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When the going gets tough, the tough get going, right?
That's a bit hard to do when you're faced with an unstable economy, layoffs, and tightening budgets.
When you're forced to do more with less people, time, and money, the stress and burnout can pile up. You begin thinking there's no way you can achieve the goals and KPIs set in front of you. If you're feeling the pressure and wondering how to adjust, we have an answer for you: workflow automation.
You may not have the money to hire more people or expand your tech budget, but you may have the ability to invest in automation. Here's how workflow automation can help your team make the most of the resources you do have.
What is workflow automation?
Workflow automation is the process of using technology to automate tedious, repetitive, manual tasks that bog down everyday work. It lets organizations remove some of the "busywork"—like paperwork and emails—that keeps employees from tackling more high-impact projects.
In fact, our 2022 State of Digital Maturity report found that 51% of workers report spending at least two hours per day on repetitive tasks.
That's 10 hours of time wasted, every single week! These repetitive tasks include things like copying and pasting data, preparing paperwork, storing and/or searching for files, sending emails, and entering data into online systems.
Workflow automation removes the manual work that takes up precious time every week. From digitizing paper processes to streamlining communication, there are hundreds of ways workflow automation can help you do more with less.
Related: How Workflow Automation Impacts Digital Maturity
The Benefits of Automation
One great aspect of workflow automation is the ability to quickly create a process once that can then run on its own in the background. Each step in a process is automatically triggered, saving you ample time. No more setting reminders, manually sending emails, or following paper trails.
But the "set it and forget it" power of workflow automation is just one benefit of many. Here are a few more to consider:
Free up employees to focus on more important tasks. Hitting goals and reaching KPIs requires heavy lifting on important projects, which requires lots of focus time. Don't let this time slip away because of tedious paperwork and data entry. Streamlining processes across teams with workflow automation can ensure workers have more time to focus on projects that make the most impact.
Improve data accuracy and security. Every time data is manually transferred from one tool or system to another, there's risk that it will degrade. If you factor in transferring data from paper to digital, that risk jumps significantly. Avoid common data cleanliness issues and security risks by automating data collection, sharing, and storage. Minimizing how many times data is transferred, manipulated, and copied improves overall data integrity and quality.
Listen Now: Basing a process in paper limits its data accuracy, efficiency, and scalability. But how do you put an end to paper for good, especially in larger organizations? Denise Davis of Emory Healthcare explains how she helped an organization of 28,000 employees and 250 locations go paperless.
Create a better employee experience. Our Digital Maturity report found that 77% of organizations say it's challenging to retain talented employees. Yet 33% of organizations who have digitized completely and rely on workflow automation say it's not challenging at all to retain employees. Our research shows that inefficient workflows and processes negatively impact employees' workdays, which leads to higher workplace dissatisfaction and turnover.
Become less reliant on your IT team. Is it difficult to get into the IT team's queue to produce the automations your teams need? By investing in the right workflow automation systems, you don't need to rely on IT to set up processes or workflows. With no-code tools, you don't need any technical experience or coding knowledge to build, adjust, or manage workflows.
Workflow Automation Cost Savings
One of the benefits we didn't cover above is workflow automation cost savings. That's because it deserves its own section! Investing in workflow automation can save your org money in multiple ways—here are three of them.
1. Eliminating paper can save you up to 3% on operating costs.
Gartner estimates that total print costs comprise 1% to 3% of a company's overall revenue. That 3% doesn't seem like a lot, but it adds up quickly: For every $100,000 in revenue, you could be spending up to $3,000 on paper and printing. That's a whopping $30,000 for a company that brings in $1 million in revenue.
You can easily find a workflow automation tool to replace all your paper processes without spending $30,000. Plus, while paper costs increase the more you use it, many workflow tools allow a single workflow to be used over and over again without incurring extra charges.
Did you know? Eliminating paper not only saves your organization money, but improves the customer and employee experience. We found that 86% of employees prefer digital forms over paper.
2. Manual, repetitive tasks cost an average of $14,560 a year per employee.
As shared earlier, our Digital Maturity report found that many employees spend an average of two hours per day on manual tasks and inefficient processes. Just think about that—if the average annual wage in the U.S. is $58,129, one employee wasting two hours per day on inefficient tasks costs your organization about $14,560 a year. For an organization of 100 employees, that adds up to more than $1.4 million.
Yet many of these repetitive tasks—like sharing data, looking for files, and moving workflows forward—can be automated with technology. Imagine the money you could save, plus the extra work that could be tackled, if your employees got back 10 hours each week.
Pro Tip: Adding a tool like Formstack Documents to your tech stack could save your team 24 hours per week.
3. Software engineering salaries average $156,000 in the U.S.
If you're relying on software engineers to create your organization's workflows, it is costing a pretty penny. Software engineering salaries rose by 0.8% to average $156,000 in the U.S. in 2021. Who knows how high that number will go this year with inflation on the rise.
Hiring technical workers is becoming more challenging due to cost and scarcity. But the good news is that you don't have to depend on software engineers to create the workflows you need. Selecting a no-code workflow automation solution enables anyone in your organization to become a citizen developer.
This means members of teams like HR, marketing, and sales can create the workflows and processes they need, quickly and easily, without any technical knowledge or help from IT. With a no-code tool in place, all teams can be more productive, agile, and fast.
Automation Cost Savings: See Formstack in Action
It's clear that workflow automation has lots of benefits and can save your organization money. But don't just take our word for it. Below are the stories of three Formstack customers who have used Formstack to automate workflows and save quite a bit of time and money.
Did you know? Organizations who use our Forms product save an average of 18 hours per week!
Jonathan Improves Healthcare Workflows and Saves $100,000
InHouse Physicians provides healthcare services to employers who must collect a lot of patient data. As CEO, Jonathan focuses on building better systems that provide excellent patient experiences. He uses the Formstack Platform because of its ease of use, security, and ability to transform many of their workflows. In the last year, it has saved their operations team $100,000!
Chelsea Brings Efficiency to the Insurance Sales Process
At Great Plains Brokerage, leads were piling up and falling through the cracks because of manual data entry. This left huge amounts of money on the table. As the Salesforce Administrator, Chelsea needed a product that could streamline sales and automate lead flows. Thanks to Formstack for Salesforce, Chelsea's team can focus more on the customer instead of manual tasks and never-ending paperwork.
Kyle Replaces Hundreds of Spreadsheets with One Solution
When more than 5,000 requests for tickets were getting compiled through paper processes and email, the VP of Entertainment and Technology for the Texas Legends knew he had to build a better process. Using Formstack Forms and Documents, Kyle has digitized multiple paper-based and manual processes, eliminating hundreds of spreadsheets and saving employees many hours of data processing per week.
Automate Your Workflows Today
If your organization is ready to say goodbye to paper processes and messy workflows, Formstack can help. Our workflow automation platform includes secure online forms, automated document generation, and electronic signatures that are easy to combine into powerful workflows. Our drag-and-drop, no-code solution makes it easy for anyone within your organization to create the digital workflows customers desire in just minutes.
Ready to start automating your higher ed workflows? Get real-life examples and step-by-step guidance with our Workflow Inspiration Guide for Business Process Automation.


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This institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex and in some cases religion or political beliefs.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture also prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, religious creed, disability, age, political beliefs or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English. To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027), found online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: email@example.com. For any other information dealing with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) issues, persons should either contact the USDA SNAP Hotline Number at (800) 221-5689, which is also in Spanish or call the State Information/Hotline Numbers (click the link for a listing of hotline numbers by State); found online at: http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/contact_info/hotlines.htm.
To file a complaint of discrimination regarding a program receiving Federal financial assistance through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), write: HHS Director, Office for Civil Rights, Room 515-F, 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201 or call (202) 619-0403 (voice) or (800) 537-7697 (TTY). This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

subset: commoncrawl


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1. Login into cPanel-> CloudFlare
2. Login into CloudFlare (May select login if you already own the account OR sign up if user yet to have any account with CloudFlare)
3. Upon linked, under step 1, select domain and under step 2 click on CNAME
4. The domain will automatically connect to CloudFlare with CNAME.
5. Done.
Source from CloudFlare.


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Nie ma wersji polskiej
Biswajit Banerjee
- 21 September 2021
- OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES - No. 263Details
- Abstract
- This paper assesses how globalisation has shaped the economic environment in which the ECB operates and discusses whether this warrants adjustments to the monetary policy strategy. The paper first looks at how trade and financial integration have evolved since the last strategy review in 2003. It then examines the effects of these developments on global productivity growth, the natural interest rate (r*), inflation trends and monetary transmission. While trade globalisation initially boosted productivity growth, this effect may be waning as trade integration slows and market contestability promotes a winner-takes-all environment. The impact of globalisation on r* has been ambiguous: downward pressures, fuelled by global demand for safe assets and an increase in the propensity to save against a background of rising inequality, are counteracted by upward pressures, from the boost to global productivity associated with greater trade integration. Headline inflation rates have become more synchronised globally, largely because commodity prices are increasingly determined by global factors. Meanwhile, core inflation rates show a lower degree of commonality. Globalisation has made a rather modest contribution to the synchronised fall in trend inflation across countries and contributed only moderately to the reduction in the responsiveness of inflation to changes in activity. Regarding monetary transmission, globalisation has made the role of the exchange rate more complex by introducing new mechanisms through which it affects financial conditions, real activity and price dynamics. Against the background of this discussion, the paper then examines the implications for the ECB's monetary policy strategy. In doing so, it asks two questions. How is the ECB's economic and monetary analysis affected by globalisation? And how does globalisation influence the choice of the ECB's monetary policy objective and instruments? ...
