CORSICA/AJACCIO: CASA BUONAPARTE

Some year ago I made an attempt to pay a visit to Ajaccio aiming at a study of the house called “ Casa Buonaparte “.I failed due to transport problems on the island of Corsica. A new attempt to see the house was done some weeks ago. This time I made it. I found the house but again I had problems. The house was closed. I came too late. Anyway I spent some hours walking in the streets of Ajaccio waiting for the opening of the Museum of Napoleon. He was born in Ajaccio on August 15, 1769. The ancestors of Napoleon descended from Italian nobility of Tuscan origin. Napoleon was born in “ Casa Buonaparte “. When he was 27 years of age Napoleon changed his name from “ Napoleon di Buonaparte” to “ Napoleon Bonaparte”. The year was 1796.

When he was 9 year of age Napoleon enrolled at a religious school in Auton in 1779. Later on he was transferred to a military academy at Brienne-le- Chateau. In 1784 he was admitted to Ecole Militaire in Paris. Napoleon was the first Corsican to graduate from Ecole Militaire.

Even if he spoke both Italian and Corscian fluently, he learned French too . Anyway he never learned to spell French correctly.

The Museum of Napoleon was interesting. The house has a history to be told. But watch up for the opening hours when you go to the house. So far some facts about the man who later on became the Emperor of France.

AJACCIO: HISTORY ON THE WALLS –THE ISLAND OF CORSICA

Jean-Toussiant  Desanti

When I passed an ordinary house in the city of Ajaccio, Corsica, a week ago I had no information about the man who had lived here. No. But I am interested in Wall history, so to speak. Information that has been put on the walls making you understand the importance of the house, the history and the persons who had lived in the house are information of interest. A site might be evaluated with reference to persons who had stayed on the site a long time ago.  Frankly speaking, I went to Ajaccio to visit the house where the famous French officer and The Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte had lived. But I passed a house where the French educator, writer and philosopher Jean- Toussaint Desanti  had lived. I took a photo of the house even if I did not know about the man who had stayed in the house. But I got information later on about him.

Jean- Toussaint Desanti was born in 1914 and he died in 2002. He wrote books. He taught philosophy at the Ecole Normanle Superieure in Paris, at the Lycee Lakanal, at Ecole normale superieure de Saint-Cloud and at Sorbonne. Above all: He was a member of the French Resistance movement during the Second World War associated with Jean-Paul Sartre and Andre Malraux. In 1943 he joined the French Communist Party. He left the party in 1956.

He had studied both the philosophy of mathematics and phenomenology. 

Selected works

-Les Idealities mathemathiques, Recherches epistemologiques sur le developpement de la theorie des  fonctions de variables reelles(1968)

-Phenomenologie et praxis ( 1962)

-La Philosophie silencieuse ou Critique des philosophies de la science(1975)

-Reflexions sur le temps(1982)

-Philosophie, un reve de flambeur, conversations avec Dominique-Antoine Grisoni

-La liberte nous aime encore with Dominique Desanti and Roger-Pol Droit(2001)

I passed his house in the city of Ajaccio, Corsica, about  week ago, took a photo of the house and later on I studied the history of the man.

AN OLD AND FORGOTTEN HISTORICAL MOVIE: THE BATTLE OF SUTJESKA- MISSING FACTS, FICTION AND REALITY

THE AIM

Historical movies dealing with both fiction and reality about events reported in books and papers have paid my attentions for some years. Recently I bought an interesting book about movies made in Hollywood.  The aim of the book is to reveal what was the facts about the events described in the movies and what was fiction only. The title of the book is: “ Hollywood historier. Virkelighetens Hollywood. De sanne historiene bak storfilmene.”  (Eng.title: The stories of Hollywood. The true story of Hollywood and the true story of the great movies).

THE BATTLE OF SUTJESKA or THE FIFTH OFFENSIVE   

 

The research work to be done was to view the film again and again making notes of different actors, events, use of aircrafts and making a description of the content. The story of the film is the story of the famous battle of Sutjeska in Yugoslavia during the Second World War. The Yugoslav Partisans are chaired by Marshal Josip Broz Tito. The Axis are chaired by General Alexander Løhr (1885-1947) and General Rudolf Luters.

The role of General Alexander Løhr is played by Anton Diffring and General Rudolf Luters is played  by Gunter Meisner. Josip Broz Titio is played by Richard Burton.

BACKGROUNG HISTORY

In 1941 Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis. King Peter II went in exile to England where he sat up a government. In Yugoslavia the resistance against the Axis was organized by the royalist Draza Mihailovic and also by groups supported by the communist party of Yugoslavia. Josip Broz Tito was the commander of the communist resistance movement. He was a professional communist revolutionary who had taken part in the Spanish Civil War. Winston S. Churchill was an anti communist all his life but he evaluated the standard of the military forces with reference to the fighting ability of the soldiers. Therefore he decided to support Marshal Tito in his fight in Yugoslavia.

