title: Kinky Friedman

text: By 1973, Friedman had formed his second band, Kinky Friedman and The Texas Jewboys, which many took to be a play on the name of the famous band Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. In keeping with the band's satirical nature, each member had a comical name: in addition to Kinky there were Little Jewford, Big Nig, Panama Red, Wichita Culpepper, Sky Cap Adams, Rainbow Colours, and Snakebite Jacobs. More conventionally named roadie Jack Slaughter and road manager Dylan Ferrero rounded out the crew and provided most of the driving of the "tour bus", a Cadillac with 10-year-old expired license plates and a propensity to break down (but, according to Friedman, her talent lay in her ability to stop on a dime and pick up the change).


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Friedman's father objected to the name of the band, calling it a "negative, hostile, peculiar thing", which gave Kinky even more reason to choose the name.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Arriving on the wave of country rock following on from Gram Parsons, The Band, and Eagles, Friedman originally found cult fame as a country and western singer. His break came in 1973 thanks to Commander Cody of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, who contacted Vanguard Music on his behalf. Friedman released "Kinky Friedman" in 1974 for ABC Records, then toured with Bob Dylan in 1975–1976. His repertoire mixed social commentary ("We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to You") and maudlin ballads ("Western Union Wire") with raucous humor (such as "Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in Bed"). His "Ride 'Em Jewboy" was an extended tribute to the victims of the Holocaust.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: One of his most famous songs is "They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore," a song in which Kinky verbally and physically beats up a drunken white racist who berates blacks, Jews, Italians, Greeks, and Sigma Nus in a bar, with lyrics such as,


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Other Friedman tunes include "The Ballad of Charles Whitman," in which Friedman lampooned Charles Whitman's sniper attack from the University of Texas at Austin's Main Building tower on August 1, 1966. His cover of Chinga Chavin's "Asshole from El Paso", a parody of Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee" is, perhaps, his most famous song.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: One of Friedman's most infamous concerts was a 1973 performance in Buffalo, New York; upon performing "Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in the Bed" (a song that lampoons feminism), a group of what Friedman described as "cranked-up lesbians" entered into a fight with the band and forced the concert to end early while Friedman and the band were escorted off stage. The National Organization for Women awarded Friedman the "Male Chauvinist Pig Award" later that year, an award Friedman took with pride. Friedman would not return to Buffalo until 2012. Another was at The Boarding House in early-March 1975 when an offended Buffy Sainte-Marie rushed on stage and snatched the war bonnet that Friedman was wearing while he and his band were performing "Miss Nickelodeon," a composition that spoofs the indigenous peoples of the Americas.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Friedman and his band taped an "Austin City Limits" show on November 11, 1975, which was never aired. According to the show's executive producer, Terry Lickona, this is the first and only time in the show's long history that an episode went unaired. Lickona told the "Austin Chronicle" "I've seen it many times – it's a very popular party tape among friends. I think it was a great show, and it might be as offensive today as it was back then."


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Friedman was the musical guest on the Season 2 fifth episode of "Saturday Night Live" which aired on October 23, 1976. He performed his own composition "Dear Abbie".


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Although hard to verify, given the number of Jewish-origin entertainers in country/hillbilly-tour circles (e.g. Gilbert Maxwell "Broncho Billy" Anderson), Friedman claims to have been the first full-blooded Jew to take the stage at the Grand Ole Opry.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: In February 2007, Sustain Records released a compilation of the songs of Kinky Friedman sung by other artists called "Why the Hell Not ..." The compilation includes contributions by Dwight Yoakam, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, and Kelly Willis.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: On July 20, 2007, Friedman hosted the Concert to Save Town Lake to honor the memory of Lady Bird Johnson and her efforts to protect and preserve the shores of Town Lake in Austin, Texas.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: On April 27, 2011, Friedman launched his Springtime for Kinky Tour (cf. "Springtime for Hitler") in Kansas City, Missouri, at Knuckleheads Saloon; it included dates in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kentucky before heading towards the East Coast. This was followed by a tour of Australia with Van Dyke Parks.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: After his music career stalled in the 1980s, Friedman shifted his creative focus to writing detective novels. His books have similarities to his song lyrics, featuring a fictionalized version of himself solving crimes in New York City and dispensing jokes, wisdom, recipes, charm and Jameson's whiskey in equal measure. They are written in a straightforward style which owes a debt to Raymond Chandler. The Kinky character views himself as a latter-day Sherlock Holmes and he is aided in his investigations by his close friend Larry Sloman aka Ratso who assumes the role of Dr. Watson.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: To date, he has written two novels that do not star the Kinky Friedman character: "Kill Two Birds and Get Stoned" and "The Christmas Pig."


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Friedman also wrote a regular column for the magazine "Texas Monthly" from April 2001 to March 2005 which was suspended during his run for governor of Texas. In 2008, "Texas Monthly" brought his column back on a bimonthly basis.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Two books have been published collecting some of these nonfiction writings, as well as previously unpublished ones: "'Scuse Me While I Whip This Out" and "Texas Hold'em". He has also published a travelog ("The Great Psychedelic Armadillo Picnic") and an etiquette guide.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Friedman's early books have been republished by Friedman's own Vandam Press as ebooks. During March and April 2011, Vandam released seven of Friedman's early titles including: "Greenwich Killing Time, A Case of Lone Star, Musical Chairs, When The Cat's Away, Frequent Flyer, Roadkill" and the rarely seen "Curse of the Missing Puppet Head". "Elvis Jesus and Coca-Cola, God Bless John Wayne, Blast From The Past, Armadillos and Old Lace" and two nonfiction books, "Drinker With A Writing Problem" and "Heroes of A Texas Childhood" were released in 2011. E-book releases are announced on Friedman's Twitter feed and Facebook page, "TheRealKinkster".


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Friedman also announced (via Jim Bessman's column at examiner.com) the upcoming release of all Vandam Press titles as unabridged audio books "read by the author".


title: Kinky Friedman

text: The recurring character "Rambam", a New York private investigator and friend of the Friedman character in the books, is based on the real-life investigator, Steven Rambam, who acts as a technical advisor for the real Friedman. Old Peace Corps friend and long time road manager Dylan Ferrero is also a recurring character in Kinky's mystery novels; his character is known for only speaking in rock and roll quotes, a trait taken from real life.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: In 1986, Friedman ran for Justice of the Peace in Kerrville, Texas, as a Republican but lost the election.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: In 2004, Friedman began an ostensibly serious, though colorful, campaign to become the Governor of Texas in 2006. One of his stated goals is the "dewussification" of Texas. Among his campaign slogans were "How Hard Could It Be?", "Why The Hell Not?", "My Governor is a Jewish Cowboy", and "He ain't Kinky, he's my Governor" (cf. "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother").


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Friedman had hoped to follow in the footsteps of other entertainers-turned-governors, including Jimmie Davis, Jesse Ventura, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Ronald Reagan. Jesse Ventura even campaigned with Friedman for his election. When the campaign finance reports came out after the second quarter had ended, Friedman had raised more funds than the Democratic nominee, former Congressman Chris Bell.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: On election day, however, Friedman was defeated, receiving 12.6% of the votes in the six-candidate matchup.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Friedman released a statement on October 15, 2013, announcing his intent to again run for Texas agriculture commissioner as a Democrat. Friedman previously ran for the post in 2010, losing in the Democratic primary.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Friedman supports the full legalization and cultivation of hemp and marijuana, declaring that the end of the prohibition is a health, education funding, prison reduction, border security, and state's rights issue.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: On education, he supports higher pay for teachers and working to lower Texas's dropout rate. He supports more investment in harnessing Texas's alternative fuel resources such as wind and biodiesel. Friedman is opposed to the Trans-Texas Corridor since it relies on toll road construction.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: On capital punishment, he previously summed up his position, "I am not anti-death penalty, but I'm damn sure anti-the-wrong-guy-getting-executed." More recently, he has clarified his position: "The system is not perfect. Until it's perfect, let's do away with the death penalty."


title: Kinky Friedman

text: On illegal immigration, Friedman wants to increase the number of Texas National Guard troops on the border (from the current 1,500 to 10,000), impose $25,000 and $50,000 fines on companies that hire illegal immigrants, and require foreign nationals seeking employment to purchase a foreign taxpayer ID card once they have passed a criminal background check. "Texas can no longer wait for our federal government to solve our illegal immigration problem," Friedman said. "These are steps that Texas can immediately take to help stem the tide of illegal immigrants penetrating our border." Had he been elected, he had promised to meet regularly with Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Governor Janet Napolitano of Arizona to develop a coordinated border state plan to supplement federal efforts to curb illegal immigration. Previously, Kinky put forth the "Five Mexican Generals" Plan, to pay Mexican officials to halt immigration on their side of the border. Although he originally stated "When I talk about the five Mexican generals, people think I'm joking but I'm dead serious", Friedman later told the "Dallas Morning News" that the plan, never meant to be carried out, was a joke with an element of seriousness.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: According to his official website, Friedman's answer to the question "How does Kinky feel about abortion?" is "Kinky believes in a woman's right to choose." In person, he hedges his bets, saying "I'm not pro-life, and I'm not pro-choice. I'm pro-football." On social issues, he has supported gay marriage, answering an Associated Press reporter's question on the subject on February 3, 2005, by saying, "I support gay marriage. I believe they have a right to be as miserable as the rest of us." (Friedman himself has never been married.)


title: Kinky Friedman

text: According to "Cigar Aficionado" magazine, Friedman plans to roll back "any and all smoking bans" if elected. One of his favorite quotes comes from Mark Twain: "If smoking is not allowed in heaven, I shall not go." Friedman supports the decriminalization of marijuana, though he doesn't advocate making its sale legal. "I'm not talking about like Amsterdam," he noted, "We've got to clear some of the room out of the prisons so we can put the bad guys in there, like the pedophiles and the politicians."


