Catholic scandal spreads: Former Regensburg choirboys talk of "naked beatings"

This article is about the investigation of priests at two boarding schools that are accused of abusing young boys, both sexually and physically. The schools were the homes of boys that were being recruited for the famous Regensberg choir. These cases of abuse occurred in the 1950's and 1960's. Therapists in and around Munich have treated several boys for the trauma they received while attending the schools.

Some of the boys (who are grown men now) reported that one of the priests would take eight and nine year old boys in to his private rooms and have them strip. He would then beat them and in some instances penetration occurred. One former student stated that the school had, "an elaborate system of sadistic punishments as well as sexual lust." Another former student expressed his outrage that the pope's brother, Georg Ratzinger, claims that he was not aware of the abuse.

These actions and others were well known by the students. One student actually committed suicide in relation to the abuse. In 1967, a student reports that one priest would take a few of the boys to his flat in the evenings. There, they would be given red wine. The priest would masturbate with the boys.

The Diocese states that they are going to launch a vigorous investigation. The pope's brother was headmaster from 1964-1994. He states that during those 30 years there was disciple and rigor, but not terror.

Stories of sexual abuse by priests or other male clergymen always befuddle me. I do not understand how or why these religious men are repeatedly in hot water for inappropriate actions with young boys. They make the choice to take the call from God. They understand the Bible and its teachings. They strive to live their lives according to God's instruction. Where do they read that it is okay to do things to young kids? This is a problem that is not just isolated to America or Germany. It is wide spread especially within the Catholic church. Perhaps priests should be allowed to marry. Maybe there would be less accusations of sexual abuse.

This article can be found at:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,682344,00.html

This article was written by: Spiegel with wire reports

Harrowing Memoir: German woman writes ground-breaking account of WW2 rape

This article is about a German woman who is the first woman to write about being raped using her own name. Her name is Gabriele Köpp. In 1945, she and her sister were told by her parents to leave their home because the Russians were coming. She was 15 at the time, she still referred to herself as a child. She describes how the two of them fled to a train which eventually came under fire. They escaped from the train and she found refuge at a bakery. She was discovered by the Russians when a neighbor lady revealed her location.

It was at this time that she was raped repeatedly by the Russian soldiers for 14 days. The article is somewhat vague on how she got home, but she did. Her father was dead but her mother was not. She told her mother about the horrific events and received the cold shoulder. Her mother instructed her to never speak of the incidents again. Gabriele wrote notes to herself about what happened and how she felt. She used these note to write the book.

As a result of the rape, she has had trouble forming relationships with women. She is friends with several men, but has only had feelings of love for one person. That person is her former therapist. He broke off the therapy.

Despite the emotional trauma, Gabriele became very successful as a professor of physics. She does still have trouble sleeping, and eating. She decided to write her story using her own name because she figured that time was running out. Many women who were experienced WW2 are deceased.

This article was very sad. I can't imagine going through what she did. I am happy that she was able to become successful in her career. I am sad that she has struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder since 1946. I think that it is very good that she wrote her story. It takes a lot of courage. I hope that it was therapeutic for her. I wonder if she was in America if she would have told the story sooner. It was difficult for her to even go to a therapist. I am curious if some of her hesitation is because she was in Germany, then Poland. Unfortunately, I do not think that I will read her memoir. I don't enjoy reading about those topics.

This article can be found at:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,680354,00.html

This article was written by Susanne Beyer

Mass Biker defection has Berlin bracing for violence

This article was about a group of 76 members of the Bandidos who defected to become Hell's Angels. On Tuesday of this week, the members left the Bandidos. In the biker community, there are two rules: maintain the code of silence and hate enemy biker gangs. In recent months, there have been several confrontations between the two gangs. In one situation, the police arrived on the scene of a fight and discovered a man lying in the street with an axe in his leg. He replied that it was from a traffic accident.

The 76 defectors have been seen around Berlin wearing red and white Hell's Angels attire. The head of a local Hell's Angels club has been seen talking with the members of the defecting group. Recently, this leader was stabbed. The officials feel that he was stabbed by a member of the rival gang. The reason for them leaving the Bandidos was not reported in the article.

