David Zanders

Congratulations to everyone involved in 'Mr. Nobody Against Putin' on winning the Oscar for Best Documentary. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should. It’s an extraordinarily insightful film that shows exactly how dictatorships sink their claws into institutions and use them to shape everyday life under their rule. It exposes the true depth and reach of Putin’s propaganda in Russian society. Countering propaganda is one of the most important parts of our work, and few films have done more in this fight than 'Mr. Nobody Against Putin.' Putin’s propaganda is a weapon, perhaps even more dangerous than nuclear arms. It is the fuel driving the war against Ukraine. This is a phenomenal achievement by Pavel Talankin, David Borenstein, and everyone else involved. I’m proud that one of my foundations supported the film's impact campaign and its awards and festival promotion, helping it reach the widest possible audience. Mr. Nobody Against Putin is one of the most important anti-war statements of our time. The Oscar and the BAFTA were both richly deserved.

STATEMENT OF @AuschwitzMuseum DIRECTOR DR. PIOTR M. A. CYWIŃSKI ON THE COMMENT MADE BY GRZEGORZ BRAUN, MEMBER OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT A scandalous and deceitful statement by Member of the European Parliament Grzegorz Braun, in which he denies the existence of gas chambers at the Auschwitz camp, is not only an act of Holocaust denial – a crime prosecuted under Polish law. It is also an act of desecration of the memory of the victims of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp, and an expression of contempt toward Survivors and their families. The main group of victims of gas chambers at Auschwitz were Jews – those deemed unfit for work by SS doctors immediately upon deportation to the camp. However, the gas chambers were also used as a tool for killing various other groups of prisoners. In the first mass execution using Zyklon B, carried out by the SS in September 1941 and serving as a prelude to the later mass extermination of Jews, a large group of Soviet prisoners of war and Polish prisoners selected from the camp hospital were murdered. SS men also used the gas chambers to kill sick or severely weakened prisoners selected from among all those incarcerated in the camp. It was in the gas chamber at Auschwitz II-Birkenau that over four thousand Roma – primarily women and children – were murdered during the liquidation of the so-called Zigeunerlager in August 1944. Grzegorz Braun’s statement is a disgraceful assault on the memory of all those people: Jews, Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, and all other victims. It is also a slap in the face to those prisoners who risked their lives to document and convey the truth about German crimes, as well as to the Survivors who still bear the trauma of their personal experiences. Grzegorz Braun’s statement constitutes a blatant denial of historical truth and introduces manipulation into public discourse based on antisemitism, falsehood, and hatred. It is a statement unworthy not only of a public figure – in this case, a person holding a seat in the European Parliament. It is simply a shameful statement. There can be no place for such words in political, media, or social space. We firmly reject the absurd claims that the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum “blocks research” or “offers a pseudo-historical narrative that does not meet the criteria of scholarly historical methodology.” This is slander that damages the reputation of our institution and of the entire community of individuals researching the history of Auschwitz. In response to this statement, a lawsuit for defamation will be filed. We emphasize with full force: denying the existence of gas chambers is not only an expression of antisemitism and an ideology of hatred – in Poland it is also a crime. In this matter, a formal notification will be immediately submitted to the public prosecutor’s office. Separate responsibility lies with the media, who hand microphones or cameras to a man who has repeatedly demonstrated that he is incapable of functioning in public life without vandalism, lies, hate speech, and racism. We appeal to the community of journalists to show solidarity in refraining from inviting him to interviews, conversations, and their programs. The media must not be used as a platform for spreading a deliberate lie that causes pain to so many. The Museum is currently working on a new online tool, which we hope to launch as early as July, that will enable every internet user to fight more effectively against all forms of Holocaust denial. The German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz was a site of industrial murder, where approximately 1.1 million people were murdered. Today, the Memorial is preserved thanks to the efforts of the Polish state and the international community – to serve as a warning and reminder of where human hatred can lead. The words of Grzegorz Braun are not a “political provocation,” but a conscious lie and an act of ideological, antisemitic hatred. They cannot remain without a resolute response from the state and from all decent people, for whom the memory of Auschwitz holds profound meaning. Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, Director of the Museum

Poland has achieved remarkable economic progress over the past two decades. Between 2000 and 2025, the country’s GDP per capita rose from $4,491 to $24,340 - an increase of 442%. A key factor behind this growth has been financial support from the European Union, with Poland receiving an estimated €250-270 billion in subsidies and structural funds from 2005 to 2025. By contrast, Sweden - with a population of 10.6 million and a GDP per capita of $59,434 - contributed approximately €69.5 billion to the EU budget over the same period. In practice, this means Swedish taxpayers have indirectly supported Poland’s development (population: 37 million; GDP per capita: $24,340). Despite Poland’s significant progress, the gap in economic prosperity remains considerable. Sweden’s GDP per capita is still more than twice as high, and at the current pace, Poland is unlikely to close that gap within the next ten years.

