northwestern Moscow, from her infamous grandfather.

When workers tore into one of the internal walls during renovations, they happened upon several suitcases.

 

 

The order to execute the Swedish diplomat apparently came from the leader of Soviet Union himself, Joseph Stalin, as well as Vyacheslav M. Molotov, then foreign minister.

 

In his diary, Serov mentioned the interrogation of his predecessor as head of Soviet state security Viktor Abakumov, who was tried and executed in 1954. Abakumov revealed to Serov that Stalin had ordered the killing of Wallenberg.

Serov wrote that he was asked to investigate what had happened to the Swede by Stalin's successor. The former spymaster admitted he could find no evidence that Wallenberg had been involved in espionage.

For decades, historians have searched in vain for any official Soviet documents referring to Wallenberg. Not even a prisoner file exists for Wallenberg. But the file once existed and is mentioned in Serov's diary. It was apparently destroyed in a Soviet effort to cover up the young diplomat's death.

Marie Dupuy, Wallenberg's niece, cast doubt on the documentation, writing on her website that Serov's "notes include a number of factual errors which cast some doubt on the reliability of at least part of his recollections."

How the spymaster's diary was uncovered

The remarkable document that revealed the long sought-after secret of Wallenberg's death was discovered four years ago in the garage of Serov's only grandchild who had inherited the dacha, located in northwestern Moscow, from her infamous grandfather.

When workers tore into one of the internal walls during renovations, they happened upon several suitcases.

Statue remembering Raoul Wallenberg, who rescued Hungarian Jews from the Holocaust. (photo credit CCBY pandrcutts/ Flickr)

Vera Serova, 57, a retired ballet dancer, told The New York Times, "They thought it was money or gold, but it was only papers."

Nikita Petrov, a historian with the Moscow-based Memorial organization, told the Times the diary had probably been buried in the walls around 1971, when the former spymaster came under state surveillance.

The book containing Serov's diary is called "Notes From a Suitcase: Secret Diaries of the First K.G.B. Chairman, Found Over 25 Years After His Death."

Wallenberg's family has never received an official explanation as to why he was arrested by Soviet forces shortly after they captured Hungary from the Nazis or information on what happened to him after his arrest.

Last year, his relatives asked Swedish authorities to declare him dead, and in March the government complied with their request.

Judge Jeanine: Clinton lied to the public and the FBI

Did I read that sign right?

 

"TOILET OUT OF ORDER. PLEASE USE FLOOR BELOW.


In a Laundromat:
AUTOMATIC WASHING MACHINES: PLEASE REMOVE
ALL YOUR CLOTHES WHEN THE LIGHT GOES OUT.

In a London department store:
BARGAIN BASEMENT UPSTAIRS...

In an office:
WOULD THE PERSON WHO TOOK THE STEP LADDER YESTERDAY PLEASE BRING IT BACK OR FURTHER STEPS
WILL BE TAKEN.

In an office:
AFTER TEA BREAK, STAFF SHOULD EMPTY THE TEAPOT
AND STAND UPSIDE DOWN ON THE DRAINING BOARD.

Outside a secondhand shop:
WE EXCHANGE ANYTHING - BICYCLES, WASHING MACHINES, ETC.
WHY NOT BRING YOUR WIFE ALONG AND GET A WONDERFUL BARGAIN?

Notice in health food shop window:
CLOSED DUE TO ILLNESS...

Spotted in a safari park:
(I sure hope so.)
ELEPHANTS, PLEASE STAY IN YOUR CAR.

Seen during a conference:
FOR ANYONE WHO HAS CHILDREN AND DOESN'T
KNOW IT, THERE IS A DAY CARE ON THE 1ST FLOOR.

Notice in a farmer's field:
THE FARMER ALLOWS WALKERS TO CROSS THE
FIELD FOR FREE, BUT THE BULL CHARGES.

Message on a leaflet:
IF YOU CANNOT READ, THIS LEAFLET WILL TELL
YOU HOW TO GET LESSONS.

On a repair shop door:
WE CAN REPAIR ANYTHING. (PLEASE KNOCK HARD ON
THE DOOR - THE BELL DOESN'T WORK.)
Proofreading is a dying art, wouldn't you say?

Man Kills Self Before Shooting Wife
and Daughter
This one I caught in the SGV Tribune the other day and called the Editorial Room and asked who wrote this. It took two or three readings before the editor realized that what he was reading was impossible!!! They put in a correction the next day.

Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
Really? Ya' think?

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Police Begin Campaign to
Run Down Jaywalkers
Now that's taking things a bit far!

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Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
What a guy!

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Miners Refuse to Work after Death
No-good-for-nothing' lazy so-and-so's!

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Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
See if that works better than a fair trial!

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War Dims Hope for Peace
I can see where it might have that effect!

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If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly,
It May Last Awhile
Ya' think?!

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Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
Who would have thought!

------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ---------------------
Enfield ( London ) Couple Slain;
Police Suspect Homicide
They may be on to something!

------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ --------------------
Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
You mean there's something stronger than duct tape?

------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ --------------------
Man Struck By Lightning:
Faces Battery Charge
He probably IS the battery charge!

------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ --------------------
New Study of Obesity Looks for
Larger Test Group
Weren't they fat enough?!

------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ --------------------
Astronaut Takes Blame for
Gas in Spacecraft
That's what he gets for eating those beans!

------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ --------------------
Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
Do they taste like chicken?

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Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
Chainsaw Massacre all over again!

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Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors
Boy, are they tall!

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And the winner is...
Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
Did I read that right?