Etymology and early history.

"Alan" is a masculine given name in the English language. The name is believed by scholars to have been brought to England by people from Brittany, in the 11th century; later the name spread north into Scotland and west into Ireland. In Ireland and Scotland there are Gaelic forms of the name which may, or may not, be etymologically related to the name introduced by the Bretons.  In Breton, "alan" is a colloquial term for a fox and may originally have meant "deer", making it cognate with Old Welsh "alan" (cf. "Canu Aneirin", B2.28, line 1125: ""gnaut i-lluru alan buan bithei"", "it was usual for him to be fleet like a deer"), Modern Welsh "elain" (plural "alanedd") "young deer" (and the plant name "alan" "coltsfoot, elecampane"), coming from a Brittonic root "*alan-" or "*elan" (also attested in Celtiberian in personal names such as "Elanus", "Elaesus", and "Ela"), ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European "*(H)el-Hn-" "deer, hind" (perhaps denoting an animal - generally cervids - with red or brown fur).  Another explanation of the name is that the modern English "Alan", and French "Alain", are derived from the name of the Alans. The Alans were an Iranian people who lived north of the Caucasus Mountains in what is today Russia, and who were known to Classical writers in the 1st century BC. According to historian Bernard Bachrach, the Alans settled in parts of what is today France, including Brittany, in the Early Middle Ages. Bachrach stated that the use of forms of the name in given names, surnames, and place names, are evidence of the continued influence of the Alans on the Gaulish, Breton and Frankish peoples.  The Breton name "Alan" can not be a direct loan from the ethnic name of the Alans (rendered as "Alānī" or "Halānī" in Latin, from Scytho-Sarmatian "*Al[l]ān-", derived from Old Iranian "*aryāna", "noble people") because the long vowel in the second syllable would produce Old Breton "-o-", Middle Breton "-eu-" and Modern Breton "-e-" and not the attested spelling with an "-a-".  In Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland, Alan may also be an Anglicization of an Irish word (with diminutive suffix) meaning "rock". For example, the modern Irish "ailín" means "little rock". Similarly, according to Patrick Woulfe, the Irish name "Ailín" is derived from diminutive "ail", which means "noble", "rock". Woulfe stated that this name is a pet form of some other name beginning with the first element "Ail-". Forms of the Gaelic name appear in early records British records; the Latin form "Ailenus" was recorded by Adomnán (died 704). Another similar-looking word in Irish is "álainn" and Scottish Gaelic "àlainn", which means "beautiful".

Variations of the name.

There are numerous variations of the name in English. The variants "Allan" and "Allen" are generally considered to be derived from the surnames "Allan" and "Allen". The form Allan is used mainly in Scotland and North America. In England, the given names "Allan" and "Allen" are considerably less popular than "Alan". However, in America all three are generally about the same in popularity.  "Alun" is an old masculine given name in the Welsh language; although it is not directly related to "Alan" (it is derived from Proto-Celtic "*alouno-" meaning either "nourishing" or "wandering"), today it is generally used as a variant form of the English name. An earlier bearer of this name is Alun of Dyfed, a character in the "Mabinogion". The name became popular in modern times when it was adopted as a bardic name by John Blackwell, a 19th-century Welsh poet.

Short forms.

The short form of "Alan" is "Al".  This name is a short form of numerous other etymologically unrelated names that begin with this syllable. Note also the Cornish hypocoristic form "Talan".

Feminine forms.

There are numerous feminine forms of "Alan". The form "Alana" is a Latinate feminisation of the name. Variant of "Alana" include: "Alanah", "Alanna", "Alannah", and "Allana". Another feminine form is "Alaina", derived from the French "Alain"; a variant of this feminine name is "Alayna". A variant form of Alaina is "Alaine", although it can also be a variant form of the etymologically unrelated "Elaine".

Popularity and use.

The name was brought to England by Bretons who took part in the Norman Invasion in the mid-11th century. Forms of the name were in use much earlier in what is today Brittany, France. An early figure who bore the name was St Alan, a 5th-century bishop of Quimper. This saint became a cult figure in the Brittany during the Middle Ages. Another early bearer of the name was St Alan, a 6th-century Cornish saint, who has a church dedicated to his memory in Cornwall (for example see St Allen, a civil parish in Cornwall named after this saint).  Today the use of the given name (and its variants) is due to its popularity among the Bretons who imported the name to England, to Cornwall, and later to Ireland. The Bretons formed a significant part of William, Duke of Normandy's army at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Later many Bretons were granted lands throughout William's freshly conquered kingdom. The most notable Breton Alan, Earl of Richmond, a cadet of the ducal house of Brittany, who was awarded with a large swath of lands in England - specifically lands in what is today Lincolnshire and East Anglia. The Breton character in many English counties can be traced through Breton personal names still in use in the 12th centuries. The name ranked 8th in popularity in Lincolnshire in the 12th century, where it was about even with "Simon" and more numerous than "Henry". Early occurrences of the name in British records include: "Alanus" in 1066 (in the "Domesday Book"); and "Alain" in 1183. The name became popular in Scotland in part through the Stewarts. This family descends from Alan fitz Flaad, an Anglo-Breton knight, who possessed lands in what is modern day Shropshire, England.

