Die Bevölkerung Afghanistans ist aufgebracht, entsetzt und wütend. Bereits mehr als 20 Menschen starben bei den Ausschreitungen.

Eine Überreaktion? Schließlich ging es ja nur um ein paar Bücher, die schnell wieder nachgedruckt sind. Das ist sicher keine Menschenleben wert.

Aber vielleicht haben die Afghanen eine Lektion der Geschichte gelernt. Betrachten wir eine andere Bücherverbrennung, an einem anderen Ort, vor 79 Jahren:

Die Nation der Dichter und Denker versammelte sich im Mai 1933, um in Dutzenden von Städten bewußt Bücher zu verbrennen. Hauptbeteiligte waren Studenten und Professoren, die angeblichen Intellektuellen also, die Zehntausende von Büchern unter dem Gejohle der Zuschauer in Flammen setzen.

Bereits 1823 hatte Heinrich Heine in Almansor den (Muslim) Hassan sagen lassen:

Das war ein Vorspiel nur, dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen.

Dieses Zitat, in Almansor übrigens auf den Koran bezogen (!), sollte sich in der weiteren deutschen Geschichte bewahrheiten. Am Ende der nur 12 Jahre der Nazi-Herrschaft hatte das bücherverbrennende Volk ganz Europa in Schutt und Asche gelegt und etliche Millionen Menschen ermordet.

Ich wünsche, 1933 hätten sich in Deutschland nur annähernd solche Proteste geregt wie nun in Afghanistan. – - – Stattdessen spricht sich auch jetzt noch die Mehrheit sogar der Leser dieses Blogs bei einer Umfrage für das Verbrennen des Korans aus.

(There is an English version of this article.)

The population of Afghanistan is outraged, aghast and angry. More than 20 people were already killed in the ensuing riots.

An over-reaction? After all, the story is only about a few books which can be printed again. Surely this matter does not warrant the loss of human lives.

But maybe Afghans have simply learnt the lessons of history. Let us look at another book burning, at another place, 79 years ago:

The nation of poets and thinkers got together in May 1933 for the specific purpose of burning books. The book burnings were led by students and professors, the supposed intellectuals, who set tens of thousands of books ablaze under the jubilation of spectators.

Already 1823, Heinrich Heine had (the Muslim) Hassan say in Almansor:

Where they burn books, so too will they in the end burn human beings.

This quote, which actually refers to the Quran (!) in Almansor, should turn out to become true as German history proceeded. At the end of the only 12 years of the Nazis’ reign, the book-burning people had laid waste to all of Europe and murdered several million people.

I wish Germany in 1933 would have seen protests anywhere near as now in Afghanistan.

(Es gibt eine deutsche Version dieses Artikels.)

Heute nun, drei Tage später, bringt das von mir hochgeschätzte Satire-Magazin “Titanic” das folgende Titelbild:

Vielleicht einfach zu naheliegend, vielleicht abgekupfert. Aber selbst wenn, es ehrt mich. Und schließlich lasse ich mich ja auch oft genug von der “Titanic” inspirieren und motivieren.

(C) by Andreas Moser

More photos of Golden Bay – including a spectacular sunset – to follow soon.

Germans spontaneously took to the streets to celebrate.

only minutes after President Wulff announced his resignation

The celebrations are expected to continue for a few weeks, until a new President will be elected which has to happen within 30 days.

I thank you very much for all the nominations, but I am unfortunately ineligible to run for German President because I am not yet 40 years old (as Art. 54 I 2 of the Constitution requires).

"Did I just blow my legs off? Damn, that's not enough to get into paradise."

The somewhat botched assassination attempt in Bangkok yesterday in which an Iranian assassin blew his own legs off instead of even getting close to any target provides more circumstantial evidence that Iran is also behind the attacks on Israeli embassy staff in Tblisi, Georgia and New Delhi, India. Just last year, an Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador in the US with the help of Mexican criminals was uncovered.

My own encounters with Iranian Intelligence in 2009 already left me less than impressed, but these recent plots are at least as ridiculous as they are dangerous.

The incompetence might be explained by this secret video which shows the Iranian Intelligence Service’s training for their assassination attempts on foreign soil:

(From the film “Four Lions“.)

Does anyone still think that nuclear weapons in the hands of the Islamic Republic of Iran are a good idea?

Somebody's attempt of capturing us on camera in Cardiff Bay, Wales.

I prefer to use the self timer

We do look much better in reality: hiking the Taff Trail in Wales.

or rather not to take any photos at all. I know what I look like myself, after all, so there is no need to put it on film.

As everybody seems to be equipped with camera phones nowadays, I have also began to think about asking strangers to take photos with their own cameras and giving them my e-mail address for them to e-mail the results to me. On my next trip, I will test how people will react to this proposition.