It's Carnival! Nardini Cocktails at PalazzinaG

Cat Bauer sipping a Nardini Mandorla Sour at PalazzinaG
Photo: Marina Breeze

(Venice, Italy) I finally have a cocktail! It's called a Mandorla Sour, and it's made with Nardini Mandorla grappa. It tastes like almonds and cherries, two of my favorite flavors. It is divine. 

Meredith O'Shaughnessy
of Meredith Bespoke

Normally, I don't drink hard alcohol because it goes straight to my head, although I can consume plenty of red wine without a problem:) So when Meredith O'Shaughnessy of Meredith Bespoke, the luxury events organizer, offered me a cocktail at the PalazzinaG carnival party last Friday night, I initially refused and asked for red wine. The next night, I was more daring, and decided to try the Nardini Mandorla Sour cocktail, mostly because it was made with grappa, and grappa comes from grapes -- plus it had other ingredients; I am such a wimp that I have a hard time even drinking grappa straight. I took a sip, and proclaimed, "It's fantastic! I love it! I am going to sincerely write about it because I sincerely love it!" In fact, I ended up having two.

Grappa is an everyday drink here in Italy, but many people in other parts of the world have never experienced it. From Wikipedia:

Grappa is made by distilling the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems (i.e., the pomace) left over from winemaking after pressing the grapes. It was originally made to prevent waste by using these leftovers. A similar drink, known as acquavite d'uva, is made by distilling whole must.

Grappa is now a protected name in the European Union. To be called grappa, the following criteria must be met:

• (1) Produced in Italy, or in the Italian part of Switzerland, or in San Marino
• (2) Produced from pomace
• (3) Fermentation and distillation must occur on the pomace—no added water

So, you can see that the production of grappa and acquavite is strictly controlled here in Italy. Add the name Nardini to that, and you get one of the finest beverages you can drink. (Nardini is a distiller who does not use stems in their pomace.)

Bortolo Nardini founded Acquavite Nardini back in 1779 in Bassano del Grappa, where grappa itself was invented. He bought an inn at the entrance of the famous Ponte Vecchio, the covered wooden bridge on the River Brenta, which was designed by the renowned architect Andrea Palladio in 1569. From the Nardini website:

 

 

Nardini is also a member of Les Hénokiens, an international group of family-owned companies that are at least 200 years old. Here is an excerpt from a December 16, 2004 article in The Economist entitled The World's Oldest Companies - The Business of Survival - What is the Secret of Corporate Longevity:

Antonio Nardini
Photo: Marina Breeze

ACCORDING to the book of Genesis, Enoch (or Henok), son of Cain and father of Methuselah, walked the Earth for 365 years and then ascended to heaven without dying. Inspired by this feat, a club was formed in France in 1981 that took his name. Les Hénokiens is a fraternity of companies that are at least 200 years old, have stayed in the control of one family throughout, are financially healthy, “modern” and are still run by a family member.

Each year representatives of the 33 member companies, from seven countries, gather for three days of fun and discussion. This year's host was Ditta Bortolo Nardini, an Italian grappa distillery founded in 1779. 

To me, it was fitting that I should discover a cocktail made by Nardini, Italy's oldest distillery, during Carnevale, one of Venice's most ancient celebrations, at PalazzinaG, a hotel that transports the magic of past centuries into a contemporary setting. Here are some more photos:

Nardini Mandorla Sours are Poured
Photo: Marina Breeze

Angeline & Brad - NOT!
Photo: Cat Bauer

Dancers in Masquerade
Photo: Marina Breeze

Group at PalazzinaG Bar
Photo: Marina Breeze

Sharla Ault - Nardini rep
Photo: Marina Breeze

Cat Bauer wears mask by La Bottega dei Mascareri
Photo: Marina Breeze

Jewellery by Gems of Venice

Masks by La Bottega dei Mascareri

Go to Acquavite Nardini

Go to PalazzinaG

Ciao from Venice,

Cat

Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog

Too Much Fun! 3rd Venice International Carnival for Kids

La Biennale di Venezia 3rd International Kid's Carnival

(Venice, Italy) Tales and Thoughts, the third Venice International Carnival for Kids, blasted off on Saturday, February 11, 2012. Inside La Biennale's Central Pavilion down at Giardini, the opening ceremony was filled with youth and the young at heart, cheering, hooting and whooping it up. People were hanging from the bleachers, listening to La Biennale President Paolo Baratta's remarks. From the program:

The theme of Tales and Thoughts engages the imagination and encourages thinking. It's a Carnival! Yet with an ambition: to stimulate the imagination and the joy of creation while having fun. This is another step towards the construction of a great meeting place for projects and energies that in various parts of the world -- inside and outside the school system -- are dedicated to the very particular goal of enriching the education of the coming generations with their direct creative commitment.