Alan is a masculine given name in the English language. There are numerous differing etymologies attributed to the name. The name was first introduced into England by Bretons who took part in the Norman Invasion in the 11th century. Today there are numerous variations of "Alan", a short form, and there are also numerous feminine forms of the name as well. "Alan" has many forms in other languages. "Alan" is also an Old Breton personal name (from which the modern English "Alan" is ultimately derived), as well as being a Norman French name.


Basic example.

The prototypical example of a congruence relation is congruence modulo formula_1 on the set of integers. For a given positive integer formula_1, two integers formula_3 and formula_4 are called congruent modulo formula_1, written if formula_7 is divisible by formula_1 (or equivalently if formula_3 and formula_4 have the same remainder when divided by formula_1).  For example, formula_12 and formula_13 are congruent modulo formula_14,  since formula_16 is a multiple of 10, or equivalently since both formula_12 and formula_13 have a remainder of formula_19 when divided by formula_14.  Congruence modulo formula_1 (for a fixed formula_1) is compatible with both addition and multiplication on the integers. That is,  if  then  The corresponding addition and multiplication of equivalence classes is known as modular arithmetic. From the point of view of abstract algebra, congruence modulo formula_1 is a congruence relation on the ring of integers, and arithmetic modulo formula_1 occurs on the corresponding quotient ring.

Definition.

The definition of a congruence depends on the type of algebraic structure under consideration. Particular definitions of congruence can be made for groups, rings, vector spaces, modules, semigroups, lattices, and so forth. The common theme is that a congruence is an equivalence relation on an algebraic object that is compatible with the algebraic structure, in the sense that the operations are well-defined on the equivalence classes.  For example, a group is an algebraic object consisting of a set together with a single binary operation, satisfying certain axioms. If formula_29 is a group with operation formula_30, a congruence relation on formula_29 is an equivalence relation formula_32 on the elements of formula_29 satisfying for all formula_36, formula_37, formula_38, formula_39. For a congruence on a group, the equivalence class containing the identity element is always a normal subgroup, and the other equivalence classes are the cosets of this subgroup. Together, these equivalence classes are the elements of a quotient group.  When an algebraic structure includes more than one operation, congruence relations are required to be compatible with each operation. For example, a ring possesses both addition and multiplication, and a congruence relation on a ring must satisfy whenever formula_41. For a congruence on a ring, the equivalence class containing 0 is always a two-sided ideal, and the two operations on the set of equivalence classes define the corresponding quotient ring.  The general notion of a congruence relation can be given a formal definition in the context of universal algebra, a field which studies ideas common to all algebraic structures. In this setting, a congruence relation is an equivalence relation formula_32 on an algebraic structure that satisfies for every formula_1-ary operation formula_45 and all elements formula_46 such that formula_47 for each formula_48

Relation with homomorphisms.

If formula_49 is a homomorphism between two algebraic structures (such as homomorphism of groups, or a linear map between vector spaces), then the relation formula_50 defined by  is a congruence relation. By the first isomorphism theorem, the image of "A" under formula_53 is a substructure of "B" isomorphic to the quotient of "A" by this congruence.

Congruences of groups, and normal subgroups and ideals.

In the particular case of groups, congruence relations can be described in elementary terms as follows: If "G" is a group (with identity element "e" and operation *) and ~ is a binary relation on "G", then ~ is a congruence whenever:  Conditions 1, 2, and 3 say that ~ is an equivalence relation.  A congruence ~ is determined entirely by the set {"a" ∈ "G" : "a" ~ "e"} of those elements of "G" that are congruent to the identity element, and this set is a normal subgroup. Specifically, "a" ~ "b" if and only if "b" * "a" ~ "e". So instead of talking about congruences on groups, people usually speak in terms of normal subgroups of them; in fact, every congruence corresponds uniquely to some normal subgroup of "G".

Ideals of rings and the general case.

A similar trick allows one to speak of kernels in ring theory as ideals instead of congruence relations, and in module theory as submodules instead of congruence relations.  A more general situation where this trick is possible is with Omega-groups (in the general sense allowing operators with multiple arity). But this cannot be done with, for example, monoids, so the study of congruence relations plays a more central role in monoid theory.

Universal algebra.

The idea is generalized in universal algebra: A congruence relation on an algebra "A" is a subset of the direct product "A" × "A" that is both an equivalence relation on "A" and a subalgebra of "A" × "A".  The kernel of a homomorphism is always a congruence. Indeed, every congruence arises as a kernel. For a given congruence ~ on "A", the set "A"/~ of equivalence classes can be given the structure of an algebra in a natural fashion, the quotient algebra. The function that maps every element of "A" to its equivalence class is a homomorphism, and the kernel of this homomorphism is ~.  The lattice Con("A") of all congruence relations on an algebra "A" is algebraic.  John M. Howie described how semigroup theory illustrates congruence relations in universal algebra:

In abstract algebra, a congruence relation (or simply congruence) is an equivalence relation on an algebraic structure (such as a group, ring, or vector space) that is compatible with the structure in the sense that algebraic operations done with equivalent elements will yield equivalent elements. Every congruence relation has a corresponding quotient structure, whose elements are the equivalence classes (or congruence classes) for the relation.


History.