The battles between the two groups has been very brutal. They have ranged in brutality from knives to explosives. The police have officers watching locations for both groups. They are worried about a massive war breaking out.

The Bandidos have acknowledged the members leaving, however, the Hell's Angels have not officially reported them as members.

I was quite interested in this article. I did not realize that either group existed outside of the U.S. I'm not a biker gang expert, but I do watch the news frequently and I have not heard of any biker battles in our region. I know that the Hell's Angels and Bandidos can be violent groups but I was quite shocked about the man with an axe in his leg and the use of explosives. That is some serious firepower! I would think that a conflict that vicious would be news-worthy. I am curious to find out if the foreign sects of the gangs are more violent than the Americans.

This article was written by Jörg Diehl, Thomas Heise and Claas Meyer-Heuer.

This article can be found at:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,675916,00.html

Can Ikea save a run-down neighborhood?

The article I chose this week was about Altona, a district in Hamburg. The district was once a prosperous district with many shops. In the 1990's, shops began to close as other stores opened in other areas drawing business out of Altona. Now, Ikea has selected the area's Frappant building as the location of their newest Ikea store. This has created a divided community. Germany provides Ikea with 20 percent of its revenues. Building a new store in Germany would be very beneficial for Ikea.

The pro-Ikea group want the mega-store to move in to help bring commerce. One individual commented that he doesn't care if Ikea is the store to move in; he just wants a big, stable company to help save the region. Ikea is promising jobs and revenue to the area.

Th anti-Ikea group are opposed to the area becoming a traffic nightmare. They want to turn the building into a community center. This group is concerned about gentrification occurring.

The pro-Ikeans mention that there is little movement for this community center to happen. They have waited for a long time for something to move in to the district and nothing pans out.

I agree with the pro-Ikea group on this issue. It appears that the area is struggling and more local businesses are probably going to fail. The district needs a stable, prosperous company to help boost the local economy. To me, it doesn't matter if it is Ikea; they just need help. A community center would be great but seems unrealistic. They have considered the idea for over ten years and it still is just an idea.

This article was written by Sven Böll and Ole Reissenmann.

The article can be found at: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,673016,00.html

German high court rules against detention of sex offender

This article is about the recent ruling of the German high court against the preventative detention of a sex offender. The article explains how "Karl D." could not be put in preventative detention because his 1995 offense ruling did not contain any measures for him to be in preventative detention. The community where he lives is very concerned about his person being in their neighborhoods.

In 1985, Karl D. was sentenced to 5 1/2 years for raping a 14 year old girl. After his time in jail, he raped two other girls in 1995. His 1995 ruling sentenced him to 14 years in prison. It was this sentence that did not include the additional detention.

I was not sure what exactly "preventative detention" . When I looked it up, I was informed that it is assigned to a criminal in addition to a determined term in prison. It is regarded as the harshest punishment. Preventative detention is reserved for the most dangerous criminals. In 1998, the clause specifically including sex offenders was added.

Karl D. was released less than a year ago and he is living with his brother. The police have placed him on 24-hour surveillance. This surveillance is costing approximately 100,000 euros per month. The mayor warned the citizens to be on alert.

I think that it is absurd for the community to waste that amount of money the watch a person that court-appointed evaluators deemed dangerous. The man has proven to be a repeat rapist and now he is released into an area that is assuredly going to have young girls around. The American system is not much better I suppose. We run out of room in our prisons and set felons free. There are often stories about a criminal who was caught, served time, released, and committed another crime.

I chose article because I was curious about how other countries handle their sex offenders. I think that "preventative detention" is similar to what we call "life sentence" combined with the release of information when a sex offender moves into a community here.

This article can be found at:

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5124202,00.html

This article was edited by Michael Lawton

FIrst Blog

This project is to make us aware of current events in Germany. I will be looking for articles that relate to any type of news story. I am interested in learning about a variety of topics.