- JEL Code
- E58 : Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics→Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit→Central Banks and Their Policies
F42 : International Economics→Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance→International Policy Coordination and Transmission
F44 : International Economics→Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance→International Business Cycles
F62 : International Economics→Economic Impacts of Globalization→Macroeconomic Impacts
F65 : International Economics→Economic Impacts of Globalization→Finance


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Thursday, July 23, 2009
A choice of cover art
Gary Gibson and Tor UK are asking for our opinion in regard to artwork for the cover of the author's next novel, "Empire of Light". You can make a vote either on Gary Gibson's website or following the instructions on the site of Tor UK. I am not sure until when the poll on Tor UK will run, but that on Gary Gibon's website is open until late Friday, so there is still time to cast votes. I voted for the one on the right, because I find the left one to be a bit too bluish and because I find the right one to be more suggestive.
7 comments:
- ediFanoB said...
If the story takes place on a water world then it is a must to choose the left one. But I estimate there is nothing related to a water world. So the left cover is the only possible choice.
- July 23, 2009 at 3:21 PM
- Mihai A. said...
Michael, I thought so too. And I think that the right one is related more to light or a reaching for light.
- July 23, 2009 at 6:37 PM
- Maria said...
I love these cover voting things!
- July 24, 2009 at 3:19 AM
- Donna said...
I agree with you, I like the one on the right also. The imagery is more defined and I like the colors.
- July 24, 2009 at 5:08 AM
- Mihai A. said...
Maria, me too :)
Donna, I like the colors on the right one more too :) - July 24, 2009 at 1:30 PM
- Barbara Martin said...
I like the one on the left more, but I tend to like blue.
- July 31, 2009 at 10:02 AM
- Mihai A. said...
No problem with that, Barbara :)
- August 8, 2009 at 6:13 PM
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If dashboard cookies got you thinking about other ways to put the sun to work, here's a step-by-step guide to building sun-capturing jars that create outdoor lighting at a fraction of the retail cost.
The inspiration for this tutorial is a combination of the Instructables tutorial we posted about creating your own sun jar and some excellent comments on that Instructables tutorial (specifically from MagiWG, who tipped us off to the cheap and very suitable garden lights at Lowe's.)
Our searches for retail sun jars turned up prices ranging from $30-60 per unit. We were able to create all four sun jars for $44. Our total outlay:
4 jars @ 3.99
4 lamps @ 4.99
1 can frosting spray @ 7.99
We had the following construction supplies on hand:
Large flat-head screwdriver
Small Phillips-head screwdriver
Packing tape
The construction of the jars is simple. The first one took about 15 minutes because we were being extra cautious during the disassembling process, but after that we ripped through the remaining three in another 15 minutes. Check out the gallery below for a step by step tutorial. If you'd prefer to see all the steps on a single page instead of a gallery format, just click here.
First, the supplies you'll need. I purchased the items I needed from Lowe's, the big box hardware store, and from Meijer's, a large grocery chain. You could use any solar light if you took it apart carefully enough, but the ones we used were extremely simple to take apart and were the cheapest ones, by far, on the shelf. Look in the lighting section at Lowe's for the "Portfolio Solar Black Pathlight" item#190519. The jars were just generic canning jars. The size of the lid, which is the important part, seemed to be nearly identical on every model so we bought the cheapest kind. You want hermetic, flip-top canning jars both to remain authentic to the original design and because you need the lid to be glass to allow the solar panel to charge. Regular mason jars won't cut it.
We experimented frosting the inside and the outside of the jars to see what kind of effect it yielded. Our recommendation would be to frost the outside. Frosting the inside was a horrible pain, the coating was inconsistent, and it took way longer to dry. Frosting the outside was simple, the coat was even and smooth, and it keeps the glass from shining which adds to the glowing effect. One critical element: Do not frost the lid! The lid has to remain clear for the solar panel to work effectively.
Here is the matte finish of a jar frosted on the outside. As mentioned in the notes on the previous photo, it looks nicer and was ten times easier to apply.
Taking apart the solar lamps is a simple affair. Use a screw driver or a skinny chisel to gently pry the solar panel loose from the aluminum housing. The wires and important stuff are nearly dead center so as long as you don't shove the screw driver in deep or jerk it up hard, you're very unlikely to damage anything.
Once you have the panel pried away from the housing you'll see three glue-like smudges underneath. These smudges are some sort of silicone-like paste used to cover the screw heads. We didn't bother to scrape it away, just push the head of a small Phillips head screw driver into it and start unscrewing. It isn't very thick and scrapes away when you pull up the screw.
Gently wiggle the electronic guts free from the aluminum case. The guts are pretty simple and sturdy, if you need to gently pry with the same screw driver you used to pop off the solar panels, everything should be fine.
Unless you want to have to resolder everything, you'll need to cut the aluminum housing to keep everything intact without the hassle of repairing all the wires. We used a small pair of snips to snip the aluminum and then two needle nose pliers to pull the metal apart and slip the panel and guts free. If you don't have snips you can use two pairs of pliers to gently flex the metal back and forth until it snaps.
Here is the assembly free of the housing. Nothing fancy, a plastic case for the battery, a small circuit board, the LED, and of course the solar panel and the light sensor. On three out of the four we took apart the light sensor worked its way free—it's only taped in—just place it back into the hole in the solar panel and secure it with some tape.
If you're working outside on a sunny day, by the time you've taken your first lamp apart the frosting spray has most likely already dried. The solar panel is a nearly perfect fit and slips right into the hollow in the lid of the canning jar. The battery and circuit assembly can be pushed gently behind it and secured in place with packing tape.
Why packing tape? Since this was our first run constructing them, we didn't want to deal with the mess or added expense of using silicone or hot glue to secure them in. It has been a week since we constructed them and so far the tape hasn't been an issue. If the heat inside the jar causes any adhesion problems we'll upgrade by caulking them in place with some clear silicone bathroom caulk.
If you want to have colored lights, now is the time to add the "filters". We used the labels off of water bottles and sports drinks to tint the light coming from the white LED. We used Aquafina labels for blue tint and Gatorade labels for the reddish orange tint. As long as the label from your bottle is very translucent you should notice little to no drop in the brightness. We cut a 1" or so square from the label and taped it in place. Make sure to tape the edges down securely or you'll have "hot spots" where the label crinkles and white light escapes.
The first jar is completely assembled and ready to charge in the sun. The particular lamp from Lowe's that we selected has a removable rechargeable battery inside rated at 600mAh. We opted to keep the original battery and see how it performed but if you're looking for extended life right off the bat you can upgrade the battery to a higher mAh rating with a better Ni-Cd AA battery.
After charging them for a few hours after construction, we put them out on the desk for a test run. Here you see all four. The white one has no filter, the two blue ones have the tint made from an Aquafina bottle, and the red tint made from a Gatorade bottle. They were much brighter than we anticipated; after all, the lamp was only $5.
The sole white lamp, isolated to show what a basic job looks like.
All four on table, clustered around the umbrella pole. The dollar was added for scale and to show the amount of light cast off. It's difficult to tell from the picture but at the table we had no problem reading even the tiniest print on the dollar.
The sun jars shot from a second story window, throwing enough light to illuminate a circular table with a diameter of six feet.
The project was fun, it took no advanced soldering or technical tricks, and for $44 and about a half hour of time we ended up with some cool DIY garden lighting for around 80% of the retail price. Special thanks again to cre8tor, the author of the original tutorial, and MagiWG for directing us towards the cheapest and easiest to use solar lamps available. As always, if you build one of our DIY projects we'd love to see pictures of the results!


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by Moshe Fajga
Translated by Gloria Berkenstat Freund
We entered the Blechhammer camp at night. A group was selected to be sent to Annaberg. I joined the group that consisted of 30 people. I was in Annaberg for about two months together with Lev Mendelowicz, my nephew. We often spoke about our situation and came to the conclusion that we had nothing to lose. If a transport was selected, we would be included. Perhaps we would meet someone in our family. A transport actually was selected almost immediately and we went with it. We were sent to Kletendorf; we met Jews there from the Klobuck camp.
The Klobuckers were considered dangerous people. They were denounced as wanting to escape. Berish, the judenelterster [Jew chosen by the Germans as the camp inmate leader], placed all of them in one barrack and at night they were locked in. The Jew who denounced them regretted his denunciation, but he could not change things.
When I entered the camp, I immediately was warned that I should say that I am from Lodz and not from Klobuck; I answered that I actually was from Lodz. I had lived a considerable number of years in Lodz.
A roll call took place every morning. Several men were called to work in the iron camp. It was difficult for me to carry iron bars. I turned to the judenelterster and said that I could not carry any iron with my broken foot. He told this to the kapo [trustee]; he ordered me to stand in the wagon and pass the iron, but I also could not do this. In addition, I walked several kilometers
[Page 286]
to work. Working with me were Pinkhas Niedziela and Lewkowicz. By chance, my situation improved. Mordekhai Frenk once came to me and asked that I make a pair of pants for him. I answered that if the meister [mastercraftsman] in the workshop would permit me to do so I would sew the pants. The meister permitted me to do so. When he saw that I could work, he told me to put aside the pants and ordered me to sew for the work leader. This is how I began to work in the tailors workshop. In the morning I went to work with all of the camp inmates. At night I went to work in the workshop. For my work I received enough to eat. I divided it with Lev Mendelowicz, my nephew. In the end, I was taken on permanently to work in the workshop.
I received a bit of news from Blechhammer that all of the boys were murdered there. I did not want to tell that to Lev, that his brother, Chaskel, was no longer alive.