The station opened on July 1, 1977. Its opening coincided with the completion of of rail between National Airport and RFK Stadium and the opening of the Arlington Cemetery, Crystal City, Eastern Market, Farragut West, Federal Center SW, Federal Triangle, Foggy Bottom–GWU, L'Enfant Plaza, McPherson Square, National Airport, Pentagon, Pentagon City, Potomac Avenue, Rosslyn, Smithsonian and Stadium–Armory stations. Orange Line service to the station began upon the line's opening on November 20, 1978. Silver Line service at Capitol South began on July 26, 2014.

Location.

Capitol South is located in the south-central section of the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. As such, it is surrounded by a wealth of government offices and buildings. Most importantly, it is the closest station to the Capitol Building which holds the Senate and House of Representatives. All three buildings of the Library of Congress are within a quarter-of-a-mile radius of Capitol South as are the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee headquarters. The Folger Shakespeare Library, the world's largest collection of printed Shakespearean works is a five-minute walk west from the station.

Station layout.

There is only one entrance to the station located on the southwestern corner at the intersection of 1st Street SE and C Street SE. A row of three escalators and a staircase brings passengers to the station's mezzanine level, where they may buy tickets from vending machines and pass through the faregates. Once passengers pass through these faregates, a pair of escalators brings passengers onto the platform. There are two elevators for handicapped passengers, one from street level to the mezzanine on the northwestern corner at the intersection of 1st Street SE and D Street SE and another between the mezzanine and platform.  Capitol South station utilises an island platform layout with two tracks, D1 and D2. Eastbound trains to New Carrollton or Largo Town Center use track D1 whilst westbound trains to Vienna, Franconia–Springfield, or Wiehle–Reston East use track D2.

Capitol South is an island-platformed Washington Metro station in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. The station was opened on July 1, 1977, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). The station currently provides service for the Blue, Orange, and Silver Lines.


Biography.

Oleksa was born in the Hutsul village of Pechenizhyn in the Carpathian Mountains in the early 18th century. He became the leader of his own band that consisted of almost 50 members ("leheni"). Popular tradition portrays him as a protector to the poor people of the region. There are few written references left of him and his activities.  The many folk songs and the few prose legends that still survive in Prykarpattia portray him as a local hero who robbed the rich and helped the poor serfs, like the legendary Robin Hood. His residence is believed to be located near the city of Bolekhiv in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. It is a rock complex that is called the Rocks of Dovbush which was nominated in the seven historical and seven natural wonders of Ukraine. Dovbush's deeds became so admired that the tales of his acts spread beyond the Hutsul region to the neighboring Pokuttia and Podillya regions of western Ukraine. His portraits were sold at local market places. He was feared by Polish szlachta (landowning nobility). Once, a military expedition of 2000 soldiers, headed by Polish magnate Józef Potocki, was sent to stop his activities. Nonetheless, he could not be captured. Dovbush was shot and mortally wounded by one Stefan, the husband of his lover Dzvinka, in 1745.  According to Hassidic legend, Dovbush at one time hid in the house of Baal Shem Tov and gave him his pipe as a token of friendship.

Legacy.

After his death, his legacy was extended by several of his companions and/or people that idolized him: Vasyl Bayurak (a memorial plate is erected in Ivano-Frankivsk that mentions of his execution), Maksym Zalizniak, Ustym Karmaliuk, and many others.  His legend entered Ukrainian folklore and was the subject of various artistic works, by, among others, the writers Ivan Franko and Yuriy Fedkovych. A film was made about him, and there are streets and locations named after him.

Oleksa Dovbush () (born 1700, Pechenizhyn Kolomyia— died 24 August 1745) was a famous Ukrainian outlaw, leader of opryshky, who became a folk hero, often compared to Robin Hood.


Types.

Halfway houses in the US generally fall into one of two models. In one model upon admission, a patient is classified as to the type of disability, ability to reintegrate into society, and expected time frame for doing so. They may be placed into an open bay same-sex dormitory similar to that found in military basic training with fifty or a hundred similar residents in a gymnasium-type setting all going through the same thing at the same time. As the patients become able to increase their skill level and decrease their dependency on support services, the dorm members become fewer to the point where, at the final stage before being able to get their own apartment, the patient may have only one or two roommates.  Another model reverses this. New patients are admitted in individual rooms providing one-to-one services and programming. As they become more independent, the dorms become bigger so that by the time the patient leaves, they are living in the 50-to 100-person dorm described above.  The same two models are used for convicted criminals to begin the process of reintegration with society, while still providing monitoring and support; this is generally believed to reduce the risk of recidivism or relapse when compared to a release directly into society. Halfway houses are meant for reintegration of persons who have been recently released from prison or continuous mental institutionalization.

Definitional problems.

There are several different types of halfway houses. Some are state sponsored, while others (mainly addiction recovery homes and mental illness homes) are run by "for profit" entities. In criminology the purpose of a halfway house is generally considered to be that of allowing people to begin the process of reintegration with society, while still providing monitoring and support. This type of living arrangement is often believed to reduce the risk of recidivism or relapse when compared to a straight release directly into society.  Some halfway houses are meant solely for reintegration of persons who have been recently released from prison or jail, others are meant for people with chronic mental health disorders, and others are for people with substance abuse issues, generally called sober living houses. The state-placement of ex-criminal offenders to a "halfway house" after a prison sentence may either be decided upon as part of the judge's sentence or by a prison official's recommendation. A direct sentence to a halfway house can be decided upon by a judge or prosecutor in lieu of prison time.

National differences.