title: Kinky Friedman

text: On August 9, 2007, the "Austin American-Statesman" reported that Friedman was considering another run for governor of Texas in 2010. "I'm open to running", Friedman said, adding that he wouldn't make a final decision until after the 2008 elections. On February 10, 2009, Friedman confirmed to the Associated Press that he was still interested in running.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: In an August 23, 2007 interview with the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram" and a February 10, 2009 interview with the Associated Press, Friedman stated that if he did run in 2010, he would run as a Democrat, citing that "God probably couldn't have won as an Independent" and that he was a Democrat all his life.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: On April 14, 2009, Friedman announced in an email to supporters that he intended to make a second gubernatorial run, this time as a Democrat. Friedman then announced on December 14, 2009, that he was leaving the gubernatorial race and would instead seek the party nomination in March 2010 for Texas Agriculture Commissioner. He lost the nomination to rancher Hank Gilbert in the primary held on March 2, 2010. Gilbert was in turn defeated for a second time by the incumbent Republican Todd Staples of Palestine, who vacates the office in January 2015, following his defeat for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in the March 4, 2014 primary.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: In 2014, Friedman made another bid for state agriculture commissioner. He finished a strong second in the Democratic primary, forcing a runoff election with his party's top vote-getter, the politically unknown Jimmy Ray "Jim" Hogan (born c. 1950), a farmer and widower from Cleburne in Johnson County, southwest of Fort Worth, whose campaign was conducted mostly from the public computers in his hometown library.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Friedman polled 184,992 (37.7 percent), behind Hogan's 190,205 (38.8 percent), but ahead of rancher and former educator Hugh Asa Fitzsimons, III (born 1954), of San Antonio, who received a critical 114,953 votes (23.5 percent). Fitzsimons carried the endorsement of the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, his hometown State Senator Leticia Van de Putte, who is running on the ticket headed by State Senator Wendy R. Davis of Fort Worth. Friedman lost the May runoff to Hogan, 54 percent to 46 percent, who then faced Republican Sid Miller in the November election.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Friedman appeared in the 2004 documentary film "Barbecue: A Texas Love Story" by Austin-based director Chris Elley. In the film, narrated by Governor Ann Richards, Kinky exclaims that "Jesus loved Barbecue" and analyzes the speech patterns of Texans versus New Yorkers. Raw footage from Friedman's interview appears in the 2005 DVD release of the film. He has appeared in other movies as well including "Loose Shoes" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2".


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Friedman's persona as a politically incorrect raconteur has been likened to that of movie critic and commentator John Irving Bloom, better known in print as Joe Bob Briggs, with whom he appeared in the B movie "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2".


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Friedman prefers to smoke Montecristo No. 2 Cigars, the same brand once smoked by Fidel Castro. However, he also smokes Bolivars, noting that "Simón Bolívar is the only person in history to be exiled from a country named after him." Friedman now makes eponymous cigars under the name Kinky Friedman Cigars.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Friedman is given brief praise in Joseph Heller's 1976 novel, "Good as Gold", in which a governor (meant to satirize Lyndon B. Johnson), tells the main character, Bruce Gold: "Gold, I like you. You remind me a lot of this famous country singer from Texas I'm crazy about, a fellow calls himself Kinky Friedman, the Original Texas Jewboy. Kinky's smarter, but I like you more."


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Friedman is friends with Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and he has visited both at the White House. He wrote about his friendships with them in his November 2001 column ("Hail to the Kinkster") for "Texas Monthly".


title: Kinky Friedman

text: The play "Becoming Kinky: The World According to Kinky Friedman", directed by Ted Swindley (Always...Patsy Cline), starring Jesse Dayton, Little Jewford, Alan Lee, and Andross Bautsch, premiered in Houston, Texas on March 28, 2011.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Friedman is responsible for the quote "you've got to find what you love and let it kill you," which is often falsely attributed to the poet and novelist Charles Bukowski.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: Friedman hosted the live concert music television show "Texas Roadhouse Live" around 2011, which would air on over-the-air network television late Saturday night (or midnight Sunday morning) in some Texas markets.


title: Kinky Friedman

text: On the 2017 album entitled "Out of All This Blue", Mike Scott of The Waterboys composed a song called "Kinky's History Lesson" where the singer attempts to correct Friedman on a number of false statements he has allegedly made.


title: Matsutake

text: , Tricholoma matsutake, is a species of choice edible mycorrhizal mushroom that grows in East Asia, Europe, and North America. It is prized in Japanese cuisine for its distinct spicy-aromatic odor.


title: Matsutake

text: The common name and specific epitaph, "matsutake", in use since the late 19th century, derives from Japanese "matsu" (pine tree) and "take" (mushroom).


title: Matsutake

text: Matsutake mushrooms grow in East Asia, Southeast Asia (Bhutan and Laos), parts of Europe such as Estonia, Finland, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and along the Pacific coasts of Canada and the United States.


title: Matsutake

text: Matsutake mushrooms grow under trees and are usually concealed under litter on the forest floor, forming a symbiotic relationship with roots of various tree species. In Korea and Japan, matsutake mushrooms are most commonly associated with "Pinus densiflora".


title: Matsutake

text: In Japan, several closely related species have been found, including "Tricholoma bakamatsutake" ("baka-matsutake" - "stupid matsutake" in Japanese), "Tricholoma fulvocastaneum" ("nise-matsutake" - "fake matsutake"), and "Tricholoma robustum" ("matsutake-modoki" - "imitation of matsutake"). Of those species, only baka-matsutake has a taste similar to that of matsutake. Both baka-matsutake and nise-matsutake grow in Fagaceae forests, while matsutake-modoki grows in the same pine forests as the genuine matsutake.


title: Matsutake

text: In the North American Pacific Northwest, "Tricholoma murrillianum" is found in coniferous forests of one or more of the following tree species: western hemlock, Douglas fir, Noble fir, Shasta red fir, Sugar pine, Ponderosa pine, or Lodgepole pine. In California and parts of Oregon, it is also associated with hardwoods, including Tanoak, Madrone, Rhododendron, Salal, and Manzanita. In northeastern North America, the closely related mushroom "Tricholoma magnivelare" is generally found in Jack pine forests. A report published in 2000 indicated that "Tricholoma nauseosum" and "matsutake" ("T. matsutake") are the same species.


title: Matsutake

text: Matsutake are hard to find because of their specific growth requirements, the rarity of appropriate forest and terrain, and competition from wild animals such as squirrels, rabbits, and deer for the once-yearly harvest of mushrooms. Domestic production of matsutake in Japan has also been sharply reduced over the last 50 years due to the pine-killing nematode "Bursaphelenchus xylophilus", and the annual harvest of matsutake in Japan is now less than 1,000 tons, with the Japanese mushroom supply largely made up by imports from China, Korea, the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, and northern Europe. This results in prices in the Japanese market highly dependent on quality, availability, and origin that can range from as high as $1,000 per kilogram for domestically harvested matsutake at the beginning of the season to as low as , though the average value for imported matsutake is about $90 per kilogram.


title: Romani diaspora

text: The Roma people have several distinct populations, the largest being the Roma and the Iberian Calé or Caló, who reached Anatolia and the Balkans in the early 12th century, from a migration out of the Indian subcontinent beginning about 1st century – 2nd century AD. They settled in the areas of present-day Turkey, Greece, Serbia, Romania, Croatia, Moldova, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Hungary, Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia, by order of volume, and Spain. From the Balkans, they migrated throughout Europe and, in the nineteenth and later centuries, to the Americas. The Roma population in the United States is estimated at more than one million.


title: Romani diaspora

text: There is no official or reliable count of the Romani populations worldwide. Many Romani refuse to register their ethnic identity in official censuses for fear of discrimination. Others are descendants of intermarriage with local populations and no longer identify only as Roma, or not at all.


title: Romani diaspora

text: As of the early 2000s, an estimated 4 to 9 million Romani people lived in Europe and Asia Minor, although some Romani organizations estimate numbers as high as 14 million.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Significant Romani populations are found in the Balkan peninsula, in some Central European states, in Spain, France, Russia, and Ukraine. The total number of Romani living outside Europe are primarily in the Middle East and North Africa and in the Americas, and are estimated in total at more than two million. Some countries do not collect data by ethnicity.


title: Romani diaspora

text: The Romani people identify as distinct ethnicities based in part on territorial, religious, cultural and dialectal differences, and self-designation. The main branches are:


title: Romani diaspora

text: The Romani have additional internal distinctions, with groups identified as Bashaldé; Churari; Lori; Ungaritza; Lovari (Lovara) from Hungary; Machvaya (Machavaya, Machwaya, or Macwaia) from Serbia; Romungro from Hungary and neighbouring Carpathian countries; Erlides (also "Yerlii" or "Arli"); Xoraxai (Horahane) from Greece/Turkey; Boyash (Lingurari, Ludar, Ludari, Rudari, or Zlătari) from Romanian/Moldovan miners; Ursari from Romanian/Moldovan bear-trainers; Argintari from silversmiths; Aurari from goldsmiths; Florari from florists; and Lăutari from singers.


title: Romani diaspora

text: The official number of Romani people is disputed in many countries; some do not collect data by ethnicity; in others, Romani individuals may refuse to register their ethnic identity for fear of discrimination, or have assimilated and do not identify exclusively as Romani. In some cases, governments consult Romani organizations for data.


title: Romani diaspora

text: A significant proportion of the world's Romanies live in Central and Eastern Europe. However, in some cases—notably the Kalderash clan in Romania, who work as traditional coppersmiths prospered. Some Romani families choose to immigrate to Western Europe. Many of the former Communist countries like the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria have entered the European Union, and free travel is permitted. During the 1970s and 1980s, many Romanies from former Yugoslavia migrated to other European countries, especially Austria, West Germany and Sweden.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Romani people have been living in Albania for more than 600 years. They arrived from Asia shortly before the Ottoman Turks in the middle of the fifteenth century. They started from India, traveled towards the direction of Persia, Syria, Iraq and through Armenia into the Western Byzantine territories, then through the Balkans into Europe. 1,300-120,000 Roma are estimated to live in Albania.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Romani people constitute the third largest ethnic group (after Bulgarians and Turks) in Bulgaria, they are referred to as "цигани" ("cigani") or "роми" ("romi"). According to the 2001 census, there were 370,908 Roma in Bulgaria, equivalent to 4.7% of the country's total population.