Another transport was sent from our camp. I was not successful in keeping Lev with me. He said to me: Uncle Moshe, do not worry, fate is taking me. Perhaps I will find someone in the camp, my mother, father or my sisters. After the last transport only 130 remained of 700 people in our camp.
It was not bad for me in Kletendorf. I worked for the quartermaster; we organized a secret group and established contact with two Breslauer quartermasters; the second one was called Zeydele [little grandfather] - an old Social Democrat. They told us that if a malicious edict were issued against us, they would come to our aid; they would set a barrack on fire. That would be a sign that we needed to escape.
Not far from us was a camp, Markshtadt. The camp was liquidated and the people and their kapos - Leibele Bosak and Hershl Muk, both Bedzin louts - were sent to us. The group of artisans, shoemakers, tailors, laundrymen who were employed in the workshops informed the judenelterster that they would take revenge
[Page 287]
against the unfamiliar kapos who beat our brothers. He answered us: Do it, I know of nothing. We beat the kapos. They ran and complained to the wache [guard] and then met the Germans with whom we had a connection. The kapos received blows from them and they were sent away with a transport a few days later.
In the Torture Camp (Katzet [Nazi Concentration Camp])
The S.S. men surrounded the camp during the month of October. We were sent to the Waldenburg camp. There, everyone had to undress completely and instead of our own clothes, we received paper bags. They took everything I had with me. The blows I received did not matter to me; neither did the clothes that were taken from me, only that they took the photographs of my wife and child. Because of this I was completely dejected. There was not a great deal of time to think in the katzet. We went to work.
Those who were last were beaten with rifle butts by the guards. We worked very hard. When Shramer [possibly Schramel], the camp leader, came to the construction job, he would take a brick and hit someone in the head. When blood flowed, he asked him, who did this to you, when the victim answered that he did not know, the murderer laughed and went away satisfied.
When we arrived in the camp, Schramel, the camp leader, told us to fall. We fell with our faces in the snow. He ordered us to stand up and again fall and we lay like this for a long time and he pressed our heads into the snow with his heavy-booted feet. Then he ordered us to stand up and to fall on our backs. Thus the torturing was constantly repeated. There was no day and night. We had to toil without food and without sleep.
He brought in prizes that were the greatest misfortune for a person. The prize consisted of a watery lunch and five cigarettes. There were passionate smokers. They
[Page 288]
gave away their piece of bread for the entire day for one cigarette. The people became swollen from not eating. The miracle was that it already was close to the liberation.
A friend came to me and said: he did not know what to do; he had succeeded in arranging a little chopped straw with bran that he had taken out of the horse sacks while they were eating. He took a can of water and set this to cook and now he had to leave it and return to the camp. He could not find a solution; they were having the roll call and they would see that one was missing. If they caught him, things would be miserable. I advised my friend that he forget about the food and go to the camp.
We were afraid that we would be sent away with a transport because we had heard that they were murdering those on the transports along the way. It was said that the Russians were nearby. We would survive the hardships and live to see the liberation.
On the 4th of May the camp leader came to the electrified entrance. He threw the keys into us and said that the judeneltester would soon tell us everything and the Germans escaped along with the guard who watched over us at the electrified wire.
This was on the 5th of May. At a quarter after four, the chief kapo gathered 30 of us men. I broke into the middle. He told us that the oberscharfurher [senior squad leader] had been good to the Jews and that we would take him into the camp and hide him. He lived in a wagon room not far from the camp.
I turned to the tortured men: Comrades, the camp leader and the guard are not here; do not be afraid of the chief kapo, Berek from Jaworzno.
I tore off my black shirt that once had been white. I made a white flag out of it that I placed on a stick. I went in front. The camp prisoners followed behind me. The kapo trembled for his skin. The Russians came with tanks. A tank stopped. A member of the Red Army asked what kind of people were we? There was among us one who knew English, Spanish and Russian. He informed them that we were
[Page 289]
concentration camp inmates. They threw us bread with chicken fat and traveled on. Men immediately ran into the streets. The Germans, the great heroes had run away before the Russians [arrived] and had left everything unguarded.
The liberated prisoners entered the stores, quenched their thirst and returned to the camp. The food to which they were unaccustomed immediately was bad for their health. Many became ill, many died. I escaped right away. I took a bicycle from the Germans and rode to Breslau.
In Breslau I met a friend of mine and he told me that he had a room and that I should live with him because it was impossible to travel to Czenstochow. I accepted his invitation. In the morning I went out into the street and saw a sign with the inscription, Committee of P.P.R.[1] I went into the committee and offered my cooperation. I received a rifle and, later, a revolver. Two Germans, Weiss and Frentsel, who declared themselves as communists showed me where the Nazis were hiding. I pulled them out of their hiding place and stilled my thirst for revenge.
We received food in the Soviet stolowke (canteen). I had no money. People began to conduct business. All of this did not matter to me. I protected the premises of the P.P.R. and searched for Nazi-Germans.
I met an acquaintance from Czenstochow; he delivered a greeting to me from my brother Fishl and sister. I wrote a letter to them. My brother came to me. I gave him the rifle. He took my place at the P.P.R. and I traveled to Czenstochow to see my sister, Leah, a cousin and a sister-in-law.
In Czenstochow I met a woman who with great difficulty took her five-year old child from the Poles. She became my wife.
All of us - my sister, my wife, the cousin and sister-in-law - came back to Wroclaw [Polish name for Breslau] and we settled into an apartment together in the same house in which my brother Fishl lived. To him came
[Page 290]
Bluma Razin, Mendl Razin and Yakov Ahron Blau. Thus a homey environment was created.
A year after the war we learned that our brother Yankl was alive in Germany. We decided to travel to him. I occupied myself with Zionist activity in Germany and in 1948 I came to Eretz-Yisroel.
Translator's Footnote
[Page 290]
by Fishl Fajga
Translated from Yiddish to English by Asher Szmulewicz
Before we were sent from Klobuck to Germany, two members of the Judenrat: Yaacov Chade and Benzion Szwiertszewski, were brought to us at the gathering place, in the courtyard of the Skorupa[1]. In the ghetto there were a few Jews who were jealous of the success (special treatment) of the Judenrat members, and they bypassed the Judenrat, and had direct contact with the Gendarmerie (country police). With presents of boots, suits and money, these Jews bought the Gendarmes (county policemen). The Judenrat members wanted to prevent private people from having (direct) relations with the Germans. The Gendarmes resented the Judenrat members, who meddled in their business; therefore, they arrested Yaacov Chade and Benzion Szwiertszewski, and sent them away together with the other Jews.
The Gendarmes did not forget the Jews who gave them presents. They were taken out of the rows as useful Jews. The majority of them were craftsman, tailors, shoemakers, tinsmiths, watchmakers and others. They were immediately set free.
From Klobuck we were sent to Germany, separated in two groups: the bigger group, in which I belonged, was sent to Sakra (Germany). The Klobuckers, including myself, were installed in three rooms. Among us also were the two Judenrat members: Yaacov Chade and Benzion Szwiertszewski. Shlomo Unglick, Hershl Szperling's son in law, wanted to take revenge against the Judenrat members, because of the persecution they inflicted on his father in law.
[Page 291]
One day Shlomo Unglick brought the mail for the camp's Jewish inmates. There was a letter addressed to the two Judenrat members. Shlomo took the letter and later read it in front of all of the Klobucker camp inmates. In this letter, the secretary of the remaining Judenrat in Klobuck, wrote: do not worry, I will soon bring you home. Jasne will be in Sosnowiec this week, and everything will be arranged. It is a pity that you were not in Klobuck when Hershl Szperling was expelled from his apartment, and put in a cellar with water up to his knees. The letter was signed by Davtshe Diament, the secretary of the Judenrat.
After reading the letter, Shlomo Unglick shouted again that he would take his revenge; whatever he was able to do, he would do. A few days later a taxi came with Gestapo people, and they called for Chade and Szwiertszewski. They were accused of being communists. The former Judenrat members answered that they were loyal people, and with their identification papers, they showed that they were Judenrat members. The Gestapo people wondered: How did you get here? They answered that they were brought with the other Jews into the camp, and then they were detained. It did not take long, and the two Judenrat members were sent back to Klobuck.
Among us was the Klobucker, Kapel Zaks. One day he was sent away from the camp. Before his departure he said: friends, I was torn away from Klobuck, and I am being sent to another camp. I beg of you one thing: Those of you who will survive the war, if one of the Judenrat members is still alive, take revenge, for my uncle, Israel Lewkowicz, take revenge for him. With the words: take care, he bitterly wept.
From Sakra we were sent to Birkenheim and from Birkenheim to Sarne.
In the transport there were a few people from Klobuck: Baruch Azjner, Pinchas Unglick, Shlomo Unglick and others; we were about 500 men. In Gross Sarne was the well-known murderer, Salek Maler, and
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the German watchmaster, Pietshak, who also was not a small murderer. Salek Maler choose eight Jews, including me, to be room elders. I was assigned to the room number 4. In my room were people from Klobuck, Krzepice, Miedzno and Dzialozyn.
Once, late in the evening the watchmaster, Pietshak, and the Juden Elder, Maler, came into our room. Baruch Azjner shouted: Beware. Everybody stood up. Baruch reported: Room number 4 includes 50 men. I was resting in bed, being allowed to stay in bed as a room elder. The watchmaster counted the men, and one man was missing. There were only 49 men. As a punishment, the men were put in 2 rows, face to face, and they had to hit one another in the face until they bled. It turned out that two brothers, Pinchas and Shlomo Unglick, stood face to face from each other, and they had to hit each other until they bled, and they could not stop before then. That night remained very clear in my memory.