United States.

The majority of programs in the United States make a distinction between a halfway house and a sober/recovery house. A halfway house has an active rehabilitation treatment program run throughout the day, where the residents receive intensive individual and group counseling for their substance abuse while they establish a sober support network, secure new employment, and find new housing. Residents stay for one to six months.  Residents of work release housing are frequently required to pay rent on a "sliding scale" which is often dependent on whether or not they can find a job while in residence. In addiction-recovery houses, a resident's stay is sometimes financed by health insurance. In addition, a stay in a recovery house might be a partial requirement of a criminal sentence. Residents are normally asked to remain sober and comply with a recovery program.  In certain areas, a halfway house is much different from a recovery house or sober house. In these areas, a drug and alcohol halfway house is licensed by the Department of Health and has staff coverage 24 hours a day. This staff includes a clinical treatment team.

United Kingdom.

In the United Kingdom, "halfway house" usually refers to a place where people with mental disorders, victims of child abuse, orphans, or teenage runaways can stay. The latter are often run by charities, including the Church of England, other churches, and community groups. Residential places for offenders on bail are known as bail hostels, and probation-supervised accommodation for offenders post-release are known as Approved Premises. However, the expression "halfway house" more usually refers to something combining features of two other things, for example a solution to a problem based on two ideas.

Canada.

In Canada, halfway houses are often called "Community-Based Residential Facilities". The Correctional Service of Canada definition of a halfway house is similar to the general American definition of one.

Programming integrity.

With regard to programming integrity, findings regarding the ability of transitional housing to reduce recidivism or help addiction recovery have been mixed. Many criminologists have done research of halfway house facilities that provide housing for low risk criminals after institutionalization. Risk screening for residents is considered essential in order to preserve both institutional and community safety.

NIMBY effect.

There is often opposition from neighborhoods in which halfway houses attempt to locate. Social justice literature observes the relationships between halfway house siting and the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) phenomenon. Some communities/neighborhoods may have the ability to affect political legislation through political solidarity while others may not. Some research stresses that community residents simply feel nervous when halfway houses are sited near them. Others point out that the presence of transitional residences may pose real hazards to community safety. In NIMBY research, it has been suggested that a neighborhood's resistance to placement might be linked to class-based prejudices about ex-offenders and drug addicts. argue that NIMBY responses are sometimes associated with a distrust for government sponsors.

A halfway house is an institute for people with criminal backgrounds or abusive drug use tendencies to learn (or relearn) the necessary skills to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves.


Character.

Susan is the daughter of Ysabell, Death's adopted daughter, who is introduced in "The Light Fantastic", and Mort, who was briefly Death's apprentice in the book "Mort". At the end of "Mort" they leave Death's domain and become Duke and Duchess of Sto Helit, taking the motto "Non Temetis Messor": "Don't Fear the Reaper.") Susan is their only child.  Susan is introduced in "Soul Music" as a sixteen-year-old pupil at the Quirm College for Young Ladies, shortly after the deaths of her parents. Initially blaming Death for not saving them, she has come to accept that he is able only to grant them an eternal moment in his domain, which they have refused. After graduating — and despite being Duchess of Sto Helit — she begins a teaching career, first as a governess, in "Hogfather", and then as a schoolteacher, in "Thief of Time". She insists on being addressed as "Miss Susan".  In "Soul Music" Death takes a holiday from his work in an attempt to forget his more troubling memories, and a metaphysical vacancy is created. Susan is "sucked in", as Death's manservant Albert puts it, forcing her to assume the role. At first she desires to use her power to help humanity, but as the book progresses she comes to realise that she is powerless to interfere, and discovers the inevitability of death and destiny. She is released from the position following the return of her grandfather, who breaks the rules in order to save the rock star Imp Y Celyn and his band.  In "Hogfather" the Auditors employ Mr Teatime, an assassin who attempts to destroy the Hogfather using teeth found at the Tooth Fairy's castle to control children. Death cannot enter the Tooth Fairy's castle because it is constructed from the imaginations of children, who have no concept of death, and therefore arranges for Susan to foil their plan instead. After removing all of the Auditors' human agents from the Tooth Fairy's country, Susan saves the Hogfather from being destroyed by a group of Auditors who have taken the forms of dogs. She later kills Mr Teatime by impaling him with the poker she uses to threaten monsters.  In "Thief of Time" Susan once again comes into conflict with the Auditors, who are now attempting to stop time so that they can catch up with their paperwork. She is forced to find the son of Time, whom Death cannot influence or even see, because, being only "mostly human", the boy is not subject to death. Susan is aided in her mission by Lu-Tze, a philosopher/James Bond parody, and Myria LeJean/Unity, a former Auditor who becomes human. Time's husband, Wen the Eternally Surprised, describes her as "helpfulness personified".

Physical appearance.