This project is part of the Educational activities of La Biennale, activities that are meant to develop in young people a direct knowledge and experience of art, and more generally, of the world of artistic creation.

The Central Pavilion overflowed with enthusiasm, that joyful energy that brings people to life, as Baratta introduced the participating schools, nations and organizations. After the ceremony, the Arsenale della Danza Playground Bollywood performed the colorful "Bombay Express" conceived by Ishmael Ivo, the artistic director of the Dance Biennale. The audience was riveted as the young dancers put on a high-energy show. A man standing next to me asked, "Who are those dancers? Are they Italians?" I said, "They are international. They are students from all over the world who are part of the Arsenale della Danza."

The Arsenale della Danza is now in its fourth edition, and this year's dancers are off to a dynamic start. I've often written about the company. Click the link below to read more from last year:

Othella Dallas & Ismael Ivo Hit Grand Slams out of the Park

After the performance, the audience wandered through the Central Pavilion and got down to the business of creating, stopping along the way to enjoy a lasagne lunch, complete with beverages, all for free. If you missed the previous Venetian Cat - Venice Blog giving more details, you can read that here. As you can see, I have gotten my hands on a camera. Here are some photos from the event:

WARM up-cycled Fashion
from the Stitchery Collective, Australia

Future Stars

ElettrizzARTE! - USA - Peggy Guggenheim Collection

Beasts & Superbeasts - Romania - Soap Art Kollectiv

Future Graffiti Artist

I didn't have the chance to visit the HURRAY FOR MUSIC! program created by the Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello of Venice, but I did hear the Conservatory play last evening at the Giorgio Cini Foundation -- it appears that the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory of Venice has been working very hard to bring music to our ears. 

In honor of the 129th anniversary of the death of Richard Wagner -- he died February 13, 1883 -- and in honor of the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the Richard Wagner Association of Venice, Maurizio Dini Ciacci conducted Siegfried-Idyll in mi maggiore WWV 103 (which Wagner dedicated to his wife, Cosima Liszt Wagner, in honor of her birthday) and Sinfonie in do maggiore WWV 29 to a packed house. The concert was in memory of Bruno Visentini, an anti-fascist Italian politician who reformed the tax system, as well as being President of the Giorgio Cini Foundation, who also died on February 13, 1995. That's a lot of memorials packed into one show!


Here's a romantic little anecdote from Wikipedia about the piece Wagner wrote for Cosima: 

On 25 December of that year (the day she usually celebrated her birthday, although it actually fell the day before), Cosima woke to the sound of music. She recorded the events in her diary:

"When I woke up I heard a sound, it grew ever louder, I could no longer imagine myself in a dream, music was sounding, and what music! After it had died away Richard came in to me with the five children and put into my hands the score of his "Symphonic Birthday Greeting." I was in tears, but so, too was the whole household; Richard had set up an orchestra on the stairs and thus consecrated our Tribschen forever! The Tribschen Idyll - thus the work is called!"^[23]

This was the memorable first performance of the chamber piece which was later renamed the Siegfried Idyll.

Click to go to the entire program of La Biennale di Venezia 3rd International Kids' Carnival, which has activities every day until Carnevale ends on Marti Gras, February 21, 2012.

Cat wearing new Vascellari Sunglasses

Ciao from Venice,
Cat
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog

Posh PalazzinaG Launches Carnival

(Venice, Italy)  Since its inauguration, the list of celebrities who have turned up and danced on the tables at PalazzinaG reads like a who's who of Vanity Fair cover stars. Madonna has taken to the decks, George Clooney has popped in, and couples Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie -- along with Johnny Deep and Vanessa Paradis -- have stayed in. Queen of New York nightlife, Amy Sacco, has hosted a series of legendary parties, James Franco threw a dinner and Al Pacino didn't want to leave...


