title: Jinx (League of Legends)

text: Jinx is often labeled as a "fan-favorite" and one of the most iconic champions from "League of Legends", and has become one of the most popular video game characters for fanart and cosplay. "Dot Esports" contributes Jinx's continued popularity towards the "Get Jinxed" music video and her "magnetic" design. "PC Gamer" listed Jinx as the 23rd most iconic character in PC gaming, citing her as the mascot for "League of Legends". Jinx has been featured in multiple videos for Riot Games' "League of Legends" YouTube channel, and was even the focal point of the cinematic launch trailer for the mobile game "League of Legends: Wild Rift".


title: Jinx (League of Legends)

text: Jinx's portrayal in "Arcane" garnered widespread acclaim from critics and fans. Rafael Motamayor of "IGN" described the character as "compelling" and "what keep[s] you engaged episode after episode". Fans have lauded the series' serious treatment of Jinx's mental illness to make her a more tragic character, rather than using it as a quirk for comedy. Similarities have been noted between Jinx's characterization in "Arcane" and the DC Comics supervillain the Joker (who served as an inspiration for Jinx from the "League of Legends" game), specifically with regards to her actions in the season finale.


title: Jinx (League of Legends)

text: The vocal performances of Ella Purnell and Mia Sinclair Jenness as Jinx and young Powder, respectively, received significant praise from critics; Purnell won the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production for her performance in the sixth episode of "Arcane".


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: Reza Pahlavi (; born 31 October 1960) is the oldest son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, and his wife Farah Diba. Prior to the Iranian Revolution in 1979, he was the crown prince and the last heir apparent to the throne of the Imperial State of Iran.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: Pahlavi is the founder and leader of the self-styled National Council of Iran, an exiled opposition group, and is a prominent critic of Iran's Islamic Republic government.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: Reza Pahlavi was born in Tehran as the eldest legitimate son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran and Farah Pahlavi, the Shahbanu of Iran. Pahlavi's siblings include his sister Princess Farahnaz Pahlavi (born 1963), brother Prince Ali Reza Pahlavi (1966–2011), and sister Princess Leila Pahlavi (1970–2001), as well as a half-sister, Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi (born 1940).


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: When he was born, the Shah pardoned 98 political prisoners and the government declared a 20% reduction in income tax. He studied at the eponymous "Reza Pahlavi School", a private school located in the royal palace and restricted to the imperial family and court associates. He was trained as a pilot; his first solo flight was at the age of 11, and he obtained his license a year later. He was a supporter of Taj Abadan football club.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: As a cadet of the Imperial Iranian Air Force, he was sent to the United States in August 1978 to continue his pilot training, and was one of 43 cadet pilots in the one-year pilot training program at the former Reese Air Force Base, TX, which included flying the Cessna T-37 Tweet and Northrop T-38 Talon. As a result of the Iranian Revolution, he left the base in March 1979, about four months earlier than planned.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: Pahlavi began studies at Williams College in September 1979, but dropped out in 1980. He then enrolled at The American University in Cairo as a political science student, but his attendance was irregular. In 1981, it was reported that he had dropped out of the program and continued his studies privately with Iranian professors, with a focus on Persian culture and history, Islamic philosophy, and oil in Iran.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: Pahlavi obtained a BSc degree in political science by correspondence from the University of Southern California in 1985. He is fluent in English and French in addition to his native Persian.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: Reza Pahlavi came to Cairo, Egypt, in March 1980 with his family. When his father Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was ill and in the last weeks of his life, media reported that some monarchist elements had advised the Shah to oust Reza in favor of his younger son Ali Reza (who was 13 at the time) and a regency council, suggesting that Reza's background, training and interest in public affairs was too limited to become his successor. The Shah was understood to have rejected the idea, as well as to abdicate himself in favor of one of his two sons. When the Shah died on 27 July 1980, Farah Pahlavi proclaimed herself as the regent, a title in pretense. On his 20th birthday on 31 October, Reza Pahlavi declared himself to be the new king of Iran, Reza Shah II, and the rightful successor to the throne of Pahlavi dynasty. Immediately afterwards a spokesman for the United States Department of State, John Trattner, disassociated the U.S. government from Reza Pahlavi by stating that his government did not intend to support him, assuring that they recognized the Iranian government.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: During 1981, Pahlavi remained in the Koubbeh Palace and developed close ties to pro-monarchy groups while facing rejection from other opposition groups, including left-wing dissidents. In March, he issued a statement for the Persian New Year and urged all opponents of the Iranian government unite behind him and wage a "national resistance", but chose to remain silent and made no reaction when President Abolhassan Banisadr was deposed and the assassination of tens of officials including Chief Justice Mohammad Beheshti took place in June. In August, Pahlavi announced that he had been secretly planning to overthrow the Iranian government, stating "So far I have been unwilling to unveil the existence of the concerted plans for I do not wish to jeopardize the lives of some of our best children... many of our actions have been unknown to you, but I want to assure you that the necessary steps are being taken in the best orderly way to save Iran".


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: In 1982, Yaakov Nimrodi told BBC in a radio interview that along with Adolph Schwimmer and Adnan Khashoggi, he was involved with Pahlavi and Gen. Said Razvani to scheme a coup d'état and install him in Iran. According to Samuel Segev, the plan had the approval of both the CIA and the Israeli cabinet but it was abandoned when Menachem Begin resigned in 1983 and the new leadership "thought Israel should not be involved in a new adventure".


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: On 1 May 1986, Pahlavi disclosed that he had recently formed a government-in-exile with an aim to establish a constitutional monarchy once again in Iran.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: On his website, Pahlavi has said that the state of Iran should become democratic and secular, and human rights should be respected. Whether the form of government would be that of a constitutional monarchy or a republic is something that he would like to leave up to the people of Iran.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: Pahlavi has used his high profile as an Iranian abroad to campaign for human rights, democracy and unity among Iranians in and outside Iran. On his website he calls for a separation of religion and state in Iran and for free and fair elections "for all freedom-loving individuals and political ideologies". He exhorts all groups dedicated to a democratic agenda to work together for a democratic and secular Iranian government.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: In February 2011, after violence erupted in Tehran, Pahlavi said that Iran's youth were determined to get rid of an authoritarian government tainted by corruption and misrule in the hope of installing a democracy. "Fundamental and necessary change is long overdue for our region and we have a whole generation of young Egyptians and Iranians not willing to take no for an answer", he told "The Daily Telegraph". "Democratization is now an imperative that cannot be denied. It is only a matter of time before the whole region can transform itself."


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: In June 2018, he made this comment: "I believe Iran must be a secular, parliamentary democracy. The final form has to be decided by the people." In a presentation at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in December 2018, Pahlavi called for non-military support of those in Iran who were trying to replace the Islamist regime with a secular democracy. According to a news report, he was "not openly calling for the restoration of the Peacock Throne ... He casts himself more as a symbol than a politician, but has called himself 'ready to serve my country'".


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: Reza Pahlavi II is first in the line of succession to his late father, while his younger brother Ali-Reza Pahlavi II was second in line until he committed suicide in 2011. Prior to his birth, the presumptive heir was Patrick Ali Pahlavi, the crown prince's cousin.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: In February 2019, he launched an initiative called the Phoenix Project of Iran. According to the National Interest, this is "designed to bring the various strains of the opposition closer to a common vision for a post-clerical Iran".


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: A report published by the Brookings Institution in 2009 said that Pahlavi lacked an organized following within Iran since there was no serious monarchist movement in Iran itself. The report described Pahlavi as having "little in common with the intellectuals and students who make up the core of the reform movement".


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: During 2017–18 Iranian protests, some videos on social media showed demonstrators chanting slogans in favor of Pahlavi's grandfather and calling for his return. On many occasions the videos indicated the royalist slogans prompts others in the crowd to shout the slogans down.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: After the January 2018 protests, Pahlavi and pro-monarchy sentiment experienced a resurgence in Iran.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: Pahlavi enjoys wide popularity with the older generation of Iranian expatriates that left Iran at the time of the 1979 revolution and with some people in Iran. In 2006, Connie Bruck of "The New Yorker" wrote that Los Angeles is home to about 600,000 Iranian expatriates, and said it was a monarchist stronghold.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: A 2013 survey of Iranian-Americans conducted by George Mason University's Center for Social Science Research found that 79% of respondents did not support any Iranian opposition groups or figures. Of the 15% that did, only 20% supported him. According to the "Iranian Political Tendencies" poll conducted by the Goman Institute in May 2018 among 19,000 participants, Reza Pahlavi had the "most popularity in Iranian society" with 37.9%.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: Bob Woodward wrote in 1986 that the Reagan administration authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to support and fund Iranian exiles, including Pahlavi. The agency transmitted his 11-minute speech during which he vowed "I will return" to Iranian television by pirating its frequency. The Tower Commission report, published in 1987, also acknowledged that the CIA was behind this event while a group in Paris calling itself 'Flag of Freedom' had taken responsibility for the act in September 1986.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: James Mann wrote in February 1989 that when he asked the CIA about whether they help Pahlavi, they refused to comment and a spokesperson of the agency told him "We would not confirm nor deny an intelligence matter".


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: In 2006, Connie Bruck of "The New Yorker" wrote that "Pahlavi had CIA funding for a number of years in the eighties, but it ended after the Iran-Contra scandal". Andrew Friedman of Haverford College states that Pahlavi began cooperation with the CIA after he met director William J. Casey and received a monthly stipend, citing Pahlavi's financial advisor and other observers. Friedman also connects his residence in Great Falls, Virginia to its proximity to George Bush Center for Intelligence, headquarters of the service.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: In 2009, Pahlavi denied receiving U.S. government aid or any foreign aid in an interview with "The New York Times". Pahlavi said "No, no. I don't rely on any sources other than my own compatriots" and denied allegations of working with the CIA, calling the allegations "absolutely and unequivocally false". However, in 2017 he told Jon Gambrell of the Associated Press: "My focus right now is on liberating Iran, and I will find any means that I can, without compromising the national interests and independence, with anyone who is willing to give us a hand, whether it is the U.S. or the Saudis or the Israelis or whomever it is."


