Gisteren fietste ik naar het Messe-terrein van #Dresden, waar het slachthuis is dat zijn naam gaf aan de beroemde roman #SlaughterhouseFive van #KurtVonnegut. De bewaker van het afgesloten terrein was niet verbaasd dat ik vroeg of ik even verder mocht lopen, dus hier zijn foto's van de plaats.
#SlaughterhouseFive
Verwoest Dresden
Schlachthof 5, DresdenZoals u uit mijn blogje over Winckelmann in Dresden al kon opmaken, breng ik mijn zomervakantie door in “het Florence aan de Elbe”, de hoofdstad van het oude keurvorstendom en hedendaagse Bundesland Saksen. In de eerste helft van de achttiende eeuw was Dresden een van de grote Europese cultuurcentra. Denk aan de late barok. Ik heb in de Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon prachtige wetenschappelijke instrumenten gezien; de toenmalige Antikensammlung vormde de grondslag voor het classicisme; de huidige bezoeker vergaapt zich aan het Residenzschloss en de Frauenkirche; de schilderijencollectie bevat schitterende doeken en, oké, ook wat minder geslaagde schilderijen. Maar een mens blijkt zelfs aan Anton Raphaël Mengs te kunnen wennen. Het achttiende-eeuwse Dresden was prachtig.
Maar aan alles komt een einde. In 1756 brak de Zevenjarige Oorlog uit. Koning Frederik II van Pruisen liet de vijandelijke hoofdstad beschieten, eindeloos lang, en verwoestte de stad. Hoewel Saksen zonder gebiedsverlies uit de oorlog kwam, heeft het keurvorstendom zich nooit meer van de Zevenjarige Oorlog hersteld.
Als we het hebben over de verwoesting van Dresden, gaat het echter meestal over een latere verwoesting: de vier geallieerde bombardementen op 13, 14 en 15 februari 1945. Er is veel geschreven over de vraag of het een oorlogsmisdrijf was. De nazi’s hebben het vanzelfsprekend zo gepresenteerd, door eraan te herinneren dat Dresden een cultuurstad was, door een dodental van zes cijfers te presenteren en door te claimen dat Dresden geen militair doel was. Het cijfer klopt niet, en over het militaire belang valt een boom op te zetten, zoals er ook een boom valt op te zetten over de vraag waarom niet meer bommen zijn gevallen op de industriewijken en zo veel in het aloude centrum.
Schlachthof 5, DresdenMomenteel, nu Duitsland één is geworden, wordt de stad steen voor steen herbouwd – ongeveer zoals het verenigde Duitsland van 1870 ook allerlei bouwprojecten ondernam (zoals de Dom van Keulen). Doorgaans is het heel mooi gedaan, alleen de Frauenkirche stond me tegen. De ruïne die in de DDR-tijd als waarschuwing tegen oorlog was blijven staan, was overigens wel het decor van de beroemde toespraak van Helmut Kohl (“Mein Ziel bleibt die Einheit unser Nation”).
Met al prachtige nieuwe oude monumenten, en met een recent verleden dat niemand onberoerd laat, zou je dat bombardement haast vergeten. Er zijn monumenten, maar die zijn op de begraafplaatsen aan de rand van de stad, en in het Stadtmuseum zijn de verschrikkingen gedocumenteerd in een zijzaal – niet om ze te verbergen maar omdat de foto’s te gruwelijk zijn. Maar er zijn nog herinneringen. In het westen van de stad, niet ver van de industriehaven en het Messegelände, staat nog steeds het vijfde slachthuis van de stad, dat zijn naam gaf aan de roman Slaughterhouse-Five. Auteur Kurt Vonnegut, als soldaat van de onfortuinlijke 106e Divisie krijgsgevangen genomen tijdens het Ardennenoffensief, overleefde hier het bombardement.
Schlachthof 5, DresdenHet is even fietsen om er te komen, en het bedrijfsterrein is eigenlijk niet open voor het publiek, maar de bewaker leek niet verbaasd om mijn verzoek of ik even verder mocht lopen. Het bordje Schlachthof 5 was als enige opschrift in het Engels vertaald. Dus hierbij drie foto’s. Niks bijzonders verder, maar het was goed er even te wezen kijken.