That is from the press release sent over by the glam gals at Meredith Bespoke, the luxury events agency in London. PalazzinaG is not only one of my favorite hotels in Venice, but on the planet itself, so I am happy to let you know what they are up to during Carnevale. The renowned Philippe Starck designed PalazzinaG, mixing the contemporary with the ancient, the sensual with the cozy. Located on the Grand Canal right next to Palazzo Grassi, it will be The Place to Be during the opening Carnival weekend, so book now, especially if you want to sleep in -- there are only 16 rooms and six suite apartments. And the mirrors... the mirrors... the mirrors... the mirrors will take you right through the Looking Glass.

There will be a VIP masquerade opening party on Friday night at 11:00PM with cocktails mixed by Nardini Grappa, nominated as Harrod's February 2012 "Spirit of the Month." Entrance is 35 euros, including one cocktail; tables are 600 euros and includes two bottles of Krug or spirits. 


On Saturday night at 8:00PM, it's the Veuve Clicquot Gala, the champagne of nobility, with a five-course decadent dinner and luxurious libations at 250 euros per person. The VIP Masquerade Afterparty featuring international DJ Anthony Scott-Lee kicks off at 11:30PM. Entrance is 35 euros; tables start at 600 euros.


For all events the dress is code is impulsive elegance and deconstructed glamor. Now, doesn't that sound delicious? Reservations are essential. The full invitation is below.


Hotel PalazzinaG, San Marco 3247, 30124 Venezia - ITALY
Telephone: +39 0415284644
Website: www.palazzinag.com
Email: reservations@palazzinag.com

Ciao from Venice,
Cat
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog

La Biennale's 3rd Venice International Carnival for Kids

(Venice, Italy) Children of Other Lands was the first book I ever wrote at age six. It was inspired by a deck of playing cards I had been given, embellished with images of children from all over the world in their native dress. It was a non-fiction book, complete with illustrations, well-researched, very thick -- about ten pages -- and cost five cents. 

Even at age six, to me, writing was a business, although I have no idea how I arrived at that concept since there were no writers in my middle-class/working-class childhood world. I organized a neighborhood book sale. An older girl named Cookie who lived down the block scribbled a couple of pages, stuck two lollipops on the cover, and charged six cents. Everybody wanted her book and nobody wanted mine. It was my first lesson in marketing.

I have always been fascinated by foreign lands -- perhaps because of that deck of playing cards -- which is one of the reasons I live in Venice. Another is La Biennale, an organization that is a hub of international creative activity. 

One of the newer activities of the Venice Biennale is the Carnevale Internazionale dei Ragazzi, or The Venice International Carnival for Kids, and if you are planning to come to Venice for Carnevale this year with your munchkins, you have got to go. This is what I wrote about it last year in a post entitled:

OTTOCENTO - From Senso to Sissi - The City of Women - Venice Carnival 2011

Photo La Biennale

For the second year, La Biennale presents Carnevale dei ragazzi, or the Kid's Carnival down at Giardini. Unfortunately, I went with a dog, not a kid, who was not allowed inside, so I didn't spend as much time as I would have liked. 

I loved it! The kids were creating things the old-fashioned way -- with their own hands -- just like real children, and they seemed perfectly content not to have a computer in front of them. Different rooms inside the Italian pavilion with names like "The enchanted forest" "The prarie of sounds" "The painted desert" "The city of visions" "The fluorescent depths" were bursting with creative activities and plenty of kids intent on the act of creation.  

The principle: "having fun by creating." Remember that? Remember how you could spend hours simply with some crayons, or some mud? 

As well as visitors to Venice, schools from all over the Veneto arrived. Paolo Baretta, the President of La Biennaleg, wrote: "I would like to thank the teachers of all the schools at every grade and level, from Venice and the Veneto region, our intelligent ambassadors and precious partners. I would like to thank the parents who will accompany their children, and those will allow themselves to be accompanied by their children." This year's edition was the first time there was international participation, with Austria, Great Britain, Holland and Poland contributing to the fun.

The theme of this year's Carnevale is La Vita è Teatro. Tutti in Maschera, which sort of translates to Life is Theater. Everybody Wears a Mask. The official program says the preview starts today, February 4, 2012, although there are just a handful of things gearing up. 

The fountain is spewing wine in Piazza San Marco, and there are some costumed revellers posing for photos. Everyone is primed for next weekend and for the official opening, which will be Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 11:00AM in Piazza San Marco. Fat Tuesday, the last day of Carnival is February 21, 2012. Click for the official program at Venezia Marketing & Eventi.