Susan is a "slightly built young woman"; both Mustrum Ridcully and Terry Pratchett himself have described her as being "attractive in a skinny way". Her hair is pure white, but with a streak of black running through it from end to end. Although its natural state is a frizzy mass reminiscent of a dandelion, it rearranges its style of its own accord depending on Susan's mood; it tends to form a tight bun while she is working. Susan's hair is an inverted homage to Elsa Lanchester's appearance in "Bride of Frankenstein", in which she wore a black beehive wig with white streaks. In "The Art of Discworld", Paul Kidby draws Susan in Edwardian clothing, which he feels fits well with her job as a nanny in "Hogfather".  Susan has a very striking physical presence, which both Lu-Tze and Lobsang Ludd have remarked upon, and despite her relative youth, she projects a sense of great age. She possesses a birthmark on her cheek that shows itself only when she blushes; it consists of three finger-like lines that were left on her father when Death slapped him in "Mort", and which glow when she is angry. In "Soul Music", she complains that, as Death's granddaughter, she should have been born with better cheekbones. She also has a Look (always capitalised) which can be rather disconcerting, even to those in authority, such as her grandfather and the headmistress of the school in which she teaches. In the television special, her Look is shown as being able to turn her face into something rather similar to a skeleton's.

Powers and abilities.

Despite only being Death's "adoptive" granddaughter, Susan has inherited certain of his abilities: She can ""walk through walls and live outside time and be a little bit immortal"." As well as being able to find any living creature, Susan can sense whether or not an entity is human. She can understand the intentions of the Death of Rats even though she cannot directly interpret its speech, and has the ability to use her grandfather's voice to command or intimidate others. This speech is indicated, similar to Death's, ""; however, unlike those of her grandfather, the words which Susan speaks in this voice are often (if not always) enclosed within quotation marks, particularly in "Hogfather".  Susan has inherited Death's perfect memory, which includes the ability to ""remember the future"", and an instinctive knowledge of the nature of Death's work, which gives her considerable assistance during her brief time doing her grandfather's job in "Soul Music". In order to keep her from going insane, her mind represses much of the knowledge provided by this memory, but even so, parts of it occasionally permeate her consciousness, generally manifesting as premonitions or intuitive insights into forthcoming events. In "Hogfather", she states that the fragmented nature of such foresight makes the power largely unhelpful.  Like Death or experienced witches, Susan can make herself completely unnoticeable to ordinary people if she so chooses, though anyone who "can see what's really there", such as Albert or Mustrum Ridcully, who are used to such things, are still able to see her if they concentrate and she is not actively trying to avoid their specific notice. During her time at Quirm College, she unconsciously used this power to avoid being asked questions in subjects in which she had no interest, such as Literature and History. Unfortunately, this caused the teachers of these subjects to believe that Susan was not attending their classes, and she was reported to the headmistress on several occasions. She solved this problem by using her power to erase the headmistress' memory of her supposed misconduct.  She possesses a unique perspective on life, in that she lacks the normal human ability to ignore things which do not fit in with a logical world-view: in "Soul Music", she is able to acknowledge the enormous size of the rooms in Death's Domain, whereas most humans can only deal with the incomprehensible vastness by pretending it is not there; "Hogfather" reveals that she shares the ability of witches, wizards and young children to see things which are invisible to most people, such as the tooth fairy, monsters and bogeymen; in "Thief of Time", she is able to identify the historical anomalies created by the History Monks' reconstruction of the shattered timeline. The latter novel also reveals that Susan possesses a sort of hyperawareness of the world around her, in that she is ""aware of every step of the rocks beneath [her] feet and the stars overhead"."  On various occasions, unusual circumstances have rendered some or all of Susan's powers useless: In "Hogfather", she becomes completely human and finds herself bereft of her inherited gifts upon entering the Tooth Fairy's castle. This is because the laws of reality within the castle are based on the beliefs of children, which do not include a concept of death; hence the part of Susan which is derived from Death does not exist there. In "Thief of Time", Susan finds herself unable to walk through walls while time is being held in stasis. She speculates that the energy of the glass clock which is holding time static is in some way interfering with her power.  Due in part to her education at Quirm College for Young Ladies, Susan possesses various practical skills, some of which contribute to her success as a governess and later a teacher: she is accomplished in the fields of Mathematics and Logic (priding herself on her ability to mentally calculate the square root of 27.4), is multilingual, and has considerable knowledge of Discworld culture. She is also a competent swimmer, being versed in four swimming strokes and several lifesaving techniques.  Despite coming from a technically purely human background, Susan has inherited abilities from her adoptive Grandfather through more-than-conventional means: her mother, Ysabell, was merely adopted into Death's family; her father, Mort, merely married into Death's family; whereas Susan was conceived and born in Death's family. In the novels, it is said ""some things were inherited through more than genetics...some things were inherited through the soul...some things were in the bones"."

Personality and traits.

