NL-Aid provides evidence of Hitler’s suicide from Trevor-Roper (British Intelligence and historian), dentist Blaschke, witness and editor Bezymenski and pathologist Sognnaes.

In 2009, Hitler’s so-called skull was examined by the University of Connecticut and DNA analysis and bone’s identity proved it belonged to a woman, aged 20 to 40. The main question is: was Hitler’s suicide a cover-up or are the researchers deceived as dabblers by a false skull? NL-Aid examined previous evidence from National Archives and Universities all over the world, in particular dental records. As a backup, the collected documents have been examined and analysed by a Dutch dentist (who likes to stay anonymous). I will present all the details of this historical dental and pathological evidence which, for the first time in history, are published all together. These are rare documents from world’s darkest crypts. Hopefully, this will end all hoaxes and conspiracy theories. The conclusion of this article is that not research techniques should be the core, but research methods. I call it ‘The Seduction’, a leghold trap of scientists blind spot. And yes: Hitler committed suicide. Without a doubt. Though, some inconsistent and unexplained assertions are surveyed.

Bellantoni and Strausbaugh

Nicholas Bellantoni and Linda Strausbaugh, dealing with DNA analyses of Hitler’s skull as seen in History Channel’s documentary Hitler’s Escape, concluded that Hitler’s suicide had some loose ends. According to The Guardian ‘the world is still in the dark about what really happened in Hitler’s bunker on 30 April 1945’. There is no correlation between DNA results and Hitler’s escape. The remains of Hitler have been a tug-of-war by the Russians, perhaps causing historical disorder about his whereabouts. So, I asked Bellantoni and Strausbaugh if they could have been deceived with the wrong skull.

BELLANTONI: ”As Dr. Strausbaugh has stated, we are in agreement that Hitler died in the bunker. The cranial vault fragment in question was recovered a full year (May 1946) after the initial discoveries of the bodies (May 1945). As we say in archaeology, “context” is everything. The context had been destroyed in waiting over a year to return to Berlin. The mandible that was sent to Moscow in 1945 is, I believe, that of Hitler. The cranial vault is someone else.”

This is reassuring, but this is not expressed in the content or title of Hitler’s Escape. The documentary ends with:

BELLANTONI: “We’re going to change everybody’s perception, of not only his remains but what maybe happened to Eva, Hitler and others in that bunker. If this is not Hitler, who is it and as a result of that we’ve got a lot more homework to do.”

The fact remains that History Channel made a documentary with a “worthless” piece of skull, resulting in an unnecessary documentary with an embroiled effect. The e-mail I received from Bellantoni very much opposes the documentary. Let me show the hard evidence proving Hitler’s suicide once and for all.

Preamble

Several researchers contributed to the evidence of Hitler’s suicide. They are chronologically discussed. For convenience, I refer to the time-table at the bottom of the article.

Bezymenski

Bezymenskiĭ

Lev Bezymenski’s (or Bezymenskiĭ’s) description of Hitler’s autopsy by the Soviets and Hitler’s remains are published in Der Tod des Adolf Hitler (The death of Adolf Hitler; unknown documents from Soviet archives) (download Here, 62 Mb).

The book is a witness report and therefore worth reading in its entirety. Bezymenski also describes the last days in the bunker, as shown in the movie Der Untergang. Of course, the Soviet perspective is highlighted. The book opens with several witness reports, for example by Harry Mengeshausen at 13^th May 1945 (one of Hitler’s bodyguards). The entire procedure (the carrying out of Hitler’s and Braun’s corpses, their cremation and the burial) was observed from a distance of600 meters on April 30. He also attested that, on April 29, Hitler’s dog also was buried in the crater. On investigating the places, Mengeshausen had indicated, his deposition was found to be correct. There is also a passage about how Hitler’s corpse is found by Ivan Churakov in the presence of Bezymenski. Besides similar witness reports, the book includes several detailed anatomical/pathological determinations, autopsy reports and an extensive cause of death. I’ll limit myself to quoting some significant dental observations.

i. Striking passages (page 44-57)

‘The text of the final and most important autopsy report (documents Nos. 12 and 13) are reproduced verbatim, in the following, either in their entirety or in somewhat abbreviated form.’

(The dental codes are Palmer Notations)

‘In the upper jaw there are nine teeth connected by a bridge of yellow metal (gold). The bridge is anchored by pins on the second left and the second right incisor. This bridge consists of 4 upper incisors (A), 2 canine teeth (B), the first left bicuspid (C), and the first and second right bicuspids (D), as indicated in the sketch. The first left incisor (E) consists of a white platelet, with cracks and a black spot in the porcelain (enamel) at the bottom. This platelet is inset into the visible side of the metal (gold) tooth. The second incisor, the canine tooth, and the left bicuspid, as well as the first and second incisors and the first bicuspid on the right, are the usual porcelain (enamel) dental plates, their posterior parts fastened to the bridge. The right canine tooth is fully capped by yellow metal (gold). The maxillary bridge is vertically sawed off behind the second left bicuspid (F). The lower jawbone lies loose in the singed oral cavity. The alveolar processes are broken in the back and have ragged edges. The front surface and the lower edge of the mandibula are scorched. On the front surface the charred prongs of dental roots are recognizable. The lower jaw consists of fifteen teeth, ten of which are artificial. The incisors (G) and the first right bicuspid (H) are natural, exhibiting considerable wear on the masticating surface and considerably exposed necks. The dental enamel has a bluish shimmer and a dirty yellow coloration around the necks. The teeth to the left (I) are artificial, of yellow metal (gold), and consists of a bridge of gold crowns. The bridge is fastened to the third, the fifth (in the bridge, the sixth tooth), and the eight tooth (in the bridge, the ninth tooth). The second bicuspid to the right (J) is topped by a crown of yellow metal (gold) which is linked to the right canine tooth by an arching plate. Part of the masticating surface and the posterior surface of the right canine tooth is capped by a yellow metal (gold) plate as part of the bridge. The first right molar is artificial, white, and secured by a gold clip connected with the bridge of the second bicuspid and the right incisor.’

‘According to the record of the interrogation of Frau Käthe Heusermann it may be presumed that the teeth as well as the bridge described in the document are those of Chancellor Hitler.’ (see photo of Heusermann’s sketch).

Sketch of Hitler’s teeth, drawn by Frau Dr. Heusermann on May 11, 1945

‘Crucial part of the interrogation of Frau Heusermann on May 10:

• Question: Can you establish from the dental bridges that they belong to Hitler?
• Answer: Yes, there is no doubt of it.
• Question: We have shown you the dental bridge of an upper jaw and a lower jaw with teeth. Do you know to whom these teeth belong?
• Answer: The teeth shown to me belong to the German Chancellor Adolf Hitler. The upper jaw on the left, behind the fourth tooth, exhibits a distinct trace which occurred when the gold bridge was sawed by the dental drill, at the time of the extraction of the sixth tooth. This extraction was performed by Professor Blaschke with my assistance in the Autumn…
  All further evidence that these bridges are Adolf Hitler’s tallies with those named by me before from memory, with the exception on the fourth lower right tooth, which I believed to be an artificial porcelain tooth. But the teeth you have shown me prove that this tooth is a natural one.
• Question: Can you affirm that the teeth shown to you are Adolf Hitler’s teeth?
• Answer: Yes, I affirm that the teeth shown to me are Adolf Hitler’s teeth.’

‘The dental technician Fritz Echtmann confirmed Frau Heusermann’s statement on May 11.’

‘I even started to argue with her, because I had overlooked one detail when examining the teeth and had miscounted the steel pins. She turned out to be right.’

‘Frau Heusermann repeated everything again in detail and declared categorically that the prosthesis I had shown her was in fact Hitler’s dental prosthesis. The picture was clear beyond doubt, for Frau Heusermann as well as for me as forensic expert.’

ii. Striking passage

The following passage does not support my reasoning, but it is too specific to skip: ‘The left testicle could not be found either in the scrotum or on the spermatic cord inside the inguinal canal, nor in the small pelvis.’

