Cats, people and rats. The year 1942 was doubly tragic for Leningrad. In addition to the starvation, which claimed hundreds of lives daily, there was another plague, an infestation of rats. Eyewitnesses recall that the rodents were moving around the city in huge colonies. When they crossed the road, even the trams had to stop. Kira Loginova, a resident of Leningrad, recalled that - "... dark rats in long lines led by [...]
Janusz Korczak was born in Warsaw in 1878. Working as a doctor in a children's hospital and educator in summer camps for underprivileged children he always treated needy patients free of charge. That period was marked by several wars and serving as a doctor in the Russian army during the Russian-Japanese War, Korczak wrote: "Before a country starts a war, it should think about an innocent child who [...]
She passed away on 4 January 2018 - an aggressive form of cancer had burned the girl out in just over a year. The day before her death, Holly Butcher shared her thoughts with 'Those Who Remain', revealing what it hurt the most to say goodbye to and what is truly the most precious thing in life. Here it is, Holly Butcher's farewell letter. "It's very strange [...]
In the 1970s, Serbian artist Marina Abramović conducted an experiment: she stood motionless in one of the exhibition centres. Nearby, a variety of objects - from a hammer and a gun to watercolour paints - were lying around. And people were allowed to take any of these objects and do whatever they wanted with Marina. Marina Abramović's famous performance Rhythm 0 attracted attention thanks to [...]
Birth, love, death or vice versa? What came before and does what happens to us make sense? We cry when someone dies and rejoice at the new life, but have anyone ever thought that these events are closely linked. Without death there is no birth, death always changes everything and dying something old, gives [...]
Life is sometimes more convoluted than any playwright and the story of Marina Abramović and Frank Uwe Lysispen is a vivid confirmation of that. In 2010, the artist held an art performance 'Eyes - Mirror of the Soul' at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The idea of the performance was that Marina would share a moment of silence with any person who sat opposite her while looking into her eyes. For [...]
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was born in Lyon in 1900 to a family of small gentry. His father, Jean de Saint-Exupéry, who worked for an insurance company, died before Antoine was four years old, and the five remaining children were brought up in two beautiful chateaux - one in Saint-Maurice-de-Remence, owned by a great-aunt, and another near Saint-Tropez, owned by their maternal grandparents.
Memories from childhood that stay with us forever... One day, Dad and I were left home alone. Mum went to her grandmother for two whole weeks and there was freedom... No need to wash the dishes! No need to change clothes after going out! No need to braid my hair every morning! No need to touch street cats and dogs! No need to watch football with Diego Maradona at two o'clock [...]
Наверное никто не знает, когда впервые человечество создало первое правило и первый запрет. Но, судя по всему, мы с этой способностью уже очень давно. Ничто люди не любят так сильно, как создавать правила, устанавливать запреты, возводить стены, проводить границы… Вот такое оно – Общество людей и их правила и запреты. Хотя казалась бы – все […]
The post office itself is an inexhaustible treasure trove of funny stories and jokes. But sometimes people do their best to make things even more absurd. At least from the point of view of modern man. Postal services have been around since time immemorial, but the ability to send large parcels for ordinary people has been around for a hundred years. [...]