Morning: The Evil of The Second World War.
Our meeting falls into two distinct parts. First, we look at the Evil of Nazism, and secondly, the Evil of The Japanese Empire.
Introduction to the evils through the eyes of poets and of children
Short case study of Lodz Ghetto
Nuremberg Trials
A short case study of Rudolf Hoess
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A story from one of yourselves
Cannibalism
George HW Bush 1944
Rape of Nanking 1937
International Military Tribunal for The Far East
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Concluding comments
Some new references
Children's Wartime Diaries ed. by Laurel Holliday
The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt
The Nazi Holocaust by Ronnie Landau
Afternoon; JR Clynes & Herbert Morrison: Labour's Nearly Men
This afternoon we take our first look at The Labour Party. JR Clynes was for a brief period its Leader but never made it to No10. In looking at his life, we shall discover the horror of his childhood as well as gain an understanding about the founding of The Labour Party , its subsequent acquisition of power, and then its pressing of the self destruct button in 1931.
Our second subject of the afternoon is Herbert Morrison, not a popular figure - even with his mistress! Nevertheless he became, and remains, the great figure in 20th century Local Government as Leader of The LCC. This introduces a new strand to our studies, namely Local Government. Twice, however, Morrison was presented with a chance of becoming Labour Leader and therefore Prime Minister. He served as Home Secretary in Churchill's wartime Cabinet. A brilliant administrator but not a person to whom others warmed even on his own side.
Some references
The People's Party by Wright & Carter
Ramsay MacDonald by David Marquand
JR Clynes by Tony Judge
Morrison by Donoughue & Jones