Germany: erasing the debt of poor CountriesA campaign to erase the debt of poor Countries was undertaken on February 26 by the Federal association for development policy “erlassjahr.de”. The initiative is aimed at obtaining a statement by MPs from different Countries on the so-called illegitimate debts and the co-responsibility of creditors. The association, composed of 850 German organizations, launched an appeal in this direction to the members of the Bundestag, the German Federal parliament. The document demands that international parliaments exert greater control of international crediting process, in order to erase illegitimate debts towards developing Countries on the part of “Threshold Countries”. This would prevent those Countries whose debts were already erased to be in a situation of insolvency due to foreign debts granted to dictators or debts owed for useless sumptuous projects and corruption, as happened in the 1980s. The campaign of erlassjahr.de (which literally means “jubilee”, “year of debt remission”), also refers to the anniversary of Germany’s pre and post-war debt remission, on February 27 1953, following London’s Debt Agreement. “If Germany had to pay all its debts, the economic boom would have taken place decades later”, said the association’s coordinator Jürgen Kaiser during the presentation. The German episode therefore for “erlassjahr.de” constitutes a historical responsibility for the Countries of the South of the world, which today are heavily indebted. Holland: anonymous donation of 100 euro for the WydThe diocese of Utrecht made known that 130 youth from the diocese of Utrecht, in The Netherlands, who in July will take part in Sydney’s Wyd will be receiving an extra contribution of 100 euros for expenses. This is good news for the young people who already could count on a contribution of 100 euros allocated by the diocese and which is meant to cover travel expenses, expected to amount to approximately 2000 euros. Other initiatives have been promoted in favour of the youth, such as money collection in parishes and a savings plan granting low interest rates for expenditures related to this trip. The event, which represents also the occasion of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Australia, is expected to be attended by over 500.000 young faithful. Over 600 Dutch youth have already booked the event. “An evening of faith, hope and renewal” is the one which Dutch concert performer and composer Wibi Soerjadi intends to offer to the young Dutch Catholics. The musician said he wishes to invite to the performance the youth of his Country along with the new archbishop, Msgr. Eijk. According to Matheu Bemelmans, spokesperson of the Bishops Conference, Soerjadi has no contacts with the Catholic Church, however it’s a praiseworthy initiative and it would be nice to perform his composition with the World Youth Choir that is presently being formed. “We must obviously ensure that this idea is feasible and that if falls within the Wyd spirit, but the idea is excellent”, Bemelmans concluded.Poland: photos and souvenirs of the ghettos on e-bayThe Polish Federation of Jewish Communities decided to purchase historical pictures of the Warsaw ghetto and of other ghettos in Europe on the internet portal E-bay. Jan Jagielski, archive director at the Jewish History Institute, pointed out that 60 years since the end of World War Two, ex-Nazi soldiers no longer fear having to respond for the crimes they committed. Furthermore, Jagielski said, there are a number of intermediaries who buy pictures and other ghetto relics from ex-Nazis or from their relatives to be traded on the web. At the end of last year, the Insurrection Museum in Warsaw bought an outstanding postal collection on an auction sale for 190 thousand euros. The same auction house proposed for 170 thousand euros a collection of letters from the ghetto of Lodz, but neither the city nor the local Jewish community could afford the expense. A series of pictures from Warsaw or Lublin’s Ghetto has been auctioned these days on the web at the price of 19 euro per photo. At the time of the War, German soldiers returning home brought with them the pictures they had taken during official ceremonies as well as those taken during death executions or warfare activity. Today an increasing number of coins and bank notes purposely issued for the ghettos is available on the web, along with postcards and even the yellow bands with the Star of David.