title: Romani diaspora

text: In the 2011 census, 315,583 people called themselves Roma. Various estimations put the number of Roma people to be between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people, or 8–10% of Hungary's population.


title: Romani diaspora

text: There is a sizable minority of Romani people in Romania, known as "Ţigani" in Romanian and, recently, as "Rromi", of 621,573 people or 3.3% of the total population (2011 census). There exist a variety of governmental and non-governmental programs for integration and social advancement, including the Foundation Policy Center for Roma and Minorities, the National Agency for the Roma and Romania's participation in the Decade of Roma Inclusion. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Spain participate in these programs. As an officially recognized ethnic minority, the Romani people also have guaranteed representation in Parliament.


title: Romani diaspora

text: A big roma community of east-orthodox christian faith, are the Basketmakers in Glodeni, there ancestors once came from Serbia, settled in Glodeni at the Time of the Teleki-Dynasty.


title: Romani diaspora

text: In Russian the Romani people are referred to as "tzigane". The largest ethnic group of Romani people in Russia are the Ruska Roma. They are also the largest group in Belarus. They are adherents of the Russian Orthodox faith.


title: Romani diaspora

text: They came to Russia in the 18th century from Poland, and their language includes Polish, German, and Russian words.


title: Romani diaspora

text: The Ruska Roma were nomadic horse traders and singers. They traveled during the summer and stayed in cottages of Russian peasants during the winter. They paid for their lodging with money, or with the work of their horses.


title: Romani diaspora

text: In 1812, when Napoleon I invaded Russia, the Romani diasporas of Moscow and Saint Petersburg gave large sums of money and good horses for the Russian army. Many young Romani men took part in the war as uhlans.


title: Romani diaspora

text: At the end of the 19th century, Rusko Rom Nikolai Shishkin created a Romani theatre troupe. One of its plays was in the Romani language.


title: Romani diaspora

text: During World War II some Ruska Roma entered the army, by call-up and as volunteers. They took part in the war as soldiers, officers, infantrymen, tankmen, artillerymen, aviators, drivers, paramedical workers, and doctors. Some teenagers, old men and adult men were also partisans. Romani actors, singers, musicians, dancers (mostly women) performed for soldiers in the front line and in hospitals. A huge number of Roma, including many of the Ruska Roma, died or were murdered in territories occupied by the enemy, in battles, and in the blockade of Leningrad.


title: Romani diaspora

text: After World War II, the music of the Ruska Roma became very popular. Romen Theatre, Romani singers and ensembles prospered. All Romanies living in the USSR began to perceive Ruska Roma culture as the basic Romani culture.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Kosovan Roma speak either Serbian or Romani as their first language. Most Kosovan Roma are Christian Orthodox, but some practice Islam. 2010 OSCE estimates suggested that there were approximately 34,000 Roma living in Kosovo.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Roma in Germany are estimated to around 170,000-300,000 individuals, constituting around 0.2-0.4% of the German population.


title: Romani diaspora

text: There are about 30,000 Roma in Belgium. Approximately one third of these are described as Travellers, Roms or Manouches/Sinti.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Romanies in Spain are generally known as "Gitanos" and tend to speak Caló, a kind of Andalusian Spanish with a large number of Romani loanwords. Estimates of the Spanish Gitano population range between 600,000 and 1,500,000 with the Spanish government estimating between 650,000 and 700,000. Semi-nomadic Quinqui consider themselves apart from the Gitanos.


title: Romani diaspora

text: The Romanies in Portugal are known as "Ciganos", and their presence goes back to the second half of the 15th century. Early on, due to their socio-cultural difference and nomadic style of live, the Ciganos were the object of fierce discrimination and persecution.


title: Romani diaspora

text: The number of "Ciganos" in Portugal is difficult to estimate, since there are no official statistics about race or ethnic categories. According to data from Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance there are about 40,000 to 50,000 spread all over the country. According to the Portuguese branch of Amnesty International, there are about 30,000 to 50,000.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Romanies are generally known in spoken French as "Manouches" or "Tsiganes". "Romanichels" or "Gitans" are considered pejorative and "Bohémiens" is outdated. Traditionally referred to as "gens du voyage" ("traveling people"), a term still occasionally used by the media, they are today generally referred to as "Roms" or "Rroms". By law, French municipalities over 5,000 inhabitants have the obligation to allocate a piece of land to Romani travellers when they arrive.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Approximately 500,000 Roma live in France as part of established communities. Additionally, the French Roma rights group reports that there are at least 12,000 Roma, primarily from Romania and Bulgaria, living in illegal urban camps throughout the country. French authorities often close down these encampments. In 2009, the government returned more than 10,000 Roma illegal immigrants to Romania and Bulgaria. In the summer of 2012, with mounting criticism of their deportation of Roma migrants, French key ministers met for emergency talks on the handling of an estimated 15,000 Roma living in camps across France. They proposed to lift restrictions on migrants (including Roma) from Bulgaria and Romania who were working in France.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Romani in Italy are generally known as "zingaro" (with the plural "zingari"), a word also used to describe a scruffy or slovenly person or a tinker. The word is likely of Greek origin meaning "untouchables", compare the modern Greek designations Τσιγγάνοι (Tsingánoi), Αθίγγανοι (Athínganoi). People often use the term "Rom", although the people prefer "Romani" (in Italian "Romanì"), which is little used. They are sometimes called "nomads," although many live in settled communities.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Northern Romani generally identify as “Travellers” more than they do as “Gypsies”. These groups have much European heritage due to mixing with Indigenous Traveller groups (British Romani Travellers mix with Irish Travellers, Scottish Highland Travellers and Funfair Traveller and Scandinavian Romani Travellers mix with Indigenous Norwegian Travellers) and even non-Travellers over the centuries. This has led to these Romani groups generally looking White in appearance.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Northern European Romani groups culturally have more in common with Indigenous Northern European Traveller groups, such as Irish Travellers, Dutch Travellers, Scottish Highland Travellers and Norwegian Travellers then what they do with Romani from the rest of Europe. Northern Romani groups have common ancestry from the wave of Romani who migrated to England and Scotland in the 16th century.


title: Romani diaspora

text: The Council of Europe estimates that there are around 5,500 Romanies living in Denmark (0.1% of the population).


title: Romani diaspora

text: The Kale (or "Kaale") Romani of Finland are known in Finnish as "mustalaiset" ('blacks', cf. , 'black') or "romanit". Approximately 10,000 Romani live in Finland, mostly in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. In Finland, many Romani people wear their traditional dress in daily life. Finnish Kale speak Finnish Kalo.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Recently the term "romer" has been adopted as a collective designation referring to both Romanisæl Travellers and Eastern European Roma migrant communities, with R"esande" (Travellers) referring to Romanisæl only.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Approximately 120,000 Romani live in Sweden, including 65,000~ Romanisæl Travellers, the Norwegian and Swedish Romani group, 3,000~ Finnish Kale, the Finnish Romani group who immigrated in the 1960s, and 50,000~ Eastern European Roma, who have only started to immigrate to Sweden (as well as Norway, Finland and Britain) in recent years.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Romanisæl Travellers in Sweden have periodically suffered discrimination at the hands of the state. For example, the state has taken children into foster care, or sterilised Romani women without their consent. Prejudice against Romanies is widespread, with most stereotypes portraying the Romani as welfare cheats, shoplifters, and con artists. For example, in 1992, Bert Karlsson, a leader of Ny Demokrati, said, "Gypsies are responsible for 90% of crime against senior citizens" in Sweden. He had earlier tried to ban Romani from his "Skara Sommarland" theme park, as he thought they were thieves. Some shopkeepers, employers and landlords continue to discriminate against Romani.


title: Romani diaspora

text: The situation is improving. Several Romani organisations promote education about Romani rights and culture in Sweden. Since 2000, Romani "chib" is an officially recognised minority language in Sweden. The Swedish government has established a special standing Delegation for Romani Issues. A Romani folk high school has been founded in Gothenburg.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Romanichal Travellers in England are generally known as Romany Gypsies, English Travellers or English Gypsies. They are found in England (As well as South Wales, Northeast Wales and the Scottish Borders), and they speak Angloromani.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Welsh Kale are Welsh Romani, they are found in the Welsh-speaking parts of Northwestern Wales, and they speak Welsh Kalá.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Scottish Lowland Travellers are Scottish Romani. They are found in Lowland Scotland and they speak Scottish Cant.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Romani have been recorded in the UK since at least the early 16th century. Records of Romani people in Scotland date to the early 16th century.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Many Romanichal emigrated to the British colonies and to the United States during the centuries. Romani number around 300,000 in the UK. This includes the sizable population of Eastern European Roma, who immigrated into the UK in the late 1990s/early 2000s, and also after EU expansion in 2004.


title: Romani diaspora

text: The first recorded reference to "the Egyptians" appeared to be in 1492, during the reign of James IV, when an entry in the Book of the Lord High Treasurer records a payment "to Peter Ker of four shillings, to go to the king at Hunthall, to get letters subscribed to the 'King of Rowmais'". Two days after, a payment of twenty pounds was made at the king's command to the messenger of the 'King of Rowmais'.


title: Romani diaspora

text: According to the Scottish Traveller Education Programme, an estimated 20,000 Scottish Gypsies/Travellers live in Scotland. this includes Scottish Lowland Romani Travellers, Indigenous Scottish Lowland Travellers, Irish Travellers, Funfair Travellers (Showman) as well as Eastern European Roma.


title: Romani diaspora

text: The term "gypsy" in the United Kingdom has come to mean anyone who travels with no fixed abode (regardless of ethnic group). In some parts of the UK, the Romani are commonly called "tinkers" because of their traditional trade as tinsmiths.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Irish Travellers, Scottish Highland Travellers, Funfair Travellers (Showman) are non-Romani Travelling groups found in the United Kingdom.


