Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. (Luke 6 v 26)




You'd hardly believe it. Our trip to Auschwitz has sent me digging up some unbelievable information:

1. In 1938, Time Magazine's "Man of the Year" was.... Adolf Hitler!!

2. In 1939 AND 1942 Time Magazine's "Man of the Year" was.... Joseph Stalin!!

Can you believe that? Arguably the most prestigious news magazine in the World voted these two mass-murderers as "Man of the Year"?!! In the years following these dubious accolades, Hitler killed 11 - 14 million people; Stalin killed 20 - 30 million!! (stats from Wikipedia).

You really have to wonder what's going on in this bizarre world.

(1730)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The then President of the Republic of Ireland, Eamon De Valera, on hearing of the death of Hitler sent his condolences to the German Embassy in Dublin.

Anonymous said...

"Arguably the most prestigious news magazine in the World voted these two mass-murderers as "Man of the Year"?!! "

The usual argument regarding this is that the "achievements" of each man in the years in question over-arched anything else any man did.

Stalin won the award twice, incidentally.

It's not a case for supporting the 'winner', but recognising how the winner's actions shaped the world, both in that year and in years/decades to come.

Linbergh was the first winner, and transatlantic flight certainly shaped our world and continues to do so, positively and negatively (opportunities for travel vs global warming).

In 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini won it, but I don't think Time was being supportive of Islamic revolution either. Still, his return from exile continues to impact on global events almost 30 years later.

H