Hack More Nazis
October 28, 2017 10:00 PM Subscribe
Hacking the Holocaust: Remembering the data pirates, forgers, and social engineers who saved thousands.
...Adolfo recalls when he stayed awake for two nights straight to fill an enormous rush order. “It’s a simple calculation: In one hour I can make 30 blank documents; if I sleep for an hour, 30 people will die.”
I dunno - I'm willing to punch a nazi, but hacking one sounds a bit grisly...
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:50 PM on October 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:50 PM on October 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
The article links indirectly to a much longer article on the kashariyot, female couriers who smuggled news and supplies between the ghettos. It's well worth reading.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:21 PM on October 28, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:21 PM on October 28, 2017 [14 favorites]
More people asking this please:
If those in power subpoenaed user data from you, what would they find that could endanger those of a certain religion, national origin, or other marginalized group?
posted by not_the_water at 11:37 PM on October 28, 2017 [23 favorites]
If those in power subpoenaed user data from you, what would they find that could endanger those of a certain religion, national origin, or other marginalized group?
posted by not_the_water at 11:37 PM on October 28, 2017 [23 favorites]
Perhaps not a 'hacker' as defined by this article, but related:
Chiune Sugihara
Chiune Sugihara
Sugihara continued to hand-write visas, reportedly spending 18–20 hours a day on them, producing a normal month's worth of visas each day, until 4 September, when he had to leave his post before the consulate was closed.posted by Panthalassa at 1:15 AM on October 29, 2017 [10 favorites]
For whatever reason these have always been the stories from the Holocaust that have stuck with me.
posted by PMdixon at 4:40 AM on October 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by PMdixon at 4:40 AM on October 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
For whatever reason these have always been the stories from the Holocaust that have stuck with me.
That's because these were the little people, the everyday people, that made a difference. And if they can make a difference, you can too.
It is a good thing to like and remember.
posted by Samizdata at 6:55 AM on October 29, 2017 [28 favorites]
That's because these were the little people, the everyday people, that made a difference. And if they can make a difference, you can too.
It is a good thing to like and remember.
posted by Samizdata at 6:55 AM on October 29, 2017 [28 favorites]
not_the_water: "If those in power subpoenaed user data from you, what would they find that could endanger those of a certain religion, national origin, or other marginalized group?"
I'm proud of myself that I had the presence of mind to ask this question the day after the election. I am an employee at the biggest personal fundraising website, where we're storing the "normal amount" of info on people who have contributed to NoDAPL, Syrian refugees, etc (although the normal amount of information that websites store on you is arguably way too much). My immediate concern was: what happens when the fascists ask for these lists. As you might imagine on Nov 8, there was no real interest in the question. I hope that it bothered people well enough that it planted a seed, though.
posted by TypographicalError at 6:59 AM on October 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
I'm proud of myself that I had the presence of mind to ask this question the day after the election. I am an employee at the biggest personal fundraising website, where we're storing the "normal amount" of info on people who have contributed to NoDAPL, Syrian refugees, etc (although the normal amount of information that websites store on you is arguably way too much). My immediate concern was: what happens when the fascists ask for these lists. As you might imagine on Nov 8, there was no real interest in the question. I hope that it bothered people well enough that it planted a seed, though.
posted by TypographicalError at 6:59 AM on October 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
The NY Times made a brief video about Adolfo Kaminsky [linking to YouTube to give access to everyone if you are at your NYT limit] or the NY Times article with the video- I found it phenomenally powerful and shared it with a few people so I'm sharing it again here for people who might appreciate it.
Thank you for posting this - I plan to look up more about the people within the article later.
posted by Wolfster at 8:48 AM on October 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
Thank you for posting this - I plan to look up more about the people within the article later.
posted by Wolfster at 8:48 AM on October 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
One of my favorite similar stories is of Gino Bartali, an Italian bike racer. He'd been a champion in the late 1930s, even winning the Tour de France in 1938. This was a big coup for Italian propaganda in an era of nationalism, and he was perhaps the country's most famous athlete at the time.
