Latest news with #Goering
Spectator
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
My plan for Prevent
In the autumn of 1940, British cities were being bombed every night by large aeroplanes whose provenance was apparently of some considerable doubt. While the public almost unanimously believed the conflagrations to have been caused by the Luftwaffe, the authorities – right up to the government – refused to speculate. Indeed, when certain members of the public raised their voices and said 'This is all down to Hitler and Goering and the bloody Germans!', they received visits from the police who either prosecuted them for disturbing the peace or put their names on a list of possible extremists. The nights grew darker. The number of towns and cities subjected to these nightly bombardments widened. Very soon everybody in the country knew somebody whose home had been destroyed or who had themselves been killed. The government was forced to take action, and so in November 1940 it came up with what it called its 'Prevent' strategy, which aimed to protect British cities from further destruction. In the introduction to this new policy, civil servants listed possible vectors for these bombing raids and top of the list, by some margin, were the Slovaks. A senior intelligence officer told the public: 'The greatest threat to our nation today is from the Slovaks. We must train our people in how to spot Slovaks and report them to the police whenever they can.' The Germans were also mentioned, further down the list of possible perps, but the wording here was heavily caveated. Yes, some Germans may have been involved, but over all the German population was utterly devoted to peace and regretted the nightly infernos every bit as much as did the people who suffered under them. Our own air force was directed to drop its bombs on Bratislava, Kosice, Poprad and (the consequence of an understandable confusion over the names of the two countries) Maribor. And yet for some mystifying reason, the raids on Britain did not lessen. This seems to me exactly the response of our government(s) and most importantly of Prevent to the threat from Islamic terrorism. Let me be clear: I am not remotely comparing Muslims with Germans or Islam with National Socialism – I am simply saying that, in effect, this is what our government would have done in 1940 if it had been gripped by the same cringing witlessness and outright lying that possesses seemingly all of our authorities today when it comes to terrorist attacks upon the British people. You may be aware of the manifestly stupid quote from the Prevent halfwits that people who believe that 'western culture is under threat from mass migration and a lack of integration by certain ethnic and cultural groups' are cultural nationalists at risk of becoming the kind of extremists who end up murdering people. People who believe the above probably consist of 70 per cent of the British population and, if his latest speeches are anything to go by, include the Prime Minister. And yet this stuff pervades everything Prevent puts out, while at the same time exonerating Islam and in some cases even those Muslims who do become terrorists (because they have suffered, you see). If people who support Brexit or worry about immigration are extremists, you're going to get pretty high figures So, for example, Bolton council's useful 'Prevent' handbook singles out 'right-wing extremists' as being at the forefront of terror attacks in the UK, and these extremists include people who are cultural nationalists: 'Cultural nationalism is ideology characterised by anti-immigration, anti-Islam, anti-Muslim, anti-establishment narratives, often emphasising British/English 'victimhood' and identity under attack from a perceived 'other'.' Islamic terrorism is also mentioned – but, again, heavily caveated. Then there's Prevent's own list of people who were picked up under its guidelines: 45 per cent were related to extreme right-wing radicalisation (230); 23 per cent were linked to Islamist radicalisation (118); the rest were related to other radicalisation concerns, including incels and those at risk of carrying out school shootings. But then I suppose if people who proclaim their support for Brexit or worry a bit about immigration are extremists, you are going to get pretty high arrest figures. If you add into the mix the fact that simply to associate Islam with terrorism you are guilty of Islamophobia, then you can see why we're in the state we're in. Incidentally, when she was Prime Minister, Theresa May, to her credit, drafted a new introduction to the Prevent guidelines which made it clear that the biggest threat to British security was al Qaeda, not Tommy Robinson et al. But that message does not seem to have sunk in with those in Prevent. It seems almost pointless to run through the facts. The truth is that almost every fatal terrorist attack in Britain since 2001 has been perpetrated by Islamists. All bar three. Have these people got a twisted or perverted understanding of Islam, as Prevent insists? I haven't a clue. I am no Quranic expert. I'm just, y'know, taking their word for it. Further, 80 per cent of the Counter Terrorism Policing network's investigations are related to Islamism (2023). Some 75 per cent of MI5's surveillance cases are Islamists. There are around 40,000 potential jihadis being monitored by our security services. There is not the remotest doubt as to the provenance of the gravest terror threats to our country. It's not the shaven-headed nutters with swastika armbands. It is Islamists. Nigel Farage's answer is to sack everyone working in Prevent. That seems a perfectly reasonable suggestion. But I may have a better one. Scrap Prevent entirely and initiate a new network of monitoring and reporting which focuses solely on Islamic terrorism. Junk the sixth-form philosophising over what is meant by the term 'extremist' and locate the problem precisely where it is: somewhere within our Muslim communities, even if we accept that our Muslim communities may not want them there. In short, get real and tell the truth. This kind of approach worked pretty well 85 years ago.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
