"First they came ..." (poem) by Martin Niemöller

1. Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892 - 1984)

2. The 'Star of David' and 'Hammer and Sickle'

3. Catholic church at Oberammergau, Germany
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Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892 - 1984)
German Protestant Pastor Martin Niemöller [Photograph No. 1] was at one time a supporter of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. For some, he was even antisemitic. Yet, before WW2 he came to oppose the Nazification of Germany's Protestant churches and especially the Nazis 'Aryan Paragraph'. 

For his open opposition to the Nazi control of Protestant state churches, Pastor Niemöller was imprisoned as a political prisoner by the Nazis, being held in Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps. A survivor of the concentration camp system, Pastor Niemöller perhaps became best known in the post-war years for his poem, "First they came ..." which acknowledges people in Germany, including himself, had not done enough in the early years to oppose Nazism. 

In the English language there are slightly different translations and interpretations of Pastor Martin Niemöller's poem. Regardless of these slight variations, the themes of persecution, guilt and personal responsibility are evident in this poem. Intellectuals who were not Jews, or Communists, or Trade Unionists or Catholics, or other groups the Nazis opposed said and did nothing until it was too late ... 

To read a version of Pastor Martin Niemöller's poem, click on 'Comments'. 
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"The Butterfly" (poem) by Pavel Friedman

"Only I never saw another butterfly"
(From 'The Butterfly' by Pavel Friedman)
Do Butterflies live in the ghetto?
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Pavel Friedman, Jewish Czechoslovakian poet
Born: Prague, Czechoslovakia, 7 January 1921
Died: Auschwitz concentration camp, 29 September 1944
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Pavel Friedman was one of many thousands from the pre-war Jewish community of Czechoslovakia forcibly deported from his home city of Prague firstly to the concentration camp at Terezin (Theresienstadt) and then to Auschwitz. It was at Auschwitz that Pavel Friedman was murdered by the Nazis - yet another victim of the Holocaust. 

While at Terezin concentration camp, on 4 June 1942, Pavel Friiedman wrote a poem, "The Butterfly", on a thin sheet of paper which was discovered after the war and donated to the Jewish Museum at Prague. Published in 1959, "The Butterfly" inspired the Holocaust Museum of Houston, Texas (U.S.A.) to create an exhibition of 1.5 Million paper butterflies, symbolising the number of children who died in the Nazi Holocaust. 

To read an English language translation of Pavel Friedman's poem "The Butterfly" and further information click on 'Comments' below.
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Gérard Ménatory, and a life after Mauthuasen

1. Gérard Ménatory talks to some of the wolf pack
[Le parc à loups du Gévaudan (July 1988)]

2. Gérard Ménatory feeding a 'friendly' wolf
[Le parc à loups du Gévaudan (July 1988)]
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During WW2, Gérard Ménatory (1921 - 1998) was a member of the French Resistance, captured by the Germans in 1944 and deported to Mauthausen concentration camp. Although he was extremely emaciated when liberated from the concentration camp in 1945 he went on to make a good recovery and had an active and fulfilling life before his passing in 1998.

After the war Gérard Ménatory went on to become a journalist with the 'Midi Libre' newspaper. As a naturalist he founded the Gévaudan Wolf Park (in French. 'Le parc à loups du Gévaudan') located at Sainte Lucie, near the town of Marvejols in the Lozère department of southern France. The photographs seen above show Gérard Ménatory feeding some of the 'friendly' semi-wild wolves at the park in July 1988.

Today, there are more than 100 semi-wild wolves living and thriving in the park. The long term survival of these much maligned animals is a fine legacy for Gérard Ménatory to have left the world.

For additional information click on 'Comments' below.

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HMS Iron Duke, a dreadnought battleship

1. HMS Iron Duke officers and civic dignitaries
During a goodwill visit to Haig Pit, Whitehaven
Royal Navy Week' (June 1934) 
[Image courtesy of 'The Whitehaven News']
Those seen in the party above are (left to right):
Mr. T. Banks (agent), Mr. T.S. Durham, 
Engineer-Commander C.B. Evington, Dr. Henry Peile, 
Commander Crane, Mr Francis Priestman, 
Pay Lieut.-Cmndr. Brockman, 
Rear-Admiral Sir Noel F. Laurence K.C.B., D.S.O., 
Flag-Lieutenant Commander Crossman, 
Father T.A. Agius, OSB (Mayor's Chaplain), 
Mr. Haswell Peile, Surgeon-Commander Harkins, 
Mr. George Peile, Mr W. Morgan (Haig Pit manager)     

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2. HMS Iron Duke off Whitehaven harbour
(While making  a goodwill visit, June 1934)
[Image courtesy of 'The Whitehaven News']
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3. Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale
Wearing the Mayoral chain of Whitehaven
(He sent a message of welcome to Iron Duke's crew)
Portrait by John Henry Frederick Bacon (1868 - 1914)
[Collection of The Beacon Museum, Whitehaven]
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Photographs No 1 and No 2 above show HMS Iron Duke and some of her officers with local dignitaries from Whitehaven, Cumberland. These were taken during a goodwill visit to the port in June 1934 as part of 'Royal Navy Week'. HMS Iron Duke was commissioned into the Royal Navy in March 1914 and was scrapped in March 1946,  shortly after WW2.

Photograph No 3 shows a portrait of Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale (1857 - 1944) wearing the Whitehaven Mayoral chain. Lord Lonsdale was the Lord of the Manor of Whitehaven, had been the first Mayor of Whitehaven (1894 - 1896) and was the Hereditary Admiral of the Coasts of Cumberland and Westmorland. Although the Earl of Lonsdale was unable to attend Whitehaven during HMS Iron Duke's goodwill visit he sent a message welcoming the crew to the town.

For additional infomation click on 'Comments' below.

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The Royal Navy submarine HMS H50

Submarine H50 in Whitehaven harbour (1934)
[Image courtesy of 'The Whitehaven News']
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Submarine H50 was laid down on 23 January 1918, commissioned into the Royal Navy on 3 February 1920 and scrapped at the end of WW2, in July 1945. The photograph above shows her during a goodwill visit to Whitehaven in 1934.

For additional information click on 'Comments' below.

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Broughton Moor, Cumbria in wartime

1. St Columba's Parish Church, Broughton Moor
(The war memorial is in the churchyard)

2. Broughton Moor war memorial
Originally dedicated in 1921 for WW1
The WW2 names were added in 1947 

3. Names listed on Broughton Moor war memorial
(Left): The list of those who died in WW1  
(Right): The list of those who died in WW2 

4. Poppy wreath tributes remembering the 'Fallen'
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5. Memorial for victims of a wartime explosion
It happened at a R.N.A.D. on 18 January 1944
Broughton Moor, Cumberland (now Cumbria)

6. Headstone for Mary Katherine Barnes
Kathie died in the R.N.A.D. explosion
(Buried in Wigton Cemetery, Cumbria)
[Photograph submitted by Michael Deacon]
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For additional information click on 'Comments' below.

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The war memorials of Castle Carrock, Cumbria

1. St Peter’s parish church, Castle Carrock

(Where the parish war memorials are located)

2. Castle Carrock’s war memorials

(Left): The WW1 parish memorial

(Right): The WW2 parish memorial

[Located outside the main church entrance] 

3. Castle Carrock’s “Rolls of Honour”

(Left): The 1914 – 1915 “Roll of Honour”

(Right): The 1939 – 1945 “Roll of Honour”

4. Headstone of Marine Donald P. Armstrong

(Located in Castle Carrock churchyard)

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 For additional information click on ‘Comments’ below.

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