Susan's most obvious character trait is being sensible, an attribute carefully cultivated by her parents as a counterbalance to the influence of her grandfather. Initially, this manifested itself as a refusal to admit the supernatural side of the world (beyond basic magic) even existed. This is not surprising, given the fact that her parents had informed her from a very early age that there were no such things as the Soul Cake Duck, the Hogfather or the Tooth Fairy. It has even been suggested that her parents chose to name her Susan specifically because of the sensible and conventional connotations of the name. This upbringing has instilled in her a certain lack of romanticism; her personal appraisal of "a poem about daffodils" is, ""Apparently the poet had liked them very much."" She can be relied upon to keep her head in a crisis, something she tends to view as a character flaw.  Latterly, she accepts that she is part of the same world as the Hogfather and the Tooth Fairy—she just wishes she wasn't. Indeed, in "Hogfather", she is seen to be making an immense effort to remain 'normal', carefully limiting her use of her inherited powers and forcing herself to act in as 'human' a way as possible. She mentions having great difficulty in remembering things which other humans take for granted, such as the purpose of doorknobs, the way to fall asleep and how to forget things, but argues that, if she were to abandon this struggle, and give herself fully to her supernatural side, she would lose her humanity. In "Thief of Time", though still resentful of having been born Death's granddaughter and attempting to avoid too much contact with the supernatural world, she appears to have accepted and even embraced her heritage: she admits, albeit grudgingly, that she is not completely human, frequently uses her powers to provide teaching aids, and views herself as an exception to the rules of normal human society, as evidenced by her willingness to investigate the personal papers of her employer, Madame Frout, without her knowledge.  In following with her practical outlook on life, Susan does not have a great deal of patience with people who behave in an inefficient or unfocussed fashion. She also has a certain distrust for philosophy, disliking its attempts to oversimplify an inherently complicated world.  She appears to have a preference for the colour black, in that most of her childhood drawings were done in this colour (mentioned in "Soul Music"). This fixation is not as extreme as that which her mother possessed for the colour pink, and may in fact be a characteristic inherited from Death, who made most of the decorations for his Domain black. She has an intense fixation on chocolate (provided there is no nougat in it), one about which she is very defensive.  Another aspect of her personality which may stem from her relationship with Death is the fact that she is, by her own admission, "not very musical" (her grandfather also possessed a distinct lack of talent in the field of music, making several unsuccessful attempts to learn how to play the violin and the banjo). This may be the result of her aforementioned upbringing in which imagination and creativity were not encouraged to any degree, making it more of an environmentally instilled trait than an inherited one.  Susan has, on several occasions, demonstrated rather unusual attitudes toward school and education in general: In "Soul Music", she cites school as one of the greatest obstacles to education, and in "Hogfather", she compares being educated to having a communicable sexual disease, in that "It made you unsuitable for a lot of jobs and then you had the urge to pass it on".  She has expressed a fondness for children, as long as they are "not raw"; hopefully meaning that although the idea of having children herself does not appeal to her, she enjoys spending time with those of other people. She also demonstrates an insight into the more disturbing aspects of childhood nature, as she enjoys listening to the sound of children playing while she is reading, but always positions herself at such a distance that she is unable to hear what the children are saying, lest she find it unsettling. Because of this insight, she has a knack for putting problem children (such as those who try to get around her rules) in their place.

Teaching methods.

As the novels progress, Susan proves to be quite good at handling small children, a skill that is attributed to her sensible and practical nature. This is reflected in her novel approach to children's problems. When a child complains about a monster in the cupboard or under the bed, most parents would go to great lengths to carefully explain to the child that there is no monster. Susan, on the other hand, simply hands the child a suitable weapon with which to assault the monster, or, in the event of an "actual" monster, assaults it herself. Monsters from a wide area have come to dread the fireplace poker she uses for this task, although as word of Susan has quickly spread among the city's resident monsters, she lately has only needed to deal with newcomers. Her practical nature is quite similar to Granny Weatherwax's "headology", though the two are used in different fashions.  Her approach in other areas is also unusual. For example, in her role as a governess she has found that her charges' reading progress has been greatly enhanced by using interesting books which are slightly too difficult for them, and which therefore present something of a challenge. Parents have reservations about her choice of General Tacticus' "Campaigns" as a reader, since it may be argued that children under ten do not necessarily need to be able to spell 'disembowelled'. When other adults point out that children should find these exercises too advanced, Susan acknowledges this, but points out that she hasn't told the children this and so far they seem not to be bothered about it.  Using her powers as a teaching aid in her career as a schoolteacher, Susan is sufficiently successful as to have parents clamouring in large numbers to have their child included in her class. Her approach to history and geography, subjects which children often find rather dull, has particularly captured her class's attention. Parents generally see the occasional need to clean their children's clothing of dried-in bloodstains or ground-in swamp mud as more than compensated for by the broad education being received. A child's description of one of the classic battles from Ankh-Morpork's long history, for example, might be sufficiently vivid and detailed to make the parent think that the description could not have been improved upon if the child had actually seen the battle at first hand—which in fact he has, given the flexibility of time and space Susan has inherited from her grandfather.  Susan's role as a caregiver to children, combined with her no-nonsense style and almost magical flair for stick-like weaponry (e.g. her grandfather's scythe, field hockey sticks, a fireplace poker), can be seen as a parody of Mary Poppins. Mary Poppins also had a very similar attitude while actively encouraging positive imagination (Susan tends to say things like ""Real children don't go hoppity-skip unless they're on drugs""), took children on magical adventures (Susan does so to teach geography), introduced children to supernatural creatures (Susan employs such beings as guest speakers, including her own grandfather), and had a magic umbrella (which, while not used as a blunt object, was magical much like Death's scythe). Neither character openly acknowledges her magical powers. Both tend toward being actively insulted when reminded of their use. The link between Susan and Mary Poppins is explicitly alluded to in "Hogfather", when Susan states that ""She'd sworn that if she did indeed ever find herself dancing on rooftops with chimney sweeps, she'd beat herself to death with her own umbrella"."

Relationships.