Dr. Hugo Blaschke

Blaschke

Hugo Johannes Blaschke (1881-1959), Adolf Hitler’s personal dentist from 1933 to April 1945. Blaschke’s Final Interrogation Report (download full interrogation with more sketches HERE) describes the characteristics of Hitler’s teeth (and of Eva Braun and Martin Bormann). This interrogation document has never been published ever before. Here are some examples of Hitler’s set of teeth.

‘This is a view of the Upper Jaw, seen frontally, as it would appear if all artificial elements except fillings were removed.’

‘Lower Jaw, seen frontally.’

‘Lower Jaw, seen from the back.’

‘Lower Jaw, seen from above.’

‘This is a view of the Lower Jaw, seen frontally, as it would appear if all artificial elements except fillings were removed.’

The interrogators conclude: ‘Blaschke had furnished a rather hasty and incomplete description of Hitler’s teeth. (…) The description on which the present report is based is the only one he made with the aid of the X-ray photo’s. (…) It can, therefore, be considered authentic and accurate.’

The document also show drawings of dental records of Eva Braun and Martin Bormann. I invite you to study the entire historical and rare document.

Hugh Trevor-Roper

Trevor-Roper

British intelligence officer and Oxford professor Dr. H.R. Trevor-Roper published his book The Last Days of Hitler in 1947. Only the last chapter deals with Hitler’s death and because the book is still sold on a commercial basis (ISBN 0 330 49060 5), this is the only document I haven’t scanned. I will quote some passages instead.

Trevor-Roper wrote a qualitative study by interviewing the last survivor’s of the Führerbunker. He was ordered by the British intelligence to investigate the circumstances of Adolf Hitler’s death in November 1945. He wrote a chronological story, a piece of detective work, rather than writing out the interviews. Unfortunately, this is less scientific but Trevor-Roper gives a good picture of the final days in the Führerbunker. One fine example is a segment about the motives of Hitler’s suicide: ‘Captured by partisans during the general uprising of northern Italy, Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci had been executed, and their bodies suspended by the feet in the market place of Milan to be beaten and pelted by the vindictive crowd. If the full details were ever known to them, Hitler and Eva Braun could only have repeated the orders they had already given: their bodies were to be destroyed ‘so that nothing remains’; ‘I will not fall into the hands of an enemy who requires a new spectacle to divert his hysterical masses’. (…) Hitler went into a frenzy, shouting: “This will never happen to me!” ’

Hitler’s personal servant Heinz Linge tried to minimize witnesses of the final scène by ordering most people to leave the Chancellery. From the book, I abstracted the following people who witnessed Hitler’s death firsthand:

1. Joseph Goebbels; Reich Minister of Propaganda; died on 1 May 1945.
2. Martin Bormann; head of the Party Chancellery and private secretary to Hitler; died on 2 May 1945.
3. Arthur Axmann; head of the Hitler Youth; died on 24 October 1996.
4. Heinz Linge; SS Officer, valet for Hitler; died on 9 March 1980.
5. Otto Guensche; Sturmbannführer (major) in the Waffen-SS and a member of 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler before he became Hitler’s personal adjutant; died on 2 October 2003; Bezymenski and Trevor-Roper both write about Guensche the fact that Guensche put the corpses on fire (respectively page 50-51 and 180 of their own book).
6. Wilhelm Burgdorf; German general; died on 2 May 1945.
7. Erich Kempka; SS-Obersturmbannführer and Hitler’s chauffeur; died on 24 January 1975.

About the cremation of Hitler and Braun: three unauthorized police guards witnessed from which it was intended to exclude them: Erich Mansfeld, Hermann Karnau, Hans Hofbeck. I could not find any details about them. Their stories are briefly described. Bezymenski also wrote about casual bystander Mengeshausen.

It is not clear which of these aforementioned Nazis (only those in bold formatting, because the other ones died in 1945, Mengeshausen was a Soviet witness) have been interviewed by Trevor-Roper. A missed opportunity, though I could trace an indication that he mainly interviewed Erich Kempka.

Trevor-Roper organizes the final developments of Hitler’s last henchmen. There is even a list of people who attended the event in the Bunker (22 April to 1 May); what their duties were and when they left. The book has no pathological evidence and consequently does not support the dental records. But in the context of our quest, only the following passages give details about Hitler’s suicide.

Striking passages (chapter seven)

‘A single shot was heard. After an interval they entered the suite. Hitler was lying on the sofa, which was soaked with blood. He had shot himself through the mounth. Eva Braun was also on the sofa, als dead. A revolver was by her side, but she had not used it; she had swallowed poison. The time was half past three.’

‘Outside, in the bunker, another ceremony was being prepared: the Viking funeral.’

Karnau watched the burning corpses for a moment. They are easily recognizable, though Hitler’s head was smashed. (…) Karnau: “It is sad that none of the officers seems to worry about the Fuehrer’s body. I am proud that I alone know where he is.”

‘These bones have never been found.’ (In 1947 Trevor-Ropes had no knowledge of Bezymenski’s report, NL-Aid).

Reidar Fauske Sognnaes

Sognnaes

Reidar Fauske Sognnaes (1911-1984), Dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine Boston. Sognnaes was a forensic scientist and credited because he disproved the theory that President George Washington had wooden teeth. Sognnaes published two research reports about Hitler’s remains through examinating classified files from USA and Russia.

1. The odontological identification of Adolf Hitler. Definitive documentation by x-rays, interrogations and autopsy findings (1973). (download HERE)
2. Dental evidence in the postmortem identification of Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun, and Martin Bormann (1976). (download HERE)

Sognnaes did a literary detective with the existing files of Bezymenski and Blaschke in 1977. Sognnaes classifies and organizes these facts in a clear manner. The Russians destroyed Hitler’s body in 1970.

ad 1. Striking passages

‘X-rays of Hitler were taken during late 1944 and uncovered in early 1972.’

‘In 1968 the Russian writer Lev Bezymenski published in West Germany a book entitled Der Tod des Adolf Hitler (The Death of Adolf Hitler). Bezumenski’s book carried the subtitle Unknown documents from Soviet archives. Thus, twenty-three years after the event, Soviet sources finally permitted disclosure of details of the autopsy with various dental and medical data on the death of Adolf Hitler as well as Eva Braun, Goebbels and his family.’ (details are outlined in attached document)

‘Heuserman, the chair-side dental assistance of Hitler’s dentist, Blaschke was interrogated in a talk with the Soviet Chief Expert of Forensic Medicine, Lieutenant Colonel Shkaravski on May 11 1945, in the Office of CAFS No. 496. Frau Heuserman described the state of Hitler’s teeth in every detail.’

‘One of the most important exhibits recovered from Soviet Archives concerns the objective photographic evidence illustrating the remains of the dentition of the corpse described in autopsy document Bo. 12. Included were photographs of a fixed dental prosthesis, namely, a 9-unit bridge, and the charred fragment of a mandible, the latter with several intact anterior teeth and two bridges, one on the right and one on the left side.’

Photo: Nine-unit maxillary bridge reproduced from Soviet autopsy report by Bezymenski. (More photographs and pathologist’s sketches in attached document, page 49, 51.)

‘The Final Interrogation Report of Blaschke: As a preamble to the interrogation report regarding Hitler’s dentistry, there is said to be three reasons for the report, namely, to provide (a) data useful in the identification of Hitler or his remains, (b) information to expose what might be future fraud, and (c) research material for the historian, the doctor and the scientist.’