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: According to a "People" article published in 1978, Pahlavi dated a "blond, blue-eyed Swedish model he met in Rome". The same publication also reported that he lived with his girlfriend while living in Lubbock, Texas. As of 1980, he had an Egyptian girlfriend who was a student of The American University in Cairo, reportedly "closely guarded" by bodyguards.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: Pahlavi began a relationship with Yasmine Etemad-Amini in 1985, and a year later married her, then aged 17, at 25 years of age. The couple have three daughters: Noor (born 3 April 1992), Iman (born 12 September 1993), and Farah (born 17 January 2004).


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: In 2004, Pahlavi was named as the "unofficial godfather" of Princess Louise of Belgium, the eighth granddaughter of King Albert II of Belgium.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: Noor Pahlavi (, born 3 April 1992) is an American socialite, model, and real estate businesswoman. She is the oldest child of Reza Pahlavi and Yasmine Etemad-Amini. Born in exile after her family fled due to the Iranian Revolution, she was the first immediate family member of the Pahlavi dynasty to be born outside of Iran.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: Pahlavi was born in exile on 3 April 1992 in Washington, D.C., to Reza Pahlavi and Yasmine Etemad-Amini. She was the first immediate family member of the Imperial family of Iran to be born outside of Iran, although her first cousin once removed, Patrick Ali Pahlavi, a descendant of a cadet line, was born in Paris in 1947. Her father is the last heir apparent of the defunct throne of the Imperial State of Iran and current head of the House of Pahlavi. Her paternal grandparents, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Farah Diba, were the last Emperor and Empress of Iran. She has two younger sisters: Iman and Farah. She attended The Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland, graduating in 2010. She graduated from Georgetown University in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. She subsequently graduated with an MBA from Columbia University, and works as an advisor to the non-profit impact investment fund Acumen.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: Pahlavi works in healthcare investor relations at a strategic investor relations firm. Previously she was the director of fundraising and investor relations for a commercial real estate firm. She has modeled for clothing brand "MISA" and has appeared in "Harper's Bazaar". In June 2017, she was the cover girl for "Marie Claire Indonesia".


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: Pahlavi was a keen football player and spectator. He was fan of the capital's football club Esteghlal, then known as "Taj" () and his support was even televised by the National Iranian Radio and Television. The club performed in annual rallies organized on his birthday, which as a result identified the club with the Pahlavi regime.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: In 1981, UPI reported that Pahlavi attended the elite Gueziro Club in Cairo to watch tennis and was occasionally seen in discotheques at hotels in the vicinity of the Nile.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: When interviewed about religion, Pahlavi said, "That's a private matter; but if you must know, I am, of course, by education and by conviction, a Shia Muslim. I am very much a man of faith." Iranian writer Reza Bayegan also notes that Crown Prince Reza is allegedly "deeply attached" to his Muslim faith. He has performed the Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: In 1989, "The Washington Post" reported that Pahlavi was unemployed. Asked about his sources of income, he replied that he had been financially supported by "friends and family" in the past seven years. In 2017, he told the Associated Press that since 1979 he had had no "side occupation" (with regard to political activities), adding that his money came from his family and "many Iranians who have supported the cause". According to a December 2018 news report by Politico, "he is thought to live mainly on what's left of his family wealth, his only full-time job being speaking out about Iran".


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: In 1990, Ali Haydar Shahbazi, a former Imperial Guard member who worked for Pahlavi as a longtime bodyguard filed a lawsuit in the district court of Alexandria, Virginia, accusing Pahlavi of breaching Iranian tradition by breaking his pledge to take care of him financially. Shahbazi, then aged 58, said in the court he abandoned more than $400,000 in property in Iran because Pahlavi assured him "I'm going to pay your expenses and everything. I'm going to take care of you better than my father [did]" when he was hired, and then fired him with a handshake and $9,000 in 1989. Shahbazi asked compensation for the $30,000 in taxes and penalties as well as an undetermined amount of money for his retirement. Pahlavi's attorney dismissed the claim, saying that Shahbazi has received gifts worth several thousand dollars and was allowed to live luxuriously in Pahlavi's house in Great Falls, Virginia, adding that the servant was fired because his client ran out of money. Pahlavi agreed that Shahbazi was a loyal friend but he offered support as long as he could. He also told the judge "I was not involved in the day-to-day handling of my financial affairs".


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: In 1991, District Judge Albert Vickers Bryan Jr. argued that Pahlavi "had little knowledge of how his estate's money was spent and could not be held personally accountable for employment agreements with servants", declaring the case dismissed. According to media reports, Pahlavi began to cry in the court when the judge threw out the case.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: In 1990, Pahlavi and Ahmad Ali Massoud Ansari, his close aide and financial adviser, filed lawsuits against each other. Pahlavi accused Ansari of embezzlement amounting $24 million, while Ansari claimed $1.7 million lien against Pahlavi. During the trial, Pahlavi's attorney told the court "[d]ue to the demands of his political responsibilities and his lack of experience in financial matters, Pahlavi had to trust completely in Ansari for the management of his funds... over the years, no one supplanted Ansari in any way in Pahlavi's trust. Conversely, no one betrayed Pahlavi's trust any more than Ansari", going further to accuse Ansari as "an agent" for the Islamic Republic of Iran. Ansari denied the accusations and blamed Pahlavi for squandering the money with his extravagance, stating he faithfully carried out orders that Pahlavi was aware of.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: The court asked Ansari to provide a complete accounting of his handling of the money, but he alleged that the documents have been destroyed to prevent a potential seizure. In 1996, the court ruled that Ansari should repay $7.3 million to Pahlavi and fined him an additional $2 million.


title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

text: In November 2014, Pahlavi founded his own television and radio network called Ofogh Iran; in July 2017 it was reported that the Ofogh Iran International Media telethon no longer belonged to Pahlavi.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: Mark Derek Foster (born February 29, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician, best known as the lead singer of the band Foster the People. After struggling to create a successful band in his early 20s, Foster finally had his big break as one of the co-founders of Foster the People in 2009, which he formed alongside his two friends Mark Pontius and Cubbie Fink. The band has since released three studio albums: "Torches" in 2011, "Supermodel" in 2014, and "Sacred Hearts Club" in 2017.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: Mark Foster was born on February 29, 1984, in Milpitas, California, and was raised outside Cleveland, Ohio. As a boy, he sang in the Cleveland Orchestra Children’s Chorus and played the drums, guitar, and piano. As a teenager, he played in garage bands. His first gig came in 2001, when his high-school band competed in a local Battle of the Bands. In 2002, he graduated from Nordonia High School in Macedonia, Ohio.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: After graduating from high school in 2002, Foster decided on his father's advice to move out and live with an uncle in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Sylmar, Los Angeles, so that he could be closer to pursuing his musical dreams. In an interview with NPR's David Greene, Foster detailed his reaction to the intimidating city into which he had thrown himself, reflecting: "You really got to have a strong sixth sense to be able to kind of navigate the waters because the weird thing about LA is just—especially in Hollywood—is just like, the entertainment industry is kind of bizarre. It was the first time that I realized that people that were mentally ill also happened to be in like, powerful positions."


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: Foster's early years in Los Angeles were very difficult for him; of that time, he said "For eight years, I just scraped by as a starving artist delivering pizzas, sleeping on couches, sleeping in my car and all of those things." Foster worked various odd jobs during his first several years on his own while trying to grow his own social network. These included waiting tables, painting houses, telemarketing, and bartending. In a 2012 interview with "The Baltimore Sun", he talked about how he particularly valued bartending and encouraged aspiring musicians to follow in his footsteps: "Kids hit me up on Twitter and I tell them to learn how to bar-tend. There are career waiters in Los Angeles and they're making over $100,000 a year."