In "The Art of Discworld", Pratchett describes Susan as "rather chilly", and Susan herself admits in "Thief of Time" that she finds it difficult to relate to other humans on a personal level because the supernatural parts of her mind tend to view mortal creatures as nothing more than "a temporary collection of atoms that [will] not be around in another few decades". She has yet to demonstrate much affection for others, though her relationship with her grandfather, once strained, improves over the course of the series. Despite this, she finds herself unable to trust him completely because of the way he occasionally manipulates her into helping him.

Romantic relationships.

Though Susan was previously infatuated with rocker Imp Y Celyn ("Soul Music"), "Thief of Time" ended with an unspecified "perfect moment" between Susan and Lobsang Ludd, the new anthropomorphic personification of Time. Though the moment itself was not described, Ludd caught her attention by levitating metallic silver and gold stars and setting them spinning about near the ceiling of the Stationery Cupboard, and dimming the lighting to velvety darkness, both rather romantic gestures. Also, Myria (later known as Unity) bluntly questioned Susan as to whether or not she had romantic intentions in regard to the boy, to which Susan responded with the defensive attitude she usually reserves for her fondness of chocolates.

Appearances in other media.

Television.

Animation.

In the Cosgrove Hall animation of "Soul Music", Susan was voiced by Debra Gillett.

Live action.

In the Sky One live-action adaptation of "Hogfather" the character was played by Michelle Dockery.

Computer games.

She appears as a young child in the computer game, "".

Susan Sto Helit (also spelled Sto-Helit), once referred to as Susan Death, is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series of fantasy novels. She is the adoptive granddaughter of Death, the Disc's Grim Reaper, and has a number of his abilities. She appears in three "Discworld" novels: "Soul Music", "Hogfather", and "Thief of Time". She is also referred to, though not by name, at the end of "Mort", when her father invites Death to her christening. Being both human and supernatural, Susan is frequently and reluctantly forced away from her normal life to do battle with malign supernatural forces or to take on her grandfather's job in his absence. Death tends to employ her in his battles against the Auditors of Reality, particularly in situations where he has no power or influence. As the series progresses, she also begins to take on roles educating children, so that, as Pratchett mentions in "The Art of Discworld", she has "ended up, via that unconscious evolution that dogs characters, a kind of Goth Mary Poppins".


History.

The influence of rhythmic sounds and drums to enter altered states of consciousness is used in different indigenous tribes (see Shamanic music), as well as optical stimulation produced by the flickering light of camp fires or pressing lightly on the eyeballs. This “stroboscopic photo-stimulation produces "photic driving", the alpha type of brain electrical activity associated with an altered state in which people are susceptible to suggestion.” ( p. 12).  The first scientific observations were made by William Charles Wells in the 1790s who described different effects of binocular vision. His results were later transferred to be applied in binaural beats. Visual experiments with flickering lights were conducted in the 1940s by William Grey Walter who used stroboscopic light flashes to measure their effects on brain activity, assessed with EEG. He reported effect not just on visual areas but on the whole cortex.  During the '60s and '70s the interest in different methods to induce altered states without the use of drugs were rising. Some of the induced states by rhythmic light and sound combinations were even described as psychedelic-like, while these claims lack adequate measurements for their similarity. In this line, numerous nightclubs began using strobes to maximize the effects of the music for dancing.  The development of alpha EEG feedback (see neurofeedback) is an important starting point for biofeedback and its explicit use for entering altered states of consciousness. In these decades, Jack Schwarz built one of the first mind machines using rhythmic sounds and variable frequency lights in goggles to produce certain mental states. Enterprises started to produce different types of mind machines and some scientists followed the line of research to explore if and how these devices elicit effects on brain processes.  In the late 1980s and early 1990s Farley initiated an investigation concerning medical claims made by some manufacturers and sellers. The FDA concluded that Light and Sound Machines were not medical devices and did not warrant regulation. Sellers and manufacturers were given guidelines for how they could advertise these devices, and were required to include a disclaimer and cautionary document with each machine. Nowadays, mind machines are rediscovered by some teenage cultures as so called “digital drugs”, a legal way to enter altered states of consciousness.

Application.

Mind machines include flashing light devices, which are similar to the Brion Gysin dreamachine in that both produce a flickering visual field. Unlike flashing light devices, the dreamachine can be used by several people at once, but has few, if any, technical features.

Technical setting.

Mind machines typically consist of a control unit, a pair of headphones and/or strobe light goggles. The unit controls the sessions and drives the LEDs in the goggles. Professionally, they are usually referred to as Auditory Visual Stimulation Devices (AVS devices). Also mind machines are offered that can connect to the Internet for updates download of new session material.

Application rate.

One session normally takes between 15 and 60 minutes. During a session the user should lie relaxed, and place the glasses on the eyes, which should remain closed during the whole session. Many machines have pre-programmed sessions which vary in parameters like light brightness, audio pitch or beat frequency but also give the opportunity for the user to create a custom session. Typically one session consists of a series of segments. Within one segment parameters change in a constant way. Mind machines are often used together with biofeedback or neurofeedback equipment in order to adjust the frequency on the fly, while proof for their effectiveness is lacking.

Description of altered states.

Perceptual changes.

Light & sound mind machines can have various effects on the user. Most users describe seeing a flashing light, others perceive swirling patterns that have been compared to psychedelic light shows or fractals. A few users report seeing detailed, virtual reality like scenes. But also tactile and emotional changes are reported after a 6 Hz photic stimulation, as well as auditory hallucinations like binaural beats.

Changes in brain activity.

