Tag Archives: Memorial

Die Blaue Stelen

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Die Blaue Stelen or Blue Columns is a memorial and permanent reflection site commemorating the victims of the Nazi Regime. The columns are located in public spaces — in historic and significant locations — visible and interactive throughout Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. Pictured above and below, the nine columns are situated in Luitpold Park Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany.

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Above, this column commemorates a Jewish citizen of Ingolstadt, Germany who was murdered at the Thereisenstadt camp in the former Czechoslovakia, in 1942.

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(above and below) The Blaue Stelen commemorates a Catholic priest who perished at the Dachau Concentration camp outside of Münich, Germany.  (above and below) The column is situated in the courtyard of the former Nazi Headquarters which is now the annex to the Franciscan Catholic Church in inner Ingolstadt.  

This image commemorates a soldier held in a prison for the armed forces in Manching, Germany. Executed at Amwaldsee.

Die Blaue Stelen is a gedenkstätte or denkmal a permanent reflection site and memorial to the victims of Nationalsozialismus or the Nazi regime. The nine blue columns above were installed in 1988 in Luitpold park in Ingolstadt Germany. The permanent installation is the creation of German artist Dagmar Pachtner. A new blue column installation may be seen here.

Above, this image commemorates a “femdarbeiter,” or immigrant, foreign worker, who was executed in 1942 in Munich.

all photographs copyright Ana Elisa Fuentes

Honoring Don Calamar

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Today I honor and remember with love the life of Don Calamar, a combat photographer and Silver Medalist who survived the Invasion of Normandy  also known as D-Day.  Don, was my first photography and photojournalist instructor and sometimes father figure.   I remember  his soft spoken manner. Don taught more by example.  He was unrelenting kind.  I remember this the most about him.

His later years were devoted to family, photography instruction, alternative energy, and peace activism.  Don was a positive influence in my life.

Always the educator, on one occasion after a family meal, Don and his wife Pat, were so excited to share with me how they prepared our dinner.  Guiding me to their backyard for cookies and tea, like eager school children, they unveiled the solar cooker they constructed in their garden backyard.

Don was one of the founding members of Santa Barbara Veterans for Peace and Arlington West.

I am so very grateful to have had a person like Don in my life, especially as a guiding force in my photojournalism career. Thank you for reading this tribute; a testimony to how one life can make an enduring difference in the lives of others.

I miss his goodness.