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New York Times
3 days ago
- Health
- New York Times
If Only My Father Could Choose to Deny the Holocaust
At 96, my father is one of the last living Holocaust survivors. He also has Alzheimer's. The disease has not brought him the forgetting that would be a gift to him. Alzheimer's progresses in a pattern that erodes the mind in reverse, stripping away recent memories first, then advancing into the regions that regulate emotion and suppress fear. Early memories, especially those charged with deep emotion, tend to last the longest. So now, with his brain's defenses weakened, the horrors he experienced as a child in a Jewish ghetto in Poland surge through him unfiltered. They come without warning, intruding even in moments of joy, as if he's reliving them. The growth of Holocaust denial and antisemitism presents a brutal irony. The people tormented by their memories can't forget, and too many of those who should remember choose not to do so. My father is not alone in his suffering. A large study by researchers at the University of Haifa in Israel found that Holocaust survivors were about 21 percent more likely to develop dementia, probably owing to the lasting neurological and physiological effects of extreme trauma and deprivation. My father was 11 when the Nazis invaded Poland, and he had to start wearing a yellow star of David on the front and back of his clothing so that it could be seen from both directions. He and about 200,000 Jews in Lodz were eventually sealed off behind walls and barbed wire. In the ghetto my father and his family faced starvation and disease, and were forced into labor. My father worked in a shoe factory that supplied the German military. Dozens of his family members were tortured and killed. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Guardian
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Poem of the week: This Year Her Present by Victoria Melkovska
This Year Her Present wasn't a book — my shelves sag under the weight of volumes she's given me over the last two decades since I moved from Ukraine to Ireland; wasn't a dress — she has such a sharp sense of style: the last one was a black linen gown with traditional cross-stitched sleeves; wasn't a postcard — bought at the vintage fair in Kyiv where she knows every vendor by name and they welcome her soft, smiley face; wasn't a notebook — she chooses journals one-of-a-kind, leather-bound, with printed fore-edges on pastel pages, growing glowers and vines; wasn't a sweets box — candies no Irish store can match in their taste, the songs we spun on air and echo of our side-splitting laughs; wasn't fragrant mead — Piastowsky or Kurpiowksy drinking honey I can't get in Dublin for love or money, so she packed it in her luggage for me in Lodz duty free. This year her present was a brown bottle of Lugol iodine — to swallow when the heavy air wears a radiation halo at the edge of nuclear war. Reprinted courtesy of Arlen House This week's poem is from the newly published anthology of Irish women's poetry, Washing Windows V. The anthology's series title has a significant founding story. The poet Eavan Boland, a major supporter of women's talent, was told by a gifted writer in her workshop that she didn't want her poems to be published. It was because if her neighbours knew she was a poet they'd think she never washed her windows. I hope she and her neighbours since changed their minds. The current collection celebrates the 50th anniversary of Arlen House, Ireland's first feminist press, with new, unpublished poems by more than 300 poets from Ireland and beyond. Many names will be familiar to readers, among them, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Medbh McGuckian, Sinéad Morrissey, Rita Ann Higgins, Kerry Hardie and, an unexpected pleasure, Edna O'Brien. The so-far less familiar, younger generations of writers are well-represented: they include Victoria Melkovska, a poet and journalist, born in Ukraine in 1977 and resident in Ireland since 2003. It's clear from the self-assured informality of tone in This Year Her Present that the writer knows her readers well and effortlessly shares their verbal idioms. Her list of presents from home is cleverly organised by means of a title that functions as a first line, leading to an unexpected negative, 'wasn't'. 'Wasn't' is the key that opens in each quatrain a treasury of earlier gifts from a female relative or friend, based elsewhere, possibly in Kyiv, but persistently 'present'. The gifts transport a shared cultural identity, while the donor remains un-named. Obliquely, Melkovska's poem functions as a 'thank you' letter, while being at the same time an entrusting proclamation of her own identity to the wider audience looking over her shoulder. The first present evoked leads to an image of overstocked 'sagging bookshelves' – the kind most of us can relate to – inexpensive, ad hoc, not the comfortably rooted bookshelves of long-established library owners. Suggesting a combined love of books and lack of privilege as common denominator, the phrase may help attune readerly sympathies. Elsewhere, the unique preciousness of home is