#holocausto

Franz Kafka

Fue un escritor checo nacido en Praga, imperio austrohungaro en julio de 1883.

Su obra es una de las mas influyentes de la literatura universal. pionero en la fusión de elementos realistas con fantásticos, tiene como principales temas los conflictos paternofiliales, la ansiedad, el existencialismo, la culpa y la filosofía del absurdo.

Nació en el seno de una familia judía, en donde su padre provenía de una familia rural de carniceros, con frecuentes problemas económicos.

La familia de Franz se instaló en Praga en donde su padre siempre manifestó hacia sus hijos una permanente actitud de autoritarismo y prepotencia, y en donde la madre quedaba relegada a un papel secundario de tipo educativo. Franz era el mayor de seis hermanos, y algunos de ellos murieron en el holocausto julio.

Hacia los 14 años, Kafka realizó sus primeros intentos como escritor aunque destruyo la mayoría de sus trabajos de aquella época.

Sepultura: Bestial Devastation EP (1985)

As I said yesterday, split releases, like many marriages, are fragile, short-lived unions of convenience; bound for divorce just as soon as either spouse disagrees with the other's life interests or ambitions and breaks off on their own; so much for "'til death do us part."

This 40-year-old split LP (not original, but reissued, of course) is a perfect case-in-point: pairing Brazilian heavy metal legends Sepultura with fellow Belo Horizonte natives Overdose, whose career, like their moniker, was anything but legendary.

And yet, both groups, plus fledgling Cogumelo Records, were just getting started, at the time, so a split album made a lot of sense for all involved, as no one could have possibly predicted the two bands' astonishingly divergent destinies.

Earlier this week, I wrote about the original A-side, Overdose's three-track Século XX (20th Century), so today I'll cover the B-side, Sepultura's five-cut Bestial Devastation, for which no translation is required, and therein lies the rub.

Because, while Overdose clearly felt more comfortable singing in their native tongue, Sepultura's Max Cavalera would have none of it -- rather sagely stating that trying to write Portuguese lyrics for heavy metal was like writing English lyrics for samba.

Not that accurate English pronunciation, let alone correct grammar, were all that important to conveying Sepultura's amusing satanic intentions in opening croak "The Curse," nor ensuing blackened thrash rituals like the title track and "Necromancer."

"The curse is launched, beware ... The Lord of Death declared the war; Satanas is invoked to destroy; And to command the bestial ... Devastation!"

But don't be fooled: as intentionally crude and savage as these songs may be; as primitive the production and amateurish the musicianship of teenagers Max (vocals, guitar), Igor Cavalera (drums), Paulo Jr. (bass), and Jairo T. (lead guitar), there was obvious potential amid all that apparent chaos and noise.

Like extreme metal contemporaries, both overseas (Hellhammer, Kreator, Destruction, Bathory) and at home (Vulcano, Holocausto, Dorsal Atlantica), Sepultura were already stretching their abilities with varied arrangements, riff, and tempo changes.

This promise of accelerated musical growth in years to come is more evident (if no less violent and sacrilegious) on twin standouts "Antichrist" and "Warriors of Death," and Brazilian metal-heads confirmed this by generally rejecting Overdose's comparative melodic sophistication in favor of Sepultura's raw, unruly mayhem.

Their faith would be rewarded as Sepultura marched inexorably towards an unprecedented international breakthrough, while Overdose lost both direction and momentum over the course of six inconsequential albums before breaking up in 1996.

Sepultura, meanwhile, seemed to be utterly unstoppable until another kind of "divorce" tore the band apart from the inside; a tragic, heartbreaking outcome that some of us have frankly never fully gotten over ... but that's divorce for you, isn't it?

🇪🇸🇲🇽 El libro "Judíos en América: Cinco siglos de historia" (1992), del profesor Haim Avni, es una obra fundamental que compara la experiencia de los judíos en América del Norte y del Sur desde la época del descubrimiento de América hasta mediados del siglo XX. Analiza aspectos clave como la persecución por la Inquisición en territorios católicos hispano-lusitanos, la clandestinidad de los "cristianos nuevos" y los "judaizantes", y las comunidades judías en América protestante (Brasil holandés, el Caribe británico). Avni demuestra cómo los judíos enfrentaron desafíos únicos debido a factores como el aislamiento cultural, las restricciones políticas y económicas, y la ausencia de instituciones fuertes en el sur. Comparando con Estados Unidos y Canadá, donde la separación entre Iglesia y Estado facilitó la integración, Avni resalta las dificultades en países latinoamericanos para garantizar derechos plenos a los judíos, particularmente durante las migraciones masivas del siglo XIX y el Holocausto. A pesar de las diferencias, el libro conecta las historias judías con procesos socioeconómicos, políticos y culturales más amplios, ofreciendo una perspectiva multidisciplinaria invaluable para comprender el desarrollo de las comunidades judías en las Américas.

Senkman, L. (1993). Judíos en América cinco siglos de historia. EIAL - Estudios Interdisciplinarios De América Latina Y El Caribe, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.61490/eial.v4i2.1243More Citation Formats 

🇺🇸 The book "Jews in America: Five Centuries of History" (1992) by Professor Haim Avni is a cornerstone work comparing the experiences of Jews in North and South America from the discovery of America to the mid-20th century. It examines key aspects such as persecution by the Inquisition in Hispanic-Lusitanian Catholic territories, the clandestine lives of "new Christians" and "crypto-Jews," and Jewish communities in Protestant America (Dutch Brazil, British Caribbean). Avni demonstrates how Jews faced unique challenges due to cultural isolation, political and economic restrictions, and the absence of strong institutions in the South. Compared to the United States and Canada, where the separation of Church and State eased integration, Avni highlights the difficulties in Latin American countries in ensuring full rights for Jews, particularly during the mass migrations of the 19th century and the Holocaust. Despite the differences, the book connects Jewish histories with broader socioeconomic, political, and cultural processes, offering an invaluable multidisciplinary perspective on the development of Jewish communities in the Americas.