Author Archives: jonathan trustram

more on Germany and the war

(see also remembering and forgetting, the bombing of Dresden Victor Klemperer tells the story of a woman who worked alongside him in the factory – but first I should explain that the handful of Jews who remained in Dresden were not … Continue reading

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more on Dresden

I left off in the Gemalde Gallerie.   It’s not crowded. It’s not too big. Like the city, it’s full of surprises. Here’s the rest of the painting by Cranach which includes the man with the spectacular trousers, who seems … Continue reading

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back on familiar ground

see also remembering and forgetting, the bombing of Dresden I was soon back home on familiar ground, where the obligation to remember certain things in certain ways grows ever stronger. Mrs May is outraged that the England football team is not … Continue reading

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2 days in Dresden, some photos

I took the train from Berlin to Dresden. Hamburg to Budapest, Hungarian carriages, an important strategic route. At Dresden Hauptbahnhof there is a model railway. If you put a coin in each of the four slots you can have four … Continue reading

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photos from Germany (hear the truth whoever speaks it)

The Jewish college opposite the Jewish museum in Berlin. The quotation is from Maimonides, the Jewish philosopher whose fairly harmonious life in Muslim Andalucia has become a model for our times: The people of Berlin recently voted in a referendum … Continue reading

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remembering and forgetting, the bombing of Dresden

‘I had to leave there in a hurry       I only saw what they let me see’ Bob Dylan, Trying to Get to Heaven (before they close the door) It depends where and when you begin. 1940, shortly before … Continue reading

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on Mint Street

something I wrote last year, another beginning to the whole story of our work in Putting Down Roots, St Mungo’s gardening project.  here it is because I can’t wait for ever Something I wrote last year (2015) as I ploughed … Continue reading

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on the slow train

(a few lines written on the slow train from Exeter to Waterloo last year, it was early autumn or late summer, after visiting Jay and Tina.  Just came across them in my diary. I had a little collection of rock … Continue reading

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still remembering the Somme

They began their commemorations early in Bushmills. I took this photo in 2012: In the Gates of Death, rejoice! We see and hold the good – bear witness, Earth, we have made our choice with freedom’s brotherhood! 60,000 died on … Continue reading

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lamledra 3, the botanical theatre on Vault beach

see also: At Lamledra and at Lamledra (2) a few notes: there’s a botanical theatre down on the beach. the stage is a scoop in the cliff  made by landslips, protected near the edge by two dead looking thickety blackthorns, like a half … Continue reading

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