‘The five X-ray plates attached are copies of originals found among Dr. Morell’s records. They have been positively identified by him as well as by Dr. Giesing as X-ray taken from Hitler. (…) This was during the period when Dr. Giesing was treating Hitler for ear injuring suffered at the time of the assassination attempt on 20 Jul 44.’ (All five X-ray plates are shown in the attached document with explanations and conclusions (page 60-63))

‘In comparing the five X-ray plates located in the U.S. National Archives, several principal observations emerge, which are considered of major significance in correlating subjective and objective evidence regarding the odontological identification of Hitler. Firstly, it became clear that Hitler had only four remaining teeth which were not involved in either bridging a gap or supporting a bridge between adjacent teeth. (…) Secondly, the X-rays indicate that the maxillary right central incisor and left lateral incisor, while completely opaque to the X-ray beam, do show short metallic posts for insertion into the root canals. (…) Thirdly, the X-rays show a very peculiar and very unusual dental bridge construction on the right lingual aspect of the mandible. (…) Fourthly, the X-rays show that the left maxillary incisor has the very characteristic feature of a partially opaque or metallic crown, typical of the now outmoded, but in times past, not infrequently uses, window-crown.’

‘After careful study of the various types of descriptive, diagrammatic and photographic evidence had been prepared with a view to summarizing what, in our judgment, represented the dental status of Adolf Hitler.’

‘From the overall comparison of the odontological evidence (Tables 1A and B, page 67-68) we conclude that the individual identified by means of the 1945 Hitler files located in the U.S. National Archives in 1972, is the same person as that whose 1945 autopsy report was published in 1968 on the basis of the previously unknown documents from Soviet Archives of 1945.’

ad 2. Striking passages

This document is an extensive repetition of document i, with the same evidence and conclusions. On page 199-200 Sognnaes writes: ‘Reappraisal of all documentary data – discounting legends, myths and speculations – now provides definite odontologic proof that Hitler did indeed die during the Berlin collapse of the Nazi dictatorship in 1945, and that the Russians did in fact recover and autopsy the body of the real Hitler.’

Independent comparison by a Dutch dentist

The documents of Bezymenski, Blaschke and Sognnaes are brought to the attention of an independent Dutch dentist with modern knowledge and technical insight of the world today (2012). The dentist writes:

“Hitler was a slob. He brushed his teeth insufficiently, causing bad teeth and bad breath. He had periodontal gum disease and as a result, he had many typical reconstructions.

Some things in Bezymenski’s research (and therefore also in Sognnaes’s work) are wrong and these arise from sloppy work. This can be explained by the fact that during the actual autopsy no dentist was present. We also have to put the whole story in a post war context: total social disorder and consequently hasty work of destroyed remains. Dentist Blaschke drew the teeth by heart in 1946. However, there are plenty of features from both documents which have a strong match.

Unusual is the metal arch in the right lower jaw (mentioned in Blaschke’s and Bezymenski’s/Sognnaes’ articles). Another parallel is the ‘cut’ surface in the left maxillary, indicating the cutting of a bridge portion (the element is then removed). A considerable bridge construction in the maxilla used to be normal, in particular with gold. Left below, there is a long bridge with three pillars, the middle pillar migrated backwards. There are some inconsistencies on this last fact.

The key features are:
* mandible: deviant feature of the metal arch bridge and the large bridge left below;
* upper jaw: main distinct feature of the cut bridge left. This is more common, but in combination with the (types of) crowns, this is really typical.

As a whole, it is plausible to assume that Blaschke and Bezymenski are talking about the same remains. Sognnaes confirms these findings. About Heusermann’s sketch: the amount of elements which are complemented by crown/bridge, are correct. ”

Findings and conclusions

The reason I did research on Hitler’s death was my article ‘Suicide Hitler not proven (inductive logic)’. According to the inductive theory (see article), I had to prove the possible fact that Hitler had committed suicide. The evidence was more or less lost to the world. This is demonstrated by the fact, that there is not one organisation in the world who has presented all the documents together. I turned to the National Archives in the UK, in Germany, in Nuremburg, in Russia and in the USA. Several Universities in the Netherlands and USA were approached and of course Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC). Hardly any of them had even one document, let alone all of them. I was surprised, that the German Bundesarchiv and the Nuremburg City Archives had no legacy of Hitler’s suicide. Not even copies. The National Archives in Washington were very cooperative in sending Blaschke’s Final Interrogation Report but they gave radio silence on the subject of Sognnaes’ documents, despite frequent reminders. The Blaschke’s Final Interrogation Report refers to X-rays but the American National Archives did not share it with me. The Soviet Archives did not respond. I see no profit in these kind of bureaucratic acts.

SWC did not have any proof but they just assumed that Hitler committed suicide. SWC: “I don’t know of any reputable historian who claims differently (…) Other than that, I have nothing new to report.” SWC has lost the awareness of asking questions about so-called general knowledge. They assumed. I do not want criticize SWC because they are doing incredibly important work, but the inductive theory must constantly be present in our daily work, as gravy poured on meat. Scientific research and historical facts cannot simply be assumed like people breathing air. We have to be awake, aware and focused.

Obtaining evidence must be neutral and transparent. ‘Neutral’ means that you have to prove every statement and each document. ‘Transparent’ means that you have to reveal your findings to everyone. Opinions of others will lead to fine-tuning so the boundaries of truth get nearer and become more valid. Researchers are often too focused on rapid publication of a Eureka effect, the sudden, unexpected realisation of the solution to a certain problem. This is anything but being neutral and transparent.

I conclude that, despite hoaxes and conspiracy theories, Hitler indeed committed suicide. This was also reported by German witnesses. However, the last of Hitler’s henchmen were the most fanatic Nazis. Not a reliable source. Hitler’s skull does or did exist, but the Russian Archives simply gave the researches of the University of Connecticuta a different one. The Seduction was born. Formal errors sometimes lead to cardinal differences in outcomes. This is the power of The Seduction.

One fact is still unclear to me: where in Russia are the remains of Hitler? The official story goes that everything was burned. If this is true, the Russians destroyed the body without any explanation. This was not just a crime investigation, it was in fact the most important historical crime evidence of the last 2000 years. The study of Sognnaes is somewhat messy and the Russians should have known that some of the crucial components would become important. What for? In 1944, the purpose of DNA was discovered by Oswald Avery. He describes personal characteristics by storing information in cells. Yet 100 years earlier, DNA was discovered by Friedrich Meis Cher, a Swiss chemist. He labelled phosphorus-rich compound in cells (later called deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA). At that time, it was not known what it did. In 1953, the so-called spiral staircase was described by Watson and Crick. Sognnaes did his research in 1977. By that time, scientists could read DNA. The question remains: why did the Russians not preserve any of the crucial evidence from crime scene number 1 of the last two thousand years?

I could find one missing link. Sognnaes claims ‘Then, in 1972, archives in Washington released five X-rays of Hitler’s head, taken on July 20, 1944.’ But Bezymenski writes in 1968 about the morning on May 9 1945: ‘Wasting no time in the clinic, we drove to the Chancellery, taking Käthe Heusermann along. Here we went down to the basement, found Professor Blaschke’s dental office, and with Käthe Heusermann’s assistance soon discovered X-ray photographs of the Führer’s teeth and a few gold crowns that had been prepared, but time to put them to use run out on dentist and patient (page 54)’. They contradict each other.

Recommendations

I recommend worldwide archives to be more careful (read: transparent) with our most essential historical events and its evidence. If they handle it without care, hide it behind closed doors and only share it through tough cooperation, I foresee that people will deny these facts because of missing documents and misleading counterproof. National Archives and University Libraries should put crucial microfilms, documents, interrogations and audio interviews of historical issues on the Word Wide Web. These facts make us aware of our past and consequently of our future. The remains of Hitler should be accessible (if there is anything left). Viscous cooperation does not benefit any awareness. If I had missed any of the documents in this article by bureaucracy or politics, I might have come to a different conclusion. This is not desirable at all because it encourages alienation of historical facts.

Finally, I thank editor Martin Kooistra and the dentist who analysed all documents.