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: In his first six years in Los Angeles, Foster did not have much success with breaking into the music business as a solo artist. At age 21, his band almost secured a record deal in New York. About two years later, he was given the opportunity to work with Dr. Dre's record label, Aftermath Entertainment. However, the deal fell through and he was left without solid footing for a solo musical career. Foster co-composed and performed lead vocals on the Toques' song "Breakdown", featured in the 2006 film "Stick It". He found early work as a musician working for comedian Andy Dick, for whom he wrote songs and scores for film, television, and short film projects, as well as toured with, over a period of around seven years. As a solo artist, Foster wrote the song "The Ballad of Andy", detailing the life and tribulations of Dick. Foster also worked as a music producer, producing songs for bands like Frodad and The Rondo Brothers, among others.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: At the same time, Foster was a drug addict, but after seeing its impact on his health and his friends, he decided that he would rehabilitate himself. He talked about his previous addiction in 2014, saying, "I work really hard to stay grounded and not let any of that stuff influence how I live my life. A lot of it is a mirage, and an unhealthy one to buy into." His roommate, actor and singer Brad Renfro, also was a drug addict, dying from a heroin overdose on January 15, 2008. Foster was the producer of the last song that Renfro ever recorded. Fifteen months after his former roommate's death, Foster released a song called "Downtown", on which he reflects on the life and death of Renfro.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: Foster finally landed a job as a commercial jingle writer for the record label Mophonics in 2008. In this position, he was able to write jingles for brands such as Honey Bunches of Oats and Verizon. (Foster has discussed his use of medical cannabis, prescribed for work-related stress, in the composition process.) However, he was still struggling with finding the right tunes to further break into the music industry. Due to issues of writer's block and being unable to focus various elements of his music together, he came to the realization that he needed help in the form of members of a band.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: The following year, Foster recorded and released his first and so far, only solo album, "Solo Songs". The nine-track album included demo versions of two songs from the "Torches" album, "Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)" and "I Would Do Anything for You". Another song called "Polartropic (You Don't Understand Me)" was featured in the soundtrack of the 2012 animated film "Frankenweenie". He played solo shows around Los Angeles to support his record.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: In October 2009, Foster organized a three-person band made up of himself, colleague Mark Pontius, and longtime friend Jacob "Cubbie" Fink (whom Foster had initially met through a mutual friend whilst attending acting school). Pontius was so appreciative of Foster's musical style that he left his band Malbec to join him as the drummer of the new band. Fink had recently lost his position at a television production company as a result of the recession, so he joined as the bassist. The band was initially going to be called "Foster and the People", but after the majority of his friends mistook the name as "Foster the People", Foster decided to name it the latter instead. He preferred the title "Foster the People" as it conjured an image of care and development.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: The first song Foster released with the band was "Pumped Up Kicks", a song about gun violence recorded at Mophonics in 2009. He wrote and recorded the song in five hours using Logic Pro software, originally intending the first version to be only the demo. The demo ended up becoming the full version of the song and "Pumped Up Kicks" was released by Foster online in early 2010. Through internet outlets, the song gradually gained traction with the public, eventually making its way to television shows like "Entourage" and advertising campaigns for companies like "Nylon". In May 2010, the band was signed to Columbia Records imprint Startime International for a multi-album deal due to the song's increasing success. It was officially released as the band's first single on September 14, 2010, and would go on to produce an immense popular following for the band.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: In January 2011, "Pumped Up Kicks" was released on the band's first non-commercial single release, "Foster the People", and started to climb the American charts a few months later. It was labeled as a "sleeper hit" due to its slow rise in popularity. It eventually peaked at number 3 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 starting with the week of September 10, 2011, and ending on the week of October 29, 2011. It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance in February 2012. "Pumped Up Kicks" was certified Diamond by the RIAA, one of only 64 songs to achieve that certification.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: On May 23, 2011, the band's first studio album, "Torches", was released and earned Foster his second Grammy Award nomination, one for Best Alternative Music Album. He has stated that the album was one produced from "perspiration over inspiration." It also peaked at number 8 on the "Billboard" 200.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: Alongside Isom Innis, then a touring member of the band, Mark Foster produced electronic music as Mister Smims of the duo Smims & Belle. Under this moniker, Foster and Innis released a notable remix of "Blue Jeans" by Lana Del Rey in 2012, featuring Azealia Banks. Smims & Belle's final (confirmed) release to date was their 2014 remix of a single from Foster the People's second album.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: Three years after "Torches", the band released their second album, "Supermodel", on March 14, 2014. It is currently their highest-peaking studio album on the "Billboard" 200, at number 3. Foster has said that the theme of the album was influenced by his fascination with the "ugly side" of capitalism as well as the popularity of social media and the social pressures humans feel. In response, he has marked it as a piece which reminds him of the fortune of having a supportive community to maintain an optimistic attitude. He discussed with the "Los Angeles Times" the revelations he had while touring for the previous album that helped him formulate the theme behind Supermodel: "I went to India, I spent some time in the Middle East and I went to Northern Africa — places where the priorities are completely different. Those cultures aren't focused on individuals. They're focused on communities. That changed how I will look at life. I saw people who had joy and human connections and they don't have one one-thousandth of the things we have here. But they have something we don't have, 'a sense of community.'"


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: In June 2014, Luke Pritchard – with whom Foster had collaborated previously – revealed that the pair had between three and four unfinished tracks yet to be released.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: In 2015, Foster was a producer of the soundtrack for the World War II drama "Little Boy" (of which one track featured Mark Pontius). It was his first experience scoring a film, and was especially exciting to him due to the "guitar-driven" soundtrack he created.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: On July 21, 2017, Foster the People released its third album, "Sacred Hearts Club", an album influenced by the global issues of the current times and the sentiment that Foster felt for those affected by events associated with terrorism, racism, homophobia, and elections. Foster said upon the album's release: "I wanted to slap people a little bit, throw some cold water on them. This record, it would have felt wrong to do that. I felt like people needed a hug." The album features hit single "Sit Next to Me", which has been RIAA certified Double Platinum.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: In September 2019, Foster the People released the EP "Pick U Up". The band has also released two (non-EP) singles, a reworking of a Mobley song, and several collaborations with The Knocks, MØ and Louis the Child. Mark Foster is currently co-writing a horror film.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: In December 2020, Foster debuted his radio show "Escapology" on Sirius XM's Alt Nation. On December 11, the band released their EP "In the Darkest of Nights, Let the Birds Sing," a record based on the concept of love.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: In August 2021, it was announced that Foster would feature on Taylor Swift's forthcoming album "Red (Taylor's Version)", which was released on the same day as Foster the People's "Torches X" in November 2021. Foster had originally co-written the song "Forever Winter" with Swift in May 2012.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: One of Foster's major musical influences has been The Beach Boys. He and his band performed with them at the 2012 Grammy Awards, and the two bands were able to become well-acquainted in the week of practices leading up to the performance.


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: Foster has said that he likes travelling frequently because of the break from the special treatment he receives in the U.S. for being famous: "Our society worships the entertainment industry more than at any other time in the history of the planet. People worship anyone in the entertainment industry. You can be a used car salesman and have a television commercial on the local station and that makes you a celebrity." On the relationship between popularity and craft, he said, "I think that there's a difference between being an entertainer and being an artist. I think artists throughout the history of time have always been controversial and have been a voice to speak to public culture in a way a politician can't because they'll lose their constituency. But artists, I think historically, have shined a magnifying glass on culture and have talked to it. [...] I don't consider myself an entertainer. I consider myself an artist, and I think with that comes responsibility."


title: Mark Foster (musician)

text: Foster married actress Julia Garner in a December 2019 ceremony at the New York City Hall, eight months after they got engaged.


title: Biblical Magi

text: The biblical Magi ( or ; singular: ), also referred to as the (Three) Wise Men or (Three) Kings, also the Three Magi were distinguished foreigners in the Gospel of Matthew and Christian tradition. They are said to have visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They are regular figures in traditional accounts of the nativity celebrations of Christmas and are an important part of Christian tradition.


title: Biblical Magi

text: The Gospel of Matthew is the only one of the four canonical gospels to mention the Magi. has it that they came "from the east" to worship the "king of the Jews". The gospel never mentions the number of Magi. Still, most western Christian denominations have traditionally assumed them to have been three in number, based on the statement that they brought three gifts. In Eastern Christianity, especially the Syriac churches, the Magi often number twelve. Their identification as kings in later Christian writings is probably linked to Isaiah , which refers to "kings [coming] to the brightness of your dawn" bearing "gold and frankincense". Further identification of the magi with kings may be due to Psalm 72:11, "May all kings fall down before him".


title: Biblical Magi

text: Traditional nativity scenes depict three "Wise Men" visiting the infant Jesus on the night of his birth, in a manger accompanied by the shepherds and angels, but this should be understood as an artistic convention allowing the two separate scenes of the Adoration of the Shepherds on the birth night and the later Adoration of the Magi to be combined for convenience. The single biblical account in simply presents an event at an unspecified point after Christ's birth in which an unnumbered party of unnamed "wise men" () visits him in a house (), not a stable. The New Revised Standard Version of – describes the visit of the Magi in this manner:


title: Biblical Magi

text: The text specifies no interval between the birth and the visit, and artistic depictions and the closeness of the traditional dates of December 25 and January 6 encourage the popular assumption that the visit took place the same winter as the birth, but later traditions varied, with the visit taken as occurring up to two winters later. This maximum interval explained Herod's command at – that the Massacre of the Innocents included boys up to two years old. More recent commentators, not tied to the traditional feast days, may suggest a variety of intervals.


title: Biblical Magi

text: The wise men are mentioned twice shortly thereafter in , in reference to their avoidance of Herod after seeing Jesus, and what Herod had learned from their earlier meeting. The star which they followed has traditionally become known as the Star of Bethlehem.


title: Biblical Magi

text: The Magi are popularly referred to as "wise men" and "kings". The word is the plural of Latin , borrowed from Greek (), as used in the original Greek text of the Gospel of Matthew (in the plural: ). Greek itself is derived from Old Persian "maguŝ" from the Avestan "magâunô", i.e., the religious caste into which Zoroaster was born (see Yasna 33.7: "ýâ sruyê parê magâunô" = "so I can be heard beyond Magi"). The term refers to the Persian priestly caste of Zoroastrianism. As part of their religion, these priests paid particular attention to the stars and gained an international reputation for astrology, which was at that time highly regarded as a science. Their religious practices and use of astrology caused derivatives of the term "Magi" to be applied to the occult in general and led to the English term "magic". The King James Version translates the term as "wise men"; the same translation is applied to the wise men led by Daniel of earlier Hebrew Scriptures (). The same word is given as "sorcerer" and "sorcery" when describing "Elymas the sorcerer" in , and Simon Magus, considered a heretic by the early Church, in . Several translations refer to the men outright as astrologers at Matthew Chapter 2, including New English Bible (1961); Phillips New Testament in Modern English (J.B.Phillips, 1972); Twentieth Century New Testament (1904 revised edition); Amplified Bible (1958-New Testament); An American Translation (1935, Goodspeed); and The Living Bible (K. Taylor, 1962-New Testament).


title: Biblical Magi

text: Although the Magi are commonly referred to as "kings", there is nothing in the account from the Gospel of Matthew that implies that they were rulers of any kind. The identification of the Magi as kings is linked to Old Testament prophecies that describe the Messiah being worshipped by kings in , Psalm , and , which reads, "Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations serve him." Early readers reinterpreted Matthew in light of these prophecies and elevated the Magi to kings. By AD 500 all commentators adopted the prevalent tradition that the three were kings. Later Christian interpretation stressed the adoration of the Magi and shepherds as the first recognition by the people of the earth of Christ as the Redeemer, but the reformer John Calvin was vehemently opposed to referring to the Magi as kings. He wrote: "But the most ridiculous contrivance of the Papists on this subject is, that those men were kings... Beyond all doubt, they have been stupefied by a righteous judgment of God, that all might laugh at [their] gross ignorance."