After that we walked 15 kilometers to go to work. We started when it was still dark outside. The watchmaster came with his dog and chased us. We ran kilometers with wooden shoes in deep snow, one after the other. Yehoshua Rosenczweig ran and fell, and could not stand up again. We brought him back to the camp dead. People fainted and fell: one from Klobuck, Zilberberg and one from Dzialozyn. We dragged them with us, but on the way Pietshak shot them.
The tragic encounter of a father and a son
A few days later we were sent out of Gross-Maselewicz. In the train carriages we met Jews from other camps. But it was forbidden to sit together with the other Jews. Suddenly we heard a cry: Daddy! Pinchas Unglick's son jumped with a cry to his father. They had not seen each other for three years.
The watchmaster allowed them to sit together. The discipline was not as strict as it was in the camp. But the separation of the son and father was so tragic.
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We were dropped off the train in Breslau, and the others Jews from the other camps remained on the train, and continued their journey. Pinchas Unglick met his son once more in the Direnfort camp. During the evacuation, Pinchas Unglick could not walk anymore, every Jew that stopped walking was immediately shot by the murderers. Since Pinchas' son saw that his father couldn't walk anymore, he did not leave his father alone, and then the Germans shot the father with his son.
A young man saved the life of dozens of Jews from Klobuck
I was sent again to Koliz to a Katzet[2] (concentration camp). There I found other people from Klobuck. In Koliz died: Shlomo Kurtzbard, Yehonatan's son, and my brother in law, Moshe Zelten.
Avraham Mass' son was also there. He worked in the kitchen, when he left Klobuck he was 15 or 16 years old. He kept dozens of Jews from Klobuck alive. He gave food to the feeble ones. Every night Jews stood by the window and shouted in the kitchen: Leib Baruch give me a piece of food, and whatever he could, he gave them food. Out of the 20 men working in the kitchen, he was he only one to give extra food (to the Jews); the other ones gave blows. He sustained and kept many people alive.
Here comes the liberation
On February 21st 1945 the first Russian soldiers arrived, and they found only sick people in beds and lying on the floor. I remained sick for two months. I longed for my Jewish Klobuck, and I went back to Klobuck, even though I was still exhausted. I walked and also travelled a little bit in cars, when non-Jews took me along. I also went by train. The war was not completely over. After two months of wandering I arrived in Klobuck. I found only one Jew, Mrs. Rachel Leah Lapides. I spent one night in her house. The next morning I went into the streets, penniless and
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with a shameful face. A Pole took pity on me, and a second one asked me: Czy jeste ¯yjesz? (You are still alive?)
I soon left Klobuck, and went immediately to Czestochowa, and from there back to Germany in a D. P. camp (Displaced Person camp)
There I learned that in the town of Bayreuth there were a few people from Klobuck. I moved to Bayreuth, and really found a few Klobucker Jews. There we organized the first Hazkarah (Remembrance ceremony) for the Jews from Klobuck in 1946.
Translator Footnotes
by Yitzhak Szperling
Translated by Gloria Berkenstat Freund
My brother and I worked in the Niederkirche camp building highways. It was a camp of 250 people from Klobuck, Krzepice and the area. We worked there for three months until the camp was abandoned and we were brought to Camp Markshtadt (Lower Silesia). There were 3,000 Jews located there.
We also worked hard there at various hard labor, building munitions factories.
In January 1943 we were sent to the Funf Teichen [Five Rivers] concentration camp, not far from Markshtadt, where the true suffering began: at four o'clock in the morning, winter in the greatest cold, we were chased into the street. We stood for hours until we left for work. We worked 12 hours a day; we endured various pain at the same work as at Markshtadt. During the same year, 1943, my brother, Ahron Meir, died in the camp. I did not even know what happened to his remains. I remained alone, lonely, not knowing about my family. I was in the camp with other Klobucker Jews.
In 1944 I was sent with other Klobuckers to the
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Wieselburg camp. I worked there with the Klobockers: Lipa Birnbaum, Shlomo Birnbaum, Dovid Mass, Mordekhai Wajsman, Nehemia Wajsman.
We worked there breaking stones. The Germans, who guarded us, received their lunch from the military kitchen that was located three kilometers from the workplace. They ordered us to carry the empty casks back to the kitchen. I left to take the casks back to the kitchen. There was a warehouse of potatoes in the same barracks as the kitchen. I went into it and took a few potatoes in a small sack in order to quiet the long-lasting hunger for just a moment. Suddenly the cook, an S.S.-man, entered the warehouse and ordered me to pour out the potatoes. He locked the door and quickly returned with a bayonet. He stabbed me until the blood ran from me Then he unlocked the door and told me to go out. In the street, he again beat me on the head with an iron bar. I ran a few meters and fell on the ground in a faint. The blood flowed from me.
I lay on the ground for a long time. When I gained a little consciousness, I stood up and began to drag myself to the workplace.
My comrades saw that I had not returned after such a long time; one comrade came to look for me. He met me on the way in such a state, when all of my things were covered in blood. He led me to the work place. My comrades gave me clothes to change into and after work took me into the camp. There was a commission in the camp that chose the weakest people and sent them to Oswiecim [Auschwitz]. The selection took place in the following manner: everyone stood in a row; each person had to run past the Germans. In this way they removed the weak, those who could not run. I was not in good condition as I ran, but through some miracle from God I went past their eyes and I entered the camp.
My comrade Lipa Birnbaum led me to the camp doctor. He gave me an injection and said that he had no
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place for me in the sick barracks and told to go the barracks in which I lived. I should return early in the morning.
The night was a nightmare for me. I could not find a place, not sitting and not standing, not lying down and not sleeping because of the wounds I had received from the murderer. I was going crazy until I finally saw the day. When the day began I went to the doctor. He sent me to the sick barracks.
I lay for two months and could not move from the spot. I did not receive any remedies to heal my wounds. Yet, I recovered a little. When I could stand on my feet, they sent us further.
We walked from the Wieselburg camp from early morning to late at night, across fields and woods. Late at night we arrived in a German village. We remained there overnight. In the morning we had to go further. We were taken to a second village. We remained there in an empty field in two large empty barns.
We all lay pressed together like herring. We were there for six days. Many died from hunger and cold.
After six days, we again wandered. We were taken to a train station, 15 kilometers [about nine miles] from the village. The Germans told us that whoever could not go further or felt weak could remain in the village.
I was not in a condition to go further, but I knew that they would finish [kill] those who remained in the village. I went further with my last strength until we arrived at the train station. There they packed us in a freight train in open cars up to 70 men in a car. We traveled like this in the frost and cold for several days and nights. Many died from hunger and cold on the way. The Germans threw the dead out at the station when the train stopped.
We traveled through Czechoslovakia. The Czechs threw bread into the cars. The German murderers did not permit
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them to come close to us and whoever caught a piece of bread was lucky. One threw himself on another to catch a piece of bread.
After several days and nights of traveling we arrived in a concentration camp near Austria where our hell began. We arrived in the morning. The torturers stood us out in the snow and in the frost under the open sky until the middle of the next day. Many of us died of hunger and cold. They remained lying right on the spot. One of the tortured asked for a little water. The kapo [prisoner functionary prisoner who performed administrative tasks] answered: You are about to die, so why do you still need water? The kapos with the rubber whips in their hands beat the unlucky ones who lay in the snow to see who was alive and who was dead. I did not believe that I would leave this gehenim [hell] and remain alive.
In the morning we were taken to the wash barracks where we bathed ourselves with cold water. Then they led us into the barracks where we were for two weeks, exposed to terrible pain, chased out half naked into the street every day. We stood in the snow and the greatest cold for hours.
After the two weeks we went out to work where we labored at building a tunnel in the mountain. We worked there for 12 hours a day and also at night. Returning to the camp, they chased us from one spot to another. We received 100 grams of dark bread to eat and a little water boiled with potato peels. These were the provisions for an entire 24 hours. There was no way to avoid the blows. There were dozens of dead every day; the people fell like flies. The crematoria in the camp burned day and night. This was a camp of 40,000 people of various nationalities. We were cut off from the open world. Several Klobucker Jews died there. Although I grew weaker from day to day, I held out until the liberation.
This was on the 6th of May 1945, when the American military
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freed us. We did not want to believe our own eyes. I did not know what to do with my great joy. I was a living skeleton and could not stand on my feet. We all became ill when the Americans gave us food because we could no longer digest the food. Many died immediately after eating their fill. I slowly recovered and little by little began to return to being a person.\
by Yaacov Szmulewicz, Paris
Translated from Yiddish to English by his nephew Asher Szmulewicz
On November 11, 1940 we arrived in a camp named Eichental in the Alps region. The camp was located in a forest and was comprised of wooden barracks. It is worthwhile to give an accurate description of what it looked like, since it was one of the first German labor camps, that became a tomb for tens of thousands of Jews and non-Jews alike.
At the entrance of the camp the watch-house was situated, and further on the left was the kitchen and in the courtyard there was a bath, as well and other facilities. At first sight it was difficult to imagine that people would come into (the camp), but would not leave alive.
The barracks were not finished (and were barren). There were no amenities (beds or toilet facilities), and the bath did not operate. We slept on the bare floor and we washed ourselves (in the open air), subjected to the severest cold (and weather conditions) in the courtyard close to the well. There were thirty people in each barrack.
On arrival at the camp, everybody was given a small bowl, a spoon and a cup. Each person had to look after these utensils like his own eyes, because if your utensils broke or disappeared, there were no replacements, and (lost utensils) also meant that food for the day was forfeited, and instead of food, 15 lashes on the lower back side were given. Everybody had to watch after his own kitchenware so that another camp mate could not steal it from him.