OPERATION TYPICAL

Special Operative Executive(SOE)

The movie is dealing with the British military operation called “ Operation Typical “. The operation was launched in may 1943. The British General Headquarters in the Middle East was responsible for the support to the Partisans. The movie does not give you a correct description of the British military support to Tito. In the movie only four British soldiers are parachuted. The names of the soldiers are not correct either. The official report of the mission makes it clear that six soldiers are parachuted- not only four. The mission is important because it is the first British assigned to Yugoslav Partisans HQ and to Marshal Tito. The British soldiers were departed on May 27, 1943 from Derna in Libya and arrived at Crno Jezero in Montenegro . The names of the soldiers were: Col. William Deakin, Capt. William F. Stuart, Sgt. Walter Wroughton , Sgt. Peretz ‘ Rose’ Rosenberg, Canadian- Yugoslav Ivan (John) Starcevic and Sgt. John Campbell.

The names of the British soldiers in the movie are:

-Captain Stewart, Captain Dicken, Sgt. Throten and Sgt. Roys.

What happened to the British soldiers? Captain William F. Stuart was killed and Captain William Deakin was wounded after a German air attack. Marshal Tito was also wounded the same day when German aircrafts attacked the Partisans.

BRITISH MILITARY MISSIONS IN YUGOSLAVIA

The SOE launched about 22 military missions to Yugoslavia during the war. Even Randolph Churchill -the son of Winston S. Churchill- took part in the fighting in Yugoslavia. Apart from three missions most of the missions were launched by airborne. Submarines were used only three times.

THE BATTLE OF SUTSJESKA

The content of the movie is the dramatic fighting between the Partisans and the Axis. The German generals wanted to destroy the Partisans once and for all. The fighting is described in a very realist way. We believe in the story. The policy of the German generals was the killing of Partisans, all people who supported the resistance movement- children, men, women – all should be killed.The Axis rallied about 127.000 troops for the offensive including German, Italian, Independent  State of Croatia  and Bulgarian soldiers. About 300 airplanes were used. The Yugoslav National Libration Army had about 22.148 soldiers in 16 brigades. The offensive lasted from May 15 to June 16, 1943.

The German offensive was a failure. The Axis did not an end to the fight of the Partisans. The guerrilla fighting went on till the end of the war.

THE GERMAN AIRCRAFTS USED N THE MOVIE

The Partisans are attacked by German aircrafts many times. The aircrafts which are dropping bombs on the camps of the Partisans are not correct German aircrafts.The aircraft used is named, SOKO 522. The aircraft was made in Yugoslavia in 1955. A military trainer and light attack aircraft which has been used in different movies .The aircrafts used for observation and to transport of officers are correct German aircrafts. The name of the aircraft is FIESELER Fi 156 STORCH. A German liason aircraft.

THE DESCRIPTION OF MARSHAL TITO

Richard Burton is playing the role of Marshal Tito. We do not get much information about Tito during the battle. No information of his political background, education, family, or his private life. No.

CONCULSION

The film gives you a description of the fighting in a true way. We believe in the story. A closer picture of Tito is missing and also a closer picture of the German generals who chaired the battle is missing. About 2537 pro-Partisan civilians were executed by the Axis. The Partisans lost about 7543 soldiers in the battle. The total casualities of Axis were about 913 killed, 2467 wounded and 2132 missing .The Serbian National Library in Belgrade was also destroyed during the fight against the Partisans.

Photo from the movie: Actor Gunter Meisner(1926 - 1994) as General Rudolf Luters.

THE GODFATHER

My  colleague from Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation(NRK), Odd Karsten Tveit, has written a provocative book about the famous Norwegian politician and former Secretary-General of United Nations, Trygve Lie. The Norwegian title of the book is: “ Gudfaderen. Trygve Lie- Generalsekretæren som sviktet FN “  (English title: The Godfather. Trygve Lie – The Secretary-General who deserted UN).

Trygve Lie was a Norwegian politician, diplomat, lawyer and  a former foreign minister of the Norwegian government-in – exile in London during the Second World War. He was born in 1896 and died in 1968. Trygve Lie was a leading member of the Norwegian Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet).

The author has not written a biography of Trygve Lie. No. The aim of the book is to highlight the official establishment of the state of Israel and the personal contribution of Trygve Lie in support of the new state of Israel. The Secretary- General of United Nations is appointed to work with political conflicts worldwide besides the administrative work of the organization. Trygve Lie was the first appointed Secretary-General of United Nations ( 1946-1952). The author is an expert in issues about the military and political situation in the Middle East. The main goal of the author is to document the the desert or betrayal of Trygve Lie in connections with the work to set up the new state Israel. The Secretary- General is not in the position to favor any country who is in conflict with other countries. He has to act in a diplomatic way to settle the conflicts to avoid military actions and wars. The facts presented in the book by the author are facts collected and are not representing any personal opinion of the author himself.