title: Biblical Magi

text: The New Testament does not give the names of the Magi. However, traditions and legends identify a variety of different names for them. In the Western Christian church, they have all been regarded as saints and are commonly known as:


title: Biblical Magi

text: The online version of "Encyclopædia Britannica" states: "According to Western church tradition, Balthasar is often represented as a king of Arabia or sometimes Ethiopia, Melchior as a king of Persia, and Gaspar as a king of India." These names apparently derive from a Greek manuscript probably composed in Alexandria around 500, which has been translated into Latin with the title "Excerpta Latina Barbari". Another Greek document from the 8th century, of presumed Irish origin and translated into Latin with the title "Collectanea et Flores", continues the tradition of three kings and their names and gives additional details.


title: Biblical Magi

text: One candidate for the origin of the name Caspar appears in the Acts of Thomas as "Gondophares" (21 – c. AD 47), i.e., Gudapharasa (from which "Caspar" might derive as corruption of "Gaspar"). This Gondophares declared independence from the Arsacids to become the first Indo-Parthian king, and he was allegedly visited by Thomas the Apostle. According to Ernst Herzfeld, his name is perpetuated in the name of the Afghan city Kandahar, which he is said to have founded under the name Gundopharron.


title: Biblical Magi

text: In the Eastern churches, Ethiopian Christianity, for instance, has "Hor", "Karsudan", and "Basanater", while the Armenian Catholics have "Kagpha", "Badadakharida" and "Badadilma".


title: Biblical Magi

text: The phrase "from the east" (), more literally "from the rising [of the sun]", is the only information Matthew provides about the region from which they came. The Parthian Empire, centered in Persia, stretched from eastern Syria to the fringes of India. Though the empire was tolerant of other religions, its dominant religion was Zoroastrianism, with its priestly magos class.


title: Biblical Magi

text: Although Matthew's account does not explicitly cite the motivation for their journey (other than seeing the star in the east, which they took to be the star of the King of the Jews), the Syriac Infancy Gospel provides some clarity by stating explicitly in the third chapter that they were pursuing a prophecy from their prophet, Zoradascht (Zoroaster).


title: Biblical Magi

text: There is an Armenian tradition identifying the "Magi of Bethlehem" as Balthasar of Arabia, Melchior of Persia, and Caspar of India. Historian John of Hildesheim relates a tradition in the ancient silk road city of Taxila (in present-day Punjab, Pakistan) that one of the Magi passed through the city on the way to Bethlehem.


title: Biblical Magi

text: Sebastian Brock, a historian of Christianity, has said: "It was no doubt among converts from Zoroastrianism that... certain legends were developed around the Magi of the Gospels". And Anders Hultgård concluded that the Gospel story of the Magi was influenced by an Iranian legend concerning magi and a star, which was connected with Persian beliefs in the rise of a star predicting the birth of a ruler and with myths describing the manifestation of a divine figure in fire and light.


title: Biblical Magi

text: A model for the homage of the Magi might have been provided, it has been suggested, by the journey to Rome of King Tiridates I of Armenia, with his magi, to pay homage to the Emperor Nero, which took place in AD 66, a few years before the date assigned to the composition of the Gospel of Matthew.


title: Biblical Magi

text: There was a tradition that the Central Asian Naimans and their Christian relatives, the Keraites, were descended from the biblical Magi. This heritage passed to the Mongol dynasty of Genghis Khan when Sorghaghtani, niece of the Keraite ruler Toghrul, married Tolui, the youngest son of Genghis, and became the mother of Möngke Khan and his younger brother and successor, Kublai Khan. Toghrul became identified with the legendary Central Asian Christian king Prester John, whose Mongol descendants were sought as allies against the Muslims by contemporary European monarchs and popes. Sempad the Constable, elder brother of King Hetoum I of Cilician Armenia, visited the Mongol court in Karakorum in 1247–1250 and in 1254. He wrote a letter to Henry I King of Cyprus and Queen Stephanie (Sempad's sister) from Samarkand in 1243, in which he said: "Tanchat [Tangut, or Western Xia], which is the land from whence came the Three Kings to Bethlehem to worship the Lord Jesus which was born. And know that the power of Christ has been, and is, so great, that the people of that land are Christians; and the whole land of Chata [Khitai, or Kara-Khitai] believes those Three Kings. I have myself been in their churches and have seen pictures of Jesus Christ and the Three Kings, one offering gold, the second frankincense, and the third myrrh. And it is through those Three Kings that they believe in Christ, and that the Chan and his people have now become Christians. The legendary Christian ruler of Central Asia Prester John was reportedly a descendant of one of the Magi.


title: Biblical Magi

text: In her four volumes of visions of the life of Christ, Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich says that the Magi came from the border between Chaldea and Elam, mentioning Ur, "Mozian" (Iraq's Maysan Province, anciently known as Mesene), "Sikdor" (Shushtar, near Susa), and a "city, whose name sounded to me something like Acajaja" (Aghajari), as well as other cities farther east.


title: Biblical Magi

text: The Magi are described as "falling down", "kneeling" or "bowing" in the worship of Jesus. This gesture, together with Luke's birth narrative, had an important effect on Christian religious practices. They were indicative of great respect, and typically used when venerating a king. While prostration is now rarely practised in the West it is still relatively common in the Eastern Churches, especially during Lent. Kneeling has remained an important element of Christian worship to this day.


title: Biblical Magi

text: Apart from their names, the three Magi developed distinct characteristics in Christian tradition, so that between them they represented the three ages of (adult) man, three geographical and cultural areas, and sometimes other things. In one tradition, reflected in art by the 14th century (for example in the Arena Chapel by Giotto in 1305) Caspar is old, normally with a white beard, and gives the gold; he is "King of Tarsus, land of merchants" on the Mediterranean coast of modern Turkey, and is first in line to kneel to Christ. Melchior is middle-aged, giving frankincense from Arabia, and Balthazar is a young man, very often and increasingly black-skinned, with myrrh from Saba (modern southern Yemen). Their ages were often given as 60, 40 and 20 respectively, and their geographical origins were rather variable, with Balthazar increasingly coming from Aksum or other parts of Africa, and being represented accordingly. Balthazar's blackness has been the subject of considerable recent scholarly attention; in art, it is found mostly in northern Europe, beginning from the 12th century, and becoming very common in the north by the 15th. The subject of which king is which and who brought which gift is not without some variation depending on the tradition. The gift of gold is sometimes associated with Melchior as well and in some traditions, Melchior is the old man of the three Magi.


title: Biblical Magi

text: Three gifts are explicitly identified in Matthew: gold, frankincense and myrrh. In Koine Greek these are (), () and (). Many different theories of the meaning and symbolism of the gifts have been brought forward. While gold is fairly obviously explained, frankincense, and particularly myrrh, are more obscure. See the previous section for who gave which.


title: Biblical Magi

text: Myrrh was used as an embalming ointment and as a penitential incense in funerals and cremations until the 15th century. The "holy oil" traditionally used by the Eastern Orthodox Church for performing the sacraments of chrismation and unction is traditionally scented with myrrh, and receiving either of these sacraments is commonly referred to as "receiving the myrrh". The picture of the Magi on the 7th-century Franks Casket shows the third visitor – he who brings myrrh – with a valknut over his back, a pagan symbol referring to Death.


title: Biblical Magi

text: It has been suggested by scholars that the "gifts" were medicinal rather than precious material for tribute.


title: Biblical Magi

text: The Syrian King Seleucus I Nicator is recorded to have offered gold, frankincense and myrrh (among other items) to Apollo in his temple at Didyma near Miletus in 288/7 BC, and this may have been the precedent for the mention of these three gifts in Gospel of Matthew (). It was these three gifts, it is thought, which were the chief cause for the number of the Magi becoming fixed eventually at three.


title: Biblical Magi

text: This episode can be linked to Isaiah 60 and to Psalm 72, which report gifts being given by kings, and this has played a central role in the perception of the Magi as kings, rather than as astronomer-priests. In a hymn of the late 4th-century Hispanic poet Prudentius, the three gifts have already gained their medieval interpretation as prophetic emblems of Jesus' identity, familiar in the carol "We Three Kings" by John Henry Hopkins, Jr., 1857.


title: Biblical Magi

text: John Chrysostom suggested that the gifts were fit to be given not just to a king but to God, and contrasted them with the Jews' traditional offerings of sheep and calves, and accordingly Chrysostom asserts that the Magi worshiped Jesus as God.


title: Biblical Magi

text: What subsequently happened to these gifts is never mentioned in the scripture, but several traditions have developed. One story has the gold being stolen by the two thieves who were later crucified alongside Jesus. Another tale has it being entrusted to and then misappropriated by Judas. One tradition suggests that Joseph and Mary used the gold to finance their travels when they fled Bethlehem after an angel had warned, in a dream, about King Herod's plan to kill Jesus. And another story proposes the theory that the myrrh given to them at Jesus' birth was used to anoint Jesus' body after his crucifixion.


title: Biblical Magi

text: There was a 15th-century golden case purportedly containing the Gift of the Magi housed in the Monastery of St. Paul of Mount Athos. It was donated to the monastery in the 15th century by Mara Branković, daughter of the King of Serbia Đurađ Branković, wife to the Ottoman Sultan Murat II and godmother to Mehmet II the Conqueror (of Constantinople). After the Athens earthquake of September 7, 1999, they were temporarily displayed in Athens to strengthen faith and raise money for earthquake victims. The relics were displayed in Ukraine and Belarus in Christmas of 2014, and thus left Greece for the first time since the 15th century.


title: Biblical Magi

text: Christian Scriptures record nothing about the biblical Magi after reporting their going back to their own country (Matthew 2:12 uses the feminine singular noun, χώραν, noting one country, territory or region of origin). Two separate traditions have surfaced claiming that they were so moved by their encounter with Jesus that they either became Christians on their own or were quick to convert fully upon later encountering an Apostle of Jesus. The traditions claim that they were so strong in their beliefs that they willingly embraced martyrdom.