During WW2, there was no bike bike racing, but he kept training - and, secretly, used his training rides to transport documents through the underground, smuggling papers that would help Italian Jews escape Italy once the German army began rounding up and killing Jews. After a while, it seems, his work became known by the secret police, who questioned him extensively - but also found him to be untouchable because of his status.
He apparently didn't speak of this work until very close to his death, when it came out. He never wanted attention for it - saying "Some medals are pinned to your soul, not to your jacket."
posted by entropone at 9:09 AM on October 29, 2017 [37 favorites]
During WW2, there was no bike bike racing, but he kept training - and, secretly, used his training rides to transport documents through the underground, smuggling papers that would help Italian Jews escape Italy once the German army began rounding up and killing Jews. After a while, it seems, his work became known by the secret police, who questioned him extensively - but also found him to be untouchable because of his status.
He apparently didn't speak of this work until very close to his death, when it came out. He never wanted attention for it - saying "Some medals are pinned to your soul, not to your jacket."
posted by entropone at 9:09 AM on October 29, 2017 [37 favorites]
"Some medals are pinned to your soul, not to your jacket."
Words to live by, if I ever heard any.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:07 AM on October 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
Words to live by, if I ever heard any.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:07 AM on October 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
A possibly-apocryphal Gino Bartali quote, in a message to his son: "if you're good at a sport, they attach the medals to your shirt and then they shine in some museum. That which is earned by doing good deeds is attached to the soul and shines elsewhere." Further noteworthy because his deeds were essentially unknown by the public until after his death.
posted by introp at 1:00 PM on October 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by introp at 1:00 PM on October 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
One of the side effects of fearing the government is how data collection for any entity including universities is very fraught. I will say that the US census bureau is going to be in for fun times 2020.
posted by jadepearl at 1:00 PM on October 29, 2017
posted by jadepearl at 1:00 PM on October 29, 2017
A thought I've had periodically: Beware of lists, particularly ones made by the government. Because eventually you have to justify the costs of making the list, often to the detriment of those on the list.
posted by sexyrobot at 4:57 PM on October 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by sexyrobot at 4:57 PM on October 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
Cool little article. I hadn't heard about these folks except in very broad terms about the kashariyot.
When I first went to the Holocaust Museum in DC I just fairly aimlessly started digging through their openly accessible archives and learned about Frieda Belinfante and her friend Willem Arondeus. Their resistance group forged passports, and then bombed the population registry in Amsterdam to destroy records documenting who was Jewish. I think bombing the population archive is a sort of "hacking" in a sense - data destruction with the technology of the day.
Both Belinfante (pictured here) and Arondeus (here), were gay and both artists - she a musician, he a visual artist. Supposedly Arondeus' last words were, "Let it be known that homosexuals are not cowards".
posted by latkes at 9:07 PM on October 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
When I first went to the Holocaust Museum in DC I just fairly aimlessly started digging through their openly accessible archives and learned about Frieda Belinfante and her friend Willem Arondeus. Their resistance group forged passports, and then bombed the population registry in Amsterdam to destroy records documenting who was Jewish. I think bombing the population archive is a sort of "hacking" in a sense - data destruction with the technology of the day.
Both Belinfante (pictured here) and Arondeus (here), were gay and both artists - she a musician, he a visual artist. Supposedly Arondeus' last words were, "Let it be known that homosexuals are not cowards".
posted by latkes at 9:07 PM on October 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
I hadn't heard about these folks except in very broad terms about the kashariyot.
We so nearly didn't. Almost all Jews in Poland, for instance, were killed. A lot of what we know is due to one man, Emanuel Ringelbaum, who headed an attempt to document the fate of Polish Jewry in the face of what his staff knew was its imminent destruction.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:26 PM on October 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
We so nearly didn't. Almost all Jews in Poland, for instance, were killed. A lot of what we know is due to one man, Emanuel Ringelbaum, who headed an attempt to document the fate of Polish Jewry in the face of what his staff knew was its imminent destruction.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:26 PM on October 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
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posted by Jubey at 10:07 PM on October 28, 2017 [2 favorites]