asserted, sometimes through flavoursome gifts of food and drink that might locally be thought exotic, and can't be obtained 'for love or money'. A 'vintage' postcard brings the sender's face into sudden friendly perspective: more mysterious is the 'one-of-a-kind' notebook or journal, with its 'printed fore-edges / on pastel pages', designed to reveal glimmers of pattern or picture as you fan the leaves. Melkovska doesn't tell us directly if painful reminders are carried by the gifts. Each of them, whether a dress or notebook, is welcome and life-enhancing: a talisman. Melkovska's stanza-structure is generally cohesive, but there's an exception in stanza five: '[This year her present] wasn't a sweets box …' 'Sweets box' is refreshingly un-idiomatic, and it allows the expansion of the idea that the word 'sweets' has a Shakespearean dimension (as in Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 1, 'Sweets for the sweet …'). For Melkovska, too, the sweets are not mere confectionery: they contain 'the songs we spun on air / and echo of our side-splitting laughs'. This meeting of the giver and the recipient might have been face-to-face, although 'on air' could suggest virtual or radiophonic contact. Of course, 'spun on air' also evokes 'spun sugar' and other kinds of aeration, literal and metaphorical. In any event, there's no doubt of the happy reciprocity of sweets shared between speaker and present-sender. After the sensuously delicious verbal evocations of Polish 'honey mead' in the sixth stanza, the final awaited revelation is particularly stark: 'This year her present was / a bottle of Lugol iodine'. The poem might have ended there, with a potent silence and, perhaps, a footnote explaining the purpose of the iodine. Melkovska chooses to follow her structural template, to seek images of the unthinkable, and the name of the unnameable. Besides the 'heavy air', she conjures the light of the radio halo in the newly sinister form of a 'radiation halo'. In the context, the reference to 'the edge of nuclear war' reminds us there is an edge that politicians, even the worst of them, might draw back from, but that there is no end to the potentiality of such a war when narcissism habitually attracts them to that edge. It's a reminder, too, that no national borders, no kinds of edge, are observed by radiation. Victoria Melkovska's first collection For the Birds was published in 2023. You can enjoy a short reading by the poet here.
The Sun
14-06-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
Unemployed former Arsenal star shows off his skills as he takes up shock new sport to play against NATO SOLDIERS
LUKASZ FABIANSKI has shown off his skills in a shock new sport following his West Ham release. The former Arsenal goalkeeper has left the Hammers after seven years with his contract set to expire. 5 5 5 Fabianski, 40, was a firm fan favourite at the London Stadium, having made 195 Premier League appearances for the club. He is keeping himself active while unemployed and has taken up BASKETBALL. The Polish star has signed up to play for Gortat Team in a charity match against a team made up of NATO SOLDIERS. The match took place to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Poland 's accession to the North Atlantic Alliance. Fabianski could be seen hitting the court, dribbling and shooting the ball. He was not the only famous footballer to be included in the team either. Former Borussia Dortmund and Poland international Jakub Błaszczykowski was also pictured lining up with Fabianski. It was a successful night for Fabianski and Co as his side ran out 67-64 winners at the Atlas Arena in Lodz, Poland. JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS Fabianski has previously spoken about his love of the American sport and revealed how he got into it. He said: "I played basketball in primary school, and when Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were winning NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls my interest grew in the sport. West Ham star Michail Antonio shares footage of himself learning to walk again after escaping death in horror crash "I started to follow basketball and wanted to be one of them. Playing basketball from an early age with my brothers (Bartek and Arek) has definitely helped me in certain aspects of my football career. "For a basketball player footwork is very important and also your handling, while the physical training you have to do in basketball is very similar to that of a footballer. 'I've played since then, and I've followed the NBA closely. When I get the chance to shoot some hoops I do it!" Meanwhile, Fabianski has already rejected a move back to Poland after an offer from Legia Warsaw. Club sporting director Michal Zewkalow revealed that the veteran stopper wants to stay in England. He told Sport: 'Lukasz called back two days after my call. 'He said clearly that he is not coming back to Poland. 'For private reasons, he wants to stay in England for a few more years.' Fabianski played for Arsenal between 2007 and 2014 but only made 32 appearances in the Premier League for the club. He was never able to pin down the No.1 spot while at the Emirates but proved himself a top goalkeeper at his next club, Swansea City. The former Polish international spent four years in Wales before joining West Ham following the Swans' relegation to the Championship in 2018. 5 5