I d e n t i f i c a t i o n   t i m e   t a b l e

(*) documents presented by NL-Aid

• 30 April 1945: Hitler committed suicide
• 4 May 1945: (official 5 May 1945) the Soviet Army discovered the bodies of Hitler and Braun.
• 8 May 1945: Chief Forensic Pathologist Dr Faust Sherovsky and Russian Anatomical Pathologist Major Anna Marantz, performed an autopsy on Hitler’s body. The outcome has been published by Bezymenski in 1968. (*)
• 10 May 1945: Blaschke’s assistant, Kaethe Heusemann, and his dental technician, Fritz Echtmann are captured by the Soviets. Heusemann affirmed that the teeth were Hitler’s. (*)
• July 1945: Blaschke turned up in an American camp.
• 5 February 1946: During an interrogation Blaschke drew Hitler’s dental records from memory. (*)
• February 21, 1946: the Soviet Red Army buried the bodies of Hitler, Eva Braun and the Goebbels family in a unpaved area at 30-32 Klausenerstrasse, Magdeburg.
• 1947: book by Oxford professor Dr. H.R. Trevor-Roper about the first exhaustive investigation of the last days of Hitler. (*)
• 1968: book by Lev Bezymenski containing a description of how Hitler is found by the Sovjets and his autopsy. Also mentioned are the investigations about Hitler’s dog, Eva Braun and the Goebbels family: Joseph and Magda, 5 daughters and 1 son. Although the book is published in 1968, the witness reports cover a period starting in the bunker when Hitler is still alive, the findings of his remains on May 4 and the following autopsy. (*)
• 1970: Hitler’s remains are completely incinerated and disposed of so that no parts or portions could be used to raise Hitler to the status of martyrdom.
• 1972: archives in Washington released five X-rays of Hitler’s head, taken on July 20, 1944 because he suffered his ear after the bomb attack on his life. (*)
• 1977: book by Reidar Fauske Sognnaes in which he identified the match between Bezymenski and Blaschke, with the help of the X-rays. (*)
• 16 September 2009: Documentary Hitler’s Escape with Nicholas Bellantoni and Linda Strausbaugh at History Channel. (*)
• 2012: NL-Aid and undersigned: Suicide Hitler proven (The Seduction), a complete reference of previous research bundled together for first time in history. (*)

R e f e r e n c e

1. Bezymenski: Born in 1920 in Kazan. Studied philosophy in Moscow and entered the Soviet Armed Forces in 1941, first as a private and later as an officer in Stalingrad, Kursk and Berlin. An excellent scholar of German, he served as interpreter at the hearings of General Paulus, the German field marschal who surrended to the Russians after the Battle of Stalingrad. As a member of Marschall Zhukov’s staff, he participated in the Battle of Berlin. In 1946 he became co-editor of Novoe Vremia, a journal on foreign affairs. In this capacity he made various trips abroad, producing numerous articles on current events which were published throughout the Eastern countries. In 1968 the Russians finally admitted having the remains of Hitler. They permitted disclosure of details of the autopsy with various dental and medical data on the death of Hitler, Braun, Goebbels, Krebs and two dogs.

• Bezymenskiĭ, L. (Lev), 1920-. Der Tod des Adolf Hitler (The death of Adolf Hitler; unknown documents from Soviet archives) [by] Lev Bezymenski. [1st ed.] New York, Harcourt, Brace & World [1968]  (download HERE, 62 Mb)

2. Hugo Johannes Blaschke (1881-1959): He was interrogated by the Americans after the war about Hitler’s dental treatment in the hope that this would lead to the identification of his remains. He stated that he fitted a large dental bridge to Hitler’s upper jaw in 1933 and that on 10 November 1944 he carried out surgery to cut off part of the bridge due to a gum infection that was causing Hitler severe toothache. In May 1945 Soviet officers showed a dental bridge to Blaschke’s technician Fritz Echtmann and his dental assistant Käthe Heusermann and they both identified it as being Hitler’s. Blaschke also reconstructed the dental records of Martin Bormann from memory and these were later used to identify his skeletal remains which were discovered in Berlin in 1972. After his release from captivity in 1948 Blaschke continued to practise as a dentist in Nuremberg and died there aged 78. (Source: Wikipedia)

• Blaschke’s Final Interrogation Report in Record Group 238 (Microfilm Publication 1270). National Archives and Records Administration, Washington (download HERE)

3. Trevor-Roper. The first exhaustive investigation of the last days of Hitler was undertaken by the Oxford professor Dr. H.R. Trevor-Roper in 1945. The British Intelligence authorities in Germany in September of that year had given him the task to collect all available evidence on the last days of Hitler and to determine, if possible, the truth about his appearance or demise.

• Trevor-Roper. The Last Days of Hitler. 1945. (revised editions followed, until the last in 1995). (ISBN 0 330 49060 5)

4. Reidar Fauske Sognnaes (1911-1984): Dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, founding Dean of the UCLA School of Dentistry and scholar in the field of oral pathology. He is credited with identifying the remains of Adolf Hitler and Martin Bormann, through examination of classified American and Soviet dental record. Sognnaes also disproved the theory that President George Washington had wooden teeth. (Source: Wikipedia)

• Sognnaes RF, Strom F. The odontological identification of Adolf Hitler. Definitive documentation by x-rays, interrogations and autopsy findings. Acta odontologica Scandinavica. 1973 (download HERE)
• Sognnaes RF. Dental evidence in the postmortem identification of Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun, and Martin Bormann. Legal medicine annual. 1977;1976:173-235 (download HERE)

Bellantoni

5. Nicholas Bellantoni (Ph.D. UConn 1987; Associate Professor and State Archaeologist). Northeastern prehistory, faunal analyses, human osteological analysis. Professor Linda D. Strausbaugh, University of Connecticut, Molecular & Cell Biology. Bellantoni and Strausbaugh were both dealing with DNA analyses of Hitler’s skull, leading to a History Channel documentary: Hitler’s Escape (watch full broadcast: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abZKF3bvHnY).

Hitler’s skull according Nicholas Bellantoni and Professor Linda D. Strausbaugh

6. The Guardian: Tests on skull fragment cast doubt on Adolf Hitler suicide story

Unknown to the world, Hitler’s corpse was interred at a Smersh centre in Magdeburg, East Germany. There it remained long after Stalin’s death in 1953. Finally, in 1970, the KGB dug up the corpse, cremated it and secretly scattered the ashes in a river. Only the jawbone, the skull fragment and the bloodstained sofa segments were preserved in the deep archives of Soviet intelligence. The bunker was destroyed in 1947 and eventually paved over. Then, in 2000, the Russian State Archive in Moscow staged an exhibition, The Agony of the Third Reich. The skull fragment was displayed, but only photographs of Hitler’s jawbone were on view. The head of the archive, Sergei Mironenko, said he had no doubt the skull fragment was authentic. “It is not just some bone we found in the street, but a fragment of a skull that was found in a hole where Hitler’s body had been buried,” he said.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/27/adolf-hitler-suicide-skull-fragment

7. Further research

For further research and deeper investigation you might want to read the following documents:

• Sognnaes, Eva Braun Hitler’s Odontological Identification-A Forensic Enigma, J. Forensic Sci, April 1974, Vol. 19, No. 2
• Smith, Giordan. Nexus Magazine: Fabricating the Death of Adolf Hitler part 1, Fabricating the Death of Adolf Hitler part 2, Fabricating the Death of Adolf Hitler part 3.

C o p y r i g h t

This article is copyrighted and may only be copied, duplicated or quoted, including the attached documents, provided that you use the author as the source of information.
Suicide Hitler Proven (The Seduction) by Hans Sluijter is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

AUTHOR: Hans Sluijter
URL: www.NL-Aid.org
E-MAIL: info [at] NL-Aid.org

NL-Aid is an example of an advanced blog with many visitors: 1200-1500 unique visitors every day, 15,000 a month. Every day, 4,000 article were opened, 30,000 every month. On a top day, we had 4,500 unique visitors. I thank all of them.