In the beginning we received food parcels from home. The mood among the camp prisoners was not that bad. Despite the harsh (circumstances and) regime we were joyful and even optimistic. During our free time we organized entertainments. However, the camp prisoners who left a wife or children at home were sad and in a depressed state of mind.
Our work was to build a highway. The year 1940 went by without any eventful shocks. The year 1941 started with special and cruel tortures for the prisoners. One day in January, all the prisoners were gathered on the roll call square. In cold, windy and snowy weather we were forced to stand outside for 5 hours. A whistle was blown by Moshe Weissfelner from Klobuck, who was named as the representative of the Jews, in order to warn his comrades. The German Truppenführer (Commander) appeared and made the following announcement:
The sending of food parcels by Jews to Jewish detainees was dirtying the German trains. Therefore receiving (food) parcels was prohibited from then on.That was the beginning of conditions getting worse and worse.
During the year 1942 the Germans liquidated all of the small camps in the Alps including Eichental. All the prisoners were concentrated (and sent) to a larger camp, named Markstel concentration camp Fünf Teichen (five ponds). We referred to the concentration camp as the hell, because in addition to the hard work we had, we were burned, roasted and tortured (and subjected to) all kind of mistreatment.. Two thousand Jews arrived at the Fünf Teichen concentration camp, and after only one month we were reduced to only 1400 persons. Six hundred (of us) were murdered or died. Among the deceased were Jews from Klobuck like Berl Unglick and others.
The number of prisoners (sent to the camp) increased to the level of six thousand persons. People from various countries were sent. The number of prisoners (at the camp) was to remain constant. (As prisoners died), in place of the executed and tortured prisoners, the German brought in fresh victims. Not all the people died quickly. Weak people who could not work anymore but stayed alive were deported for a healing on the orders of the SS to Oswiecim (Auschwitz). In the transports to Auschwitz were Jews from Klobuck. I remember the following names: Shlomo Kurtzpartsis, Reuven Rosensweig, Pinchas and Reuven Klopak and Shmulik Szmulewicz.
In spite of all the problems, pain and destruction we always thought about our close relatives, who were left in Klobuck. Then the Yov Bessoreh[1] (terrible news) arrived in the camp, although I don't remember how:
On June 22, 1942 the Klobuck ghetto was liquidated.
We took the news very hard. During the liquidation of the ghetto, the Germans shot and killed with cruelty a great number of the Jews from Klobuck. They dragged them out from the shtetl. Sniffer dogs and local Germans[2] looked for people that went into hiding. A lot of people were bitten by the dogs. Other unfortunate Jews were forced to dig their own graves and then were shot dead. The small number of Jews from Klobuck who were still alive in the camp already knew that their home was destroyed, eradicated and wiped out.
Translator Footnotes
[Page 300]
by Yaacov Szmulewicz, Paris
Translated from Yiddish to English by his nephew Asher Szmulewicz
In the beginning of January 1945, when the Russian Armies entered Germany, the Germans took steps to evacuate the concentration camps. The unfortunate prisoners were dragged (from camp to camp) in a cruel manner. The feeble ones, who could not walk, were left in the camp to die from hunger.
In deep snow and frost the healthy ones were dragged toward (concentration camp) Gross-Rosen. The weak ones who (could not march and) stayed behind were shot by the SS guards. Chilke Weissfelner was among the killed ones from Klobuck. He was always comforting us by saying we will survive this tragedy and his body remained in the impure (tameh) soil of Germany.
Thousands of prisoners were gathered in one block of the Gross-Rosen camp by the Germans. We slept on the bare ground, (and forced) to sit with our legs stretched out, and intermeshed with another prisoner sitting in the same position in the opposite direction because there was not enough space for everybody. After (spending) such a painful night, we had to stand at the roll call in the morning. In the snow and the frost, dressed in our light concentration camp clothing, we were forced to stand for a few hours until they sent us back to the cold barracks.
In this abyss of pain and hardship I suddenly had a great surprise. Among the thousand prisoners, I recognized my elder brother, Berl. He told me that his transport came from a camp named Blech-Hammer. He told me that he wanted to end his life several times, but he did not have the (emotional) strength to commit suicide. During our long journey we became separated, and my brother Berl Szmulewicz[1] was shot by the Germans in Buchenwald together with six thousand (other) Jews.
We were also sent to Buchenwald. There was a roll call before departing with the transport, and during this roll call the Polish Kapos selected from the rows (of prisoners) three victims: a Pole, a Russian and a Jew. Those miserable (ones) were crushed to death in front of everybody. I will never forget this image of bestial murder. The martyred Jew was Itzik Zaks from Klobuck.
After these bestial murders, the painful journey started. We travelled in opened trucks, (suffering) from hunger and the cold. We arrived in Buchenwald after four days. However, because of overcrowding we were sent further to Dachau.
In the meantime the Allied armies advanced. The German SS criminals disappeared and ran away. As they (the Germans) realized that it was close to their end, they started liquidating the camp and its inmates. We were dragged from place to place. We learned later that there was a German SS plan to blow up the camp with all the prisoners inside. The fast advance of the Allied armies prevented this bestial German plan of (additional) mass murder to be implemented.
April 28, 1945, Dachau, with all its detainees, was liberated. The healthy ones (immediately) started to look for the SS criminals in order to have them account for their crimes. During the first two days the situation turned into anarchy. Afterwards the American soldiers became our caretakers. They restored order and we were again confined in the barracks. Those who tried to escape through the fence were shot, and a few people were wounded. This situation lasted only a few months. Thereafter we asked for the intervention of the American military rabbinate, and we received documents that allowed us to move freely.
After the liberation, everybody started to look for their relatives. I looked for my younger brother Yossel. He was liberated from the camp named Staltack nach Feldafing. We met in the former SS barracks in Schlossheim close to Munich, and a few other Jews from Klobuck were also there. My brother travelled back to Poland to visit Klobuck to see if any of our relatives remained alive (in our town). I was unable to travel because I was ill at that time. My brother wrote to me and said that he did not find any of our close family or relatives. The Germans had desecrated the Jewish cemetery. The matzevot (gravestones) were ripped out and used to pave the roads. The tombs were plowed under.
Only a few Jews from Klobuck survived. They scattered around the world, including Israel. There are no Jews living today in Klobuck[2] . As a remembrance of the days when Jews lived in Klobuck, the Shule (synagogue) was left, but standing orphaned without doors and windows.
Translator Footnotes
[Page 303]
by Avraham Wajs, Tel Aviv
Translated from Yiddish to English by Asher Szmulewicz
I was not born and did not originate from Klobuck, but my father, Elchanan Wajs, was born in Klobuck. But as fate decided, at some point during my difficult wartime experience, I was in my father's birthplace, the shtetl of Klobuck. There I married Dora Szperling, the daughter of the Klobucker politician, Baruch Szperling.
I came to Klobuck during year 1942, when I escaped from death during the liquidation of Jews in my birthplace, Pienczne. My escape was linked to the terrible death of 12 Pienczner Jews, who were arrested by the Gestapo from Wielun, sent to the Lodz ghetto, and hanged there.;[1] I was among the arrested Jews, but I successfully escaped before (they were transported and hanged).
I left the Pienczne ghetto and smuggled myself through the so called border established by the Germans between Warthegau[2] and the General-Government. Anyone caught crossing the border could be shot by the Germans without any charges or trial. When I arrived in Radomsk, which was located in the (Polish) General-Government, I learned that the Pienczne ghetto had been liquidated. In Radomsk, people
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spoke about the liquidation of the Radomsk ghetto, and many believed that people were sent away to work somewhere in Germany or in a camp.
In Radomsk I met young men, who like me, did not believe that the Germans sent people away to work. We already knew that the bestial Germans were sending the Jews to death. We organized ourselves as a group, and together we discussed how to escape from the German extermination. Our group was comprised of refugees from various shtels, which already had been liquidated, and everyone had in their minds the horrible pictures of the death of their close family members.
We contacted Poles who provided us with false identification papers, but there was nothing we could do with them. No Poles wanted to give us shelter in their apartments. They were afraid for themselves and for the welfare of their households. Our Polish friends advised us to go to Klobuck, where there was a Judenrat, which was established after the liquidation of the Klobuck ghetto. Jews were working there, and nobody did harm to them there.
Suddenly we learned from a Polish policeman that on the following day the Radomsk ghetto would be liquidated. There wasn't any more time to think. We had to escape immediately. We split ourselves into small groups, and we left the ghetto unharmed. My group constituted four men and three women.
We wandered through the forests. We hid during the day, and looked for good peasants during the night, who would take pity on us and take us in. In the Wewiedka Wola village we found such a good peasant called Baranek. He was like an Angel for us. He hid us in his barn for four weeks. He provided us with food, and only took money from us for his expenses. Even now his kindness to us was a mystery. We no longer could stay in Baranek's barn, because he told us that bad people started to murmur about him that he hid Jidkes (Jews).
We decided to go to Klobuck, where the happy camp for Jews was to be found. Jews were working there
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unharmed. We had to walk 80 kilometers to reach the happy place. We walked for an entire day and for one night, through a region of great danger, because it was supposed to be Judenrein (without any Jews). At the end we reached our goal. We happily went into the Klobuck camp. The Jews in the camp already knew the fate of the Jews sent to Treblinka, and they waited, being afraid for their own fate.