title: Biblical Magi

text: One tradition gained popularity in Spain during the 17th century; it was found in a work called the Chronicon of Dexter. The work was ascribed to Flavius Lucius Dexter the bishop of Barcelona, under Theodosius the Great. The tradition appears in the form of a simple martyrology reading, "In Arabia Felix, in the city of Sessania of the Adrumeti, the martyrdom of the holy kings, the three Magi, Gaspar, Balthassar, and Melchior who adored Christ." First appearing in 1610, the Chronicon of Dexter was immensely popular along with the traditions it contained throughout the 17th century. Later, this was all brought into question when historians and the Catholic hierarchy in Rome declared the work a pious forgery.


title: Biblical Magi

text: A competing tradition asserts that the biblical Magi "were martyred for the faith, and that their bodies were first venerated at Constantinople; thence they were transferred to Milan in 344. It is certain that when Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor (Barbarossa) , the relics there were transferred to Cologne Cathedral, housed in the Shrine of the Three Kings, and are venerated there today." The Milanese treated the fragments of masonry from their now-empty tomb as secondary relics and these were widely distributed around the region, including southern France, accounting for the frequency with which the Magi appear on chasse reliquaries in Limoges enamel.


title: Biblical Magi

text: There are several traditions on where the remains of the Magi are located, although none of the traditions is considered as an established fact or even as particularly likely by secular history. Marco Polo claimed that he was shown the three tombs of the Magi at Saveh south of Tehran in the 1270s:


title: Biblical Magi

text: Paul William Roberts provides some modern-day corroboration of this possibility in his book "Journey of the Magi".


title: Biblical Magi

text: A Shrine of the Three Kings at Cologne Cathedral, according to tradition, contains the bones of the Three Wise Men. Reputedly they were first discovered by Saint Helena on her famous pilgrimage to Palestine and the Holy Lands. She took the remains to the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople; they were later moved to Milan (some sources say by the city's bishop, Eustorgius I), before being sent to their current resting place by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I in 1164. The Milanese celebrate their part in the tradition by holding a medieval costume parade every 6 January.


title: Biblical Magi

text: A version of the detailed elaboration familiar to us is laid out by the 14th-century cleric John of Hildesheim's "Historia Trium Regum" ("History of the Three Kings"). In accounting for the presence in Cologne of their mummified relics, he begins with the journey of Helena, the mother of Constantine I to Jerusalem, where she recovered the True Cross and other relics:


title: Biblical Magi

text: Queen Helen… began to think greatly of the bodies of these three kings, and she arrayed herself, and accompanied by many attendants, went into the Land of Ind… after she had found the bodies of Melchior, Balthazar, and Gaspar, Queen Helen put them into one chest and ornamented it with great riches, and she brought them into Constantinople... and laid them in a church that is called Saint Sophia.


title: Biblical Magi

text: The visit of the Magi is commemorated in most Western Christian churches by the observance of Epiphany, 6 January, which also serves as the feast of the three as saints. The Eastern Orthodox celebrate the visit of the Magi on 25 December.


title: Biblical Magi

text: The Quran omits Matthew's episode of the Magi. However, the Persian Muslim encyclopaedist al-Tabari, writing in the 9th century, gives the familiar symbolism of the gifts of the Magi. Al-Tabari gave his source for the information to be the later 7th century Perso-Yemenite writer Wahb ibn Munabbih.


title: Biblical Magi

text: Holidays celebrating the arrival of the Magi traditionally recognise a distinction between the date of their arrival and the date of Jesus' birth. The account given in the Gospel of Matthew does not state that they were present on the night of the birth; in the Gospel of Luke, Joseph and Mary remain in Bethlehem until it is time for Jesus' dedication, in Jerusalem, and then return to their home in Nazareth.


title: Biblical Magi

text: Western Christianity celebrates the Magi on the day of Epiphany, January 6, the day immediately following the "twelve days of Christmas", particularly in the Spanish-speaking parts of the world. In these areas, the Three Kings (, or simply ) receive letters from children and so bring them gifts on the night before Epiphany. In Spain, each one of the Magi is supposed to represent one different continent, Europe (Melchior), Asia (Caspar) and Africa (Balthasar). According to the tradition, the Magi come from the Orient on their camels to visit the houses of all the children, much like "Sinterklaas" and Santa Claus with his reindeer elsewhere, they visit everyone in one night. In some areas, children prepare a drink for each of the Magi. It is also traditional to prepare food and drink for the camels, because this is the only night of the year when they eat.


title: Biblical Magi

text: In Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Paraguay and Uruguay, there is a long tradition of having the children receive presents by the three ""Reyes Magos"" on the night of January 5 (Epiphany Eve) or morning of January 6. Almost every Spanish city or town organises "cabalgatas" in the evening, in which the "kings" and their "servants" parade and throw sweets to the children (and parents) in attendance. The "cavalcade of the three kings" in Alcoy claims to be the oldest in the world, having started in 1886. The Mystery Play of the Three Magic Kings is also presented on Epiphany Eve. There is also a "Roscón" (Spain) or "Rosca de Reyes" (Mexico) as explained below.


title: Biblical Magi

text: In the Philippines, beliefs concerning the Three Kings (Filipino: "Tatlóng Haring Mago", lit. "Three Magi Kings"; shortened to "Tatlóng Harì" or Spanish "Tres Reyes") follows Hispanic influence, with the Feast of the Epiphany considered by many Filipinos as the traditional end of their Christmas season. The tradition of the Three Kings' "cabalgata" is today done only in some areas, such as the old city of Intramuros in Manila, and the island of Marinduque. Another dying custom is children leaving shoes out on Epiphany Eve, so that they may receive sweets and money from the Three Kings. With the arrival of American culture in the early 20th century, the Three Kings as gift-givers have been largely replaced in urban areas by Santa Claus, and they only survive in the greeting "Happy Three Kings!" and the surname "Tatlóngharì". The Three Kings are especially revered in Gapan, Nueva Ecija, where they are enshrined as patron saints in the National Shrine of Virgen La Divina Pastora.


title: Biblical Magi

text: In most of these countries, children cut grass or greenery on January 5 and put it in a box under their bed or besides the christmas tree for the Kings' camels. Children receive gifts on January 6, which is called "Día de Reyes", and is traditionally the day in which the Magi arrived bearing gifts for the Christ child. Christmas starts in December and ends in January after Epiphany, although in Puerto Rico there are eight more days of celebration ("las octavitas").


title: Biblical Magi

text: In 2009 a campaign started in Spain over the fact that Balthazar is commonly played by a white person in blackface.


title: Biblical Magi

text: A tradition in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, and German-speaking Catholic areas is the writing of the three kings' initials ("C+M+B", "C M B", "G+M+B", "K+M+B", in those areas where Caspar is spelled Kaspar or Gašper) above the main door of Catholic homes in chalk. This is a new year's blessing for the occupants and the initials also are believed to also stand for ""Christus mansionem benedicat"" ("May/Let Christ Bless This House"). Depending on the city or town, this will be happen sometime between Christmas and the Epiphany, with most municipalities celebrating closer to the Epiphany. Also in Catholic parts of the German-speaking world, these markings are made by the (literally, "star singers") – a group of children dressed up as the magi. The carry a star representing the one followed by the biblical magi and sing Christmas carols as they go door to door, such as "Stern über Bethlehem". An adult chaperones the group but stays in the background of the performance. After singing, the children write the three kings' initials on the door frame in exchange for charitable donations. Each year, German and Austrian dioceses pick one charity towards which all donations nationwide will be contributed. Traditionally, one child in the group is said to represent Baltasar from Africa and so, that child typically wears blackface makeup. Many Germans do not consider this to be racist because it is not intended to be a negative portrayal of a black person, but rather, a "realistic" or "traditional" portrayal of one. The dialogue surrounding the politics of traditions involving blackface is not as developed as in Spain or the Netherlands. In the past, photographs of German politicians together with children in blackface have caused a stir in English-language press. Moreover, Afro-Germans have written that this use of blackface is a missed opportunity to be truly inclusive of Afro-Germans in German-speaking communities and contribute to the equation of "blackness" with "foreignness" and "otherness" in German culture.


title: Biblical Magi

text: In 2010 the day of Epiphany, January 6, was made a holiday in Poland and thus a pre-war tradition was revived. Since 2011, celebrations with biblical costuming have taken place throughout the country. For example, in Warsaw there are processions from Plac Zamkowy down Krakowskie Przedmieście to Plac Piłsudskiego.


title: Biblical Magi

text: In Spain and Portugal, a ring-shaped cake (in Portuguese: ) contains both a small figurine of one of the Magi (or another surprise depending on the region) and a dry broad bean. The one who gets the figurine is "crowned" (with a crown made of cardboard or paper), but whoever gets the bean has to pay the value of the cake to the person who originally bought it. In Mexico they also have the same ring-shaped cake "Rosca de Reyes" (Kings Bagel or Thread) with figurines inside it. Whoever gets a figurine is supposed to organize and be the host of the family celebration for the "Candelaria" feast on February 2.


title: Biblical Magi

text: In France and Belgium, a cake containing a small figure of the baby Jesus, known as the "broad bean", is shared within the family. Whoever gets the bean is crowned king for the remainder of the holiday and wears a cardboard crown purchased with the cake. A similar practice is common in many areas of Switzerland, but the figurine is a miniature king. The practice is known as (Drawing the Kings). A queen is sometimes also chosen.


title: Biblical Magi

text: In New Orleans, Louisiana, parts of southern Texas, and surrounding regions, a similar ring-shaped cake known as a "King Cake" traditionally becomes available in bakeries from Epiphany to Mardi Gras. The baby Jesus figurine is inserted into the cake from underneath, and the person who gets the slice with the figurine is expected to buy or bake the next King Cake. There is wide variation among the types of pastry that may be called a King Cake, but most are a baked cinnamon-flavoured twisted dough with thin frosting and additional sugar on top in the traditional Mardi Gras colours of gold, green and purple. To prevent accidental injury or choking, the baby Jesus figurine is frequently not inserted into the cake at the bakery, but included in the packaging for optional use by the buyer to insert it themselves. Mardi Gras-style beads and doubloons may be included as well.