Tattooed numbers were used only in one German Nazi camp — Auschwitz. These tattoos were assigned exclusively to prisoners who were registered in the camp. Out of approximately 1.3 million people deported to Auschwitz, only about 400,000 were registered as prisoners and given numbers. The vast majority of Jews murdered in Auschwitz — around one million people — were never registered; they were murdered in gas chambers right upon arrival and received no tattooed number. Moreover, tattoos were not exclusive to Jewish prisoners. Others — including Poles, Roma, Soviet POWs, and others — were also registered and tattooed at Auschwitz. Other concentration camps had entirely different systems for identifying prisoners and did not use tattoos at all. To suggest that every Jewish victim of the Holocaust received a tattooed number — and to use the limited length of those numbers to cast doubt on the scale of the genocide — is not only factually false. This kind of distortion is a deliberate tactic used by Holocaust deniers to insult the memory of victims. In the world of deniers, the suffering of real human beings is reduced to cynical wordplay and harassment. Denying is an assault on memory, truth, and human dignity. Learn about strategies employed by Holocaust deniers to spread misinformation and falsehoods. Online lesson: lekcja.auschwitz.org/negacjonizm_en/ Podcast: auschwitz.org/en/education/e…

.@grok Using an AI tool to alter the historical image of a murdered Auschwitz victim, especially in a mocking way, is not only disrespectful. It is ethically unacceptable. Such a photo is sometimes the last known photograph of a human being who was imprisoned, dehumanized, and murdered. Manipulating this image for amusement desecrates it. In this case, you violated the memory of a Polish Jew, Rufim Hermannstadt, a teacher who survived 20 days in Auschwitz. Auschwitz images cannot be a playground for bad taste and harassing artificial creativity. --- We call on all the creators of AI systems, including @grok and its operators, to search for safeguards that prevent such uses of photos of victims of Auschwitz and the Holocaust. Memory must be protected, not ridiculed.

A Thread of trippy artwork created by a Canadian surrealist painter from 1959 🧵

Heute ist Tag des Waldes – aber zum Feiern ist uns nicht zumute 🌳 Zu viele Wälder werden abgeholzt, zerschnitten oder so stark bewirtschaftet, dass kaum noch was von einem Ökosystem übrig ist. Deshalb setzen wir uns dafür ein, der Natur dauerhaft Raum zurückzugeben – JEDEN Tag.

Bei aller Freude über die Einigung gestern, darf erlaubt sein, noch einmal deutlich zu machen, wem die Grünen gestern die Kanzlerschaft ermöglicht haben. Friedrich Merz hat der 🚦wissentlich das Geld vorenthalten, mit dem sie hätte funktionieren können, mit dem Ziel, diese zu 1/

Das Bild des Tages: Robert Habeck grinst sich eins. Inzwischen weiß ganz Deutschland: Habeck hatte mit allem Recht und die CDU/CSU hat die Menschen in ganz 🇩🇪 getäuscht und ihn wider jegliche Vernunft diffamiert, um an die Macht zu kommen. Habeck wäre der bessere Kanzler!

French senator perfectly describes the Trump situation.

Lieber Herr Huber, drei CSU-Verkehrsminister weniger in den letzten 16 Jahren & wir bräuchten vielleicht kein eigenes großes Sondervermögen für die Verkehrsinfrastruktur. Demut soll ja auch in Bayern eine bürgerliche Tugend sein.