I would like to invite you to read my last article on Monday, October 15, 2012.
NL-Aid will end with a big bang.

All best,
Hans Sluijter
Administrator and owner of NL-Aid

AUTHOR: Hans Sluijter
URL: www.NL-Aid.org
E-MAIL: info [at] NL-Aid.org

Newly released today, Defence for Children International-Palestine Section (DCI) has produced this short film about Israel’s ill-treatment of Palestinian children during their arrest, transfer and detention. Alone: Palestinian Children in the Israeli Military Detention System contains images of children who found the courage to talk about the appalling treatment.

For example, 14-year-old Ala tells how he was handcuffed and blindfolded during his arrest. “They [Israeli soldiers] put me in the jeep and transferred me to Etzion interrogation center. The interrogator told me to say goodbye to my friend Muhannad, because he was going to throw me from the third floor. No one was there to protect me. No one was with me. I was alone.”
Since 2000, around 7,500 Palestinian children from the occupied Palestinian territories have been detained, interrogated and imprisoned within the Israeli military law system. The film also presents basic information and the impact of their arrest and detention on families.

When 13-year-old Muhannad talks about his arrest, the look in his eyes is heart breaking. His father saw how Israeli soldiers treated his son, “It was as if they were coming to arrest a combatant or an armed fugitive.”

Interrogations are set up to terrorize
In 75 precent of the cases documented by DCI, child detainees suffered some form of physical violence during arrest, transfer and interrogation.

The suffering starts the moment a child is arrested and continues throughout interrogation and court sessions, explains DCI lawyer Iyad Misk. Children are often physically, verbally abused, insulted by soldiers during transport in the jeep. The abuse continues during the interrogation.

Children are also often enticed with offers of immediate release in exchange for confessions. However, what normally happens is just the opposite. Once a child confesses, he is sent to prison and his file is sent to the court. Interrogations are set up to terrorize, says Misk.

Nader Abu Amsha of the East Jerusalem YMCA Rehabilitation Programme says that the purpose of the raids, arrests and interrogations is more than getting information. It is to break the will and spirit of a generation. The purpose is to break the children and make them live in fear and confusion so they become an inactive, unproductive generation.

DCI’s latest film is an excellent tool to inform a wide audience about the ill-treatment of Palestinian children in the Israeli military detention system. The film can watched on YouTube, or copies of the DVD can be ordered from DCI-Palestine.

First published in the Electronic Intifada.

AUTHOR: Adri Nieuwhof
URL: http://www.samora.org
E-MAIL: a.nieuwhof [at] samora.org

López narrates how her 19-year-old daughter, Jahaira Guadalupe Vaena López, was abducted in Tlacolula, Oaxaca. She describes her efforts to get the authorities to investigate the crime, how she was warned not to press the matter, how informants told her that her daughter was murdered in a turf battle between fractured drug gangs. Just days before leaving for the United States with the Caravan for Peace, she faced one of the assassins who had been apprehended and listened as he described in detail how her daughter was raped and beheaded.

Margarita has joined some 50 grieving family members to accompany caravan leader Javier Sicilia on a trip across the United States. Sicilia, a poet who lost his son to drug war violence in March of 2011, catalyzed a movement of victims and Mexican citizens fed up with the bloodshed that has claimed more than 60,000 lives and left tens of thousands more disappeared since former President Felipe Calderon launched the drug war five years ago.

Mexico’s Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity decided to organize the U.S. caravan after taking two caravans from Mexico City–one north to Ciudad Juarez on the U.S. border, and one south to the border with Guatemala. Both drew out victims of the drug war and registered their cases to provide support for family members seeking justice and solace.

The decision to take their pain across the border came after discussion with the San Francisco-based group Global Exchange. Soon a coalition came together that included Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, the Latin American Working Group, the RFK Center, the Washington Office on Latin America, our CIP Americas Program, the Drug Policy Alliance, and the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities, among the key players. The coalition later expanded to include the NAACP, and local organizations in each of the cities along the route.

A binational meeting in June defined five demands of the U.S. caravan: to open public debate on humane alternatives to drug prohibition, to ban the import of assault weapons and crack down on illegal gun smuggling over the border, to combat money-laundering with full investigation and strict enforcement, to suspend all aid to the Mexican armed forces and end the war on drugs abroad, and to halt the militarization of the border and criminalization of migrants.

I joined the caravan on the final east coast leg of its 6,000-mile trip. I had heard most of the stories before in Mexico, having accompanied the northern caravan and numerous marches and meetings.

I was curious to see the impact on people in the United States. As the women in the room told their stories, each one struck like a cold blade in the heart. Although women are a minority of the war’s deaths, attacks on women usually include brutal sexual violence, and women make up the majority of those actively seeking justice and an end to the war.

Along the route, caravan members like these women have become confident and eloquent spokespersons to end the drug war. They speak from the heart and appeal to the heart. Their empowerment as leaders is one of the most important achievements of the caravan. Another is the sympathy and outrage their testimonies evoke.

And it’s not a one-way street. Caravan members also listened to the stories of U.S. citizens. Like Kimberly Armstrong in Baltimore, whose 16-year-old son was shot and killed by a 14-year-old in endemic drug violence. Or Carole Eady, who struggled her way out of the stigma and life disruption of imprisonment for a drug offense in New York City.

The threads begin to come together. In her brilliant book The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander notes that in Washington, D.C., the caravan’s last stop, it’s estimated that three out of four black men can expect to serve time in prison. She calls this mass incarceration of black people a new racial caste, the latest Jim Crow system of social control, where young black men and women are jailed, stigmatized, and in many cases disenfranchised for life by discriminatory drug laws.

Based on the shared sorrow of losing loved ones to jail, violence, death, or disappearance, Mexicans and Americas found they fight the same unjust system of social control of the poor and people of color. The drug war generates profits for the defense industry and siphons public funds into perpetuating itself. It rips apart families and communities, north and south of the border. The bogus attempt to eliminate rather than regulate something in great demand creates a multibillion-dollar black market run by groups that become more violent as they are selectively attacked. It pits security forces against the public, providing them with the tools to violate human rights and life with impunity. It erodes democracy and the rule of law it purports to uphold.

Whether it’s through imposing a military/police state in Mexico or shunting youth into the margins of society, the drug war machine runs on the human lives it destroys.

A binational peace movement?

The caravan’s call to end the drug war resonated in city after city. But has the caravan forged a binational movement for peace?

Not yet. As the Mexican caravaners go back home, their U.S. hosts return to daily life. Many will simply guard the memory of Mexico’s pain and begin to read the news a little differently.

But others will act. The Peace Caravan has already achieved something remarkable. It brought together groups in U.S. cities that scarcely knew each other before. Some community organizers in the scores of cities from San Diego to the nation’s capital plan to continue the dialogue with the Mexican movement and among themselves.

In New York City, the Latino and African-American communities plan a meeting to discuss the impact of mass arrests and detention. In Baltimore, the movement to block construction of yet another multimillion-dollar prison in one of the nation’s most economically devastated cities is making common cause with movements for drug policy reform, racial justice, and youth rights.

In Texas, faith-based organizations advocating stricter enforcement of gun laws are intensifying their campaign against gun show sales and arms smuggling after seeing close up the human cost of the flow of guns to Mexico. In Arizona, human rights organizations working against the militarization of the border and the death and detention of migrants came face-to-face with activists protesting Mexico’s militarized drug war in a cross-border reflection. In Washington, members of Congress received caravan lobbyists whose power to convince came not from money or influence, but from human empathy and reason.

The way many U.S. citizens understand the drug war has changed through meeting the Mexicans who bear the brunt of it. While U.S. politicians and media portray it as a necessary fight against the threat that organized crime supposedly poses to national security in both countries, the victims spoke of the violence that resulted from the war on drugs itself. Audiences and congressional representatives were surprised to learn that many of the victims on the caravan accused not gangs but the U.S.-funded Mexican police and military for the murder or disappearance of their loved ones.