title: Romani diaspora

text: One route taken by the medieval proto-Romani cut across Indian Subcontinent to Roman Egypt and Asia Minor to Europe. Numerous Romani continue to live in Asia Minor. Other Romani populations in the Middle East are the result of modern migrations from Europe. Also found in the Middle East are various groups of the Dom people, often identified as "gypsies." They are derived from a migration out of northwestern India beginning about 600 years earlier.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Historians estimate that the first immigrants came between 1322 and 1400, when Cyprus was under the rule of the Lusignan (Crusader) kings. These Roma were part of a general movement from Asia Minor to Europe. Those who landed on Cyprus probably came across from the Crusader colonies on the eastern Mediterranean coast.


title: Romani diaspora

text: There is no evidence suggesting one cause for the Roma to leave mainland Asia, but historical events caused widespread upheaval and may have prompted a move to the island. In 1347 the Black Death had reached Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire; in 1390 the Turks defeated the Greek kingdom in Asia; and ten years later, the Battle of Aleppo marked the advance of the Mongols under Tamerlane.


title: Romani diaspora

text: The first surviving written record of Roma in Cyprus is from 1468. In the "Chronicle of Cyprus" compiled by Florio Bustron, the Cingani are said to have paid tax to the royal treasury, at that time under King James II. Later, in 1549, the French traveler Andre Theret found ""les Egyptiens ou Bohemiens"" in Cyprus and other Mediterranean islands. He noted their simple way of life, supported by the production of nails by the men and belts by the women, which they sold to the local population.


title: Romani diaspora

text: During the Middle Ages, Cyprus was on a regular shipping route from Bari, Italy to the Holy Land. Second immigration likely took place sometime after the Turks dominated the island in 1571. Some Kalderash came in the 19th century.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Currently, Muslim Roma in Cyprus refer to themselves as Gurbeti, and their language as "Kurbetcha", although most no longer speak it. Christian or Greek-speaking Roma are known as Mantides.


title: Romani diaspora

text: A community anciently related to the Romani are the Dom people. Some live in Israel, the Palestinian territories and in neighboring countries.


title: Romani diaspora

text: It is estimated that there are 5,000 Romanis or Domaris in Lebanon. The language of Romanis is called Domari in Lebanon and neighboring countries. There is evidence that child labor was prevalent in Romani communities in Lebanon.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Romani people in Turkey are generally known as "Romanlar", "Çingene", "Çingen", or "Çingan", as well as "Çingit" (West Black Sea region), "Kıptî" (meaning Coptic), Şopar (Kırklareli), "Romanlar" (İzmir) and "Gipleri" (derived from the term "Egyptian"). Since the late twentieth century, some have started to recognize and cherish their Romani background as well. Music, blacksmithing and other handicrafts are their main occupations.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Most Romani populations overseas were founded in the 19th century by emigration from Europe. There were Roma with Christopher Columbus on his third voyage to Hispaniola in 1498.


title: Romani diaspora

text: At the beginning of the 19th century, the first major Romani group, the Romanichal from Great Britain, arrived in North America, although some had also immigrated during the colonial era. They settled primarily in the United States, which was then more established than most English-speaking communities in Upper Canada. Later immigrants also settled in Canada.


title: Romani diaspora

text: The ancestors of the majority of the contemporary local Romani population in the United States, who are Eastern European Roma, started to immigrate during the second half of the century, drawn by opportunities for industrial jobs. Among these groups were the Romani-speaking peoples such as the Kalderash, Machvaya, Lovari and Churari, as well as groups who had adopted the Romanian language, such as the Boyash (Ludari). Most arrived either directly from Romania after their liberation from slavery between 1840 and 1850, or after a short-period in neighboring states, such as Russia, Austria-Hungary, or Serbia. The Bashalde arrived from what is now Slovakia (then Austria-Hungary) about the same time. Many settled in the major industrial cities of the era.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Immigration from Eastern Europe decreased drastically in the post-World War II era, during the years of Communist rule. It resumed in the 1990s after the fall of Communism. Romani organizations estimate that there are about one million Romani in the United States.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Roma in the United States are concentrated in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Seattle, and Portland. There is also a substantial Romani population in Las Vegas. Many live in California.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Spain shipped Romani slaves to Louisiana. An Afro-Romani population exists in St. Martin Parish and central Cuba.


title: Romani diaspora

text: England banished the Roma to Barbados during the colonial era. According to folklore, the Romani population intermarried with the local indigenous people.


title: Romani diaspora

text: According to data collected by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía, the Romani in Mexico numbered 15,850, however, the total number is likely larger.


title: Romani diaspora

text: During the early modern era, Romani slaves were transported to European colonies in the Caribbean from the 15th to 18th centuries. The first Romani slaves to arrive in the Caribbean came as part of the third voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1498. In 1793, writer John Moreton noted in his work "West India Customs and Manners" that many Romani in Jamaica worked as prostitutes.


title: Romani diaspora

text: The Romani people in Argentina number more than 300,000. They traditionally support themselves by trading used cars and selling their jewelry, while travelling all over the country.


title: Romani diaspora

text: Romani groups settled the Brazilian states of Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais primarily in the late 19th century. The Machvaya came from present-day Serbia (then Austria-Hungary), the Kalderash from Romania, the Lovari from Italy, and the Horahane from Greece and Turkey. Initially, the Romani in Brazil were believed to be descended from ancestors who were exiled in the colony by the Portuguese Inquisition but more has been learned about the peoples. The current population of ethnic Romani is estimated at 600,000. Most are descended from ethnic Kalderash, Macwaia, Rudari, Horahane, and Lovara.


title: Romani diaspora

text: A sizeable population of Romani people live in Chile. As they continue their traditions and language, they are a distinct minority who are widely recognized. Many continue semi-nomadic lifestyles, travelling from city to city and living in small tented communities. A Chilean telenovela called "Romane" was based on the Romani. It portrayed their lifestyles, ideas and occasionally featured the Chilean-born actors speaking in the Romani language, with subtitles in Spanish.


title: Romani diaspora

text: The first Romani in Colombia are thought to have come from Spain and were formerly known as "Egipcios" settling primarily in the Departments of Santander, Norte de Santander, Atlántico, Tolima, Antioquia, Sucre, Bogotá D.C. and in smaller numbers in the Departments of Bolívar, Nariño and Valle del Cauca.


title: Romani diaspora

text: In 1999, the Colombian Government recognized the Romani people as a national ethnic minority, and today, around 8,000 Roma are present in Colombia. Their language has been officially recognized as a minority language.


title: Romani diaspora

text: In spite of a ban introduced in 1720, a number of Romani families arrived in the country during the time when Angola was a Portuguese colony. It is unlikely the community survived to the present day.


title: Romani diaspora

text: A small Romani community exists in New Zealand. There are an estimated 1,500–3,000 Roma individuals in New Zealand.


title: Seabed

text: The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as 'seabeds'.


title: Seabed

text: The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of the ocean is very deep, where the seabed is known as the abyssal plain. Seafloor spreading creates mid-ocean ridges along the center line of major ocean basins, where the seabed is slightly shallower than the surrounding abyssal plain. From the abyssal plain, the seabed slopes upward toward the continents and becomes, in order from deep to shallow, the continental rise, slope, and shelf. The depth within the seabed itself, such as the depth down through a sediment core, is known as the “depth below seafloor.” The ecological environment of the seabed and the deepest waters are collectively known, as a habitat for creatures, as the “benthos.”


title: Seabed

text: Most of the seabed throughout the world's oceans is covered in layers of marine sediments. Categorized by where the materials come from or composition, these sediments are classified as either: from land (terrigenous), from biological organisms (biogenous), from chemical reactions (hydrogenous), and from space (cosmogenous). Categorized by size, these sediments range from very small particles called clays and silts, known as mud, to larger particles from sand to boulders.


title: Seabed

text: Features of the seabed are governed by the physics of sediment transport and by the biology of the creatures living in the seabed and in the ocean waters above. Physically, seabed sediments often come from the erosion of material on land and from other rarer sources, such as volcanic ash. Sea currents transport sediments, especially in shallow waters where tidal energy and wave energy cause resuspension of seabed sediments. Biologically, microorganisms living within the seabed sediments change seabed chemistry. Marine organisms create sediments, both within the seabed and in the water above. For example, phytoplankton with silicate or calcium carbonate shells grow in abundance in the upper ocean, and when they die, their shells sink to the seafloor to become seabed sediments.


title: Seabed

text: Human impacts on the seabed are diverse. Examples of human effects on the seabed include exploration, plastic pollution, and exploitation by mining and dredging operations. To map the seabed, ships use acoustic technology to map water depths throughout the world. Submersible vehicles help researchers study unique seabed ecosystems such as hydrothermal vents. Plastic pollution is a global phenomenon, and because the ocean is the ultimate destination for global waterways, much of the world's plastic ends up in the ocean and some sinks to the seabed. Exploitation of the seabed involves extracting valuable minerals from sulfide deposits via deep sea mining, as well as dredging sand from shallow environments for construction and beach nourishment.


title: Seabed

text: Most of the oceans have a common structure, created by common physical phenomena, mainly from tectonic movement, and sediment from various sources. The structure of the oceans, starting with the continents, begins usually with a continental shelf, continues to the continental slope – which is a steep descent into the ocean, until reaching the abyssal plain – a topographic plain, the beginning of the seabed, and its main area. The border between the continental slope and the abyssal plain usually has a more gradual descent, and is called the continental rise, which is caused by sediment cascading down the continental slope.


title: Seabed

text: The mid-ocean ridge, as its name implies, is a mountainous rise through the middle of all the oceans, between the continents. Typically a rift runs along the edge of this ridge. Along tectonic plate edges there are typically oceanic trenches – deep valleys, created by the mantle circulation movement from the mid-ocean mountain ridge to the oceanic trench.


title: Seabed

text: Hotspot volcanic island ridges are created by volcanic activity, erupting periodically, as the tectonic plates pass over a hotspot. In areas with volcanic activity and in the oceanic trenches there are hydrothermal vents – releasing high pressure and extremely hot water and chemicals into the typically freezing water around it.