In the camp, together with the Klobuckers, we established an organized group. We again strove to contact Polish partisans, even though we knew that the only ones active in this region were the A. K. Armie Krajowa (The Polish secret under-ground forces), whose members included some of the greatest enemy of the Jews. We had little confidence in them. Our only aspiration was to obtain armaments, which we intended to use to resist when the impending liquidation was to proceed.
In our resistance group were the following Klobuckers: Moshe Feige, Avraham Enzel, Berl Szmulewicz, Ptichia Tsinsenatus, Shalom Unglick, Hela Mantel and my wife Dora Szperling. From Pienczne: Yidel Szperling, Avraham Liberman, Chemia Kutner, David and Yossef Szwierczewski, Avraham Wajs (the author of this article), and a group called Bunkerowtses, because the people associated with this group were formerly hidden in by a Pole in a bunker. I brought them to Klobuck and into the camp.
This group finally linked up with Polish partisans, but before we succeeded in doing anything, the end came. During the night in July, 1943, when everyone was asleep, the camp was surrounded by S.S people, and at dawn everyone was brought to the courtyard of the Polish police[3]. There the Germans gathered the Jews from all of the neighboring camps. We stayed there for days and nights, and waited until the Germans finished up with all of their Jewish victims.
Our group knew that we had to prepare for the last
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journey towards Auschwitz. We discussed what we could do, and how we could obtain armament. How could we save the women and the children? We came to the conclusion that we were powerless, and decided that each one of us should escape as best we could.
One morning the Germans requisitioned 10 men to bring bread to all of the arrested people. Ten people from our group volunteered for this task. The intention was to take the opportunity to escape. Accompanied with one S.S guard, we were brought back to the camp. Three out of the ten persons: Avraham Liberman, Nechemia Kutner and myself, jumped over the fence. The remaining ones were afraid and did not move. The S.S chased us and shot at us. My two friends successfully escaped. I was caught by the German and he inflicted on me murderous blows.
I was lying shriveled and waited for death to come. Meanwhile two Jews came by, and they implored the German to take them in because they had nowhere else to go. The German invited the two Jews into the camp, and then gave the three of us murderous blows. The two exhausted and persecuted Jews asked to be shot, but the German got more pleasure persecuting us rather than killing us.
An S.S Officer came. He watched how his comrade beat us with cruelty, and said to the German that killing the Jews was not worth a bullet. They will die anyway in the camp. We were sent back to Klobuck to the courtyard of the Klobuck police station. The next day at dawn we were taken to the train under a strong guard of S.S people with dogs. We were packed into the rail carriages and sent away.
We thought that the destination was Auschwitz, but we came to the Blechhammer camp in Germany. There the Germans made a strict selection. Old people, sick people and children were separated to be killed. Healthy people were sent to various camps. Only a few of my fellow-sufferers survived.
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The majority died from hunger, sickness and hard labor. Many were shot. I am among the few, who after hard persecutions, waited for the liberation.
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text:
Here is a joke on the first day that snow has stayed on the ground this winter...
Blessed Canada
On the sixth day God turned to the Archangel Gabriel and said: 'Today I am going to create a land called Canada. It will be a land of outstanding natural beauty. It shall have tall majestic mountains full of mountain goats, and eagles, beautiful sparkling lakes bountiful with bass and trout, forests full of elk and moose, high cliffs over-looking sandy beaches with an abundance of sea life, and rivers stocked with salmon.'
God continued, 'I shall make the land rich in resources so as to make the inhabitants prosper. I shall call these inhabitants Canadians, and they shall be known as the most friendly people on the earth.'
'But Lord,' asked Gabriel 'don't you think you are being too generous to these Canadians?'
'Not really,' replied God. 'Just wait and see the winters I am going to give them.'


text:
Yesterday was a good day at the Doubletree Hotel in Annapolis.
Somehow I had managed to miss the first two renditions of Turning the Tides, but when this year's date was announced I pounced on making my way into the event this year. Part of this was the opportunity to network with over 200 of the state's finest conservative minds, but part of it was a guest list dotted with nationally recognized speakers.
Unlike the many GOP conventions I had attended in the same building, there were no hospitality suites on Friday night. Turning The Tides was a one-day affair, which started with a breakfast I unfortunately missed. But I was set up on bloggers' row next to a variety of state and local bloggers (including my "biggest fan" Jackie Wellfonder,) which gave me the opportunity to live-Tweet the event throughout.
The Tweets didn't take long to build up steam once we dispensed with the preliminaries and heard from our first guest speaker, the exceptionally quotable Pamela Geller. Most people know Geller from her website Atlas Shrugs, which briefly covered TTT here, but she has been a tireless leader in the ongoing battle against radical Islam. (If you follow the link you can also see the extent of the crowd in the conference.)
Pamela praised the conference attendees, who she termed "smeared, defamed, and marginalized for standing in defense of freedom" by the "enemedia." Her key point was defending the freedom of speech, without which "peaceful men have no alternative but to turn to violence."
"Evil is made possible by the sanction you give it," she continued, "Withdraw your sanction." She also called Delegate Nic Kipke, who ignored a boycott call by the pro-Islamic group CAIR, a "rare bird in today's environment (because) truth is the new hate speech, and just telling the truth is an extreme act."
She went on to explain how she purchased ad space on the New York subway in response to anti-Israel ads, but was rebuffed because "the word 'savage' was demeaning. So I had to sue…and I won on all points. Freedom of speech protects all ideas." Ten of her ads were destroyed within an hour, which she termed "a physical manifestation of this war on free speech."
She also detailed her battle against the Ground Zero mosque, telling us the images of 9-11 have been "embargoed" because they offend Islamic sensitivities. "You defeated that mosque (when) everyone was against you."
Yet there is a "sea change" occurring in attitude, she said, citing how comments used to be highly stacked against her, but now run strongly in her favor.
"No war has ever been won on defense," she continued. She begged us to use our "spheres of influence" to fight this fight. "Silence is sanction." We have to contest acceptance of Shari'a, since Mohammed "ain't my prophet."
Geller finished by taking a number of great questions on anti-Shari'a legislation, a nuclear-armed Iran, and the "cultural war" of politics which will include the sale of Current TV to Al Jazeera.
The next speaker, author Diana West, touched on the Current TV sale in her opening remarks as well, as well as the foreign ownership of Fox News. But her remarks centered on her choice in foreign policy, of which she remarked "I'm debuting it here" – with one option to follow the "neoconservative" foreign policy based on universal values. "This has been a disaster." The other side was a more libertarian-style idea: "I subscribe to 'coming home America,'" said West, but they suffer the same flaw in that negotiations with Islamic nations "worse than fruitless (and) dangerous to our liberty."
It begins with love of country, said West, and we would keep the allies with the closest philosophical views. But it would require one radical change: "It would…require leaving the United Nations." (That was perhaps her best applause line, which she said did far better here than the "blank stares" she gets at the Washington Times.)
It would also be designed with the interests of the American people in mind. "We should fight for the American people." Instead, we've begun to negotiate with terrorists, defend Shari'a-based regimes, and tell our military to look askance at "absolute outrages against American beliefs and sensibilities" in Afghanistan and other Islamic nations.
"And why? Why – nobody's answered this – why did the Obama administration lie for two weeks that lawfully-protected free speech in America caused the Benghazi attacks?," asked West. "Why didn't Mitt Romney ask any of these questions?"
The key question, said West, was whether we were fighting abroad to protect liberty at home. "American interests have been blown to smithereens" by leadership, Diana asserted. Our borders are "essentially open" while National Guard troops protect Afghan citizens. Moreover, this is a contradiction to American values because 3/4 of Hispanics want bigger government while just 2/5 of the population at large feels the same.
West outlined a number of changes she would make, from a secretive foreign policy without much Congressional oversight over "a President run amok."
"I have not seen terrible damage from Wikileaks," she continued. "I have seen much corruption and lies on the part of our public officials."
"I don't believe that's the way a republic functions. That needs to change," said Diana. The war of our next generation is not the one we're fighting, but a war against Shari'a. "Liberty is imperiled right here in our back yard," said West, who also called the Islamization of Europe "the great uncovered story of our time."
Our first group discussion panel, moderated by writer and columnist Marta Mossburg, featured a solid bank of speakers: Frederick County Commission president (and 2014 gubernatorial candidate) Blaine Young, writer and author Stanley Kurtz, and Carroll County Commissioner Richard Rothschild.
Young started out in a jovial manner, joking about the Geller controversy and about once being a Democrat: "Well, everybody can be misinformed, ill-advised, and brainwashed." But he turned more serious about his assigned topic, telling those gathered "I'm a very pro-property rights person, always have been…property rights is where I'm at."
Stemming from the very first attack on property rights, zoning, which began in the 1920s and has been accepted in most places – Young pointed out Garrett County is an unzoned exception – Blaine turned to the state as it stands and told us "we've never seen an attack like this on the state level," referring to PlanMaryland. "This is a tool, to slow down the rural areas for growth."
But Young's most brilliant point was equating things done "for the Bay" with laws passed "for the children." As I Tweeted:
@blaineyoung – "it's for the Bay" = "it's for the children". That somehow sounds familiar to me. #TTT13
— Michael Swartz (@ttownjotes) January 12, 2013
Indeed, I have mentioned this a number of times over the years – here's one. Great minds think alike?
Stanley Kurtz quickly asserted that "President Obama is not a fan of the suburbs." As a community organizer, those who mentored Obama had the main goal was to abolish them because they were drawing away tax money rightfully belonging to the cities. To that end, Obama "has been a huge supporter" of that movement. "Barack Obama wants to redistribute the wealth of America's suburbs to the cities," said Stanley. He identified the philosophy as the "regional equity movement."