#AntonRaphaëlMengs #Dresden #Duitsland #FrederikII #HelmutKohl #KurtVonnegut #Saksen #SlaughterhouseFive #TweedeWereldoorlog #ZevenjarigeOorlog
What is your take on #SlaughterhouseFive
"Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. published this day in 1969.
#KurtVonnegutJr #SlaughterhouseFive
I took a convenient #austin #capmetro ride down to the #Texas capitol and #txlege this morning to register my opposition to the latest book ban bill #txSB13 . Brought my copy of #SlaughterhouseFive to read on the bus. You know, while people still can. https://www.txftrp.org/oppose_sb_13_thursday
Today in Labor History February 13, 1945: 25,000 civilians died when the Allies firebombed Dresden. In a three-day period, they dropped 3,900 tons of explosives and incendiaries, reducing six square miles of the city to rubble. Kurt Vonnegut was a prisoner of war in Dresden during the bombing. He wrote about it in his novel, “Slaughterhouse-Five.”
#laborhistory #WorkingClass #wwii #WorldWarII #dresden #KurtVonnegut #bombing #CivilianDeaths #massacre #WarCrimes #SlaughterhouseFive #books #fiction #author #writer #germany #nazis #fascism @bookstadon
The Haberdashery of Haiku: #1294 (#003): http://thehaberdasheryofhaikus.blogspot.com/2025/01/1294-003.html #Haiku #bookhaiku #365haikuaday #haikuaday #kurtvonnegut #slaughterhousefive
#Florida officials report hundreds of books removed from schools
#Beloved by #ToniMorrison, #NormalPeople by #SallyRooney and #SlaughterhouseFive by #KurtVonnegut, among books pulled
by Coral Murphy Marcos
Tue 12 Nov 2024 23.10 EST
"Florida’s department of education has released a list of more than 700 books that were 'removed or discontinued' from schools across the state after changes to a state law last year that allows parents and residents to challenge the content of #LibraryBooks.
"This year’s list, which has doubled in size from last year, includes titles such as Beloved by Toni Morrison, Normal People by Sally Rooney, and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut.
"The list comes after #HouseBill1069 went into effect last July, requiring school districts to set up a mechanism for parents to object to anything they consider pornographic or inappropriate.
"Since then hundreds of titles have been removed from elementary, middle and high school libraries. In Florida, 33 out of about 70 school districts #BannedBooks.
"American classics such as #BraveNewWorld by #AldousHuxley, #ForWhomTheBellTolls by #ErnestHemingway and The Adventures of #TomSawyer by #MarkTwain are among those that have been pulled. Contemporary novels by bestselling authors such as #MargaretAtwood and #StephenKing have also been removed.
"Members of the #FloridaFreedomToReadProject, a group comprised of public school parents, said the measure has led to an unprecedented rise in #censorship, mostly driven by conservative interest groups, and has limited students’ access to diverse #literature.
“'We believe in a fair, thorough, and public objection process that ensures decisions reflect the needs of each school community - not the broad, district-wide censorship we see today that’s inspired by the vague language in #HB1069 and ‘bad book’ lists like this one,' the group said in a statement.
“'Censorship is happening right here in Florida. Lists like this that include award-winning, #ClassicLiterature and books about #BanningBooks cannot be spun or shoved into a narrative about extremely targeted removals,' they added.
"#PENAmerica found that Florida and #Iowa recorded the highest number of book bans during the 2023-2024 school year, leading in the country with over 4,500 book bans in Florida and over 3,600 in Iowa. These bans have cost districts about $34,000 to $135,000 a year.
"A study on educational censorship in Florida found a 'climate of compliance, fear and stress' that threatens students’ academic performance and the well-being of both teachers and students'."
#BannedBooks #Censorship #FloridaSchools #Education #CharacteristicsOfFascism #ChristoFascism
This is awesome. I need a copy of GHQ. Or I need time to write one in Go.