Photo La Biennale

The theme of this year's Venice International Carnival for Kids is Favole e Pensieri, or Tales and Thoughts, and will run from February 11 to February 21, 2012, every day from 10:00AM to 6:00PM with workshops and activities galore. 

In addition, on February 11 and 18, Playground Bollywood! will feature Indian dance workshops and performances conceived by La Biennale Dance Director Ishmael Ivo with the 25 young dancers from the Arsenale della Danza. The Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello in Venice will present musical activities in their workshops Hurray for Music! UNICEF Italia will address childrens' rights with games and activities in their workshops Hurray for Children!

The Kid’s Carnival is growing ever more international with the participation of the "Magnificent 7"countries:

Photo: Stitchery Collective

1. Australia. WARM  - Thanks to Skype, Kathleen Cattoni from the Stitchery Collective in Brisbane, Australia spoke at the press conference yesterday, even though she was on the opposite side of the world. The Stitchery Collective "connects the unlikely bedfellows of fashion and social welfare," and will be at the Kid's Carnival from February 11 to the 15th. 

“The stitchery will be running ‘WARM’ t-shirt upcycling workshops, where with our pint-sized helpers we will transform the pre-loved T-shirts of Brisbane into much-loved custom-made beanies, scarves and ponchos for our chilly European friends."  Click to go to The Stitchery Collective blog. Initiative organized by The Collective Stitchery, with the support of Arts Queensland and the Australia Council for the Arts.

Central Pavilion from 11 to 15 February

2.  Great Britain - STORYTELLING - A family workshop to show parents how to help their children learn a foreign language (English, no doubt:) through storytelling. Conducted by an English native-language teacher, assisted by a member of the Biennale staff. February 11 and 12. Initiative made possible by the support of the British Council Italia.

Central Pavilion 11 and 12 February.

3.  Germany - THE TALES OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM - MASK AND COSTUME WORKSHOP - Two hundred years ago, in 1812, the Brothers Grimm published their first collection of fairy tales, which I read to the point of obsession when I was a kid. Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Rumpelstiltskin -- they all come from the Brothers Grimm. Two set designers from Munich are going to head the workshop, which will open the door to "fairies, witches and fairytale characters" so the kids can create their own Carnival costumes. The German contribution is a project by the Embassy of Germany in Rome and the German Centre for Venetian Studies, with the support of the Goethe Institut.

Central Pavilion from 12 to 14 February.

Photo at Soap Art

4.  Romania - BEASTS AND SUPER BEASTS - Soap Art Kollectiv (Raluca Arnautu and Suzana Dan) create stuffed animals inspired by fairy tales of their own creation. Animal Stories! will bring the imaginary Romanian beasts to life. The exhibition and workshops are organized by the Romanian Institute of Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice, with the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Bucarest, and in collaboration with the Anaid Art Gallery, Global Mindscape and with Australians Studying Abroad (Melbourne).

Central Pavilion every day.

5.  United States - ElettrizzARTE! - Artists who work with light - neon, lasers, LEDS, optical fibers and xenon projections -- are the focus of this workshop where the kids will get to play with light and lighting devices. The programme by the United States of America was made possible by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.

Central Pavilion 11, 12, 18, 19,21 February.

6. Netherlands - DANCING IN RIETVELT'S PAVILION - Tweetakt is Holland's international theater and art festival for people who are not grownups. You'll get to create your own show, mix your own music and make your own animated flipbook. The programme at the Dutch Pavilion has been made possible by the contribution of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Italy, the City of Utrecht, the Province of Utrecht, the Treaty of Utrecht Foundation, and in collaboration with the Rietveldpaviljoen Foundation.

Netherlands pavilion every day

7. Belgium - ABC TOY WORKSHOP - ABC House (Art Basics for Children) is a new creativity center in Brussels. They will lead the way in making toys out of everyday and recycled materials. An initiative organized by ABC – ART BASICS for CHILDREN, a non-profit organization based in Brussels which operates in the field of arts and education to create stimulating environments and projects that encourage children and adults of all ages to experiment with their imagination and explore their creative potential.

Belgium Pavilion every day

Everything is free. Can you imagine? All that fun and creativity for free. Who knows what wonderful memories the kids will have from such an event, and what kind of future projects it might inspire. There will even be a spaghetti lunch at 1:00PM after the inauguration at 11:30 on Saturday, February 11, 2012. 