But among the federal programs imposed on the state, the Sustainable Communities Initiative is perhaps the one affecting Maryland the most. "Nobody pays attention to the Sustainable Communities Initiative," despite the fact Baltimore was a "regional planning grant" recipient. It's a program where the federal government pays for regional planning, such as PlanMaryland but on a smaller scale. The goal, though, is to make the receipt of federal aid contingent on adopting these plans, much like schools which accept federal money do so with stipulations placed on them.
And while everyone has heard of Agenda 21, not so many are familiar with the workings of the Smart Growth movement, concluded Kurtz. "Conservatives are missing where the real threat is coming from," warned Kurtz, "We haven't studied the home-grown (regional equity) movements."
But Rothschild was the most strident speaker. "The question of the War on Rural Maryland begs a bigger question: why does this happen?" Richard went on to postulate that it happens "because we let them."
"Those people that disrespect the Bible and the Constitution are invariably the ones who know the least about either of them," said Rothschild. "We (conservatives) are abdicating our responsibilities at all levels of government to do what needs to be done."
"Being a Constitutionalist requires practice," opined Richard. Elected officials need to ask themselves not just 'what would Jesus do,' but a second question: what would Jefferson do?
Elected officials aren't trained to uphold their oath of office and the Constitution. "We're not thinking the right way." As an example, he stood alone in his county in an effort to nullify SB236. A further test was when he went to the recent Maryland Association of Counties meeting and asked six random county officials about what they would do if an order was passed down to confiscate guns in their county.
"Three of them said they don't know, and the other three said they would resign from office," Richard charged. "Not one said they would nullify, interpose, or engage their locally elected sheriff to defend their citizens' Constitutional rights." That was the fundamental problem.
Richard even spoke on comments he made regarding the SB236 Tier IV opt-out provision proposed right here in Wicomico County. (The original post is on the Conduit Street blog.) "They do this because we let them…we are tolerating the intolerable."
"I don't negotiate one-sided contracts…we shouldn't even engage," Richard opined, "Constitutional rights are non-negotiable." Rothschild vowed to work with the Institute on the Constitution to put together a training course on how to uphold their oath of office.
"(Liberal groups are) going to spend a fortune to try to defeat like Blaine and people like me during the next election because they hate us," Richard concluded to a raucous standing ovation. And he's right.
The final session of the morning discussed the "War on Jobs," with Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton and Delegate Nic Kipke, who was introduced as a member of the Maryland Health Reform Coordinating Council. Fitton focused on illegal immigration while Kipke naturally looked at Obamacare. "Nic knows more about Obamacare than the legislators who voted for it in 2010," noted moderator Paul Mendez of Help Save Maryland.
Fitton described his work with Help Save Maryland and other legal groups interested in upholding the idea that workplaces should have workers here legally. But that fight began with Montgomery County Community College giving in-state tuition to illegal aliens. "They thought they could get away with it," noted Fitton. A nice thing about Maryland law, he continued, was that it has a provision allowing citizens standing to sue the government to prevent illegal expenditures of funds.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been given to illegal aliens who can't work, stated Tom, "Maryland is a magnet for illegal immigration, and the impact on jobs is obvious." Most affected were the construction trades where the majority of contractors, who are law-abiding, are "competing against crooks."
"It's a racket" to keep certain politicians in office, Fitton charged. And speaking of Maryland politics specifically, Tom also alleged there was corruption behind the passage of the ballot initiatives. "(O'Malley) was using his office to promote the approval of the referenda,"
Tom also had kudos for Delegate Neil Parrott, who he'd worked with on the ballot issues, calling him an important figure in Maryland democracy. "We've been proud to stand with him," Fitton beamed.
The lesson here, Fitton said, was that the illegal immigration issue is not automatically a turnoff to Hispanics. He cited polling data which said, in the most recent election, 40% of Hispanics "agreed with the idea of an Arizona-style approach to illegal immigration." It was 13 points more than Romney received among Hispanics at large. "This is a majority issue for us," Fitton claimed.
"We're really in a battle for our lives in a lot of ways," Kipke opened. "It used to be we were in a battle for our rights, but we're also in a battle for our way of life."
He went through a couple examples of the "trainwreck" of Obamacare, one being the fact that the age breakdowns – lumping everyone from age 21 to 60 in a group – will create a spike in rates making insurance unaffordable to young people. (One estimate pegs the additional cost as anywhere from $280 to $400 a month.) "It's almost designed to fail," said Kipke.
The second problem is that the exchanges will essentially all offer the same programs – health insurance has to be approved by and purchased from the state – generally these are the "richest packages available." At this time, Maryland is one of just eight states with an exchange in place. "If Obama is successful, health insurance will be purchased through the state, and it will be the state design," Kipke said.
The Delegate urged us to use him and Delegate Parrott as a conduit to the General Assembly. "If you have access to technology, you should see the stuff that goes on. Bring a camera, we'll tell you where to stand and we'll put you up in front of the next Delegate who embraces socialism. We'd love to get that on video."
That brought us to the lunch break. While most of us grabbed a quick bite to eat, there was a lot going on both inside and outside the lobby.
On the inside, a total of fifteen groups had information tables and other items set up. Here are a few of those:
In order, these were Accuracy in Media, Defend Life, Maryland Republican Network, and Election Integrity Maryland. Other groups in attendance were the Franklin Center (sponsor of Bloggers' Row), the Red Maryland Network – which did a live broadcast from the lobby – Institute on the Constitution, Americans for Fair Taxation, Montgomery County Republicans, Stop Agenda 21, Help Save Maryland, the Leadership Institute, Maryland Legislative Watch, Constitutional Conservatives for Maryland PAC, and Conservative Victory PAC.
There were also merchants, with event T-shirts and Breitbart design shirts on sale.
We also had a chance to meet some of the speakers and purchase their books.
From left to right, represented were Stanley Kurtz, Diana West, Pamela Geller (crouched), and Tom Fitton. Dun Scott (husband of organizer Cathy Trauernicht) is standing in the center; thanks to Ann Corcoran for the correction.
As I noted, there was also action outside the building. The CAIR protest of Pamela Geller finally showed up two hours after she finished speaking. (Photo by and courtesy of Jackie Wellfonder.)
Yet the ten protesters got media attention. If it weren't for them, I doubt the TV stations would have showed up.
So that's where we stood as lunch concluded. In part 2 I'll cover the four intriguing seminars which occurred afterward and the closing remarks by Jim Rutledge.


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Dear Friends:
I would like to introduce you to one of my heroes Charles Plumb (Former Navy Fighter Pilot - P.O.W. & One of Today's Top 10 Professional Speakers) and share one of his stories with you today, his story is so great I just have to pass it on to the people I care about. Here it is:
Charles Plumb was a U.S. Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent six years in a communist Vietnamese
prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience.
One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"
"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.
"I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude.
The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!" Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."
Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have
seen him and not even said 'Good morning, how are you?' or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor."
Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.
Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?" Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. Plumb also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory — his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety.
Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason.
I'm sending you this as my way of thanking you for your part in packing my parachute!!!
On Your Team
Your Trusted Advisor For Life
Jeffrey Scott Stanton
PS: If you'd like a copy of this story to send to a friend, family member or anyone who helps "pack your parachute," just e-mail me at email@example.com and I'll e-mail a copy back to you.


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One of Florida's leading association executives, a family of highway and bridge contractors from Virginia and a Wisconsin concrete paving pioneer have been selected for induction into the nation's highest place of honor in the transportation design and construction industry.
As part of its 25th anniversary in 2010, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association Transportation Development Foundation (ARTBA-TDF) created a "Hall of Fame" to honor individuals or families from the public and private sectors who have made extraordinary contributions to U.S. transportation development during their careers.
A committee of judges that included nine construction industry journalists reviewed the nominees and selected the Hall's inaugural class:
• Bob Burleson, president of the Florida Transportation Builders' Association (FTBA)
• Stan and Jack Lanford, of Lanford Brothers Company and Adams Construction, respectively, in Roanoke, Va.
• Philip Koehring, founder of the Koehring Machine Company in Milwaukee, Wis.
"The transportation design and construction industry is full of visionaries and game changers like the Lanford brothers, Bob Burleson and Philip Koehring who have demonstrated exceptional leadership over their lifetime and played an important role in helping shape development of America's transportation network," said ARTBA-TDF Chairman Leo Vecellio, the chairman and chief executive officer of Vecellio Group, Inc., headquartered in West Palm Beach, Fla. "The Hall is our way of giving these individuals the recognition they deserve and sharing their stories with the general public and elected officials so they better understand the importance of strong transportation investment."
Nominees were considered in two categories.
Transportation Design & Construction Industry Leaders (Individuals or Families)
This category honors men, women and families who have made significant contributions—beyond just having successful businesses or careers—that have notably helped advance the interests and image of the transportation design, construction and safety industry.
Bob Burleson
Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos calls Bob Burleson a "catalyst for change." Burleson has spent 40 years in the transportation construction industry. From 1970 to 1988, he was a top executive with the Wiley N. Jackson Company in Virginia, and played a key role in the company's growth.
In 1989, he assumed the chief executive post at FTBA when the association was facing serious fiscal challenges. In less than seven years, he returned the association to strong fiscal health and retired the association's building mortgage — 23 years early. He also managed to boost membership after years of decline.
Consistent with FTBA's advocacy mission, Burleson has led hard-fought legislative victories on the industry's behalf. Under his leadership, the association helped secure in 1990 the largest funding increase for transportation in Florida history. He championed legislation that doubled fines for motorists in construction zones in 1996. He helped create the "Stop Highway Robbery" campaign to prevent legislative sweeps of the state's transportation trust fund in 2004. And in 2010, he helped marshal industry opposition and secured a veto by Gov. Charlie Crist that stopped a raid on state transportation funds.