In the time between WWII and Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut spent several years perfecting a "capture the flag" style war simulation game that is played on a checkerboard with specialized pieces:
https://gametek.substack.com/p/and-so-it-goes
#KurtVonnegut #SlaughterhouseFive #GHQ #GlobalHeadQuartersTheGame
20 books that have had an impact on who you are. One book a day for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, just book covers. 18/20
#20Books #20Books20Days #Bookstodon #KurtVonnegut #SlaughterhouseFive
"Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. published this day in 1969.
#KurtVonnegutJr #SlaughterhouseFive
Can’t believe I have never read this. Anyway, on it now.
My favorite version of “The Serenity Prayer” will always be the one from Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five” (one of my favorite books of all time)
#MusComEnt #FastColor #SlaughterhouseFive #KurtVonnegut
Today in Labor History February 13, 1945: 25,000 civilians died when the Allies firebombed Dresden. In a three-day period, they dropped 3,900 tons of explosives and incendiaries, reducing six square miles of the city to rubble. Kurt Vonnegut was a prisoner of war in Dresden during the bombing. He wrote about it in his novel, “Slaughterhouse-Five.”
#LaborHistory #WorkingClass #wwii #WorldWarII #dresden #KurtVonnegut #bombing #CivilianDeaths #massacre #WarCrimes #SlaughterhouseFive #books #fiction #author #writer #germany #nazis #fascism @bookstadon
@simsa03 Want to know how I became hooked on #Bach? My parents did not listen to classical music; #PeteFountain, #MartyRobbins, #WillieNelson, #JerryJeffWalker, #Waylon et. al was their music. I came to Bach through the movie #SlaughterhouseFive which I think I saw when I was 17 (1975?). The soundtrack music was selected by #GlennGould, and included #BrandenburgConcerto 4, which played while #BillyPilgrim was marched through #Dresden.
"You were just babies then!" she said. "What?" I said. "You were just babies in the war — like the ones upstairs!" I nodded that this was true. We had been foolish virgins in the war, right at the end of childhood. "But you're not going to write it that way, are you." This wasn't a question. It was an accusation. "I — I don't know," I said. "Well I know," she said. "You'll pretend you were men instead of babies, and you'll be portrayed in the movies by Frank Sinatra and John Wayne or some of those other glamorous, war-loving, dirty old men. And war will look just wonderful, so we'll have a lot more of them. And they'll be fought by babies like the babies upstairs." So then I understood. It was war that made her so angry. She didn't want her babies or anybody else's babies killed in wars. And she thought wars were partly encouraged by books and movies. So I held up my right hand and I made her a promise: "Mary," I said, "I don't think this book of mine is ever going to be finished. I must have written five thousand pages by now, and thrown them all away. If I ever do finish it, though, I give you my word of honor: there won't be a part for Frank Sinatra or John Wayne. "I tell you what," I said, "I'll call it The Children's Crusade." She was my friend after that. #KurtVonnegut #SlaughterHouseFive #War
“There is no beginning, no middle, no end, no suspense, no moral, no causes, no effects. What we love in our books are the depths of many marvelous moments seen all at one time.” ― Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
Illustration by Julian De Narvaez from Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut - Artist Edition.
#classics #Bookstodon #books #reading #SlaughterhouseFive #KurtVonnegut
Just finished book two of #DeathGateCycle. Didn't remember anything about this particular book (read it about 25 years ago), but it seems not to have aged as well. Or I'm just a more particular reader then I used to be. #SFF #FantasyBooks
Starter in #SlaughterhouseFive. Wow. Just wow.
@simsa03 I first heard Glenn Gould play Bach on the soundtrack of the movie Slaughterhouse Five, about 1975. I saw the movie because I had read all of Vonnegut's books (in print at that time). Gould on the soundtrack may have been what led me to Bach's music in the first place. I'm not absolutely sure: 46 years ago. Gould playing Bach triggers the manic twitch in my body. I vibrate and my hands become sockpuppet piano players. #GlennGould #Vonnegut #SlaughterhouseFive
Client Info
Server: https://mastodon.social
Version: 2025.07
Repository: https://github.com/cyevgeniy/lmst