Als US-Präsident Donald Trump davon sprach, der ukrainische Präsident Wolodymyr Selenskyj sei ein „Diktator“, der nicht gewählt wurde, der einen „schrecklichen Job“ gemacht habe und ihm erneut die Schuld an dem Krieg gab, musste ich an die ersten Kriegstage denken. Am Montag ist es genau drei Jahre her, dass die Ukraine von Russland überfallen wurde, befohlen von Wladimir Putin. Ich war in Kiew, als russische Soldaten die Stadt umzingeln wollten. Ich habe viele tote Zivilisten gesehen. Ich habe Reporterkollegen morgens gesehen, die abends nicht mehr wiederkamen. Und immer wieder traf ich Selenskyj. Das erste Interview, das wir kurz nach Kriegsausbruch führten, fand im Präsidentenpalast statt, neben uns Sandsäcke. „Ich habe keine Angst. Wovor auch?“, sagte er, während russische Killer-Kommandos ihn suchten. Seine Familie und er standen ganz oben auf Putins Todesliste. Selenskyj ist geblieben, obwohl alle Regierungen ihm geraten hatten, zu fliehen. Er schützte und rettete so sein Land. Er verhinderte so, dass Putin die Ukraine übernehmen und andere europäische Länder ins Visier nehmen kann. Das wird für immer bleiben. Und das wird ihm auch Donald Trump nicht nehmen können. Die Worte, die Trump gegenüber Selenskyj gewählt hat, sind unfassbar. Trump will Selenskyj die Ehre nehmen. Alles, was Trump über Selenskyj und die Ukraine sagt und schreibt, entspringt der russischen Propaganda. Im Kreml muss eine Feierlaune herrschen wie seit Jahrzehnten nicht mehr. Trump hat sich entschieden: Er steht auf der Seite Putins. Unser Feind ist sein Freund. Erstens zeigen die Reaktionen auf Trump die ganze Verlogenheit der einst stolzen Republikaner und der Unterstützer in Deutschland, dass es kaum Aufregung über die „Diktator“-Aussage gibt und den Skandal-Satz, es gebe in der Ukraine „eine Führung, die einen Krieg zugelassen hat, den es nie hätte geben dürfen.“ Das ist eine unglaubliche Verkehrung der Schuld. Ein Affront für den freien Westen. Eine Bodenlosigkeit gegenüber einem ukrainischen Präsidenten, den Russland töten wollte und der trotzdem im Land geblieben ist. Es gilt: Wer sich Trump nicht entgegenstellt bei seinem Putin-Appeasement, wer weiter so tut, als sei das alles völlig normal, sollte nie wieder über Werte und Moral reden. Noch viel wichtiger aber: Wir brauchen einen großen europäischen Plan für unsere Sicherheit – und darum auch für die Sicherheit der Ukraine, deren Soldaten dafür sorgen, dass die russische Armee uns nicht näher kommt. Wir brauchen etwas, von dem wir selbst nie geglaubt hätten, dass wir dazu imstande sind. Wenn nicht alle europäischen Partner mitmachen wollen, dann müssen einzelne Staaten sich zusammenschließen. Macron macht es gerade vor mit den eilig einberufenen Treffen in Paris. Wir brauchen JETZT Vorbereitungen dafür, wie die Ukraine ohne die USA überleben kann. Am Sonntag wird in Deutschland gewählt. Danach werden wir keine Zeit für lange Verhandlungen haben. Unsere Regierung muss schnell stehen, um gemeinsam mit Frankreich, Polen, Großbritannien und anderen die Ukraine zu retten und dafür zu sorgen, dass Russland nicht das nächste Land überfällt. Es geht um unsere Sicherheit, unsere Freiheit, unser Leben. Mein Kommentar: m.bild.de/politik/meinun…

Die Heulbojen in Deutschland, die sich die ganze Zeit eine fiktive Unterdrückung von bestimmten Meinungen herbeigejammert haben, sind angesichts der realen Umsetzung einer solchen Unterdrückung durch ihren geliebten Trump erstaunlich still.

This is one of the hardest but also one of the most important warnings from the history of Auschwitz coming to us today. In fact, perpetrators were people who accepted and followed an ideology that made them believe that they were better than others, an ideology that rationalized and promoted hatred and evil. This ideology became part of their everyday lives and environment. They were not monsters. They were people: fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters. They were farmers, doctors, bakers, bankers, architects, or carpenters. They had their family joys and problems, favorite desserts or songs, hobbies or fears. They were people like us. But they also perpetrated horrible, monstrous acts on behalf of the ideology they believed in. Dehumanizing all the „others” was a tool that helped them achieve their goal. The perpetrators thought of themselves as moral people. And this is the scary part of this history. We should not and cannot dehumanize them, as their story and choices are the human warning. For us all.

The infamous Hitler salute was one of the key visual symbols of Nazism. This salute, ingrained in history as a representation of oppression, dehumanization, violence, and unimaginable suffering and murder, is far more than a physical gesture; it’s a reminder of a dark era of humanity, defined by antisemitism and other ideologies of hatred. It is an emblem of the Holocaust and other horrifying crimes perpetrated by Nazi Germany, along with such symbols as a swastika, a Totenkopf (death's head) or runes that shape the name of the SS. Sensitivity to these historical contexts is essential, as such gestures and symbols, even used unintended, resonate and evoke distress, particularly for those who bear the scars of that tragic history. In the picture: Inauguration of the SS hospital at Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Our online lesson presents basic information about the Nazi ideology: lekcja.auschwitz.org/31_przygotowan…

Why does The Lord of the Rings still look so good? Many reasons, but here's one: Minas Tirith wasn't CGI. They built a miniature version of the city and filmed that. It looks realistic — because it was real. And this wasn't even the biggest model they made...

Merkel stellt sich in ihren politischen Memoiren einen Persilschein aus. Steinmeier ist trotz der krachend gescheiterten Russland-Politik immer noch Bundespräsident. Machen wir uns ehrlich: Unsere unterentwickelte Fehlerkultur gefährdet Europas Sicherheit. Ein etwas längerer 🧵/1

I'll tell you what goes on here. 🧵

Germany will have the second-lowest public investment ratio of all EU countries in 2025 - according to the European Commission forecast. The big 🇩🇪public underinvestment problem remains unresolved.

@DonBauero Was haben die braunen Schmierlappen heute alle mit Loriot? x.com/djpr/status/18…