title: Biblical Magi

text: The Magi most frequently appear in European art in the "Adoration of the Magi"; less often in the "Journey of the Magi" has been a popular subject in art, and "topos", and other scenes such as the "Magi before Herod" and the "Dream of the Magi" also appear in the Middle Ages. In Byzantine art they are depicted as Persians, wearing trousers and phrygian caps. Crowns appear from the 10th century. Despite being saints, they are very often shown without halos, perhaps to avoid distracting attention from either their crowns or the halos of the Holy Family. Sometimes only the lead king, kneeling to Christ, has a halo the two others lack, probably indicating that the two behind had not yet performed the act of worship that would ensure their status as saints. Medieval artists also allegorised the theme to represent the three ages of man. Beginning in the 12th century, and very often by the 15th, the Kings also represent the three parts of the known (pre-Columbian) world in Western art, especially in Northern Europe. Balthasar is thus represented as a young African or Moor, and Caspar may be depicted with distinctly Oriental features.


title: Biblical Magi

text: An early Anglo-Saxon depiction survives on the Franks Casket (early 7th century, whalebone carving), the only Christian scene, which is combined with pagan and classical imagery. In its composition it follows the oriental style, which renders a courtly scene, with the Virgin and Christ facing the spectator, while the Magi devoutly approach from the (left) side. Even amongst non-Christians who had heard of the Christian story of the Magi, the motif was quite popular, since the Magi had endured a long journey and were generous. Instead of an angel, the picture places a swan-like bird, perhaps interpretable as the hero's fylgja (a protecting spirit, and shapeshifter).


title: Biblical Magi

text: Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein depicted a more controversial tableau in his painting, "" (1996). Intended to represent the "many connections between the Third Reich and the Christian churches in Austria and Germany", Nazi officers in uniform stand around an Aryan Madonna. The Christ toddler who stands on Mary's lap resembles Adolf Hitler.


title: Biblical Magi

text: More generally they appear in popular Nativity scenes and other Christmas decorations that have their origins in the Neapolitan variety of the Italian or Nativity crèche.


title: Biblical Magi

text: Some Christmas carols refer to the biblical Magi or Three Kings, especially hymns meant to be sung by the star singers, such as "Stern über Bethlehem". Peter Cornelius composed a song cycle, "Weihnachtslieder", Op. 8, which contain the song "Die Könige" (The Kings), which became popular in an English choral arrangement, "The Three Kings". Balthazar, Caspar, and Melchior are also featured in Gian Carlo Menotti's 1951 opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors". The popular carol "We Three Kings" is another example.


title: Citalopram

text: Citalopram, sold under the brand name Celexa among others, is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It is used to treat major depressive disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and social phobia. The antidepressant effects may take one to four weeks to occur. It is taken by mouth.


title: Citalopram

text: Common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping, sexual problems, shakiness, feeling tired, and sweating. Serious side effects include an increased risk of suicide in those under the age of 25, serotonin syndrome, glaucoma, and QT prolongation. It should not be used in persons who take or have recently taken a MAO inhibitor. Antidepressant discontinuation syndrome may occur when stopped. There are concerns that use during pregnancy may harm the fetus.


title: Citalopram

text: Citalopram was approved for medical use in the United States in 1998. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. It is available as a generic medication. In 2020, it was the 31st most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 19million prescriptions.


title: Citalopram

text: In the United States, citalopram is approved to treat major depressive disorder. Citalopram appears to have comparable efficacy and superior tolerability relative to other antidepressants. In the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence ranking of ten antidepressants for efficacy and cost-effectiveness, citalopram is fifth in effectiveness (after mirtazapine, escitalopram, venlafaxine, and sertraline) and fourth in cost-effectiveness. The ranking results were based on a 2009 meta-analysis by Andrea Cipriani; an update of the analysis in 2018 produced broadly similar results.


title: Citalopram

text: Citalopram is licensed in the UK and other European countries for panic disorder, with or without agoraphobia.


title: Citalopram

text: Citalopram may be used off-label to treat anxiety, and dysthymia, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, and obsessive–compulsive disorder.


title: Citalopram

text: It appears to be as effective as fluvoxamine and paroxetine in obsessive–compulsive disorder. Some data suggest the effectiveness of intravenous infusion of citalopram in resistant OCD. Citalopram is well tolerated and as effective as moclobemide in social anxiety disorder. There are studies suggesting that citalopram can be useful in reducing aggressive and impulsive behavior. It appears to be superior to placebo for behavioural disturbances associated with dementia. It has also been used successfully for hypersexuality in early Alzheimer's disease.


title: Citalopram

text: A meta-analysis, including studies with fluoxetine, paroxetine, sertraline, escitalopram, and citalopram versus placebo, showed SSRIs to be effective in reducing symptoms of premenstrual syndrome, whether taken continuously or just in the luteal phase. For alcoholism, citalopram has produced a modest reduction in alcoholic drink intake and increase in drink-free days in studies of alcoholics, possibly by decreasing desire or reducing the reward.


title: Citalopram

text: While on its own citalopram is less effective than amitriptyline in the prevention of migraines, in refractory cases, combination therapy may be more effective.


title: Citalopram

text: A 2009 multisite randomized controlled study found no benefit and some adverse effects in autistic children from citalopram, raising doubts whether SSRIs are effective for treating repetitive behavior in children with autism.


title: Citalopram

text: Some research suggests citalopram interacts with cannabinoid protein-couplings in the rat brain, and this is put forward as a potential cause of some of the drug's antidepressant effect.


title: Citalopram

text: Citalopram is typically taken in one dose, either in the morning or evening. It can be taken with or without food. Its absorption does not increase when taken with food, but doing so can help prevent nausea. Nausea is often caused when the 5HT3 receptors actively absorb free serotonin, as this receptor is present within the digestive tract. The 5HT3 receptors stimulate vomiting. This side effect, if present, should subside as the body adjusts to the medication.


title: Citalopram

text: Citalopram is considered safe and well tolerated in the therapeutic dose range. Distinct from some other agents in its class, it exhibits linear pharmacokinetics and minimal drug interaction potential, making it a better choice for the elderly or comorbid patients.


title: Citalopram

text: Citalopram theoretically causes side effects by increasing the concentration of serotonin in other parts of the body (e.g., the intestines). Other side effects, such as increased apathy and emotional flattening, may be caused by the decrease in dopamine release associated with increased serotonin. Citalopram is also a mild antihistamine, which may be responsible for some of its sedating properties.


title: Citalopram

text: Other common side effects of citalopram include drowsiness, insomnia, nausea, weight changes (usually weight gain), increase in appetite, vivid dreaming, frequent urination, dry mouth, increased sweating, trembling, diarrhea, excessive yawning, severe tinnitus, and fatigue. Less common side effects include bruxism, vomiting, cardiac arrhythmia, blood pressure changes, dilated pupils, anxiety, mood swings, headache, hyperactivity and dizziness. Rare side effects include convulsions, hallucinations, severe allergic reactions and photosensitivity. If sedation occurs, the dose may be taken at bedtime rather than in the morning. Some data suggests citalopram may cause nightmares. Citalopram is associated with a higher risk of arrhythmia than other SSRIs.


title: Citalopram

text: Withdrawal symptoms can occur when this medicine is suddenly stopped, such as paraesthesiae, sleeping problems (difficulty sleeping and intense dreams), feeling dizzy, agitated or anxious, nausea, vomiting, tremors, confusion, sweating, headache, diarrhea, palpitations, changes in emotions, irritability, and eye or eyesight problems. Treatment with citalopram should be reduced gradually when treatment is finished.


title: Citalopram

text: Citalopram and other SSRIs can induce a mixed state, especially in those with undiagnosed bipolar disorder.


title: Citalopram

text: According to an article published in 2020, one of the other rare side effects of Citalopram could be triggering visual snow syndrome; which does not resolve after the discontinuation of the medicine.


title: Citalopram

text: Some people experience persistent sexual side effects after they stop taking SSRIs. This is known as Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD). Common symptoms in these cases include genital anesthesia, erectile dysfunction, anhedonia, decreased libido, premature ejaculation, vaginal lubrication issues, and nipple insensitivity in women. The prevalence of PSSD is unknown, and there is no established treatment.


title: Citalopram

text: In August 2011, the FDA announced, "Citalopram causes dose-dependent QT interval prolongation. Citalopram should no longer be prescribed at doses greater than 40 mg per day". A further clarification issued in March 2012, restricted the maximum dose to 20 mg for subgroups of patients, including those older than 60 years and those taking an inhibitor of cytochrome P450 2C19.7.


title: Citalopram

text: Citalopram has no significant effect on insulin sensitivity in women of reproductive age and no changes in glycaemic control were seen in another trial.


title: Citalopram

text: Antidepressant exposure (including citalopram) during pregnancy is associated with shorter duration of gestation (by three days), increased risk of preterm delivery (by 55%), lower birth weight (by 75 g), and lower Apgar scores (by <0.4 points). Antidepressant exposure is not associated with an increased risk of spontaneous abortion. It is uncertain whether there is an increased prevalence of septal heart defects among children whose mothers were prescribed an SSRI in early pregnancy.


title: Citalopram

text: Citalopram should not be taken with St John's wort, tryptophan or 5-HTP as the resulting drug interaction could lead to serotonin syndrome. With St John's wort, this may be caused by compounds in the plant extract reducing the efficacy of the hepatic cytochrome P450 enzymes that process citalopram. It has also been suggested that such compounds, including hypericin, hyperforin and flavonoids, could have SSRI-mimetic effects on the nervous system, although this is still subject to debate. One study found that "Hypericum" extracts had similar effects in treating moderate depression as citalopram, with fewer side effects.


title: Citalopram

text: Tryptophan and 5-HTP are precursors to serotonin. When taken with an SSRI, such as citalopram, this can lead to levels of serotonin that can be lethal. This may also be the case when SSRIs are taken with SRAs (serotonin releasing agents) such as in the case of MDMA. It is possible that SSRIs could reduce the effects associated due to an SRA, since SSRIs stop the reuptake of Serotonin by blocking SERT. This would allow less serotonin in and out of the transporters, thus decreasing the likelihood of neurotoxic effects. However, these concerns are still disputed as the exact pharmacodynamic effects of citalopram and MDMA have yet to be fully identified.


