[mrdeadman]

none of the history classes i have ever taken have taught me about the crap of the world. the stuff that we can't pretend didn't happen is taught, but not the other stuff, what happened in Dresden is an example. a link to dresden:http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWdresden.htm
does anyone have any historical facts like the ones about dresden that i should know about? one of my teachers told me about these children who were born defected because their mother was given this drug to stop miscarriages. here's another dresden link for those who care. http://www.rense.com/general19/flame.htm

[mike]

Wow this one actually has some chemistry in it!

I think your teacher was talking about thalidomide. A morning sickness drug. There are some discussions about it already on this site I think. You can find out alot from the net on this. It is mainly concerned with chirality and separation of enantiomers etc etc

Remember that some of these things will be sensitive topics to some people reading this site, so try to be a bit diplomatic and sympathetic.

[mrdeadman]

im not trying to make anyone mad here, rather i would just like to learn about the stuff that people don't normally pay attention to. i want to learn about the stuff that people normally pretend doesn't happen. i would like to be an "informed" citizen so to speak. so if anyone has any thoughts then feel free.

[lemonoman]

I had an experience like this just a couple days ago.  I was browsing the web for Flash site examples, when I stumbed across a website called http://www.theforgotten.org.  It details the Armenian Genocide, the first genocide of the 20th century, and is unfortunately overshadowed by the Holocaust (that's not to say that the Holocaust wasn't atrocious...but it shouldn't make genocides that preceded it less 'important')

I think the figure they gave was 80% of the Armenian Population was wiped out by the Turks.  A huge number.  As I watched the video (unfortunately small), I couldn't believe I'd never heard of it.  History up to Grade 10, and not a word about it.

That's VERY unfortunate.

Google "Armenian Genocide" to learn more.

[mike]

Not to mention genocide that occurred after it and genocide that is happening right now!

[Borek]

I have mentioned it before - Warsaw uprising. See my posts in this thread:

http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=4206.0

And be carefull to not mistake Warsaw uprising with earlier Warsaw Ghetto uprising.

[Yggdrasil]

One piece of American history which commonly gets overlooked in history books is the forced repatriation of Mexican Americans (many legal imigrants or children born on American soil and therefore US citizens) in the 1930s during the Great Depression.  While probably not as devastating as some of the other events mentioned in the thread, this and the internment of Japanese Americans less than ten years later during WWII are certainly some things to think about in relation to contemporary events.

For more info on the repatriation of Mexican Americans, see this news article:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-04-04-1930s-deportees-cover_x.htm

[mrdeadman]

yes! this is the kind of stuff i was looking for. contemporary events as well

Not to mention genocide that occurred after it and genocide that is happening right now!

can you elaborate on this one?

[xiankai]

wow.

lemonoman, i didnt even knew it existed at all. but after going through the site, i must say what shocked me most was that in the end, it was the precursor to the Holocaust, and Hitler banked on the world's inaction on that genocide...

[Will]

I only heard about it after seeing a link to a page on the Genocide Remembrance Day on Wikipedia's home page on April 24^th. I was shocked to find out that relatively few governments recognise it as a genocide, and that Turkey is in denial about many horrendous aspects of the genocide. See this poster: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/28/Turkish_denial_small.jpg.

I also did some research last year on the Ukrainian 'Holodomor' and some historians/scholars still deny that it was caused by Russian collectivization. I am no historian but I am convinced that it was partially intentional and hence I would agree that it was a genocide.

[Borek]

Denials...

http://www.geocities.com/katyn.geo/ (note - I don't know the site, but it describes the historical background for all those not knowing Polish history)

AFAIK during Nuremberg trials Russian prosecutor named Katy? massacre crime against humanity - but it was in the time Germans were accused of killing Polish officers. Once Russians admitted they murdered Poles, it became normal crime, long ago fallen under the statute of limitations. This change of classification is very convenient for Russians, as statute of limitations doesn't hold for crimes against humanity.

Few months ago Russians have closed their investigation. There were no guilties found. Looks like this is not the end of the story yet, it will continue in international courts - not for the sake of finding guilties (60 years passed, they are long dead probably) but for the sake of historical truth.

[Will]

not for the sake of finding guilties (60 years passed, they are long dead probably) but for the sake of historical truth.

... long dead hopefully!

[Yggdrasil]

yes! this is the kind of stuff i was looking for. contemporary events as well

Not to mention genocide that occurred after it and genocide that is happening right now!

can you elaborate on this one?

Well, for one there's genocide going on in Sudan right now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur_conflict

[constant thinker]

Is Saddam and his use of chemical weapons on the Kurds considered genocide?

[rctrackstar2007]

yes! this is the kind of stuff i was looking for. contemporary events as well

Not to mention genocide that occurred after it and genocide that is happening right now!

can you elaborate on this one?

Well, for one there's genocide going on in Sudan right now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur_conflict

If you read the new york times you would have read an article by nicholas kristoff (sp) about the genocide in darfur. it's been going on for generations now but no president has ever cared until kristoff wrote about it and won the pulitzer prize for his article. no it's in the news and our wonderful president (he says sarcastically) has decided to do something about it.