Organizers now face the question of how the moral victory can lead to a political one. On the drug policy front, U.S. society seems to be moving toward a tipping point despite push-back from law enforcement and private prison interests that make big money off incarceration, as well as from politicians who convert insecurity into “law and order” votes. A recent poll shows Colorado could legalize marijuana in the November elections after a similar measure narrowly lost in California. The award-winning film The House I Live In presents a stunning indictment of the domestic drug war through the words of its enforcers, its participants, and its victims.

But the federal government continues to be on the wrong side of the trend. Some hope that President Obama, if he is reelected, could make bolder moves toward reorienting a policy that imprisons so many mostly African-American youths and costs the nation $51 billion a year, according to the DPA. I’m inclined to agree with a LEAP editorial that warns the reform movement to watch the actions, not the rhetoric, of the Obama administration. It will take a stronger push from constituents to get the administration to take on the interests that benefit from sustaining America’s longest war.

Moral victories plant seeds that are often slow to bear fruit. Evaluating the experience on the last morning in a church hall, exhausted caravan members saw a mix of catharsis and consciousness-raising that gave them strength. Lopez noted that the “the tragedy I’m living through can be useful to a lot of people.” Melchor Flores, whose son was arrested in January of 2009 in Monterrey and never seen again, stated that the caravan had “touched consciences”.

He added, “Wherever my son is, he should be satisfied because he knew I wouldn’t let him down.”

Teresa Carmona, a tiny, white-haired woman whose son Joaquin was murdered in Mexico City, has become a powerful voice before the public and the media. She believes the caravan met its goal.

“We brought the faces of our beloved children, parents, and relatives all the way here, and so we legitimated this pain and this reality.”

In the nation that first invented the drug war and exported it to their country with deadly results, the Mexican bereaved have left a mark in the hearts of thousands of men and women. Sometimes it takes tragedy to make change. The cumulative histories recounted in the peace caravan represent a tragedy of mammoth proportions.

That should be more than enough to act on.

AUTHOR: Laura Carlsen
URL: www.cipamericas.org and http://americasmexico.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: lecarlsen [at] gmail.com

Aspiring politicians seeking to make jobs and China an issue should not just focus on the sheer number of jobs moving abroad, but the nature of them and what can be done to combat labor abuses. Someone who has been doing this for many years is Harry Wu, who will deliver the 2013 Center for Asian Democracy’s annual democracy lecture in January. His work chronicling the laogai includes several books, establishing the Laogai Museum in Washington, D.C., and founding the Laogai Research Foundation, for which he currently serves as Executive Director. Wu introduces people to the nature of life in these camps through the powerful perspective of his own experience. For nearly twenty years, he endured starvation, abuse, and torture with his fellow inmates whose only crimes were possessing a certain political viewpoint or being born into a particular socioeconomic class. Anyone interested in learning more about the real substance of international relations, domestic human rights issues, or the nature of the global economy, should make a point of attending his talk.

AUTHOR: Dr. Jason Abbott
URL: http://profjabbott.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: jason.abbott [at] louisville.edu

The Myanmar government doesn’t deny its involvement in the slaughter of Rohingya Muslims, so it is accepting responsibility and cocking a snoot at Muslims. But why Bangladesh government should act like Myanmar .

As an Islamic country, the Bangladeshi government must bring to book the criminals behind such outrageous act. It’s high time they should refrain from blaming this atrocity on ‘international conspiracy. Instead of being seen in contempt and complicity Bangladesh government should track down the scoundrels behind the attack and set an example of living in peaceful co existence.

How long such action and reaction of minority persecution will go on in South Asia ? Each of us in fact is a minority in one sense or other, if we just try scratching our identities.

The best example to site could be that of Babu Bajragi, the man who orchestrated the orgy of communal violence against Muslims in Ahmedabad. He is found to be complaining that while serving life imprisonment in jail, he finds himself as a minority surrounded by the Muslims inmates as a majority.

In fact if reports are to be believed on one occasion Bajragi was even thrashed inside the prison. What more ironical story could be better than this, when we compare the demon of a person letting loose the trail of blood and mayhem against the minority Muslim during the post Godhra riots. At that time he always thought he belongs to majority community and can get away doing whatever crime against the minority.

Anyway coming back to the point, such senseless act of persecuting the minorities is going on for long in South Asia . There seem to be no remedy in sight, no one knows, when such mindless retributions is going to stop and each group would live in peace and harmony.

It is high time some concrete plan of action has to be made to address this issue. I have always been arguing that the religious, the ethnic, the linguistic minorities in south Asia can only be safe, under the umbrella of South Asian Federation.

If there are any takers of this idea let us take it forward and make South Asia a better place to live.

AUTHOR: Mujtaba Syed
URL: http://mujtabas-musings.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: syedalimujtaba [at] yahoo.com

An artisan in Hebron works on a design created by Majd Abdel Hamid
(Annelys de Vet)

Jewelry is intimately connected to resistance in Palestine. On a recent trip to the West Bank, the designer Annelys de Vet learned of how prisoners smuggle little gifts out of jail. The most prized possessions among Palestinians include beautifully hand-decorated jewels that prisoners make for their children.

De Vet is a curator of the Disarming Design project, which aims to bring to market collections of Palestinian design products for the bedroom, kitchen, living room, garden and even a collection of toys.

Prototypes of the products have been developed at a workshop hosted by the International Academy of Arts Palestine in Ramallah. Disarming Design is supported by UNESCO, the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the Dutch anti-poverty organization ICCO.

De Vet is head of the design department of the Amsterdam-based Sandberg Institute and runs a design studio in Brussels. The project’s coordinator, Majd Abdel Hamid, studied art in Ramallah, as well as in Malmö in Sweden.

Hamid and de Vet spoke to The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof about the project.

Adri Nieuwhof: How did the project Disarming Design come about and does the name express the meaning of the project?

Annelys de Vet: Mieke Zagt from ICCO approached me with the question if I could think of strategies to make Palestinian products more attractive for a contemporary international market. She explained how many beautiful products she sees in Palestine, but never finds them in Dutch warehouses [department stores]. I came up with the idea of developing a collection of Palestinian products by contemporary artists, designers and local craftsmen, creating new possibilities out of the existing resources and production methods.

The project has a slightly provocative title: “Disarming Design from Palestine.” It is an artistic project with strong conceptual thinking [behind it]. In that way it shows the quality of the Palestinian people without portraying them as [only] victims.

At the same time, it [the project] does not ignore the situation but reflects upon the situation. The products can unveil parts of the Palestinian reality, tell a different story to an international audience. I approached Khaled Hourani, the director of the International Academy of Arts Palestine, to develop this project with him and the academy. He responded more than enthusiastically.

Majd Abdel Hamid: About the name Disarming Design, there is a cultural aspect of language. I like the name. I know what it means. But the problem is that “disarming” always takes you to an idea that something is armed and this proved to be a little controversial when I was talking to and inviting artists. We are still thinking about the title, how to maneuver around it, play with the name without creating some kind of controversy of talking about Palestinian design as armed design. Disarming Design is a working title.

AN: What are your impressions of the Palestinian artists and craftspeople you have met?

AV: Both the craftsmen and the artists responded very enthusiastically to our project, and especially to the opportunity to experiment. It’s not a common thing for artists to think about collaborating with craftsmen. In general they are separated groups. Just by visiting the workshops, the artists and designers got many new ideas. There were already some brilliant ideas and projects, that can get a new platform through our design collection. In western societies most small workshops and [associated] skills have unfortunately disappeared. And with them the knowledge and respect for resources and processes of making also vanished. Craftsmen have knowledge in their hands and express that through the material. It was enriching to meet many highly skilled and committed craftsmen in Palestine.

AN: Does the Israeli occupation or the Palestinian nation play a role in the design?

