Thursday 8: A journalist writes that, prior to Daniel Craig´s new film, Defiance, no-one had ever heard of the Bielski brothers. Ray Mears had… which is how I heard of them. The following is from an issue of floreo NEWS (writer/editor: Euphrosene Labon!) several years ago:
"The Christmas/New Year gap is a wonderful opportunity for discovering the forbidden delights of daytime television. One little gem had me utterly gripped. Ray Mears was investigating the forests of Belarus, and how some Jews having escaped from Novogrudak concentration camp, then survived in extreme conditions deep in the heart of the forest. With no tools, they built wooden huts complete with bunk beds, using dovetail joints in place of nails. They turned to nature and used what they found around them in the woods. Plants were used to dress wounds or as painkillers and insect repellent. Shoes were made from lime bark, and animals were trapped for food.
Unlike the Nazis, they welcomed the deep snow. Apart from making pursuit more difficult, it was used to keep clean. As the irate Nazis got closer, they went further and further into seemingly inhospitable territory, into swampy marshes. They even managed to avoid detection from the air when they cooked.
As word spread within Novogrudak, a 250 yard long tunnel was dug for a group of would-be escapees. One boy, who lost his toes to frostbite, was left to last as he could not walk. He eventually found and joined the swamp-survivors through his own determination, and the almost-mythical pull of the leader - Tuvye Bielski. Even legends like Bielski seem to set limits though. He ended his days as a New York cabbie."
Aside: my `facts´ are based on those provided by Ray Mears (I am a great fan of his, btw.)
Well done BT. Free 0870 and 0845 calls … must check out the package as I am a BT user.
Meanwhile, Melanie Phillips confirms something I too have noticed about the BBC and other media: "You produce claims that Israel is slaughtering hundreds of civilians in `carnage´ in Gaza, even though the vast majority of the dead are said by both Israel and the UN to be Hamas operatives. You ignore totally the Hamas operatives and you focus instead emotively on the dead children and grieving parents. You make no mention whatsoever of the fact that Hamas are hiding their arsenals in and under civilian houses and apartments, in schools and hospitals and ambulances and mosques, thus making the inhabitants targets for Israeli forces trying to destroy the infrastructure of terror; instead you blame Israel for the deaths of those inhabitants. You fail to report that Hamas are herding Gazan civilians, including children, into buildings from where they are firing missiles at Israeli soldiers in order that the civilians should be killed; instead you blame Israel for the deaths of those civilians and those children. You fail to report that the Israelis are warning Gazans through leaflets and text messages to evacuate before an attack in order to safeguard civilian life; instead you blame Israel for the destruction."
The rest of the piece is here.
PS Went to see Ma who is much better, speaking clearly. She was sitting up, initially rather grumpy because the care assistants had given her a bath, watching BBC Parliament. However, her sunny self returned and we could all breathe a sigh of relief for a little longer.
Euphrosene Labon Mind Body Spirit Artist Author Writer