Odd Karsten Tveit  made an official presentation of his book at the restaurant, LORRY, in Oslo. Journalists from the main newspapers of Norway, old colleagues from NRK ,journalists from  radio – and television departments from both TV2 and NRK  and his Facebook friends were invited. Critical questions were asked about the main aim of the book and about the content of the book. Odd Kartsen Tveit made a statement that he had no intention of writing a biography of Trygve Lie. He said also that the content of the book is a result of the collections of archival footage from TV, radio , state archives and information given him from private persons while he was writing the book. But he made it quite clear that the content of the book is limited to UN, Trygve Lie the making of the new state of Israel. The conclusion of his studies is that Trygve Lie betrayed UN in favor of one nation only: Israel. He regarded himself as “The Godfather” of Israel.

The official information about the fight between the Arabic countries and Israel are based on lies according to the author.The most aggressive country was Israel- not the Arabic countries. The political aim of the Zionists was to get hold of as much land as possible without any respect of UN statements and critics from different foreign countries. I recall that an old friend of mine while we were in high school disagreed with me when I defended the rights of Israel to attack countries that were preparing war against Israel. We heard very little about the Palestine refugees who had been forced to move from their homes to make a place for people in Israel. Take a look at some of the book I studies from time to time. Trygve Lie is hardly mentioned in the books.

COUNT FOLKE BERNADOTTE  ( 1895-1948)

The killing of the Swedish Count Folke Bernadotte was done by a militant Zionist group Lehi -  not by the Arab countries. He was chosen to be the Unites Nations Security Council mediator in the Arab-Israel conflict of 1947 -1948.To make peace between the Arab countries and Israel was a dangerous work. The Zionist group ,Lehi, did not like the opinions of the duke in the conflicts between the Arab countries and those who worked  for a new state Israel.

 But who was Folke Bernadotte? He was not an ordinary Swedish bureaucrat.No. He was a diplomat, a nobleman, former director of the Swedish Boy Scout Association (Sveriges scoutførbund), former chairman of the Swedish Red Cross and above all: He negotiated the release of about 31.000 prisoners from German concentration camps during the second World War. He had saved about 450 Danish Jews from Theresienstadt camp. He was not an officer or count only.

Conclusion

By reading the book about “The Godfather” you get an impression that the state of Israel is made by active military force, terror and a wish to dominate sites and places supported by USA and countries in Europe like Norway. The former Secretary- General of United Nations, Trygve Lie, was a good man for Israel as long as they needed him. Then another Norwegian was contacted for support of Israel: Haakon Lie. He did a good job for Israel too but he told them to make a change of the official policy of the occupied countries. No change was made.

KORITZINSKY: JEWISH-NORWEGIAN FAMILY HISTORY IN WAR AND PEACE

By Erik W. Koritzinsky

The author has studied the family history of Koritzinsky: A Polish Jewish family who emigrated to Sweden and later to Norway. Photos, documents and personal experience have been evaluated related to the story of family Koritzinsky. Besides, the author has made a personal report about the conditions of living for Jews after the Second World War in Norway. What was the main Jewish reason for not escaping to Sweden? Why did not his father escaped with his family when he knew how Germans treated Jews in Germany? An answer is given in the book, but his father died before he was moved to the concentration camp in Germany. Few believed that the Germans would imprison non Jewish members of a Jewish family. But in 1944 Vidkun Quisling made an official statement that members of any Jewish family were persons with bad qualifications. All the members of the family Koritzinsky could be moved to a concentration camp somewhere in Europe. But the family was lucky. The ships in the harbor of Oslo bound for Germany with unwanted Norwegians and Jews, were sunk by a Norwegian resistance group called: “ Pelle- Group”. The date for the sinking of the ships was November 23, 1944. Six ships were sunk. The leader of the saboteurs was Ragnar Solli. He was a communist and an active member of the communist resistance group called:” Osvald-Group”. The famous saboteur Asbjørn Sunde was the leader of the group. One of the members of the “ Pelle-Group” was Sverre Kokkin. Many years after the war, the author met Sverre Kokkin in France.

The family of Koritzinsky was not a poor family but rather wealthy. Even before the war the family had paid visits to France to see a relative who lived in “ Chateau Simone”. The contact and visit to the wine castle were popular after the war too. The author is debating about issues relating to being Jewish ,about anti-Semitism and the state of Israel. He is no dealing with different political issues relating to the present government of Israel . He is an advocate for the right of the existence of the state of Israel. But I think his brother Theo Koritzinsky and other members of the family might have a different point of view? The members of the family have a close and friendly attitude to each other even if they all differ in political matters.

