Category Archives: History

History, Security

An Uncomfortable Truth About Jews in Poland

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The BBC has posted an interesting first-person account of a visit to Poland.

We meet a man aged 95, Stanislaw Stefaniak. He describes how the village had always been divided – Jews in the centre doing trades, Poles around the edge farming the land.

Then one day the Jews were ordered to gather in the main square before being marched to the nearest railway station. A few, he says, were hidden by Poles.

He hesitates. The easiest narrative here is that it was only the Nazis who killed the Jews. But Stanislaw admits an uncomfortable truth. After the war, he says, the Jews who came out of hiding were robbed and killed by Poles.

This reminds me of my own recent visit to the Auschwitz death camp. A Polish woman said to me “the Germans did all this”. I said “evil people did all this, and evil people were from other countries too, not just Germany”. She disliked my answer and insisted Germans were to blame for everything.

History, Security

This Day in History: Falklands War and ITIL

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The BBC reports on a rememberance event for the Falklands War.

The Falklands have marked 30 years since the end of the war with Argentina with a service at Liberation Monument.

[…]

Veterans of the 1982 war then led a military parade to the Liberation Monument for an act of remembrance, paying tribute to the 255 UK servicemen and three Falklands civilians who died in the war.

Wreaths were laid at the monument and the national anthem was played.

An estimated 650 Argentines were also killed during the conflict.

Another interesting, albeit controversial fact, is that the Falklands War helped focus the UK on a collection of IT service provider management practices. It has been widely claimed that the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) became a priority after serious delays were found in mobilizing British naval forces. The delay in getting warships from England to Argentina was apparently said to be caused by service provider deficiencies.

History, Sailing, Security

This Day in History: Escape From Alcatraz

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It was fifty-years ago tonight, June 11, 1962, when convicted bank robbers Frank Lee Morris, Clarence Anglin and John Anglin disappeared from Alcatraz. They were never found.

It took them a year to create the escape route, disguise it and create the necessary tools. Soap and toilet-paper turned into decoys, air ducts became doorways, and rubber raincoats and plastic bags made a raft. On the night of the escape a ventilation shaft behind air ducts to their cells gave them a route to the roof. From there they climbed down a chimney on the outside of the building and then paddled their raft towards Marin. Mythbusters recreated the scene and tested the raft’s seaworthiness.

Morris is credited with devising the plan during his first year at the deteriorating facility. He had been sent to Alcatraz in 1960 on a sentence that would have ended in 1974. Instead, he escaped and it was closed by 1963.

History, Poetry, Sailing, Security

D-Day Message by General Eisenhower

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I have seen little or no mention in the security community threads today to one of the most noteworthy events in military history. As we twitter about this password breach or that malware scare, I wonder if any benefit would come to take a moment and reflect on past events of June 6th, 1944.

Take a listen or read the carefully phrased words of General Eisenhower at the start of D-Day, when the weather cleared the way for a landing:

Eisenhower
Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers in arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened, he will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man to man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our home fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to victory!

I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory!

Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

In the General’s back pocket was another carefully written speech, which fortunately was never needed…

Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone