World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

Lewi Stone is a mathematical biologist who has just conducted research on “kill rates” during periods of the Holocaust in World War II. His findings are beyond grotesque. In an interview with Scientific American, Stone relates his findings:

“My work investigates a period in 1942, referred to as Operation Reinhard, when the Nazis efficiently shuttled about 1.7 million victims—often whole Jewish communities—across the European railway network in train carriages to Treblinka, Belzec and Sobibor. Almost all of those who arrived at these death camps were murdered, usually within hours in the gas chambers. Because the Nazis destroyed nearly all records of the massacre, it is important to try to uncover what actually happened at the time.

My study looks at the “kill rate,” or murders per day. My graph of the kill rate reveals a sudden massive slaughter after Hitler “ordered all action speeded up,” as one SS officer put it, on July 23, 1942. Approximately 1.5 million Jews were murdered in only 100 days, including shootings outside the death camps. On average, 450,000 victims were killed each month during August, September and October of that year. That’s approximately 15,000 murders every day.

These figures describe a single mindedness as well as a ruthlessness that I find difficult to fathom. As anti-semitism continues to rise around the world, often with the approval and encouragement of authoritative leaders, we would do well not to believe that these horrors are a thing of the past.

British Prime Minister May survived a no-confidence vote in Parliament. All members of the Conservative Party supported her, which was testimony to the unity of the Party, but, given the thin majority in Parliament, May only won by 19 votes. The victory, however, offered little guidance on how May will navigate the near future: there really is no clear path for Britain, and the European Union does not appear to be the least willing to give her an easy way out. Regardless of her victory today, May is leading a fatally weakened government.