Head down to Giardini where all the action will take place. Click for more information at La Biennale website. 

Ciao from Venice,
Cat
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog

Lou Salomé at La Fenice and Il Giorno della Memoria

Photo: Michele Crosera for La Fenice

(Venice, Italy) In a post entitled Don Giovanni and the Man of Stone, I wrote the following sentence on October 6, 2010:

Or, perhaps, someone should make an opera out of the life of Lou Andreas-Salomé, novelist, poet, and psychoanalyst, friend to Freud and mistress to both Rainer Maria Rilke and Friedrich Nietzsche, and someone who could teach Don Giovanni a thing or two.

Angeles Blancas Gulin as Lou Salomé

Obviously, at the time I wrote that, I had no idea that, in fact, someone had written an opera about Lou Andreas-Salomé -- and that someone was a Venetian, no less! I can just imagine the amusement the above sentence must have provoked for those in-the-know, especially since I had written a somewhat forceful critique of what I thought was wrong with the Don Giovanni and the Man of Stone production.

Not only that, but Giuseppe Sinopoli, the composer of the opera Lou Salomé, studied music at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory here in Venice, the very venue where Don Giovanni and the Man of Stone was performed. The Lou Salomé production at La Fenice was an impressive touché, and I am chuckling as I write this. 

Giuseppe Sinopoli was born on the Day of the Dead, November 2, 1946 in Venice. He died, spectacularly, of a heart attack on April 20, 2001 at the age of 54 while on stage at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, conducting Verdi's Aida -- the same opera with which he made his debut in Venice in 1978. In addition to being a composer and conductor, he had a degree in medicine, wrote books, and was just about to receive his Laurea in Archeology.

From Wikipedia:

Giuseppe Sinopoli

On 20 April 2001, Sinopoli died of a heart attack while conducting Giuseppe Verdi's Aida at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. The performance was dedicated to the memory of the company's late chief director, Goetz Friedrich.

Two nights later, Marcello Viotti stepped in to direct Aida, and dedicated his performance to Sinopoli's memory. His funeral in Rome on 23 April was attended by the Italian President and Prime Minister, as well as a large contingent from La Scala. He was survived by his wife Silvia and two sons....

Every October since 2005, Taormina Arte has dedicated a festival to Giuseppe Sinopoli, the artistic director of the Music section of the Taormina Festival from 1989 to 1997. The Giuseppe Sinopoli Festival does not only celebrate the man as a musician and as a conductor but also as a composer, a doctor, an archaeologist and intellectual, with a variety of events from music and literature, theatre and art to conferences, exhibitions, publications and, of course, concerts.

Now that I have seen the opera, it seems obvious that someone who was raised in Venice would find the subject matter of Lou Salomé fascinating enough to create an opera based on her life. There is an intellectualism particular to Venice, which other parts of the world might find difficult to relate to. In fact, Sinopoli's obituary in the British newspaper, The Guardian, highlights just that unique quality -- although David Nice, the author, describes it as "Italian." Sinopoli was the principal conductor for the Philharmonic Orchestra in London from 1984 to 1994.

His compositions, like his later conducting, combined structural rigour with sensuous textures. Yet few of them have been heard in this country; and after the 1981 Munich premiere of his opera Lou Salome, taking as its protagonist the far-from-bluestocking colleague and muse of Nietzsche and Freud, composing took a back seat to conducting.

The players, of course, remained baffled by Sinopoli's peculiarly Italian brand of intellectualism; London musicians never like too much talk, let alone an analytic seminar on the work in question. The Philharmonia relationship, buckling under the weight of the critical opprobrium, nearly came to an end in early 1990; but Sinopoli stayed on in his ennobled capacity as music director until 1994. There was too much at stake - the ever-fruitful contract with Deutsche Grammophon and tours to countries such as Japan and Germany, which idolised the maestro as Britain never did.

Photo: Michele Crosera for La Fenice

For Lou Salomé, the current opera, helmed by the German conductor, Lothar Zagrosek, the interior of Teatro La Fenice had been utterly transformed, turned into a theatre in-the-round thanks to the Faculty of Design and Art at IUAV di Venezia (Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia), which was responsible for the set, direction, lights and costumes. A tree was in the center of the theater; a sofa and desk on stage, surrounded by tumbling books. A small section of the audience was seated on the stage itself. Performers entered and exited from various locations, most interestingly, from one of the lower theater boxes.