On This Day, April 26: Syrian ends 29-year military presence in Lebanon
April 26 (UPI) -- On this day in history: In 1607, the first British colonists to establish a permanent settlement in America landed at Cape Henry, Va. In 1933, Nazi Germany's secret police, better known as the Gestapo, is formed by Hermann Goering. The Allies declared the Gestapo a criminal organization during the Nuremberg trials and sentenced Goering to die. In 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, German-made planes destroyed the Basque town of Guernica, Spain. In 1964, Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged, forming the country of Tanzania. In 1982, Argentina surrendered to British forces on South Georgia Island amid a dispute over the Falkland Islands. In 1986, a fire and explosion at the Soviet Union's Chernobyl nuclear reactor north of Kiev, Ukraine, resulted in the world's worst civilian nuclear disaster. About 30 deaths were reported in the days following the accident. It is believed that hundreds of people eventually died from high doses of radiation from the plant and that thousands of cases of cancer could be linked to the crisis. In 1993, Indian Airlines Flight 491 slammed into a parked truck during takeoff and crashed minutes later near the western Indian city of Aurangabad, killing 56 people. In 1994, South Africans began going to the polls in the country's first election that was open to all. Four days of voting would elect Nelson Mandela president. In 2002, a German youth who had been expelled from the Gutenberg school in Erfurt, Germany, returned to the school and shot 16 people to death. In 2005, the last of Syria's troops left Lebanon, ending a 29-year military presence. In 2010, longtime Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir, sought by the International Criminal Court in connection with reputed crimes against humanity in the Darfur section of western Sudan, was re-elected president in a controversial vote. In 2012, a U.N.-backed court convicted former Liberian President Charles Taylor of war crimes, including murder, acts of terrorism, rape, sexual slavery and use of child soldiers, for aiding rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison. In 2018, a Pennsylvania jury found actor Bill Cosby guilty on charges he drugged and sexually assaulted Andrea Constand in 2004. He was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison. In 2020, the 23rd victim of the Aug. 3, 2019, shooting at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart died from his injuries. In 2021, Kanye West's Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototype shoes sold for a record-breaking $1.8 million through a private sale facilitated by Sotheby's. It was the first recorded sneaker sale for more than $1 million.
Daily Mirror
25-04-2025
- Daily Mirror
Nazi leader Hermann Goering's £15m house for sale as property 'jewel' sparks outrage
Anti Nazi activists attack the sale of the £15m house of Hermann Goering after it was described as a 'property jewel.' The marketing of the seaside mansion has been described as 'disgusting' and 'outrageous' Anti Nazi activists have attacked the sale of the £15m house of evil Nazi leader Hermann Goering after it was described as a 'property jewel'. The way the seaside mansion, which once belonged to Hitler's right hand man, is being marketed has been described as 'disgusting' and 'outrageous.' The estate agent makes no mention of how the owner was one of the Holocaust's chief architects, and the man Hitler chose to be his successor. Instead the listing focuses on how Goering affectionately referred to this summer hideaway as 'Min Lütten' – German for 'My Little One'. The sale of Goering's house comes just days after the Mirror revealed some of his intimate letters were being auctioned. Trade unionist and author Hans-Christian Lange who spearheaded the campaign for a Holocaust memorial in Berlin said: 'It is outrageous that a property that belonged to a man who did such evil - who was a chief architect of The Holocaust - is now just being presented as a lovely seaside property for the wealthy to just buy up and enjoy. We are seeing this again and it is deeply disgusting. Right now even have wealthy elites eying up luxury 'doomsday city' apartments being built within tunnels where the Nazis forced innocent prisoners to build V2 rockets at a Buchenwald sub-camp, in inhuman conditions. 'So whether it is the sale of Goering's letters or his mansion getaway, or building luxury apartment on the site of a former concentration camp, all this just desecrates the past and is a gross insult to the victims of the Holocaust.' The thatched beach villa complex was built in 1937 in the northern resort of Sylt. The 200 square metre house has three bedrooms, three bathrooms and estate agents are gushing about the 'idyllic setting' and 'historic charm.' And they wax lyrical on how the property has a quaint sun terrace where Goering enjoyed the relaxing view of the dunes as he sipped cocktails. Goering was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party which governed Germany from 1933 to 1945. He also served as Supreme Commander of the Luftwaffe, a position he held until the final days of the regime. After the war, Goering was convicted of war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes against peace and conspiracy at the Nuremberg trials in 1946. He requested at trial an execution by firing squad, but was denied; instead he was sentenced to death by hanging. He committed suicide by taking a cyanide pill the night before his scheduled execution.