title: Seabed

text: Deep ocean water is divided into layers or zones, each with typical features of salinity, pressure, temperature and marine life, according to their depth. Lying along the top of the abyssal plain is the abyssal zone, whose lower boundary lies at about 6,000 m (20,000 ft). The hadal zone – which includes the oceanic trenches, lies between 6,000 and 11,000 metres (20,000–36,000 ft) and is the deepest oceanic zone.


title: Seabed

text: Depth below seafloor is a vertical coordinate used in geology, paleontology, oceanography, and petrology (see ocean drilling).


title: Seabed

text: The acronym "mbsf" (meaning "meters below the seafloor") is a common convention used for depths below the seafloor.


title: Seabed

text: Sediments in the seabed vary in origin, from eroded land materials carried into the ocean by rivers or wind flow, waste and decompositions of sea creatures, and precipitation of chemicals within the sea water itself, including some from outer space. There are four basic types of sediment of the sea floor:


title: Seabed

text: Terrigenous sediment is the most abundant sediment found on the seafloor. Terrigenous sediments come from the continents. These materials are eroded from continents and transported by wind and water to the ocean. Fluvial sediments are transported from land by rivers and glaciers, such as clay, silt, mud, and glacial flour. Aeolian sediments are transported by wind, such as dust and volcanic ash.


title: Seabed

text: Biogenous sediment is the next most abundant material on the seafloor. Biogenous sediments are biologically produced by living creatures. Sediments made up of at least 30% biogenous material are called "oozes." There are two types of oozes: Calcareous oozes and Siliceous oozes. Plankton grow in ocean waters and create the materials that become oozes on the seabed. Calcareous oozes are predominantly composed of calcium shells found in phytoplankton such as coccolithophores and zooplankton like the foraminiferans. These calcareous oozes are never found deeper than about 4,000 to 5,000 meters because at further depths the calcium dissolves. Similarly, Siliceous oozes are dominated by the siliceous shells of phytoplankton like diatoms and zooplankton such as radiolarians. Depending on the productivity of these planktonic organisms, the shell material that collects when these organisms die may build up at a rate anywhere from 1 mm to 1 cm every 1000 years.


title: Seabed

text: Hydrogenous sediments are uncommon. They only occur with changes in oceanic conditions such as temperature and pressure. Rarer still are cosmogenous sediments. Hydrogenous sediments are formed from dissolved chemicals that precipitate from the ocean water, or along the mid-ocean ridges, they can form by metallic elements binding onto rocks that have water of more than 300 °C circulating around them. When these elements mix with the cold sea water they precipitate from the cooling water. Known as manganese nodules, they are composed of layers of different metals like manganese, iron, nickel, cobalt, and copper, and they are always found on the surface of the ocean floor.


title: Seabed

text: Cosmogenous sediments are the remains of space debris such as comets and asteroids, made up of silicates and various metals that have impacted the Earth.


title: Seabed

text: Another way that sediments are described is through their descriptive classification. These sediments vary in size, anywhere from 1/4096 of a mm to greater than 256 mm. The different types are: boulder, cobble, pebble, granule, sand, silt, and clay, each type becoming finer in grain. The grain size indicates the type of sediment and the environment in which it was created. Larger grains sink faster and can only be pushed by rapid flowing water (high energy environment) whereas small grains sink very slowly and can be suspended by slight water movement, accumulating in conditions where water is not moving so quickly. This means that larger grains of sediment may come together in higher energy conditions and smaller grains in lower energy conditions.


title: Seabed

text: Seabed topography (ocean topography or marine topography) refers to the shape of the land (topography) when it interfaces with the ocean. These shapes are obvious along coastlines, but they occur also in significant ways underwater. The effectiveness of marine habitats is partially defined by these shapes, including the way they interact with and shape ocean currents, and the way sunlight diminishes when these landforms occupy increasing depths. Tidal networks depend on the balance between sedimentary processes and hydrodynamics however, anthropogenic influences can impact the natural system more than any physical driver.


title: Seabed

text: Marine topographies include coastal and oceanic landforms ranging from coastal estuaries and shorelines to continental shelves and coral reefs. Further out in the open ocean, they include underwater and deep sea features such as ocean rises and seamounts. The submerged surface has mountainous features, including a globe-spanning mid-ocean ridge system, as well as undersea volcanoes, oceanic trenches, submarine canyons, oceanic plateaus and abyssal plains.


title: Seabed

text: The mass of the oceans is approximately 1.35 metric tons, or about 1/4400 of the total mass of the Earth. The oceans cover an area of 3.618 km with a mean depth of 3,682 m, resulting in an estimated volume of 1.332 km.


title: Seabed

text: Each region of the seabed has typical features such as common sediment composition, typical topography, salinity of water layers above it, marine life, magnetic direction of rocks, and sedimentation. Some features of the seabed include flat abyssal plains, mid-ocean ridges, deep trenches, and hydrothermal vents.


title: Seabed

text: Seabed topography is flat where layers of sediments cover the tectonic features. For example, the abyssal plain regions of the ocean are relatively flat and covered in many layers of sediments. Sediments in these flat areas come from various sources, including but not limited to: land erosion sediments from rivers, chemically precipitated sediments from hydrothermal vents, Microorganism activity, sea currents eroding the seabed and transporting sediments to the deeper ocean, and phytoplankton shell materials.


title: Seabed

text: Where the seafloor is actively spreading and sedimentation is relatively light, such as in the northern and eastern Atlantic Ocean, the original tectonic activity can be clearly seen as straight line "cracks" or "vents" thousands of kilometers long. These underwater mountain ranges are known as mid-ocean ridges.


title: Seabed

text: Other seabed environments include hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, and shallow areas. Marine life is abundant in the deep sea around hydrothermal vents. Large deep sea communities of marine life have been discovered around black and white smokers — vents emitting chemicals toxic to humans and most vertebrates. This marine life receives its energy both from the extreme temperature difference (typically a drop of 150 degrees) and from chemosynthesis by bacteria. Brine pools are another seabed feature, usually connected to cold seeps. In shallow areas, the seabed can host sediments created by marine life such as corals, fish, algae, crabs, marine plants and other organisms.


title: Seabed

text: The seabed has been explored by submersibles such as Alvin and, to some extent, scuba divers with special equipment. Hydrothermal vents were discovered by an underwater camera platform by researchers in 1977. In recent years satellite measurements of ocean surface topography show very clear maps of the seabed, and these satellite-derived maps are used extensively in the study and exploration of the ocean floor.


title: Seabed

text: In 2020 scientists created what may be the first scientific estimate of how much microplastic currently resides in Earth's seafloor, after investigating six areas of ~3 km depth ~300 km off the Australian coast. They found the highly variable microplastic counts to be proportionate to plastic on the surface and the angle of the seafloor slope. By averaging the microplastic mass per cm, they estimated that Earth's seafloor contains ~14 million tons of microplastic – about double the amount they estimated based on data from earlier studies – despite calling both estimates "conservative" as coastal areas are known to contain much more microplastic pollution. These estimates are about one to two times the amount of plastic thought – per Jambeck et al., 2015 – to currently enter the oceans annually.


title: Seabed

text: Some children's play songs include elements such as "There's a hole at the bottom of the sea", or "A sailor went to sea... but all that he could see was the bottom of the deep blue sea".


title: Seabed

text: On and under the seabed are archaeological sites of historic interest, such as shipwrecks and sunken towns. This underwater cultural heritage is protected by the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage. The convention aims at preventing looting and the destruction or loss of historic and cultural information by providing an international legal framework.


title: Nuthin' Fancy

text: Nuthin' Fancy is the third studio album by the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released in March 1975. It was their first to reach the top 10, peaking at number 9 on the U.S. album chart. It was certified gold on June 27, 1975, and platinum on July 21, 1987, by the RIAA. This was the band's first record with new drummer Artimus Pyle. In late May 1975, guitarist Ed King left the band in the middle of their "Torture Tour." The album is best known for its only single, "Saturday Night Special," an anti-gun song that peaked at #27 on the U.S. "Billboard" chart.


title: Ana Matronic

text: Ana Kirby (; born August 14, 1974), known by her stage name Ana Matronic, is an American singer, best known as the female co-lead vocalist for the pop rock band Scissor Sisters.


title: Ana Matronic

text: She joined Scissor Sisters, founded by Jake Shears and Babydaddy, after they played their first live gig at club Knockoff on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.


title: Ana Matronic

text: She has stated that, in her eyes, the objective of the band is "about people displaying their fantasies on the outside, trying to break out of the everyday, and look like their dreams." In The Scissorhood, the fan community for Scissor Sisters, those fans who hold a special affinity for Ana are known as "nuns". Fans who are attracted to Ana, even if they might not usually be attracted to women, term themselves "Anasexual".


title: Ana Matronic

text: In 2005, she was featured on the New Order single "Jetstream", taken from the band's album "Waiting for the Sirens' Call". In 2009, Matronic performed on the glass harmonica at the New Museum in NYC in "Auroville", a multimedia ritual tribute to an experimental community dedicated to the guru Sri Aurobindo. Ana appears as a guest vocalist on the Mark Ronson-produced track "Safe (In the Heat of the Moment)" from the December 21, 2010, release "All You Need Is Now" from the band Duran Duran.


title: Ana Matronic

text: In 2012, Matronic appeared as an advisor on "The Voice UK", pairing up to assist Jessie J. The following year, she served as commentator of the BBC Three broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 semi-finals in Malmö, Sweden, for the United Kingdom, replacing Sara Cox. Matronic returned in 2014 as radio commentator on Radio 2 Eurovision, a pop-up DAB station, for the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark.


title: Ana Matronic

text: She presented a weekly show on BBC Radio 2 from 00:00 to 02:00 on Sunday overnights. The show was titled "Disco Devotion" from April 2017, before changing its name to "Dance Devotion". In 2022, she announced she will be leaving the station due to changes of the weekend schedule; the final edition of "Dance Devotion" aired on June 19. The final show contained 'anything with a repetitive beat', songs of which include Deep Inside by Hardrive, You Got The Love by Candi Staton, and Professional Widow by Tori Amos and Armand van Helden.


title: Ana Matronic

text: From July 24–27, 2017, she covered for Jo Whiley and presented a special programme alongside Scott Mills on July 29 celebrating the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of male homosexual activity in the UK.