title: Citalopram

text: SSRIs, including citalopram, can increase the risk of bleeding, especially when coupled with aspirin, NSAIDs, warfarin, or other anticoagulants. Citalopram is contraindicated in individuals taking MAOIs, owing to a potential for serotonin syndrome.


title: Citalopram

text: Taking citalopram with omeprazole may cause higher blood levels of citalopram. This is a potentially dangerous interaction, so dosage adjustments may be needed or alternatives may be prescribed.


title: Citalopram

text: SSRI discontinuation syndrome has been reported when treatment is stopped. It includes sensory, gastrointestinal symptoms, dizziness, lethargy, and sleep disturbances, as well as psychological symptoms such as anxiety/agitation, irritability, and poor concentration. Electric shock-like sensations are typical for SSRI discontinuation. Tapering off citalopram therapy, as opposed to abrupt discontinuation, is recommended in order to diminish the occurrence and severity of discontinuation symptoms. Some doctors choose to switch a patient to Prozac (fluoxetine) when discontinuing citalopram as fluoxetine has a much longer half-life (i.e. stays in the body longer compared to citalopram). This may avoid many of the severe withdrawal symptoms associated with citalopram discontinuation. This can be done either by administering a single 20 mg dose of fluoxetine or by beginning on a low dosage of fluoxetine and slowly tapering down. Either of these prescriptions may be written in liquid form to allow a very slow and gradual tapering down in dosage. Alternatively, a patient wishing to stop taking citalopram may visit a compounding pharmacy where their prescription may be re-arranged into progressively smaller dosages.


title: Citalopram

text: Overdosage may result in vomiting, sedation, disturbances in heart rhythm, dizziness, sweating, nausea, tremor, and rarely amnesia, confusion, coma, or convulsions. Overdose deaths have occurred, sometimes involving other drugs, but also with citalopram as the sole agent. Citalopram and N-desmethylcitalopram may be quantified in blood or plasma to confirm a diagnosis of poisoning in hospitalized patients or to assist in a medicolegal death investigation. Blood or plasma citalopram concentrations are usually in a range of 50-400 μg/L in persons receiving the drug therapeutically, 1000–3000 μg/L in patients who survive acute overdosage and 3–30 mg/L in those who do not survive. It is the most dangerous of SSRIs in overdose.


title: Citalopram

text: In the United States, citalopram carries a boxed warning stating it may increase suicidal thinking and behavior in those under age 24.


title: Citalopram

text: Citalopram has one stereocenter, to which a 4-fluoro phenyl group and an "N, N"-dimethyl-3-aminopropyl group bind. As a result of this chirality, the molecule exists in (two) enantiomeric forms (mirror images). They are termed "S"-(+)-citalopram and "R"-(–)-citalopram.


title: Citalopram

text: Citalopram is sold as a racemic mixture, consisting of 50% ("R")-(−)-citalopram and 50% ("S")-(+)-citalopram. Only the ("S")-(+) enantiomer has the desired antidepressant effect. Lundbeck now markets the ("S")-(+) enantiomer, the generic name of which is escitalopram. Whereas citalopram is supplied as the hydrobromide, escitalopram is sold as the oxalate salt (hydrooxalate). In both cases, the salt forms of the amine make these otherwise lipophilic compounds water-soluble.


title: Citalopram

text: Citalopram is metabolized in the liver mostly by CYP2C19, but also by CYP3A4 and CYP2D6. Metabolites desmethylcitalopram and didesmethylcitalopram are significantly less energetic and their contribution to the overall action of citalopram is negligible. The half-life of citalopram is about 35 hours. Approximately 80% is cleared by the liver and 20% by the kidneys. The elimination process is slower in the elderly and in patients with liver or kidney failure. With once-daily dosing, steady plasma concentrations are achieved in about a week. Potent inhibitors of CYP2C19 and 3A4 might decrease citalopram clearance.


title: Citalopram

text: Tobacco smoke exposure was found to inhibit the biotransformation of citalopram in animals, suggesting that the elimination rate of citalopram is decreased after tobacco smoke exposure. After intragastric administration, the half-life of the racemic mixture of citalopram was increased by about 287%.


title: Citalopram

text: Citalopram was first synthesized in 1972 by chemist Klaus Bøgesø and his research group at the pharmaceutical company Lundbeck and was first marketed in 1989 in Denmark. It was first marketed in the US in 1998. The original patent expired in 2003, allowing other companies to legally produce and market generic versions.


title: Citalopram

text: On 19 June 2013, the European Commission imposed a fine of €93.8 million on the Danish pharmaceutical company Lundbeck, plus a total of €52.2 million on several generic pharmaceutical-producing companies. This was in response to Lundbeck entering an agreement with the companies to delay their sales of generic citalopram after Lundbeck's patent on the drug had expired, thus reducing competition in breach of European antitrust law.


title: Extermination camp

text: Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The victims of death camps were primarily murdered by gassing, either in permanent installations constructed for this specific purpose, or by means of gas vans. The six extermination camps were Chełmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Majdanek and Auschwitz-Birkenau. Auschwitz and Majdanek death camps also used extermination through labour in order to kill their prisoners.


title: Extermination camp

text: The idea of mass extermination with the use of stationary facilities, to which the victims were taken by train, was the result of earlier Nazi experimentation with chemically manufactured poison gas during the secretive Aktion T4 euthanasia programme against hospital patients with mental and physical disabilities. The technology was adapted, expanded, and applied in wartime to unsuspecting victims of many ethnic and national groups; the Jews were the primary target, accounting for over 90 percent of extermination camp victims. The genocide of the Jews of Europe was Nazi Germany's "Final Solution to the Jewish question".


title: Extermination camp

text: After the invasion of Poland in September 1939, the secret Aktion T4 euthanasia programmethe systematic murder of German, Austrian and Polish hospital patients with mental or physical disabilities authorized by Hitlerwas initiated by the "SS" in order to eliminate "life unworthy of life" (), a Nazi designation for people who they considered to have no right to life. In 1941, the experience gained in the secretive killing of these hospital patients led to the creation of extermination camps for the implementation of the Final Solution. By then, the Jews were already confined to new ghettos and interned in Nazi concentration camps along with other targeted groups, including Roma, and the Soviet POWs. The Nazi's so-called "Final Solution of the Jewish Question", based on the systematic murder of Europe's Jews by gassing, began during Operation Reinhard, after the June 1941 onset of the Nazi–Soviet war. The adoption of the gassing technology by Nazi Germany was preceded by a wave of hands-on killings carried out by the SS , who followed the army during Operation Barbarossa on the Eastern Front.


title: Extermination camp

text: The camps designed specifically for the mass gassings of Jews were established in the months following the Wannsee Conference chaired by Reinhard Heydrich in January 1942 in which the principle was made clear that the Jews of Europe were to be exterminated. Responsibility for the logistics was to be handled by the programme administrator, Adolf Eichmann.


title: Extermination camp

text: On 13 October 1941, the SS and Police Leader Odilo Globocnik stationing in Lublin received an oral order from Heinrich Himmleranticipating the fall of Moscowto start immediate construction work on the killing centre at Bełżec in the General Government territory of occupied Poland. Notably, the order preceded the Wannsee Conference by three months,<ref name="M/MPwB"></ref> but the gassings at Chełmno north of Łódź using gas vans began already in December, under Herbert Lange. The camp at Bełżec was operational by March 1942, with leadership brought in from Germany under the guise of  (OT). By mid-1942, two more death camps had been built on Polish lands for Operation Reinhard: Sobibór (ready in May 1942) under the command of Franz Stangl, and Treblinka (operational by July 1942) under Irmfried Eberl from T4, the only doctor to have served in such a capacity. Auschwitz concentration camp was fitted with brand new gas chambers in March 1942. Majdanek had them built in September.


title: Extermination camp

text: The Nazis distinguished between extermination and concentration camps. The terms "extermination camp" () and "death camp" () were interchangeable in the Nazi system, each referring to camps whose primary function was genocide. Six camps meet this definition, though extermination of people happened at every sort of concentration camp or transit camp; the use of the term extermination camp with its exclusive purpose is carried over from Nazi terminology. The six camps were Chełmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Majdanek and Auschwitz (also called Auschwitz-Birkenau).


title: Extermination camp

text: Death camps were designed specifically for the systematic killing of people delivered en masse by the Holocaust trains. Deportees were normally murdered within a few hours of arrival at Bełżec, Sobibór, and Treblinka. The Reinhard extermination camps were under Globocnik's direct command; each of them was run by 20 to 35 men from the branch of the , augmented by about one hundred Trawnikisauxiliaries mostly from Soviet Ukraine, and up to one thousand slave labourers each. The Jewish men, women and children were delivered from the ghettos for "special treatment" in an atmosphere of terror by uniformed police battalions from both Orpo and Schupo.


title: Extermination camp

text: Death camps differed from concentration camps located in Germany proper, such as Bergen-Belsen, Oranienburg, Ravensbrück, and Sachsenhausen, which were prison camps set up prior to World War II for people defined as 'undesirable'. From March 1936, all Nazi concentration camps were managed by the (the Skull Units, SS-TV), who operated extermination camps from 1941 as well. An SS anatomist, Johann Kremer, after witnessing the gassing of victims at Birkenau, wrote in his diary on 2 September 1942: "Dante's Inferno seems to me almost a comedy compared to this. They don't call Auschwitz the camp of annihilation for nothing!" The distinction was evident during the Nuremberg trials, when Dieter Wisliceny (a deputy to Adolf Eichmann) was asked to name the camps, and he identified Auschwitz and Majdanek as such. Then, when asked, "How do you classify the camps Mauthausen, Dachau, and Buchenwald?", he replied, "They were normal concentration camps, from the point of view of the department of Eichmann."