The opera was in German with Italian subtitles, which were projected behind the orchestra, who were seated onstage -- which sometimes made it difficult to view the action in the center and the words at the same time, but that is a minor quibble. The performers were excellent; the lighting superb; when La Fenice started burning, the theater boxes slowly consumed in flame, up, up, up towards the ceiling... there was a silent gasp... even though it was a lighting trick, it brought back too many familiar memories of when La Fenice had really burned to the ground on January 29, 1996, sixteen years ago. 

Salomé, Reé & Nietzche

Lou Salomé, the opera, brought to life the Russian psychoanalyst and author, Lou Salomé, (played by Angeles Blancas Gulin), her younger self (Georgia Stahl) and a few of her distinguished lovers and companions. Salomé was born on February 12, 1861, the only daughter of a Russian army officer in a family with five additional male offspring, who grew up to be a true independent woman and original thinker. She died on February 5, 1937.

Her circle included the renowned German philosopher Friedrich Nietzche (1844-1900) (played by Claudio Puglisi); the German writer, Malwida von Meyensbug (1816-1903) (played by Julie Mellor), friend of Nietzche and Wagner; the German author and philosopher, Paul Kleé (1849-1901) (played by Gian Luca Pasolini), also a friend of Nietzche, who would become part of a ménage à trois; the renowned Bohemian-Austrian poet, Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926); and the professor Friedrich C. Andreas, whom she married with the understanding that theirs would be a platonic relationship. Salomé also had an impact on Sigmund Freud, and we all know who he was. 

To me, the opera was about a daring, intelligent woman, daughter of a General, who came together with group of profound thinkers before, during, and after great European wars -- World War I: 1914-1918 and World War II: 1939-1945 -- wars of destruction that the United States has not experienced on its own soil for a very long time. Salomé was 52-years-old when World War I broke out; she died a week before her 76th birthday, two years before World War II officially began. 

From Wikipedia:

A few days before her death the Gestapo confiscated her library (according to other sources it was an SA group who destroyed the library, and shortly after her death). The pretense for this confiscation: she had been a colleague of Sigmund Freud's, had practiced "Jewish science," and had many books by Jewish authors in her library.

What was the SA? They sound a bit like today's "Special Forces." Again, from Wikipedia: 

The Sturmabteilung (SA) English: Storm Detachment; or English: Stormtroopers) functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (or Nazi Party). It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. SA men were often called "brownshirts" for the colour of their uniforms (similar to Benito Mussolini's blackshirts).

Giuseppe Sinopoli's opera about Lou Salomé, to me, could only have been written by a European intellectual, and it needed a Venetian intellectual in particular to do it justice. It made me aware, once again, what a rich cultural texture is missing from the United States of America. Those great minds, all together, at the same time... loving each other, having sex with each other... operatic material... 

Lou Salomé played to packed houses here in Venice all last week, the week of the Giorno della Memoria. On January 27, 1945, the Russians liberated the survivors of Auschwitz. Later, the Americans, too, liberated more death camps. General Eisenhower and General Patton (remember when we used to have real generals?) ordered that as much as possible be documented so we would never forget what horrors human beings are capable of.  

Here is an especially poignant tale from Jewish Life entitled, 'It Was Skin and Bones: Soldiers Remember Auschwitz by Heather Robinson:

Anatoly Shapiro, 92, has never forgotten what he saw at Auschwitz on Jan. 27, 1945. That was the day Shapiro, who says he is the first Russian officer to enter the infamous concentration camp, led his battalion to liberate it.

In an interview Saturday in his apartment in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, where he sits alongside his wife, Vita, his tall, thin form is upright and his eyes are clear as he describes, through a translator, the things he says he still sees in nightmares 60 years later.

"We saw German soldiers, and when we opened the gate, we saw one barrack, then the next, on and on for a hundred barracks," he recalled.

"When I saw the people, it was skin and bones. They had no shoes, and it was freezing. They couldn't even turn their heads, they stood like dead people."

"I told them, 'The Russian army liberates you!' They couldn't understand. Some few who could touched our arms and said, 'Is it true? Is it real?'"

I predict that Hollywood will soon get their hands on this woman, Lou Salomé, though if the film industry in Italy were clever, they would do it first. 

Never forget. Or they will soon be back. 

Ciao from Venice,
Cat
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog