The Camera's Evolution From Tool to Consciousness

 

The Camera Eye - A New Collective Unconscious

The process by which the camera transformed from subject to object, from an auxiliary tool for documentation to an integral part of consciousness, has been evolving since the early days of photography and continues to this day.

The camera's eye is a means that fuses the eye and the camera into one, altering the rules of art and creating a collective optical unconscious.

The 1980s - The Camera as an Extension of Self

In the 1980s, with the transition to video, the compact camera became an organic part of the body. It began to capture the personal point of view. The boundary between the camera's eye as an organ of observation and a means of expression nearly vanished. As video cameras became smaller and more sophisticated, the continuous flow of photographic language became a direct part of the body and mind through continuous documentation. Personality was henceforth shaped through the camera.

The 2000s - The Camera's Ubiquitous Presence

In the 2000s, tiny and sophisticated video cameras in smartphones became constant companions for everyone, both as creators and viewers, and an integral part of cyberspace culture. The close connection to visual media transformed them into entities of self-expression, shaping perception and content. The camera acquired a consciousness of its own.

Technology and the Simulated Self

The camera simulates the self with the aid of complex technological and social processes. On the technological level, sophisticated digital tools have been developed, enabling the design and distribution of visual content in various formats. On the social level, social networks allow for the unlimited distribution of personal content.

The 2020s - Virtual Realities and a New Consciousness

In the 2020s, the culture of virtual space is developing through artificial intelligence, which includes instructions for rephrasing and redesigning the image and plot in interactive communication. The simulated content creates the future way of life. The connection with reality is nullified in a holistic experience. The camera's eye shapes a new consciousness of absolute time and space. The familiar chronological perception of reality fades, also due to the "production machine" of electronic communication, which transmits endless fabricated content at the speed of light, and as a result of extensive engagement with computer games, which present spectacular virtual worlds in an imaginative perspective, creating an illusion of the sensation of flight.

A New Language

The "camera's eye" creates the totality of relationships between the mind, body, and media. It is culturally ubiquitous and has become a substitute for the experience of direct observation and a developed subject of thought and ideology. The camera has transformed from a conceptual metaphor to a method of discourse. Photography has become a grammatical system seeking new forms. This ambiguity of the camera's eye as a system of expression results in photography being a direct language to the body and mind. Following the development of digital photography technologies, the personal camera's eye has evolved from an auxiliary mirror to a model of the self. The personal camera reflects the self as an image. Through it, one re-experiences the self as a performative image, a "selfie" that blurs the distinction between the image and its creator.

The Mirage - an Airplane That Had a State

The Development of Fighter Aircraft in the Context of Long-Term Historical Processes:

Fighter Aircraft - A Mirror of Geopolitical Change

The development of fighter aircraft typically occurs within the framework of an international arms race. This race is influenced by numerous political, economic, and technological factors, and it evolves over time. Military requirements change over time, in accordance with shifts in security perceptions and geopolitical threats. The development of fighter aircraft must adapt to these requirements and is therefore influenced by broader social and political factors.

The High Cost and Long-Term Impact of Fighter Aircraft Development

The development of fighter aircraft is a very expensive project, requiring significant government and industrial investments. The process takes a long time and requires continuous support over many years. It has a significant impact on society and the economy. It leads to the creation of new jobs, drives research and development in other fields, and contributes to overall technological progress. These effects occur over time and are not immediate.

The Multidisciplinary Nature of Fighter Aircraft Development

The design, production, deployment, and upgrading of fighter aircraft are processes based on many fields of knowledge, such as aerodynamics, metallurgy, engines, and electronics. Progress in these fields over time is essential. When an aircraft is successful, its lifespan can span several generations, up to 100 years.

The Long View of History - Understanding Change Over Time

This argument aligns with a theory in historical research that emphasizes the importance of long-term processes and gradual changes in understanding the past. Scholars specializing in this theory use diverse sources, including archival documents alongside statistical data, and they focus on broad structures over time, such as social, economic, and cultural changes. Understanding these processes is crucial for a deeper comprehension of the past and its effects on the present. This theory contrasts with other historical perspectives that focus on specific events and central figures as decisive factors in shaping history.

Mirage 3 - The Key to Air Superiority:

Israel's Guardian Angel

The Mirage 3 reigned supreme in the skies during the 1960s, and Israel acquired a substantial number of them early in that decade. 

This aircraft instilled a sense of security in an entire generation of young Israelis who felt that their existence and future were guaranteed because of it. 

A popular children's film with a romantic touch, "Shmone Ba'Ikvot Echad" ("Eight in Pursuit of One") [1964], was even made about a spy searching for the aircraft's secrets at a military base, and the children of the nearby kibbutz capturing him.

National Miracle

The delta-winged aircraft was the best interceptor of its time in the Middle Eastern skies and gave Israel air superiority. These planes were the spearhead of the Israeli Air Force in the Six-Day War of 1967 and contributed significantly to the resounding victory in that war. The word "Mirage," meaning "desert illusion", became almost synonymous with the victory.

Israel's Aerospace Ambitions - Taking Flight from the Start:

From its earliest days, Israel invested in the indigenous development of aircraft, despite the endeavor being considered a highly expensive and volatile startup. Ben Gurion Airport in Lod became the central hub for the Israeli aerospace industry, which today stands as one of the most advanced in the world.

Mirage 5 Evolution - From Interceptor to Attacker

The Mirage 5 aircraft was designed by the Israeli aerospace industry before the Six-Day War. Israel developed it in collaboration with France, as early as 1966, as an improved version of the Mirage 3, intended for air-to-ground attacks. The Mirage 5s were revolutionary compared to the Mirage 3s, which were primarily designed for interception. The Mirage 5 could carry 4 tons of bombs compared to only one ton carried by the Mirage 3, and it was much cheaper and simpler.

From Embargo to the Birth of the Nesher

On the eve of the Six-Day War, France, which was Israel's sole supplier of aircraft at the time, imposed an embargo on arms shipments to the Middle East, preventing the delivery of the 50 Mirage 5s that Israel had ordered. After the war, Israel managed to obtain, through indirect means, all the aircraft's blueprints and produced it in the early 1970s under the name "Nesher." This was despite the complex moral dilemma involved in manufacturing without obtaining the patents and production rights. 

"Israel is an Airplane" - The Kfir's Legacy

In the second phase, Israel developed a semi-original version of the aircraft, with an American engine, under the name "Kfir." It produced a considerable number of them, based on its security needs, and even exported them to several countries, where some of them are still in service today. The investment in the "Kfir" was enormous and required a reorganization of the aerospace industry. It gave rise to the expression that "Israel is an airplane that has a country."

Mirage of Security:

The Sinai Dream

The phrase "a plane that has a country" held a deeper meaning for Israel. The aspiration to produce a large and powerful fleet of "Nesher" and "Kfir" aircraft, providing the nation with long-term security, merged with a broader political outlook that rejected confronting the complex reality in the territories captured during the Six-Day War. The triangular shape of the Sinai Peninsula seemed to mirror the wings of the Mirage, becoming a sort of "desert mirage."

Military Over Diplomacy

This imagery served as the foundation for official policy, disregarding peace proposals offered by Egypt and the U.S. Without a concrete plan for the future of the territories, Israel relied on its military might, particularly its domestically produced Mirage 5 aircraft with their long-range strike capabilities, as a deterrent against any potential attack.

Flawed Intelligence

A small group of senior intelligence officers formulated a "conception" supporting this approach. They argued that as long as Egypt also lacked long-range strike aircraft, it wouldn't dare attack Israel. This notion, based on an illusion of military and territorial superiority, was endorsed by the political leadership and led to a situation where, on the eve of the Yom Kippur War, abstract concepts overshadowed practical considerations in national security perception. The eve of the war, which broke out on October 6, 1973, found Israel in a state of surprising unpreparedness. 

 

The Mirage 5's Legacy:

French Betrayal - Egypt's Armament  with Mirage 5

As early as 1970, a deal was struck between France and Libya, an enemy of Israel and an ally of Egypt, for the supply of 110 Mirage 5 aircraft, an improved copy of the planes Israel itself had designed. Given the precedent of Israel stealing the aircraft's plans, the French likely did this without any qualms. This was despite the fact that these planes were originally intended for Egypt, Israel's arch-enemy. The French embargo on the eve of the Six-Day War also included Egypt. Nevertheless, the planes were gifted to Egypt by Libya, starting in 1972.

Egypt's Military Shift From Soviet to French

Up until then, the Egyptians had relied on Soviet aircraft. They wanted to launch a war against Israel, but the USSR delayed the delivery of modern long-range strike aircraft, such as the MiG and Sukhoi, as it wanted to ensure Egypt's long-term dependence on it. The Egyptians were reluctant to start a war until they had such aircraft, and the Mirage 5s received from Libya became a suitable substitute. The Israeli government and the officers who formulated the "conception" ignored the fact that Egypt was receiving superior strike aircraft from France, in greater quantity and quality than the Soviets had planned to provide.

A Wide Door for Egypt to the West

It's interesting to ponder whether the government and military leaders' disregard for the implications of the deal was intentional. Undoubtedly, it opened a wide door for Egypt to the West, something Israel also desired. 

Hostility had prevailed between Egypt and the Western powers since Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal in 1956. 

Consequently, a complacent "wait and see" attitude developed among decision-makers. This attitude was incompatible with the vigilance expected of military personnel towards an enemy.

The Yom Kippur War - Yellow Triangles on Israeli Mirages

Just as the Mirage 3s prompted Israel to launch a surprise attack in the Six-Day War, the Mirage 5s motivated the Egyptians to launch a surprise attack on October 6, 1973. They became a central weapon in their arsenal, and during the war, they used them to strike deep into the Sinai Peninsula. To avoid misidentifying the Egyptian Mirages in the air, the Israeli Air Force had to paint the wings of its own Mirages with yellow triangles, reminiscent of the Star of David patches the Nazis forced Jews to sew onto their clothing.

The Mirage's Lingering and painful Impact

In this war, Israel found itself, to its surprise, in a situation where a sophisticated and powerful aircraft it had developed itself, and which was critical to its security, was gifted, in practically unlimited quantities, to the very enemy for which the plane was developed. Moreover, the businessman behind this roundabout deal, who also planned a similar deal with Saudi Arabia, was an Egyptian who was also Israel's top spy. He was close to Egyptian President Sadat and provided Israel with a hasty, last-minute warning about Egypt's intention to go to war. Nevertheless, Israel was surprised and unprepared for the Egyptian surprise attack. 

The entire affair, in the spirit of the name "Mirage," became a bitter mirage for the Israeli leadership and significantly impacted its intelligence, military, and political actions to this day.

The Shift in Israel's Military Supply to American Reliance:

Nixon's Ultimatum

At the very start of the French embargo, Prime Minister Golda Meir traveled from Jerusalem to Washington to request an immediate replacement for the Mirage 5. The primary source for Israel's fighter jets became the United States, which supplied it with "Phantom" and "Skyhawk" aircraft, which were also of higher quality. Nixon conditioned the supply on the revocation, under the Law of Return, of the Israeli citizenship of Meyer Lansky, the American-Jewish casino magnate who had aided Israel, through Golda, during its difficult times in the War of Independence.

The Lavi's Legacy - A Dream Fade Out

The phrase "a plane that has a country" is even more fitting for the Israeli aircraft designed in the 1980s to replace the "Kfir" - the "Lavi," which was an original Israeli design from start to finish. The United States partnered in its development and funding. At an advanced stage of development, after the prototype had conducted its maiden flights, the Americans decided to halt funding for the project. 

The cancellation of the project diverted thousands of engineers to the high-tech industry, creating the foundation for the Israeli "Startup Nation." Today, no fighter jets are developed or manufactured in the Israeli aerospace industry. 

The Lavi and the Mirage 5 are remembered more as mirages. The peace agreement with Egypt, under which Israel returned the entire Sinai Peninsula captured in the Six-Day War, largely contributed to pushing the issue out of historical memory.

Dependence on U.S. Aid

Today, the State of Israel relies on the United States and is entirely dependent on it for the supply of fighter jets. The United States provides it with advanced fighter jets that cost a fortune, and their cost constitutes the majority of the fixed annual military grant to Israel, which amounts to over three billion dollars. The accumulated sum since the grant began, about fifty years ago, reaches hundreds of billions of dollars. It's unknown if and when the tables will turn, and the U.S. administration will decide to reduce or completely eliminate it. The Israeli government and its citizens have become accustomed to taking this grant for granted. If it were to be canceled, the end of the state, as it currently exists, would be swift.

Swift Victories with Lasting Impact

The aerial arms race is expensive and prolonged, but its outcome is often determined within a few hours. The decision is reached based on a slight advantage. In aerial warfare, a slight technological edge, achieved through years of technological effort, is the key to victory. 

One recent example is the victory Israel achieved against Iran in the "Swords of Iron" war: Iran launched hundreds of missiles at Israel within a few hours. About 99 percent of them were intercepted by Israel's air defense systems, developed over approximately 30 years. This swift victory may shape the political future of the region for many years to come. 

The "Kfir" aircraft

The World Order Around Israel

 

 

  

   

The Theme of Greed Immortalized in Films of the Nazi Era

 

The Theme of Greed Immortalized in Films of the Era:

"Woman in the Moon" (1929) is a German film considered one of the first serious science fiction films. It was written and directed by Fritz Lang. The scientific advisor for the film was Hermann Oberth, who was also Wernher von Braun's teacher. Oberth even planned to build a small, real rocket to be launched and used for authentic footage, but this did not materialize. The film was groundbreaking, and its echoes reach our times, as it features an early depiction of important technologies related to spaceflight. Its plot revolves around a young engineer who wants to launch a rocket to the moon to find gold there. A smooth-talking swindler takes over the plan and joins the flight. The human drama intertwines with technology and astronomy, which serve as a new backdrop for ancient emotions. The female protagonist is torn between two men in outer space, amidst a setting of clear sexual symbols: the rocket as a masculine symbol and the moon as a feminine one.

"L'Argent" (1928) is a film with impressive French-German production, showcasing the cosmopolitan atmosphere and financial adventurism in the Weimar Republic, against the backdrop of aviation's golden age. The plot centers on a pilot who embarks on a stock market-funded quest to search for raw materials in new territories.

"Cabaret" (1972) is a musical film about the life of an American girl in Berlin before the Nazis' rise to power. The film is based on the story "Goodbye to Berlin" (1939) by Christopher Isherwood and portrays Berlin during that transitional period through its cafes and picturesque streets, the absurdly extreme nightlife, and the power of both the masses and the millionaires. "Money makes the world go round" is a key line in the musical.

"Schindler's List" (1993) is a film by Steven Spielberg that touches upon the upper echelon of Nazi greed, which involved forced labor in privately-owned factories.

"The Zone of Interest" (2024) is a film depicting the comfortable life of the Auschwitz commandant and his family, who resided in an idyllic villa, disconnected from the horrific reality within the adjacent camp.

A display in the Auschwitz Museum of valuables,  taken from Jews upon their arrival at the site

The Nazis' War on Memory

 

Erasing Jewish Identity

The Nazis were not content with annihilating Eastern European Jewry and plundering all their possessions. They also erased any trace of Jewish existence throughout the generations. In Jewish cemeteries, all tombstones were uprooted. Synagogues and other community buildings became Nazi property. All records in Jewish community archives, including family lineages spanning dozens of generations, were destroyed. Even their civil records in state authority archives, such as the Interior Ministry and municipalities, were obliterated.

Stolen Heritage - The Denial of Citizenship

Today, many Israelis obtain a second passport from the European Union based on their country of origin. In Eastern European countries that were under Nazi occupation, this is impossible. Descendants of Holocaust survivors from Poland, many of whose families perished, cannot prove that their parents were born in that country and are rejected outright by the relevant authorities.

Women's Roles in the Nazi Regime

 

Germanization and the Nazi Woman

Within the policy framework based on benefits, women held a privileged position in the Nazi regime. Hitler believed that women's place was in the home. He did not enlist them in the war effort, neither as soldiers nor as factory workers. He saw their purpose as housewives, whose primary role was to bear children and support the men serving the Reich. In her book, "Women and the Nazi East: Agency and Complicity in Germanization," Elizabeth Harvey examines the activities of German women outside the motherland, particularly in occupied Poland. These women concentrated their efforts mainly in the western regions of Poland annexed to Germany, but they were also active in the areas that remained under self-rule. The responsibility for "Germanization" fell upon the women of the Third Reich. Denied equality with their male counterparts in the homeland, Nazi women found an additional sphere of public control in the East. Although their tasks were primarily domestic, their role was empowered by the fact that while they were subordinate to their German male colleagues, they could act with a sense of superiority and impose strict authority over the local population.

Indoctrination and Expansion

As early as 1933, the Nazis formalized the key role of women in the Germanization of the East. Propaganda emphasized that the struggle to instill "Germanness" in the border regions began at home, in school classrooms where mother-teachers taught health, racial purity, language, and faith. This propaganda aimed to prepare German women for their role in the East. The Nazi victories at the beginning of World War II profoundly impacted these women for the rest of their lives. Many volunteered for the mission of bringing the homeland's culture to Eastern Europe, driven by a sense of German superiority. They believed that people in the East lacked order, hygiene, and efficiency, essential qualities that Germans cherished. Naturally, the lower standard and quality of life in Eastern Europe reinforced their views. The women who moved eastward were portrayed as both courageous pioneers and traditional housewives, serving as settlement advisors, teachers, welfare workers, and the like.

Complicity and the Final Solution

Nazi women were representatives of a brutal and racist regime and participated in activities that advanced its goals. They assisted in the racial screening process, selecting Germans from the general population, resettling them, and confiscating and redistributing Polish and Jewish property. The Nazi women involved in indoctrination in the East, actively or passively, were all aware of the Final Solution's course, culminating in the extermination camps. It was an open secret. They rarely engaged in direct murder, but they contributed as much as they could to the unprecedented plunder of tens of millions of people.

Profiting from the Holocaust - The Nazi Plunder Machine:

 

From Corpses to Commodities

In the extermination camps, the German Reich profited even from the corpses. Gold teeth were extracted from victims' jaws, rings were torn off, and women's long hair was shorn. The gold teeth were melted into bars and handed over to banks. The hair was woven into threads and used to make ropes and mattress stuffing. The bodies were sent to crematoria, their ashes used as fertilizer in fields and as insulation and construction material. 

As SS personnel amassed significant amounts of money and valuables from the victims, none of them cared about the death penalty awaiting them under international law. Items suitable for immediate use were transferred to distribution centers. These were vast warehouses located in the heart of population centers, overseen by appointed officials. Nazi citizens throughout the Reich, in need of various goods during the war when normal commercial activity was disrupted, turned to these centers as one would to a department store. The officials assessed the legitimacy of the requests and provided the products accordingly, free of charge.

The Theft of Jewish Homes

Real estate, including houses, apartments, and land, constituted the primary asset plundered by the Nazis. Immediately upon conquering a city, they compiled a list of Jewish-owned properties. In the second phase, Jews were deported to makeshift ghettos. The real estate list was then handed over to a special office, which distributed the properties to Germans and local collaborators loyal to the Nazi regime. This amounted to hundreds of thousands of homes. After the war, the absence of property owners who had perished, population exchanges between countries, and the new communist regimes obscured original ownership in many places. These factors contributed to legitimizing the takeover of Jewish real estate, which largely consisted of residential apartments belonging to Jews murdered in the Holocaust. Even before the war, pro-Nazi locals openly coveted and divided Jewish buildings among themselves. They would tell the Jews, "Your streets! Our houses!" A black market also flourished, where Jews sold everything dear to them for pennies. This market created a vast economic system in the occupied countries, involving all segments of the population, operating alongside the official plunder.

Nazism as a Regime Based on Benefits

 

Plunder and the Holocaust

In his book, replete with charts, calculations, and citations, Götz Aly argues that the plunder of occupied territories and the theft of Jewish property served the Nazi regime to finance its war effort and elevate the living standards of Germans. Behind this central explanation lies the argument that Germans were not primarily guilty of anti-Semitism but rather succumbed to base instincts of greed, leading first to the seizure of Jewish property and ultimately to the Holocaust. They yielded to the Nazi version of consumer culture.

The Ethnocratic State

Götz contends that Germans did not hate Jews more than other Europeans. Germany never followed a unique historical path. Germany was a country like any other, and Germans a people like any other. The answer to the question of why the Holocaust occurred specifically in Germany is horrifyingly simple: Nazi Germany was an ethnocratic social-democratic state. It granted social rights only to those belonging to the ruling ethnic group. It operated on the same logic as other states of that type, but it went further than any other.

Nazi Welfare

Nazi Germany provided its citizens with benefits greater than any other country: it was the first to distribute child benefits, the first to offer subsidized healthcare to pensioners, its soldiers received decent salaries and could send home loot from war zones and killing sites, and, in general, ethnic Germans lived better than ever before. Ordinary Germans supported the Nazi regime because it provided them with the highest standard of living they had ever experienced. The living standards of non-ethnic Germans were, of course, significantly worse. This was an inevitable consequence of the logic of the ethnocratic welfare state.

The Dark Side of Solidarity

European welfare states have always been based on ethnic solidarity. This solidarity, the feeling of being part of an "us," is a necessary condition for the existence of a state that genuinely cares for the security of the individual, a state whose citizens are willing to give up their tax money in exchange for the government taking care of all their needs. The other side of ethnic solidarity, unfortunately, is the lack of solidarity with anyone outside the ethnic group. It's not necessarily about hatred but rather indifference, a lack of concern for the fate of those who are not part of the same ethos. When this dynamic is amplified, when the state provides far more benefits in exchange for more enthusiastic solidarity, the separation between those inside the charmed circle and those outside it deepens.

Plunder as Policy

Götz adds another layer to this argument. He claims there was a direct link between the rise in German living standards and the dispossession and murder of Jews because the Nazi regime was largely based on plunder. It robbed Jews of their property and distributed it to Germans. Through charts and calculations, he documents and proves what was a massive redistribution of wealth that had a decisive impact on the history of the Nazi regime.

Profiting from Fascism

Götz argues that this transfer of wealth is the primary explanation for the Germans' acceptance of the Holocaust: they were bribed. Götz asserts that the basis for the Germans' situation under the Nazi regime being significantly better than under any previous rule stemmed from the fact that the plunder of Jews and occupied territories was larger, more systematic, and of greater importance than previously assumed, and that the spoils were distributed extensively. Germans profited from racist murder almost without exception. Stolen goods were systematically distributed at bargain prices. Even if a German wasn't a Nazi ideologically, they wouldn't oppose the regime to avoid jeopardizing the goose that laid the golden eggs. Götz shifts the emphasis from the profits of the wealthy capitalists to the profits of the masses. Nazi interests were not shaped by the capitalists but rather by the consumer masses, each of whom personally profited from fascism. His book is a reconstruction of the school of thought that sees the extermination of Jews in the Holocaust as the realization of a pre-planned agenda, with a materialistic emphasis.