title: Extermination camp

text: Murders were not limited to these camps. Sites for the "Holocaust by Bullets" are marked on the map of The Holocaust in Occupied Poland by white skulls (without the black background), where people were lined up next to a ravine and shot by soldiers with rifles. Sites included Bronna Góra, Ponary and others.


title: Extermination camp

text: Irrespective of round-ups for extermination camps, the Nazis abducted millions of foreigners for slave labour in other types of camps, which provided perfect cover for the extermination programme. Prisoners represented about a quarter of the total workforce of the Reich, with mortality rates exceeding 75 percent due to starvation, disease, exhaustion, executions, and physical brutality.


title: Extermination camp

text: In the early years of World War II, the Jews were primarily sent to forced labour camps and ghettoised, but from 1942 onward they were deported to the extermination camps under the guise of "resettlement". For political and logistical reasons, the most infamous Nazi German killing factories were built in occupied Poland, where most of the intended victims lived; Poland had the greatest Jewish population in Nazi-controlled Europe. On top of that, the new death camps outside of Germany's prewar borders could be kept secret from the German civil populace.


title: Extermination camp

text: During the initial phase of the Final Solution, gas vans producing poisonous exhaust fumes were developed in the occupied Soviet Union (USSR) and at the Chełmno extermination camp in occupied Poland, before being used elsewhere. The killing method was based on experience gained by the SS during the secretive programme of involuntary euthanasia. There were two types of death chambers operating during the Holocaust.


title: Extermination camp

text: Unlike at Auschwitz, where the cyanide-based Zyklon B was used to exterminate trainloads of prisoners under the guise of "relocation", the camps at Treblinka, Bełżec, and Sobibór, built during Operation Reinhard (October 1941November 1943), used lethal exhaust fumes produced by large internal combustion engines. The three killing centres of were constructed predominantly for the extermination of Poland's Jews trapped in the Nazi ghettos. At first, the victims' bodies were buried with the use of crawler excavators, but they were later exhumed and incinerated in open-air pyres to hide the evidence of genocide in what became known as .


title: Extermination camp

text: The six camps considered to be purely for extermination were Chełmno extermination camp, Bełżec extermination camp, Sobibor extermination camp, Treblinka extermination camp, Majdanek extermination camp and Auschwitz extermination camp (also called Auschwitz-Birkenau).


title: Extermination camp

text: Whereas the Auschwitz II (Auschwitz–Birkenau) and Majdanek camps were parts of a labor camp complex, the Chełmno and Operation Reinhard death camps (that is, Bełżec, Sobibór, and Treblinka) were built exclusively for the rapid extermination of entire communities of people (primarily Jews) within hours of their arrival. All were constructed near branch lines that linked to the Polish railway system, with staff members transferring between locations. These camps had almost identical design: they were several hundred metres in length and width, and were equipped with only minimal staff housing and support installations not meant for the victims crammed into the railway transports.


title: Extermination camp

text: The Nazis deceived the victims upon their arrival, telling them that they were at a temporary transit stop, and would soon continue to German (work camps) farther to the east. Selected able-bodied prisoners delivered to the death camps were not immediately killed, but instead were pressed into labor units called to help with the extermination process by removing corpses from the gas chambers and burning them.


title: Extermination camp

text: At the camps of Operation Reinhard, including Bełżec, Sobibór, and Treblinka, trainloads of prisoners were murdered immediately after arrival in gas chambers designed exclusively for that purpose. The mass killing facilities were developed at about the same time inside the Auschwitz II-Birkenau subcamp of a forced labour complex, and at the Majdanek concentration camp. In most other camps prisoners were selected for slave labor first; they were kept alive on starvation rations and made available to work as required. Auschwitz, Majdanek, and Jasenovac were retrofitted with Zyklon B gas chambers and crematoria buildings as the time went on, remaining operational until war's end in 1945.


title: Extermination camp

text: Heinrich Himmler visited the outskirts of Minsk in 1941 to witness a mass shooting. He was told by the commanding officer there that the shootings were proving psychologically damaging to those being asked to pull the triggers. Thus Himmler knew another method of mass killing was required. After the war, the diary of the Auschwitz Commandant, Rudolf Höss, revealed that psychologically "unable to endure wading through blood any longer", many the killerseither went mad or killed themselves.


title: Extermination camp

text: The Nazis had first used gassing with carbon monoxide cylinders to murder 70,000 disabled people in Germany in what they called a 'euthanasia programme' to disguise that mass murder was taking place. Despite the lethal effects of carbon monoxide, this was seen as unsuitable for use in the East due to the cost of transporting the carbon monoxide in cylinders.


title: Extermination camp

text: Each extermination camp operated differently, yet each had designs for quick and efficient industrialized killing. While Höss was away on an official journey in late August 1941 his deputy, Karl Fritzsch, tested out an idea. At Auschwitz clothes infested with lice were treated with crystallised prussic acid. The crystals were made to order by the IG Farben chemicals company for which the brand name was Zyklon B. Once released from their container, Zyklon B crystals in the air released a lethal cyanide gas. Fritzsch tried out the effect of Zyklon B on Soviet POWs, who were locked up in cells in the basement of the bunker for this experiment. Höss on his return was briefed and impressed with the results and this became the camp strategy for extermination as it was also to be at Majdanek. Besides gassing, the camp guards continued killing prisoners via mass shooting, starvation, torture, etc.


title: Extermination camp

text: SS Kurt Gerstein of the Institute for Hygiene of the , told a Swedish diplomat during the war, about life in a death camp. He recounted that on 19 August 1942, he arrived at Bełżec extermination camp (which was equipped with carbon monoxide gas chambers) and was shown the unloading of 45 train cars filled with 6,700 Jews, many already dead. The rest were marched naked to the gas chambers, where:


title: Extermination camp

text: Auschwitz Camp Commandant Rudolf Höss reported that the first time Zyklon B pellets were used on the Jews, many suspected they were to be killeddespite having been deceived into believing they were to be deloused and then returned to the camp. As a result, the Nazis identified and isolated "difficult individuals" who might alert the prisoners, and removed them from the masslest they incite revolt among the deceived majority of prisoners en route to the gas chambers. The "difficult" prisoners were led to a site out of view to be killed off discreetly.


title: Extermination camp

text: A prisoner unit (Special Detachment) assisted in the process of extermination; they encouraged the Jews to undress without a hint of what was about to happen. They accompanied them into the gas chambers outfitted to appear as shower rooms (with nonworking water nozzles, and tile walls); and remained with the victims until just before the chamber door closed. To psychologically maintain the "calming effect" of the delousing deception, an SS man stood at the door until the end. The talked to the victims about life in the camp to pacify the suspicious ones, and hurried them inside; to that effect, they also assisted the aged and the very young in undressing.


title: Extermination camp

text: To further persuade the prisoners that nothing harmful was happening, the deceived them with small talk about friends or relations who had arrived in earlier transports. Many young mothers hid their infants beneath their piled clothes fearing that the delousing "disinfectant" might harm them. Camp Commandant Höss reported that the "men of the Special Detachment were particularly on the look-out for this", and encouraged the women to take their children into the "shower room". Likewise, the comforted older children who might cry "because of the strangeness of being undressed in this fashion".


title: Extermination camp

text: Yet, not every prisoner was deceived by such psychological tactics; Commandant Höss spoke of Jews "who either guessed, or knew, what awaited them, nevertheless ... [they] found the courage to joke with the children, to encourage them, despite the mortal terror visible in their own eyes". Some women would suddenly "give the most terrible shrieks while undressing, or tear their hair, or scream like maniacs"; the immediately took them away for execution by shooting. In such circumstances, others, meaning to save themselves at the gas chamber's threshold, betrayed the identities and "revealed the addresses of those members of their race still in hiding".


title: Extermination camp

text: Once the door of the filled gas chamber was sealed, pellets of Zyklon B were dropped through special holes in the roof. Regulations required that the Camp Commandant supervise the preparations, the gassing (through a peephole), and the aftermath looting of the corpses. Commandant Höss reported that the gassed victims "showed no signs of convulsion"; the Auschwitz camp physicians attributed that to the "paralyzing effect on the lungs" of the Zyklon B gas, which killed "before" the victim began suffering convulsions. The corpses were additionally found half-squatting, their skin discolored pink with red and green spots, with some foaming at the mouth or bleeding from their ears, exacerbated by the crowding in gas chambers.


title: Extermination camp

text: As a matter of political training, some high-ranked Nazi Party leaders and SS officers were sent to Auschwitz–Birkenau to witness the gassings. Höss reported that, "all were deeply impressed by what they saw ... [yet some] ... who had previously spoken most loudly, about the necessity for this extermination, fell silent once they had actually seen the 'final solution of the Jewish problem'." As the Auschwitz Camp Commandant Rudolf Höss justified the extermination by explaining the need for "the iron determination with which we must carry out Hitler's orders"; yet saw that even "[Adolf] Eichmann, who certainly [was] tough enough, had no wish to change places with me".


title: Extermination camp

text: After the gassings, the removed the corpses from the gas chambers, then extracted any gold teeth. Initially, the victims were buried in mass graves, but were later cremated during in all camps of Operation Reinhard.


title: Extermination camp

text: The was responsible for burning the corpses in the pits, stoking the fires, draining surplus body fat and turning over the "mountain of burning corpses ... so that the draft might fan the flames", wrote Commandant Höss in his memoir while in the Polish custody. He was impressed by the diligence of prisoners from the so-called Special Detachment who carried out their duties despite their being well aware that they, too, would meet exactly the same fate in the end. At the Lazaret killing station they held the sick so they would never see the gun while being shot. They did it "in such a matter-of-course manner that they might, themselves, have been the exterminators", wrote Höss. He further said that the men ate and smoked "even when engaged in the grisly job of burning corpses which had been lying for some time in mass graves." They occasionally encountered the corpse of a relative, or saw them entering the gas chambers. According to Höss, they were obviously shaken by this but "it never led to any incident". He mentioned the case of a who found the body of his wife, yet continued to drag corpses along "as though nothing had happened".