By Philippe Sands
Alfred A. Knopf, 417 pages, $30
“It is more important to understand the butcher than the victim,” the Spanish novelist Javier Cercas told Philippe Sands, professor of international law at University College London. That seems a questionable assertion, not least because the butcher so often eludes understanding. Sands nevertheless was sufficiently struck by the remark to use it as an epigraph to his latest book, “The Ratline: The Exalted Life and Mysterious Death of a Nazi Fugitive.”
The fugitive in question, Baron Otto Gustav von Wächter, is not one of the star names of Nazi criminality, not a Mengele or an Eichmann or even a Hans Frank, who headed the part of German-occupied Poland known as the General Government. An Austrian SS officer, Wächter became one of Frank’s deputies, presiding over the Jewish ghettos of Kraków and Lemberg (now Lviv, in Ukraine). A man admired for his organizational abilities, he followed orders, and gave them, and hundreds
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Elon Musk and Bill Gates: beware of gurus toting solutions to climate change
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(MENAFN - Palestine News Network)
London /PNN/
UCL s Academic Board has overseen the most detailed and forensic study of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism yet, investigating its fitness for purpose following UCL s adoption of it in 2019.
The product of a year-long study by a Working Group established by the Academic Board, this major Report examines UCL s decision in 2019 to adopt the IHRA definition. It has involved consultation with eminent lawyers including Philippe Sands and Sir Geoffrey Bindman, as well as academic experts on antisemitism such as Brain Klug, and representatives of UCL s most relevant academic departments and of its Student s Union.
11 New Books We Recommend This Week
Feb. 11, 2021
Crime and punishment make their presence felt in this week’s recommended titles, from Russell Shorto’s family history of his grandfather’s mob ties (“Smalltime”) to Philippe Sands’s account of a Nazi fugitive (“The Ratline”); Maurice Chammah’s study of the death penalty and its decline (“Let the Lord Sort Them”) to Reuben Jonathan Miller’s look at the life that awaits ex-inmates (“Halfway Home”).
Also on our night stands this week: Ethan Zuckerman’s new book about the collapse of institutional authority (“Mistrust”), Emily Rapp Black’s memoir of motherhood and grief (“Sanctuary”), Jeremy Atherton Lin’s personal and cultural history (“Gay Bar”) and Avi Loeb’s argument that aliens visited the neighborhood in 2017 (“Extraterrestrial”). Finally, there’s Thomas Healy’s “Soul City,” about one man’s attempt to create a Black-run city in the 1970s; Charles Wheelan’s “We Came
Others involved are naturalist and TV presenter Chris Packham, Costa Rican climate champion Christiana Figueres, widely credited for achieving the Paris Agreement, Professor of politics David Runciman, human rights barrister and author Philippe Sands, TV presenter Liz Bonnin, and Dr Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury.
Naomi Clements-Brod, festival manager (sciences), said: “Through its sheer volume and scope, the Cambridge Festival is a true reflection of the immense impact the University of Cambridge continues to have on our world through its research. We are excited to be sharing and involving people, from right across the world, in the forward-thinking work of the university and its collaborators during the 10 days, and very much look forward to welcoming our online guests to the very first Cambridge Festival.”