The Lanford Family
Through their generous contributions of personal time, leadership and financial support, the Lanford family of Roanoke, Va., has taken the notion of "giving back" to the industry to a new level and provided a benchmark for others to follow.
Brothers Stan and Jack Lanford, after starting Lanford Brothers Company and working together for more than 25 years, were very successful, long-time chief executives at their respective firms, Lanford Brothers Company and Adams Construction.
The fact that both were elected by their industry peers nationally to serve as ARTBA chairman (Jack in 1991 and Stan in 1999), and as president of ARTBA's state chapter affiliate, known today as the Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance, speaks volumes about the men. During their careers, both testified before the U.S. Congress on transportation investment and policy issues.
The Lanford Family's biggest — and most enduring — legacy on the industry, however, is their creation and endowment of the Highway Worker Memorial Scholarship fund in 1999. This first-of-its-kind program, which has become a national model replicated by other groups, provides post-high school financial assistance to the children of highway workers killed or permanently disabled on the job. Today, it is supported by contributions from industry firms, state transportation departments and labor unions. Because of the Lanford family's generosity, nearly 100 scholarships have been given to worthy students from around America and made their educational futures brighter.
Transportation Design & Construction Industry Innovators
This category honors the men and women who discovered or created a "game changing" product or process that significantly advanced transportation design, construction and/or safety. It seeks to honor the original innovator.
Philip Koehring
The growth of the Koehring Machine Company in Milwaukee, Wis., is a story of a farm boy who had a vision to foresee the need for hard roads. It is the story of a struggle to perfect a machine suitable for paving purposes, and then a struggle to finance the venture and market the machine. And it is a story that lifted that farm boy to the very top of his field.
Philip Koehring, his brother William and a third partner, founded the company in 1907. It would eventually grow into one of the largest equipment manufacturers in the world, and later become a part of the Terex Corporation.
Koehring's "boom and bucket" creation transformed concrete paving from myth to reality in the early 1900s. The innovation streamlined the flow of materials so as the machine was being pulled forward, it mixed concrete and then distributed the final mix to the rear. Prior to this invention, the idea that entire roads could be built with concrete was just a pipe dream.
Koehring added two more advancements to improve the mechanization of concrete paving: self-propelling crawler tracks and engine power in place of steam power. With 15 mixing and paving patents, combined with his equipment manufacturing expertise, Koehring forever transformed the world of concrete.
An official ceremony honoring the 2010 class will be held in fall 2011 at an ARTBA Innovation Conference in the Washington, D.C., area.


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Puffer Fish - Pink on Tangerine, Premium Stuffed Pillow
THIS ITEM SHIPS FREE, please select the free shipping option at checkout.
Save $5 when you buy more than one pillow or pillow cover!
In your tiki lounge, or in your nursery, Puffer is happy wherever you put him. And he'll make you happy, too! Available in larger 18" and 22" sizes, this premium feel cushion will never look too tiny on your sofa or bed. (Front and back images shown)
The cushion insert is INCLUDED with this item.
Please see my other options for pillows without inserts.
• 100% pre-shrunk polyester case
• Fabric with a linen feel
• Hidden zipper
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• Shape-retaining 100% polyester insert included (handwash only)


text: Our commitment to taking care of the people who make our business possible tops our list of company's values. It's the same commitment you'll experience if you partner with our industrial equipment and engineering companies to bring your products to the people who use them every day, you engage with our leadership institute to help you build great culture and develop leaders, or you simply connect with us to explore our ideas on people-centered leadership. It's how we're building a better world.


text:
August 5, 2023
7:00 pm
Aida Rizk Gallery
Be guided by a professional artist, have fun and create your own masterpiece
• BYO • Live music various times throughout the session (see Live Music FAQ) • A unique paint and sip experience, creating a masterpiece whilst sipping on wine and mingling with your party • 2 hours in our Art Gallery surrounded by beautiful artworks • A professional artist to guide and assist with the painting process throughout the entire session • All glassware, tapas plates for nibbles, fridge and bottle openers • All painting equipment and materials supplied, including canvas brushes, aprons and other supplies pending the style of painting
Available when total group size exceeds 14 or more people
We are a BYO studio, bring along your favourite beverage; the one that unleashes your inner artist! Likewise, you are welcome to bring bites and snacks. Glassware and small plates are supplied by us.
In consideration of the other guests please arrive 5 minutes prior to session start time. Please note finish times are strict due to other bookings.
You must be at least 16 years to attend this event
Cancellation by us due to Government imposed COVID-19 related restrictions: If we are required by the Government to close our studio or reduce the number of patrons in the studio and therefore unable to run the session/event you are booked into, we will issue you a credit voucher (valid for 12 months) for the full value of your order which you can use to reschedule yourself to another session of your choice of equivalent value (subject to availability)
You may cancel your booking up to 72 hours before your session start time and will be eligible to receive a credit voucher that enables you to book a future event (of equivalent value), valid for 12 months from the date received. Cancellations or Reschedules for bookings of 5 or more people: If you submit your request within 8 days or more of your event start time you will receive a credit voucher for the full value of your order to be used for future events. If you submit your cancellation request 7 days before your event start time you will be issued a credit voucher to be used for future events (valid for 12 months from date received) however there will also be a reschedule fee of $20 per person to be paid before we can issue the credit voucher.


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Scientists find estrogen promotes blood-forming stem cell function
- Date:
- January 22, 2014
- Source:
- UT Southwestern Medical Center
- Summary:
- Scientists have known for years that stem cells in male and female sexual organs are regulated differently by their respective hormones. In a surprising discovery, researchers have found that stem cells in the blood-forming system — which is similar in both sexes — also are regulated differently by hormones, with estrogen proving to be an especially prolific promoter of stem cell self-renewal.
- Share:
Scientists have known for years that stem cells in male and female sexual organs are regulated differently by their respective hormones. In a surprising discovery, researchers at the Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) and Baylor College of Medicine have found that stem cells in the blood-forming system -- which is similar in both sexes -- also are regulated differently by hormones, with estrogen proving to be an especially prolific promoter of stem cell self-renewal.
The research, published in Nature, raises several intriguing possibilities for further investigation that might lead to improved treatments for blood cancers and increased safety and effectiveness of chemotherapy.
Before the finding, blood-forming stem cells were thought to be regulated similarly in both males and females, according to the paper's senior author, Dr. Sean Morrison, Director of CRI, Professor of Pediatrics, and the Mary McDermott Cook Chair in Pediatric Genetics at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
However, while working in Dr. Morrison's laboratory as postdoctoral fellows, Dr. Daisuke Nakada, the first and co-corresponding author of the study, and Dr. Hideyuki Oguro discovered that blood-forming stem cells divide more frequently in females than in males due to higher estrogen levels. The research, conducted using mice, demonstrated that the activity of blood-forming stem cells was regulated by systemic hormonal signals in addition to being regulated by local changes within the blood-forming system.
"This discovery explains how red blood cell production is augmented during pregnancy," said Dr. Morrison. "In female mice, estrogen increases the proliferation of blood-forming stem cells in preparation for pregnancy. Elevated estrogen levels that are sustained during pregnancy induce stem cell mobilization and red cell production in the spleen, which serves as a reserve site for additional red blood cell production."
The study involved treating male and female mice over a period of several days with amounts of estrogen needed to achieve a level consistent with pregnancy. When an estrogen receptor that is present within blood-forming stem cells was deleted from those cells, they were no longer able to respond to estrogen, nor were they able to increase red blood cell production. The results demonstrate that estrogen acts directly on the stem cells to increase their proliferation and the number of red blood cells they generate.
"If estrogen has the same effect on stem cells in humans as in mice, then this effect raises a number of possibilities that could change the way we treat people with diseases of blood cell-formation," said Dr. Morrison. "Can we promote regeneration in the blood-forming system by administering estrogen? Can we reduce the toxicity of chemotherapy to the blood-forming system by taking into account estrogen levels in female patients? Does estrogen promote the growth of some blood cancers? There are numerous clinical opportunities to pursue."
Story Source:
Materials provided by UT Southwestern Medical Center. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
- Daisuke Nakada, Hideyuki Oguro, Boaz P. Levi, Nicole Ryan, Ayumi Kitano, Yusuke Saitoh, Makiko Takeichi, George R. Wendt, Sean J. Morrison. Oestrogen increases haematopoietic stem-cell self-renewal in females and during pregnancy. Nature, 2014; 505 (7484): 555 DOI: 10.1038/nature12932
Cite This Page:


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Actor and filmmaker Robert Downey Sr. has died at the age of 85, according to his son, Robert Downey Jr.
The "Iron Man" star announced on social media Wednesday that his father passed away peacefully in his sleep overnight after a years-long battle with Parkinson's disease.
Downey Jr. called his dad a "true maverick filmmaker" and said he remained "remarkably optimistic" throughout his Parkinson's battle.
Downey Sr. is survived by his two children and wife, Rosemary Rogers. Downey Jr. joked in his post that Rosemary estimated she and her husband were happily married for 2,000 years.
"Rosemary Rogers-Downey, you are a saint, and our thoughts and prayers are with you," wrote Downey Jr.
Along with being an actor, Downey Sr. is known for writing and directing throughout his career. He made films like "Putney Swope," "No More Excuses," "Rented Lips," and "Hugo Pool."
The Hollywood Reporter reports that Downey Sr. was known for his low-budget underground projects.