I recommend reading the book because the author gives you an honest picture about his private life and a report about how to live in Norway after the war.

Erik W. Koritzinsky:

KORITZINSKY-Jewish-Norwegian Family History in War and Peace.

KOLON FORLAG AS .2018.

ANDRE MALRAUX: MALRAUX FACE AUX JEUNES.MAI 68, AVANT, APRES. ENTRETIENS INEDITS

Even if many bookshops  have been closed in the City of Nice, France, during the last years you still find a splendid bookshop in 55, rue Gloffredo in the City of Nice. The name of the bookshop is: LIBRAIRE MASSENA NICE. I always spend some hours in the shop during my annual summer visit to Nice. To my surprise I noticed that my favorite French novelist, Andre Malraux, had published a new book ! He was born in 1901. He died in 1976. In 2016 he published a new book. The book is a small one: Only about 101 pages. The contents of the book are divided into four parts: A foreword written by Michel Crepu: Discuter avec Malraux. Next part of the book is a collections of interviews with French students dealing with subjects related to the books written by Andre Malraux and questions that have been on the agenda of the public life of Andre Malraux for years. As French Minister of Cultural Affairs an interview with him from 1968 is also published: Conference de presse a la radio allemande. The last part of the book is written by Nicolas Mouton: Pour un Musee Imaginaire de la parole.

Let me turn back to the collection of interviews made by young students in 1967. I have written down the names of the students, the age in 1967 and the name of the universities or schools where they studied.

-          Didier Cornille. Age 16 and half. 1re A, de La Madeleine –sur- Lille.

-          Jean –Pierre Marchand.Age 19. De Carvin.

-          Jean-Michel Boucheron. Age 19. De Rennes

-          Philippe Delafond.Age 20. De Viroflay

-          Michel Thote.Age 17. De Versailles.

-          Christian Mosset.Age 18 and half. De Paris.

-          Fanchon Bourgesse.Age 19. De Fontainebleau.

-          Laurene Maury.Age 19. De Paris.

-          Jeannette Fluchaire.Age 18. De C.A.P., de Bonneville.

-          Thierry Besnard Bernadac. Age 18 and half.De Bois-Colombes.

-          Sylviane Boissard.Age 18 and half. De Monthey en Suisse.

-          Marie-Christine Jarry.Age 18. De Sevres.

Andre Malraux was a French novelist, publisher, filmmaker, explorer, aviator, guerilla leader during the Second World War, philosopher,art theorist, Minster of Information and later on: Minister of Cultural Affairs during Charles de Gaulle’s presidency (1958-1969).

My interest for Andre Malraux made me buy books about him and books which he wrote.

Andre Malraux: Malraux face aux jeunes. Mai 68, avant, après. Entretiens inedits. Editions Gallimand , 2016.

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OLD AND FORGOTTEN FIGHTER AIRCRAFTS USED IN MOVIES

I appreciate viewing historical movies and reading books about the content dealt with in the books and the movies: A thrilling past time activity of mine. When I notice that aircrafts and military equipments are used in historical movies in a wrong context, I get a feeling that the movies are of less importance as sources for further research and studies .Sorry. When I viewed an old movie about the Battle of Sutjeska  located in the former Yugoslavia, I noticed that German fighters  were attacking the partisans led by  Marshal Josip Broz Tito. The German fighters were not German fighters, I noticed. After having done some research about military aircrafts used by the Yugoslav Air Force, I found the correct name of the used aircraft: Soko 522 Ikaros. The movie I viewed was not a good one, I think. The famous British actor, Richard Burton, was portraying the Yugoslav partisan commandor Marshal Tito.

The title of the film is: “ Battle of Sutjeska”. The original title is: “ Sutjeska”. The film was released in 1973. The story is about the Axis attempt to capture Marshal Tito and to destroy the partisan groups fighting for Marshal Tito. The fighting scenes are made in a realistic way. But we do not get to know the famous partisan commandor Tito whose name was Josip Broz Tito. He was an active communist before the Second World War. The German fighters which were used during the battle of Sutjeska were portrayed as Focke-Wolf Fw 190t.

But the correct aircrafts used in the movie are Soko 522 Ikaros. The aircraft was a Yugoslav military trainer and light attack aircraft which was built in 1955. From 1958 to 1961 110 aircrafts were produced. Sokos served with the Yugoslav Air Force until 1977.

Many flying clubs in Yugoslavia and abroad bought the aircraft for private use. Some aircrafts were sold to civilian foreign customers in United States and France.