MA: Of course, occupation plays a role even in how you perceive things, I mean visually speaking. My generation, we have a distorted perception of space. It is distorted in how you see, how you look at things. You have many affiliations, you have the wall, you have all these boundaries on movement. You talk about the last ten years where people were mostly living in one city, they don’t really move around the West Bank. They are just living with one community. So the occupation has a lot of influence [on the design], but it is indirect. You can see it visually, in the language, in the development of the work. You can find traces of this. But at the same time it should not be literal, it should not be like one layer, as “an occupation” or “against occupation.” It is not about the just cause of Palestinians, or a political debate. It is about a beautiful product and the history of it and the people who are doing it.

AV: Yes, very much. For instance, only some resources are easy to get and for most it is difficult, impossible or too expensive. That plays a role in the project. But also in the meaning of all the products themselves the occupations plays a role, because they reflect on the situation. What I see with Palestinian artists is that it is impossible to deny the reality outside the [studio]. You can’t “just make art.” You have to take a position in what it means to make art in a situation of occupation, in this political impossible reality. That clearly influences the art and design works.

AN: Did the cooperation between the artists, students and craftspeople from Palestine and the Dutch Sandberg Institute bring new energy?

MA: It is very interesting to see the relationship. For instance, we had three students from the Netherlands who were staying with me [in Palestine]. I was telling them that I know that this experience is intense. It does not matter if this is the first time or fifth time you are in Palestine. It is a charged atmosphere. Politically, the situation is now unstable, and with all these demonstrations. There is this collaboration but it takes a little bit of time to develop knowledge about what you can do, how we can work, to actually see the country, understand the layers. I think they bring something really important and they also get something very important. The collaboration brings out a very interesting dynamic, a kind of visual debate between two very different visual languages. Someone with a western background and someone from here, it is very different. Then we have this negotiation and this is interesting, to see how it works.

AN: What did the cooperation bring the Palestinian craftsmen, students and artists?

MA: I have been dealing with craftsmen and I think they are really excited about this project. They feel really marginalized, which is true. They have this threat of China that is ruining all these small shops, all the production of the craftsmen. Everyone is importing cheap products from China which have overtaken the market. There is this aspect of showing the craftsmen that we care they are there, by working with them. I really appreciate the personal contact with these craftsmen, to see them interested in the work and trying to find solutions for the problems that come up with the product.

The other part is that the artists themselves, when you think about what it means to create a fork or a table spoon from olive wood from Bethlehem. This brings a lot of questions. It helps people to grow, to have a fresh perspective on the esthetics of this country and the products, and on us as cultural practitioners what are we producing. It influences the discourse of art as a culture itself. I am really optimistic about this project, because it is a continuation, it is not just two months and then you stop. Hopefully, we can introduce a design program at the art school [in Ramallah]. No one is studying design. We have technicians who know how to use software, but the concept of design as an art as philosophy does not exist.

AN: Can you give an example of an idea for a product that came up during the workshop which stands out or made you feel enthusiastic?

AV: Palestinian designer Wafa Meri created a contemporary interior for a hotel in Nablus in cooperation with Rashid Abdel Hamid, traditional manufacturers and female embroiderers. From this project Wafa will make a special “bedroom collection,” consisting of a pillowcase and a duvet cover with embroidered borders, a hand-woven bed-runner, a carpet in similar colors and a bed lamp made of olive tree branches. They all use production processes embedded in the cultural heritage.

MH: I am enthusiastic about the product I am working on. We were working with a jewelry designer and were talking about jewelry, rocks and precious stones. And then someone told about this small stone [jewel] he had made in jail. We developed the idea to use instead of precious stones or diamonds, we would use a rock that someone had sent out from prison, and make a very elegant, well-made necklace from it. It is playing on the idea of precious stones this personal relationship with a stone that is “worthless” but then we have the personal relationship. Then you can wear it. I am critical also of the commercial aspect of it, of selling this. At the same time, it is a statement. It is negotiation, it is not like it is good or bad.

I am also trying to develop a sand-clock, an hour glass made from crushed cement from the wall. It is completely Palestinian-made. So you have five minutes of the virtual life of the wall, but at the same time it is infinite because you can keep turning it.

AN: Do you think Palestinian investors will show interest in the products?

MA: I don’t see why not. With all the movement around the costs of living, there is this aspect of being part of the community and giving back, basically. It is not just about talking and demonstrating. It is about daily life, to work with the people, as many as possible, to actively create some help, so that people can still live, not suffocate or just emigrate out of the country. It is very important to invest in this.

AV: Yes, although it’s not an easy time for investors. But for this in particular we are collaborating Sam Bahour from AIM [Applied Information Management]. He is a business investor and joined the final presentation of the results of the workshop. He said that he was shocked by the quality of the presented prototypes and ideas. He said that it is the first time that there is a collection of contemporary design products from Palestine. Of course contemporary products exist, but they are never presented in a collection like [this]. Our design label will have a kitchen collection, bedroom collection, a garden and interior collection and even toys. Presenting the products in this context is a strong marketing tool, because of the bigger story it tells.

AN: Do you think it is possible to market the products outside Palestine?

AV: Yes, that’s the aim of the project. For the distribution of the products we collaborate with Alhoush [House of Arab Art and Design] in Amman [Jordan], who have experience with international distribution. We work with the Bethlehem Fair Trade Artisans who already have a lot of international orders. But first we will exhibit the collection of prototypes during the international Art Biannual Qalandiya International in November. Qalandiya International is an ambitious contemporary art event taking place in several Palestinian cities and villages. Seven prominent Palestinian cultural institutions that are focused on contemporary art and the Palestine cultural landscape collaborate to organize the event. The prototypes that we have developed for the Disarming Design collection will be presented by the International Academy of Arts. From there on we will investigate in taking products into production and develop a mobile and online design shop. Summer 2013 we expect to present this temporary shop in outstanding international museums and cultural platforms. And on the Internet, of course.

Further information on the Disarming Design project can be found on www.sandberg.nl

Adri Nieuwhof is a consultant and human rights advocate based in Switzerland.

Disclosure: The Electronic Intifada has received grants from ICCO.

AUTHOR: Adri Nieuwhof
URL: http://www.samora.org
E-MAIL: a.nieuwhof [at] samora.org

“To know the food is to know the culture and tradition,” This statement certainly justifies the meaning as food that entails different aspect of traditional values. Nepali food is something that gives you the right taste and flavors. In Nepal there are around 50 different ethnic groups, with distinctive languages, dress, and customs and to degree cuisines. In remote areas, there is little choice, you eat what you grow. But the foods prepared during festivals are rare and unique in their own way. Nepalese recipes consist of many spices and herbs, which are used in each dish in a different proportion and manner. This makes each recipe unique in its own way. Heavily influenced by Indian and Tibetan cuisine Nepalese food still hold its unique taste and presence where it is highly considered healthy and extremely nourishing.

Highlighting, that there are several regional variations in Nepali food, but one dish more than any other has come to characterize the country’s cuisine it’s the dal-bhat-tarkari. Dal is a lentil sauce that is eaten with the bhat (rice). Tarkari is a generic name for curry vegetable and can be prepared in different ways according to seasonal availability of vegetables and local preferences. It is often served with achar (pickles) which do much to enhance overall appeal.

Like such, the Thakali food is yet another rich version of dal-bhat-tarkari which is popular for its tastes and species. The Thakali food has also aspired its ways to the Nepali Restaurant Industry and to dining habits and may be due to its full diet or vivid taste it is very popular among Nepali as well as foreigners. The Thakali food comes from the tradition of the people of Tibetan affinity who settled in Thak-Khola Valley. Thakali cuisine also uses locally-grown buckwheat, barley, millet and dal as well as rice and dal. The Thakali food set generally consist flavors of rich spicy content that shows the rich and vast array of exploration of taste buds.