The Independent
12-02-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Auction house pledges to no longer include Nazi items in future militaria sales
An auction house has said it will no longer include Nazi and SS artefacts in future auctions after holding a sale featuring such items. Several artefacts from the Third Reich went under the hammer in the militaria auction at McTear's in Glasgow on Wednesday. They included a 1939 Iron Cross medal and a 1933 badge featuring the swastika, which together sold for a hammer price of £300, and Nazi bunting, also emblazoned with the swastika, which sold for £50. A Third Reich Luftwaffe dress dagger sold for £220 while items linked to high profile Nazi Hermann Goering were also included in the sale. McTear's said it fully understands the 'sensitivity' around the sale of such items and will no longer include them in future sales, adding that it will receive no income in fees from the Third Reich related artefacts sold on Wednesday. While it is not illegal to sell Nazi memorabilia in the UK, sales of such items have been controversial. In 2019, Bloomfield Auctions in Belfast cancelled a sale of such artefacts after an outcry from Jewish leaders. A spokesperson for McTear's auctioneers said: 'As the only auctioneer in Scotland to run dedicated sales of historic militaria, McTear's has frequently auctioned important artefacts from both World Wars, some of which have been purchased by museums both in the UK and overseas. 'On occasion, our auctions, like many others across the world, have included a small number of items relating to Nazi Germany, which have always been handled with sensitivity. 'It is important to note that these historical artefacts provide a tangible link to an important – albeit extremely dark – era in our history that should never be forgotten. 'That said, we fully understand the sensitivity surrounding the sale of these particular historical items and have now taken the decision to cease the inclusion of Nazi and SS artefacts in future auctions. 'With regard to the items sold in today's Militaria sale, McTear's will receive no income in fees.' Other artefacts in Wednesday's sale included two silver plates thought to be from Goering's personal train dining wagon, which sold for £500 each and an item described as a 'Third Reich North Africa propaganda one pound note' which sold for £10.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scottish auction house U-turns hours after defending Nazi memorabilia sale
A SCOTTISH auction house has U-turned and said it will no longer include Nazi and SS artefacts in future auctions. Several artefacts from the Third Reich went under the hammer in the militaria auction at McTear's in Glasgow on Wednesday. They included a 1939 Iron Cross medal and a 1933 badge featuring the swastika, which together sold for a hammer price of £300, and Nazi bunting, also emblazoned with the swastika, which sold for £50. A Third Reich Luftwaffe dress dagger sold for £220 while items linked to high profile Nazi Hermann Goering were also included in the sale. Undated handout photo issued by McTear's of a German Third Reich Luftwaffe dress dagger sold for £220 (Image: McTear's/PA) McTear's said it fully understands the 'sensitivity' around the sale of such items and will no longer include them in future sales, adding that it will receive no income in fees from the Third Reich related artefacts sold on Wednesday. While it is not illegal to sell Nazi memorabilia in the UK, sales of such items have been controversial. In 2019, Bloomfield Auctions in Belfast cancelled a sale of such artefacts after an outcry from Jewish leaders. A spokesperson for McTear's auctioneers said: 'As the only auctioneer in Scotland to run dedicated sales of historic militaria, McTear's has frequently auctioned important artefacts from both World Wars, some of which have been purchased by museums both in the UK and overseas. 'On occasion, our auctions, like many others across the world, have included a small number of items relating to Nazi Germany, which have always been handled with sensitivity. 'It is important to note that these historical artefacts provide a tangible link to an important – albeit extremely dark – era in our history that should never be forgotten. 'That said, we fully understand the sensitivity surrounding the sale of these particular historical items and have now taken the decision to cease the inclusion of Nazi and SS artefacts in future auctions. 'With regard to the items sold in today's militaria sale, McTear's will receive no income in fees.' Other artefacts in Wednesday's sale included two silver plates thought to be from Goering's personal train dining wagon, which sold for £500 each and an item described as a 'Third Reich North Africa propaganda one pound note' which sold for £10.