title: Ana Matronic

text: She performed a live DJ set at Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park on September 10, 2018, and has hosted a New Year's Eve 2018 show for the channel.


title: Ana Matronic

text: Her punning stage name is said to be due to "a deep and abiding love of robots". In 2015, she penned a book entitled "Robot Universe: Legendary Automatons and Androids from the Ancient World to the Distant Future"; published by Sterling New York. She has a large tattoo on her right shoulder of bionic circuitry. She has a second tattoo on her ankle of a Celtic knot to signify her Irish roots.


title: Ana Matronic

text: Matronic married her long-time boyfriend and fiancé Seth Kirby in April 2010 at New York City Hall after they had been together for seven years. She has had relations with women, but stated in a 2013 interview with "Diva" she "[doesn't] like identifying as gay or straight or even bisexual" but rather as "a human being", saying "I believe in human rights. We should treat each other exactly the same whoever we are. The rigid constructs put into place to define us don't really work."


title: Ana Matronic

text: Matronic is patron of UK charity Beyond Reflections, which supports transgender people. In January 2019 she appeared on the BBC TV show "Mastermind" with Beyond Reflections (then known as Chrysalis) as her chosen charity.


title: The Jubalaires

text: The Jubalaires were an American gospel group active between 1940 and 1950. Previously known as the Royal Harmony Singers in 1936, the band was known for their rhythmic rhyming verses, which would be credited as one of the earliest consistent forms of what would become rapping.


title: The Jubalaires

text: The band reached #10 on the R&B charts on November 14, 1942, with "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" a song adapted from the speech of a naval chaplain in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor the previous year. Other releases included "Before This Time Another Year/Ezekiel (Saw the Wheel A Rollin')" (released under the Decca Records label), "God Almighty's Gonna Cut You Down/Go Down Moses" (King Records), and "My God Called Me This Morning/Ring That Golden Bell" (King Records).


title: The Jubalaires

text: The band recorded with Andy Kirk on November 27, 1945, a session which produced the Decca Records 78rpm release "I Know/Get Together with the Lord" credited to Andy Kirk & His Orchestra with the Jubalaires. A third track recorded during the session, "Soothe Me", went unreleased.


title: The Jubalaires

text: In 1946, the Jubalaires secured a spot on Arthur Godfrey's CBS radio show. Willie Johnson left the Golden Gate Quartet to take the lead of the group in 1948, and in 1950 the band appeared in the musical comedy film "Duchess of Idaho".


title: The Jubalaires

text: The band's recording of "Dreaming of the Ladies in the Moon" (Crown Records) attracted the praise of "Billboard" magazine, which gave the record a mark of 78/100 in the 17 April 1954 issue, commenting that "The boys here come thru with a strong reading on a bright ballad with an evocative flavor." The reviewer compared the Jubalaires' treatment of the song with the style of the Mills Brothers and predicted it could become a break-out hit. In the 15 December 1951 issue, Billboard praised the group's performance on the release "David and Goliath/I've Done My Work" (Capitol Records). However, in the 4 August 1951 issue, the praise provided did not mention the song "Rain is the Teardrops of Angels/Keep on Doin' What You're Doin."


title: The Jubalaires

text: Most of the music by the Jubalaires was released by Queen Records, a King Records subsidiary specializing in African-American music. However, later reissues of their music would appear under King Records.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: Nellie Bertram is a fictional character on the U.S. comedy television series "The Office", portrayed by Catherine Tate. She first appears as a guest star in the seventh season, where she interviewed for the Regional Manager position at the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch. She is an original character, and has no counterpart in the original British version of the series.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: Initially a one-episode guest star, she was reportedly the top choice to replace Steve Carell, but was unable to join the series, due to her commitment to the West End production of the Shakespeare play "Much Ado About Nothing". However, Tate later returned to the role as a series regular for the second half of season eight and continued in the role for the final season.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: Nellie Bertram is portrayed as a crass and outspoken woman of English nationality. She has an anti-Irish sentiment. She was born in the "working-class town" of Basildon, and, until the age of 32, spoke in a "horrendous" Essex accent.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: She is an old friend of Jo Bennett's, and believes that it is possible that she is Jo's best friend, while stating that Jo, however, is not her best friend. It is highly probable that their friendship is the only reason why Jo recommended her for the Regional Manager job, as Nellie is shown to make considerably poor decisions in her professional life, such as rejecting Cathy Simms' idea of the Sabre retail stores having a beach, winter, and jungle theme, simply because she did not like the winter theme concept, and refusing to change that one theme in order for Cathy's idea to appeal to her. However, she is shown to be aware of her legion of shortcomings, telling the camera crew, in the episode "Get the Girl", "I grew up poor. I have had little formal education, and no real skills. I don't work especially hard. Most of my ideas are either unoriginal, or total crap".


title: Nellie Bertram

text: Her stated philosophy in business is "if the seat is open, the job is open", a motto which had led her to briefly race a Formula One car (for what were the three slowest laps ever recorded).


title: Nellie Bertram

text: Long before her move to Scranton, Nellie was in a long-term relationship with a stage magician named Henry, only to have him suddenly leave her for a waitress and vanish from her life, resulting in a loathing for anyone of that profession.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: Nellie first appeared in the seventh-season finale, where she interviewed for the Regional Manager position of the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch, the position that Michael Scott held for the majority of the series. She returns in the episode "Tallahassee", as Sabre's president of special projects. She reveals that she reacted to being rejected for the Manager job by going on a destructive shopping spree (she mentions that she purchased 13 pianos). But, she soon came up with the concept of the Sabre company opening up a chain of retail stores, an idea that Jo was ecstatic about and hired Bertram to start the project.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: Nellie had long-harbored a desire to adopt a child, and after being initially rejected by an adoption agency during season eight, finally gets her wish in the series finale.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: Nellie made her debut in "Search Committee", interviewing for the Regional Manager position at the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch, but proves herself to be woefully inept for the job. However, in a talking-head interview, she expresses confidence that she will be chosen for it, due to her friendship and recommendation from Jo.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: Bertram reappears in the eighth season episode, "Tallahassee". In the episode, Dwight Schrute, Jim Halpert, Erin Hannon, Stanley Hudson, Ryan Howard, and Cathy, as well many employees at Sabre headquarters, attend her orientation meeting, where she explains how she obtained her occupation as President of Sabre's special projects, recalling how she interviewed for the Regional Manager position at the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch, but was not hired, because the search committee decided, as she pointedly reminds Jim, that she and the job were not "A good fit". However, she later thought of the concept of the Sabre company opening up a chain of retail stores, and called Jo to inform her of the idea. Jo was ecstatic about it, and hired Nellie to oversee it. Throughout the episode, Dwight and Todd Packer compete to see who will become Nellie's vice president. While she is initially impressed with Packer, and the two are even seen flirting with one another, she is soon impressed with Dwight, as well, who, despite being rushed into surgery, after developing an appendicitis, returns three hours after his appendix is removed in order to impress her. After nearly butchering a slide-show presentation, he finally impresses Nellie by telling the audience that the only element of marketing that matters is "Desire". Bertram subsequently invites Packer and Dwight to have breakfast with her the following day.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: In "After Hours", Dwight and Packer compete to seduce Nellie after work at the hotel bar, in order to become VP under her. For most of the night, Packer seems to be the more successful; but Dwight has Gabe spike Packer's beer with his asthma inhaler, which causes Packer to vomit, and leaves Dwight alone with Nellie. Dwight eventually succeeds in seducing her, and she asks for a key to his room. Dwight scratches off the magnetic strip on his hotel card before giving it to Nellie, stating the seduction was only to gain approval and doesn't intend to have sex with her. She later shows up at his door, drunk, and unsuccessfully attempts to enter.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: In "Test the Store", at the Sabre store opening, Dwight attempts to put on a theatrical presentation in order to impress Nellie. Several things go awry; and after Ryan departs, Jim is forced to give the presentation, which, despite a rocky start, impresses the crowd. After the opening, Nellie names Dwight as vice president.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: In "Last Day in Florida", she accompanies Dwight, Jim, and Robert California on a golf outing celebrating Dwight's new vice president position. While Robert seems to take a liking to her, he reveals to Jim that he dislikes the business plan for the Sabre store, and that he only approved it because Jo Bennett wanted it. He says that it is now evident that the store is a failure, so he plans to sandbag it at a high-level meeting. However, for this failure he plans to terminate Dwight, the vice president of the project, instead of Nellie (presumably because of her friendship with Jo). Later, when Jim is keeping Dwight from attending the meeting, in hopes of keeping Dwight from getting fired, Packer convinces Nellie to appoint him vice president in Dwight's absence, which she does. During the meeting, Robert chastises Packer, pretending that the Sabre store was a brilliant concept, but that Packer simply botched it in execution. Nellie then steps up, apparently defending Packer, as she tells the board not to blame Packer, but then states to simply blame his upbringing, and the society that "molded this idiotic creature". She says that, while they should fire Packer as an employee, they should not fire him as a man. An infuriated Packer protests this, stating that it is actually Nellie's fault for her poor business plan. Yet, Robert still terminates him instead of Nellie, and it is implied that Robert was impressed at how Nellie manipulated the situation. It also hinted at that Nellie might be interested in Robert romantically, as before, at the golf course, she pretends to play poorly in order for Robert to come around behind her and demonstrate on how she could better swing her golf club.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: In "Get the Girl", Nellie travels to the Scranton branch and tries to claim the manager position, while Andy is out of the office. She uses her motto of "if the seat is open, the job is open", to coax Robert into letting her stay. She attempts to win over the rest of the office, save for Jim, Pam and Darryl, by giving them raises.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: In "Welcome Party", Jim and Dwight reluctantly help Nellie move into her new apartment. She tells them about a bad breakup she went through with her longtime boyfriend, Henry.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: In "Fundraiser", Nellie attempts to befriend Darryl, and they appear to bond a little bit when he buys them some tacos, a food which she has never heard of or tried before; and, after watching her struggle with the mechanics of consuming one, realizes that she truly is trying to be nice to and socialize with her employees.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: In "Turf War", it is revealed that Nellie is a shopaholic and is in severe credit card debt, and also that her efforts to adopt a child were turned down because she is single. After Pam discovers this, she decides to be nicer to Nellie, and she strikes up a friendly conversation with her. Nellie reveals to the camera crew that she is deeply moved to have a real friend at the office.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: During the eighth-season finale, Andy recruits David Wallace, to help him take back Dunder Mifflin. Andy, after being re-appointed manager, fires Nellie as revenge for stealing his job. After she pleads to him, he rehires her as Special Projects Manager.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: At the start of season 9, Andy returns from management training intending to fire Nellie for what she did to him the previous year. After he is informed by Toby Flenderson that Nellie can not be fired without cause, Andy vows to make life miserable for her, while also putting his newly Michael Scott-esque dislike of Toby on display.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: In "Roy's Wedding" Nellie initiates a charity program within the office, which Dwight ridicules, believing charities are useless. When Nellie insists he choose a charity, Dwight mocks her initiative further by deliberately choosing a front organization for the Taliban. To test Dwight's resolve, Nellie has him sign a pledge to live by Taliban law in the office, and then steals his pen, noting that the penalty for theft would require him to cut off her hand, even offering him a knife with which to do so. Though clearly unsettled at this idea, Dwight maintains his bravado for several hours, until Darryl walks in and suggests the two of them watch the movie "127 Hours". Eventually the two become engrossed in James Franco's performance and forget about the hand-cutting.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: In "Andy's Ancestry", after being tasked by Andy to research his family tree, to spite him, Nellie falsely tells him that he is related to U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama. Not long afterwards, Pam agrees to help Nellie practice for a driving test, and the two end up bonding when she shows appreciation for Pam's art, which leads to Nellie later asking her to paint a mural in the warehouse.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: In "Work Bus", Nellie moves forward with her plans for adoption and asks for Andy to give her a reference as her employer, something he says he will only consider if she tells the truth (as the truth about someone as awful as her will ruin any chances for Nellie to be matched with a child). Andy's girlfriend Erin Hannon, who herself was a foster child who was never adopted, helps Nellie with her application, clearly excited at the prospect of a child being adopted. Andy gives her a scathing non-endorsement, however, leaving her stunned and saddened but stoic. After seeing that this upset Erin even more than Nellie, Andy reconsiders and writes her a more favorable recommendation.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: In "Here Comes Treble", Dwight finds an anti-anxiety pill on the floor, and Nellie aids him in investigating who the office "madman" is, all the while trying to convince him that he is making a much bigger deal of it than it actually is. After he sets a trap by leaving the pill out on a plate in the kitchen, Meredith heads right for it, excited about finding a "free upper". Dwight then jumps out and captures her in a net, at which point Nellie frees her from the net and admits to Dwight that the pill is hers, and pops it into her mouth, leaving Dwight stunned. Later, Dwight, rethinking his stand on anxiety medication, now would like some of her pills, claiming that they would help his cousin, Mose. Nellie, understanding that Dwight is having trouble admitting to his anxiety, tells him that she hopes "Mose" feels better. In another subplot involving her, she unintentionally titillates Toby with her Halloween costume, a "sexy" version of himself. At the end of the episode, he is seen giving her a bouquet of flowers, but after she takes her wig off, he realizes that he was only attracted to her because of the costume.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: In "Dwight Christmas", at the office Christmas party, Nellie is intrigued when Toby Flenderson mentions he was on the jury for the Scranton Strangler. After inquiring about it, however, Toby proceeds to bore her with a long, drawn-out account that is implied to last for several hours. Nellie finally leans close to Toby and shushes him. A puzzled Toby asks if Nellie intends to kiss him, which she does to save face. An emboldened Toby then gives her an even more passionate kiss. Nellie is horrified to realize Toby has fallen for her, and while she is briefly impressed when he goes to see if the Scranton Strangler is innocent and is nearly killed by the very guilty man, she goes back to showing great disdain for Toby afterwards.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: During the "Finale" episode, Nellie comes back to attend the documentary's open panel, and Dwight and Angela's wedding. Nellie avoids Toby, and snidely remarks that she "un-friended" him when he knows about her open-Twitter based personal life. She also says she is living in Poland, "the Scranton of the EU". While at the wedding, former Dunder Mifflin employee Ryan Howard leaves his infant son Drake to run off with his married ex Kelly Kapoor. Nellie tells Kevin that she'll contact Child Services, but instead lets the camera know that if Ryan wants to come back for Drake, he should head to Europe because Nellie will be raising her new son there.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: Tate originally guest-starred in the seventh-season finale episode, "Search Committee". While she was initially the top choice to join the cast as the Manager, she was unable to join the series, due to her commitment to the West End production of the Shakespeare play, "Much Ado About Nothing". However, on October 21, 2011, it was announced that she would be returning to "The Office" in order to reprise her role of Nellie, who has been hired as the "Misguided special projects manager". It was noted that she will strike up a "Far from professional" relationship with current Sabre CEO, Robert California.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: The Nellie Bertram character received mixed reviews from her initial guest appearance. In her review of "Search Committee", Cindy White, of IGN, wrote "As for Catherine Tate, I'm a fan of her work across the pond – not just as the (Tenth) Doctor's companion Donna Noble, but from her self-titled sketch show as well – so I had high expectations. Unfortunately, she was probably the least compelling of the applicants". In Sam Morgan's recap of the episode, he wrote that "[Tate's] character wasn’t that interesting nor competent". In Kaili Markley's review, she wrote "Catherine Tate is brilliant, but the addition of this Nellie Bertrum to the show would spell certain disaster for "The Office": she is too over-the-top, too obnoxious, too unrealistic, and just plum unlikeable". Meghan Carlson, of "BuddyTV", was slightly positive of Nellie, writing that "I hope they'd flesh out the character in a different way. I've seen Tate be LOL-worthy on her UK series innumerable times, but something about her interview didn't feel right. Still, Nellie just might have the right combination of self-assurance and stupidity, if reworked a little, to replace the great Michael Scott".


title: Nellie Bertram

text: The reception of the character became more positive when she returned in a regular capacity. In their review of "Tallahassee", "TV Equals" wrote that they were "Hoping that this special project lasts a very long time so we get much more Nellie Bertram in the future". In his review, Brett Harrison Davinger, of the "California Literary Review", wrote that Nellie proved herself to be "A good addition [to the show]". In her review, White wrote that "The character played by Catherine Tate in last season's finale "Search Committee" may not have been that popular with Office fans, but anyone familiar with Tate's work in the U.K. (including her award-winning self-titled comedy sketch show and a season on Doctor Who as the feisty Donna Noble) knows how versatile she is. Tate came back strong as the eccentric Nellie Bertram, president of Special Projects for Sabre, and remained just wacky enough to be amusing without going over the top". Myles McNutt of "The A.V. Club", wrote in his review of "Free Family Portrait Studio", that he found Tate's portrayal solid, and that the recent re-characterization of Nellie would help reinvent the show.


title: Nellie Bertram

text: Many critics noted how Nellie would play a major part in the final season's story lines. Most also noted how this would give her a second chance to win critics over. Cindy White, of IGN, enjoyed the pairing of Nellie and Pam in "Andy's Ancestry", noting how "Nellie was a lot more tolerable with Pam along for the ride."


title: Arthur Nebe

text: Arthur Nebe (; 13 November 1894 – 21 March 1945) was a German SS functionary who was key in the security and police apparatus of Nazi Germany and from 1941, a major perpetrator of the Holocaust.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: Nebe rose through the ranks of the Prussian police force to become head of Nazi Germany's Criminal Police ("Kriminalpolizei"; Kripo) in 1936, which was amalgamated into the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) in 1939. Before the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union, Nebe volunteered to serve as the commanding officer of "Einsatzgruppe B", one of the four mobile death squads of the SS. The unit was deployed in the Army Group Centre Rear Area, in modern-day Belarus; it reported over 45,000 victims by November 1941. In late 1941, Nebe was posted back to Berlin and resumed his career with the RSHA. Nebe commanded the Kripo until he was denounced and executed after the failed attempt to kill Adolf Hitler in July 1944.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: After the war, Nebe's career and involvement with the 20 July plot against Hitler were the subject of several apologetic accounts by surviving members of the plot, who portrayed him as a professional policeman and a dedicated anti-Nazi. These portrayals have since been discredited by historians who describe him as an opportunist and a mass murderer driven by racism and careerism.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: Born in Berlin in 1894, the son of a school teacher, Nebe volunteered for military service during World War I and served with distinction. In 1920, he joined the Berlin detective force, the "Kriminalpolizei" (Kripo; Criminal Police). He attained the rank of police inspector in 1923 and police commissioner in 1924.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: Nebe was a conservative nationalist, who embraced the shift of the country to right-wing rule in the 1930s. In July 1931, he joined the Nazi Party (party number 574,307) and the SS (SS number 280,152). Nebe became the Nazis' liaison in the criminal police in Berlin, with links to an early Berlin SS group led by Kurt Daluege. In early 1932, Nebe and other Nazi detectives formed the NS (National Socialist) Civil Service Society of the Berlin Police. In 1933, he came to know Hans Bernd Gisevius, then an official in the Berlin Police Headquarters; after the war, Gisevius produced an apologetic account of Nebe's Nazi era activities. In 1935, Nebe was appointed head of the Prussian Criminal Police. He obtained the rank of SS-"Gruppenführer" and "Generalleutnant" of Police on 9 November 1941.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: In July 1936, the Prussian Criminal Police became the central criminal investigation department for Germany, the "Reichskriminalpolizeiamt" (Reich Criminal Police Office or RKPA). It was amalgamated, along with the secret state police, the "Geheime Staatspolizei" (Gestapo), into the "Sicherheitspolizei" (SiPo), with Reinhard Heydrich in overall command. Nebe was appointed head of the RKPA, reporting to Heydrich. The addition of the Kripo to Heydrich's control helped cement the foundations of the Nazi police state. It also led to an "overlap" of personnel from the SD, Gestapo and Kripo in leadership positions in the police and security forces in Germany.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: On 27 September 1939, Himmler ordered the creation of the Reich Security Main Office ("Reichssicherheitshauptamt" or RSHA); the new organisation encompassed the intelligence service, security services, secret state and criminal police. The RSHA was divided into several main departments, including the Kripo, which became Department V of the RSHA. Kripo's stated mission, which Nebe embraced, was to "exterminate criminality". Under his leadership, equipped with arbitrary powers of arrest and detention, the Kripo acted more and more like the Gestapo, including the liberal use of so-called protective custody and large-scale roundups of "asocials".


title: Arthur Nebe

text: In 1939, Nebe lent a commissioner of his Criminal Police Office, Christian Wirth of Stuttgart, to the Action T4, which ran the programme of involuntary euthanasia (murder) of the disabled. Also in 1939, as head of Kripo, he was involved in the discussions of the upcoming campaigns against the Sinti and Roma. Nebe wanted to include sending Berlin's "Gypsies" to the planned reservations for the Jews and others in the east. In October 1939, he ordered Adolf Eichmann to put Sinti and Roma with Jews on the transports to occupied Poland under the "Nisko Plan". In November, Nebe interrogated Georg Elser after Elser's failed assassination attempt on Hitler, concluding that Elser was telling the truth when he claimed that he was working alone.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: Just before the 1941 Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa, the "Einsatzgruppen" mobile death squads, which had previously operated in Poland, were reformed and placed once again under the overall command of Reinhard Heydrich. Nebe volunteered to command "Einsatzgruppe B", an SS death squad that operated in the Army Group Center Rear Area as the invasion progressed. The unit's task was to exterminate Jews and other "undesirables", such as communists, "Gypsies", "Asiatics", the disabled, and psychiatric hospital patients in the territories that the "Wehrmacht" had overrun. The "Einsatzgruppe" also shot hostages and prisoners of war handed over by the army for execution.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: Around 5 July 1941, Nebe consolidated "Einsatzgruppe B" near Minsk, establishing a headquarters and remaining there for two months. The murders progressed apace. In a 13 July Operational Situation Report, Nebe stated that 1,050 Jews had been killed in Minsk, also noting that the liquidation of the Jews was underway in Vilna where 500 Jews were shot daily. In the same report, Nebe remarked: "only 96 Jews were executed in Grodno and Lida during the first days. I gave orders to intensify these activities". He reported that the killings were being brought into smooth running order and that the shootings were carried out "at an increasing rate". The report also announced that his "Einsatzgruppe" was now killing non-Jews in Minsk.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: In the 23 July report, Nebe advanced the idea of a "solution to the Jewish problem" being "impractical" in his assigned area of operation due to "the overwhelming number of the Jews"; i.e. there were too many Jews to be killed by too few men. By August 1941, Nebe came to realize that his "Einsatzgruppe"'s resources were insufficient to meet the expanded mandate of the killing operations, resulting from the inclusion of Jewish women and children since that month.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: In August 1941, Himmler, after a visit to Minsk, decided that alternative methods of killing should be found, instead of mass-shootings. He told Heydrich that he was concerned about the SS men's mental health. Himmler turned to Nebe to devise a more "convenient" method of killing, particularly one that would spare executioners elements of their grisly task. Murder with carbon monoxide gas, already in use in the Reich as part of the "euthanasia" program, was contemplated, but deemed too cumbersome for the mobile killing operations in the occupied Soviet Union.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: Nebe decided to try experimenting by murdering Soviet psychiatric patients, first with explosives near Minsk, and then with automobile exhaust at Mogilev. The idea of using gas was partly inspired by an incident in Nebe's past. One night after a party, Nebe had driven home drunk, parked in his garage, and fallen asleep with the engine running, nearly dying of carbon monoxide poisoning from the exhaust fumes. To conduct the experiments, he ordered the SS chemist Albert Widmann, a member of the criminal-technical institute of the RKPA, to come to Minsk with of explosives and exhaust hoses. The next day, Widmann, Nebe, and an explosives expert carried out their first experiment in prepared bunkers in the Minsk area. According to testimony presented at Widmann's postwar trial:


title: Arthur Nebe

text: Two days later, Nebe and Widmann carried out another killing experiment: five psychiatric patients from Mogilev were placed in a hermetically sealed room with pipes leading to the outside. At first, exhausts from a passenger vehicle were vented into the room, so that the carbon monoxide would kill those inside. This method failed to kill the patients, so a truck was added; the patients were dead within 15 minutes. Nebe and Widmann concluded that killing with explosives was impractical, while gassing "held promise", as vehicles were readily available and could be used as needed.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: After these experimental killings, Nebe thought of remodelling a vehicle with a hermetically sealed cabin for killing. The carbon monoxide from the vehicle's exhaust would be channelled into the sealed cabin in which the victims stood. He discussed the idea's technical aspects with a specialist from Kripo's Technology Institute and together they brought the proposal to Heydrich, who approved it.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: The "Wehrmacht"s aggressive rear security doctrine and the use of the "security threat" to disguise genocidal policies, resulted in a close cooperation between the army and the security apparatus behind the front lines. Nebe, as the "Einsatzgruppe B" commander, participated in a three-day field conference at Mogilev in late September 1941. Organised by General Max von Schenckendorff, chief of Army Group Centre's rear area, the conference was to serve as an "exchange of experiences" for the "Wehrmacht" rear unit commanders.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: Participating officers were selected on the basis of their "achievements and experiences" in security operations already undertaken. In addition to Nebe, the speakers included Higher SS and Police Leader Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski; Max Montua, commander of Police Regiment Centre; Hermann Fegelein, commander of the SS Cavalry Brigade; and Gustav Lombard, commander of the 1st SS Cavalry Regiment in Fegelein's brigade. Nebe's talk focused on the SD's role in the common fight against "partisans" and "plunderers". He also covered the "Jewish question" and its connection to the suppression of resistance movements in occupied territories. After the conference, a 16-page executive summary was distributed to the "Wehrmacht" troops and Order Police battalions in the rear area. There was a dramatic increase in atrocities against Jews and other civilians in the last three months of 1941.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: Under Nebe's command, "Einsatzgruppe B" committed public hangings to terrorise the local population. Nebe's report dated 9 October 1941 stated that, due to suspected partisan activity near Demidov, all male residents aged 15 to 55 were put in a camp to be screened. Seventeen people were identified as "partisans" and "Communists" and five were hanged in front of 400 local residents assembled to watch; the rest were shot. Through 14 November 1941, "Einsatzgruppe B" reported the killing of 45,467 people; thereafter, Nebe returned to Berlin and resumed his duties as head of the Kripo.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: Following the 1942 assassination of Heydrich, Nebe assumed the additional post of President of the International Criminal Police Commission, the organization today known as Interpol, in June 1942. After the "Anschluss" in 1938, the organization had fallen under the control of Nazi Germany and was headed by Heydrich until his death. Nebe served in this capacity until June 1943, when he was replaced by Ernst Kaltenbrunner.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: In March 1944, after the "Great Escape" from Stalag Luft III prisoner-of-war camp, Nebe was ordered by Heinrich Müller, Chief of the Gestapo, to select and kill 50 of the 73 recaptured prisoners in what became known as the "Stalag Luft III murders". Also in 1944, Nebe suggested that the Roma interned at Auschwitz would be good subjects for medical experiments at the Dachau concentration camp, after Himmler had asked Ernst-Robert Grawitz, a high-ranking SS physician, for advice.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: Nebe was involved in the 20 July plot against Adolf Hitler; he was to lead a team of 12 policemen to kill Himmler, but the signal to act never reached him. After the failed assassination attempt, Nebe fled and went into hiding. He was arrested in January 1945 after a former mistress betrayed him. Nebe was sentenced to death by the People's Court on 2 March and, according to official records, was executed in Berlin at Plötzensee Prison on 21 March 1945 by being hanged with piano wire from a meat hook, in accordance with Hitler's order that the bomb plotters were to be "hanged like cattle".


title: Arthur Nebe

text: Historians have a negative view of Nebe and his motives, despite his participation in the 20 July plot. Robert Gellately writes that Nebe's views were virulently racist and antisemitic. Martin Kitchen casts Nebe as an opportunist, who saw the SS as the police force of the future, and as an "energetic and enthusiastic mass murderer, who seized every opportunity to undertake yet another massacre." Yet, according to Kitchen, he "was clearly unable to stand the strain and was posted back to Berlin."


title: Arthur Nebe

text: Comprehensive reports filed by the "Einsatzgruppen" were analyzed by historian Ronald Headland in his 1992 book "Messages of Murder". These documents provide insights into its leadership's worldview. Headland writes that the reports "bear witness to the fanatic commitment of the "Einsatzgruppen" leaders to their mission of extermination"; their ideology and racism are evident in the "constant debasement of the victims" and "ever present racial conceptions concerning Jew, Communists, Gypsies and other 'inferior' elements". Headland concludes that Nebe was an ambitious man who may have volunteered to lead an "Einsatzgruppe" unit for careerist reasons, to curry favor with Heydrich. Any misgivings he may have entertained as to the feasibility of the undertaking failed to prevent him from overseeing the murder of close to 50,000 people in the five months Nebe commanded his unit.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: Gerald Reitlinger describes Nebe's reasons for joining the "Einsatzgruppen" as "placation" and a desire to hold on to his position in the Criminal Police Department, where, since 1934, Gestapo men were gaining influence, and which was later taken over by Heydrich. Reitlinger writes: "If Nebe did in fact retain his office till 1944, it was because of the five months he spent in Russia, or, as his friend Gisevius politely referred to, 'at the front'." Reitlinger calls Nebe a "very questionable member" of the German military resistance at the time of the 20 July bomb plot.


title: Arthur Nebe

text: Alex J. Kay writes that "the role, character and motivation of those involved both in planning—and in some cases carrying out—mass murder and in the conspiracy against Hitler deserve to be investigated more closely". He places Nebe in this category, with Franz Halder, chief of staff of the Army High Command (OKH), and Georg Thomas, head of the Defence, Economy and Armament Office in the Armed Forces High Command (OKW).