Now talking more about the taste variation, Nepalese love spices and pickles, it’s an essential part of their diet. Pickles mostly come salty, sour, sweet or tangy, all big on flavor such that just a spoonful is needed with the meal. It adds flavor and it blend into any type of dish and has become an important part of Nepali cuisine.

Looking and understanding the taste, dal bhat tarkaari is common among Newars, one of the oldest inhabitants of Kathmandu but they have incorporated it in a variation of taste. Another popular item among them is chiura: dried beaten rice, served with an array of meat and vegetable curries and pickle. Outside the Kathmandu Valley where the variety of vegetables and ingredients is much less, diets are simpler. Above 3000 meters, of altitudes, corn, millet, buckwheat, barley and wheat take over as staples. The everyday lunch and dinner of many hill villagers is dhindo, a thick mush of boiled ground grains, doctored up with a soupy vegetable sauce of the ubiquitous.

Nepali saag (spinach), gundruk (dried and fermented vegetable leaves) or sisnu (nettles) are commonly used according to availability. In the far west, hill dwellers subsist on heavy bread made from a crude brown wheat or buckwheat. Barley, potatoes, dairy products and a few hardy vegetables fuel the highest Himalayan settlers of Nepal. Traders to Tibet cross 6000 meter passes carrying little more than dry tsampa (roasted fine-ground grains) to mix with butter tea, and perhaps some dried cheese (churpi) or meat. If you’re up in the Khumbu, Langtang or Manang/Jomsom areas, be sure to try some tsampa. You can also buy it in Kathmandu’s Asan bazaar. The delicious, nutty flavor and nutritious, high-energy content make it an ideal trekking food. You may have less success in downing a cup of Tibetan butter tea, known to put off most Westerners and even Nepali lowlanders.

Tibetan influences increase the further north you go, although perenial favourites, such as the momo (a stuffed dumpling, fried or steamed), are widely available in the lower regions too. In the trekking regions, you are likely to encounter little other than Nepali food, which some people may find slightly monotonous. The choice is greater in the Terai where you will also find many excellent Indian dishes.

Perhaps, the traditional food in Kathmandu has been monopolized by few of the restaurants creating their own name and fame in giving people a new taste in same old traditional way.

Bhojan Griha is one of the oldest restaurants located in Dillibazar with the taste and feel of ancient days. The property is located in a traditional setting and dates back over 150 years. Originally belonging to the royal priest of the king of Nepal, it’s a historical monument. A renovated history of 4 storey building, it Taste authentic organic Nepalese food then what more can you expect. The food is served with local folk dances and songs with the tradition of Nepali essence. Dining at Bhojan Griha, meaning House of Food, is a unique experience of splurging into the taste of Nepal. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner every day.

Similarly, Bhancha Ghar is yet another destination that highlights the enigmatic presence and essence of Nepali tradition. It has been more than two decades that the Bhancha Ghar has been catering the needs of foreign guests. From 1989 AD, Bhancha Ghar has been promoting Nepalese cuisine with no priority for an entirely Nepalese restaurant. Bhancha Ghar is a total experience that serves not only food but a feeling and essence of Nepali tradition. With spices making the taste the variable meat dishes and vegetarian dishes prepared with Newari style, accompanied by house blends of raksi, gives it the taste of Nepali at its best. Center of focusing the lifestyles of various ethnic groups of Nepal the cultural show gives you the feel of true Nepali taste. Established in a faithfully restored aristocratic household and completely furnished with authentic Nepali craftsmanship, it offers fine traditional food in a relaxed and intimate setting.

Likewise, Nepali Chulo is yet another destination located in Lazimpat Road. The decor and interior highlights the Nepali tradition and culture that gives you the rich taste and flavor of its richness and essence. The building is an ancient Rana palace that is loud and clear about its standing. It offers the supreme traditional Nepali and Newari cuisine with dynamic cultural programs. The menu covers a veg and non-veg set plate, a thali on which will come all your smaller dishes.

Tukuche Thakali Kitchen, of Durbar Marg in Kathmandu, offers excellent food. The name itself Tukuche is an ancestral home of the Thakali people. The Tukuche serves 100% the traditional Thakali food that taste, smells and presents itself with the name and quality. In menu, one can find a wide selection of items that are typically Thakali as well as a smaller collection of items created to cater to customer demand. Usually, people who come here tend to go for the set meals, which are convenient and filling, but the other items on the menu are also worth exploring. With the essence of giving the taste even the meat used here is exclusively of hardy mountain goat or chicken. Among the several Thakali restaurants in town, Tukuche is one of the oldest establishments offering the best in terms of quality taste and presentation. Over their years of service, this place has gained a lot of ground in the local market. It’s certainly a great place to experience authentic Thakali cuisine.

Food in Nepal is not an option it’s a way of life. People have been eating food for many reasons, but in Nepal the food speaks the language of tradition and values. It’s a way to understand the true spirit where one can easy know the nature and presence by knowing the food.

AUTHOR: Shreedeep Rayamajhi
URL: http://www.rayznews.com
E-MAIL: weaker41 [at] gmail.com

According to reports from sources in Iran, the scheduled executions have been postponed until Saturday morning. The source that contacted IHR underlined that the sentences have not been stopped but only postponed for another two or three days.

It is believed that media attention on the case, both from inside and outside Iran, may be a main reason why the executions were not carried out today.

None of the prisoners have been in contact with their families since yesterday.

According to sources from Iran, Majid Sedighi, the brother of one of the prisoners, was arrested last night by Iranian Intelligence forces, allegedly for giving interviews to the international media, such as VOA and BBC.

In a comment on the postponement of the executions, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR said: “We urge the international community to do whatever they can to stop these executions. We have two days to save these people.”

IHR published names of five of the 10 prisoners scheduled for execution today:

• Saeed Sedighi, 31 years old (picture)
• Abbas Namaki, 39 years old, father of two children
• Hamid Rabiei, 31 years old
• Mohammad Ali Rabiei, 55 years old, father of Hamid
• Ali Darvish, 44 years old

IHR has also received information about a sixth prisoner whose name will not be published.

The prisoners were issued death sentences for drug-related charges.

IHR has received reports indicating that several of the prisoners have been subjected to torture and forced confessions.

Earlier this week, IHR urged the UN and any country which has diplomatic ties with Iran to use all their channels to stop these executions.

AUTHOR: Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam
URL: http://iranhr.net/
E-MAIL: amirymoghaddam [at] gmail.com

The new agreement comes after promising results from early stage clinical trials showed that the GSK TB vaccine candidate known as M72/AS01_E^* has an acceptable safety and reactogenicity profile and demonstrated an immune response.

This novel research and resource-sharing agreement between the largest non-profit TB vaccine biotech and one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies marks advancement in the race to develop new vaccines against TB, a global infectious disease killer.

“This partnership signals our commitment to building innovative collaborations to develop and deliver new TB vaccines,” said Jim Connolly, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aeras. “We will never reverse the spread of the global TB epidemic without new vaccines as part of the solution.”

“When considering the massive public health impact and costs to society of neglected diseases including tuberculosis, global financing for R&D remains critically low in this area,” said Jim Connolly.

“Working in partnership with GSK – sharing resources, capabilities and know-how – affords us the opportunity to conduct this pivotal, multi-country proof of concept trial, getting us that much closer to potentially one day having a TB vaccine that could protect adolescents and adults from one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases.”

TB continues to kill 1.4 million men, women and children annually, despite the widespread use of the currently available TB vaccine, Bacille Calmette-Guèrin (BCG), in TB endemic countries. BCG prevents some forms of TB in infants but does not prevent pulmonary TB, which accounts for the majority of infections and deaths among adolescents and adults.

The GSK vaccine candidate developed under this new agreement is being designed to be used in addition to BCG.

AUTHOR: Henry Neondo
URL: http:// www.africasciencenews.org
E-MAIL: neondohenry [at] yahoo.com