The Sun
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Huge pop star forced to cancel FOUR shows after falling ill after UK stint of tour
KYLIE Mingoue has been forced to cancel four of her upcoming shows after falling ill. The singer, 56, shared her upset today as she was due to start playing in Europe, following her gigs in the UK. 1 Kylie has been struck down with laryngitis and is now on voice rest. She told her fans this evening: 'Hi Lovers, as some of you may know, a week ago we finished the UK leg of the Tension Tour. I made it over the finish line (yay) but unfortunately have succumbed to a viral infection (Hello laryngitis) 'I've tried my best to recover fast to start our next run on Monday but I'm afraid it will take me some days to be well enough to get back on stage and perform the best for you.' She added: 'I'm so, SO sorry! I have no choice but to postpone the shows in Berlin, Lodz, Kaunas and Tallinn as scheduled. 'Please keep hold of your tickets, we're doing our very best to reschedule the dates and will update you very soon on that. 'Thank you for understanding - you know I love you all. And I LOVE THIS SHOW! And I'll miss you next week, and I can't wait to see you all. Love Kylie xx'
Daily Mail
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Kylie Minogue is forced to CANCEL four concerts due to illness after completing the UK leg of her Tension Tour
has been forced to cancel four upcoming concerts during her Tension Tour due to illness. The singer, 56, kicked off her highly anticipated tour in Perth, Australia, in February, making it her first tour since her 2019 Golden Tour and her biggest since 2011. But after completing the UK leg of her tour this week, she has had to cancel shows in Berlin, Lodz, Kaunas and Tallinn, after being diagnosed with laryngitis. Kylie wrote on Instagram: 'Hi Lovers, as some of you may know, a week ago we finished the UK leg of the Tension Tour. I made it over the finish line (yay) but unfortunately have succumbed to a viral infection (Hello laryngitis) 'I've tried my best to recover fast to start our next run on Monday but I'm afraid it will take me some days to be well enough to get back on stage and perform the best for you.' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the Daily Mail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The singer, 56, kicked off her highly anticipated tour in Perth, Australia, in February, making her first tour since her 2019 Golden Tour and her biggest since 2011 Laryngitis is inflammation of the larynx (voice box), often leading to a hoarse voice or loss of voice. It's usually caused by a viral infection, vocal strain, or irritation of the vocal cords. She added: 'I'm so, SO sorry! I have no choice but to postpone the shows in Berlin, Lodz, Kaunas and Tallinn as scheduled. 'Please keep hold of your tickets, we're doing our very best to reschedule the dates and will update you very soon on that. 'Thank you for understanding - you know I love you all. And I LOVE THIS SHOW! And I'll miss you next week, and I can't wait to see you all. Love Kylie xx' Kylie's Tension Tour is split into five acts with the star kicking things off with her 2024 single Lights Camera Action before going into other hits like In Your Eyes, Get Outta My Way and Spinning Around. Later in the show, Kylie performed some of her earlier hits including Better The Devil You Know and The Locomotion. The final act features some of her most-loved hits including Padam Padam, Can't Get You Outta My Head and All The Lovers before an encore featuring Tension and Love At First Sight. The star is the highest-selling Australian female artist of all time and the third best-selling in the UK, but has only now begun to make a name for herself in the US following the success of her viral 2023 hit Padam Padam. However, her record label revealed in 2023 the singer now has her eyes firmly set on cracking the US market. Padam Padam and follow-up album Tension helped turn her fortunes around in America and landed her a Grammy, a second number one on the US Billboard's Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart and a Las Vegas residency. Speaking about her lack of success in the US Kylie said in 2022 she had 'resigned myself to the fact that America wouldn't be like the rest of the world for me. 'I'm anonymous there — which, I must confess, I kind of like.' As well as telling The Express in 2009: 'It doesn't frustrate me [not cracking America]... frustrating being asked about it, the assumption it's something really missing in my career and life.' 'My time is spent more throughout Europe... the U.S.A. has remained at arm's length.' While discussing her plans to crack America Jamie Nelson, SVP of U.K. Recordings at Minogue's label BMG, confirmed to Variety in 2023 the label were 'confident' Padam Padam would do well. 'It's now flipping into an area that's unprecedented,' he said, crediting TikTok and social media for the song's viral success.