Sessions will typically aim to address the target frequencies which correspond to delta (1-3 hertz), theta (4–7 Hz), alpha (8–12 Hz) or beta brain waves (13–40 Hz). Those frequency bands can be adjusted by the user based on the desired effects.  For relaxation, often a reduction from beta waves to lower alpha or theta frequencies is observed. It is aimed to reach a level of “slow alpha” (8 Hz). Glickson (1986) states that an alpha frequency of 10 Hz is optimal for perceiving visual hallucinations. He assumes that it's the change in alpha activity and not the alpha activity itself that is facilitating an altered state of consciousness.

After effects.

Even if research is not sufficient so far, Michael Hutchison and other scientists report strong tranquilizing effects that lasted up to 3 days. After several sessions it is observed that users can produce a desired brain state with the associated brainwaves easier and deliberately.

Other information.

Therapeutic Use.

Clinical research has been done on the use of auditory and visual stimulation to improve cognitive abilities in learning-disabled children as well as in the treatment of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, lacking enough evidence to conclude that these treatments show efficacy, several studies indicate the potential to increase effects on IQ and reading levels in primary students (cite Olmstead, 2005), but also improvements in inattention and impulsiveness in children with ADHD (cite Siever).

Safety.

Rapidly flashing lights may be dangerous for people with photosensitive epilepsy or other nervous disorders. It is thought that one out of 10,000 adults will experience a seizure while viewing such a device; about twice as many children will have a similar ill effect.

Regulation.

Mind machine devices are legally available throughout the United States from many sources.  With some exceptions, these devices commonly do not have FDA approval for medical applications in the USA. They have been found by a U.S. district court to be Class III medical devices, and consequentially require FDA pre-market approval for all medical uses. One company making medical claims for a possibly unsafe device has been shut down and seen their devices destroyed.

A mind machine (aka "brain machine" or "light and sound machine") uses pulsing rhythmic sound, flashing light, electrical or magnetic fields, or a combination of these, to alter the frequency of the user's brainwaves. Mind machines can induce deep states of relaxation, concentration, and in some cases altered states of consciousness, which have been compared to those obtained from meditation and shamanic exploration. Photic mind machines work with flickering lights embedded in sunglasses or a lamp that sits on a tripod above your head or facing you. You then "Watch" with your eyes closed.


Rules.

Field.

Dots is played on a grid of any finite size, traditionally 39x32, the size of the grid that is often encountered on a page of squared copybook in Russia. Players take turns to place a dot of their own color (players usually being red and blue) on an empty intersection of the grid.

Capture rule.

If a newly-placed dot completes a closed chain of dots of the same color which encloses at least one of the enemy dots, then all the area inside it is surrounded. To form a chain dots must be adjacent to each other either vertically, horizontally or diagonally. Surrounded enemy dots are added to the score of the player who surrounded them (but the player's own dots are not counted). All enclosed dots and empty intersections are excluded from further play and cannot be used to make new surrounds. To mark a newly surrounded area, the surrounding player must draw a boundary line through all of their dots that are part of enclosing chain; to make it more visual the area can also be shaded in the player's color.  Players cannot surround areas that do not have enemy dots inside. As a consequence the enemy can use empty intersections inside an enclosed area to complete their own enclosing chain. However, if one places a dot into empty area surrounded by the opponent and cannot immediately use it to surround, then this dot can be captured by the opponent (this kind of suicide move is never beneficial but is not prohibited).  Often there is more than one way of choosing an enclosing chain of dots. When played with pens and paper, players are free to choose one however they like. When game is played on a computer, to simplify user input, programs usually automatically surround minimum area. In some cases this can be tactically exploited to one's advantage.

Ending.

The goal of the game is to capture more dots than the opponent. Traditionally, informal games of Dots were played until one of the players surrendered.  In modern competitive play, a "grounding rule" is used: continuous groups of dots that touch the border of the field cannot be captured no matter how many moves opponent make, and these dots are said to be "grounded". At any point in the game either player can stop the game, effectively saying "All the dots that I want to preserve are grounded. You can take everything else." After that, their opponent is allowed to make as many moves as desired to capture as many remaining dots as possible. The game then ends, and whoever captured most dots wins. In a weak position a good player will usually surrender before their opponent has to explicitly apply this rule.

Initial position.

If one of the players only places their dots touching the border, none of them could be ever captured. To prevent forced draw situations, the game is usually played either from initial position or with first several moves restricted to some area around the center of the field. The most popular initial position is a "cross". Other popular ones are "double cross" and "four crosses placed randomly". A general trend is that the more crosses are initially placed on the field, the more active, less probable to end in a draw, and more challenging the game will be for both players.

Dots (,, ) is an abstract strategy game, played by two or more people on a sheet of squared paper. The game is superficially similar to Go, in that the goal is to "capture" enemy dots by surrounding them with a continuous line of one's own dots. Once an area containing enemy dots is surrounded, that area ceases to be playable.


Early life.

Josef Bryks was born in 1916 in Lašťany, a village about northeast of Olomouc in Moravia. His parents František and Anna ("née" Nesvetrové) were farmers. Bryks was the seventh of eight children, but only four survived to adulthood. Bryks studied at the Commercial Academy in Olomouc and passed his "Matura" (final exam of secondary education) in June 1935.  In October 1935 Bryks joined the Czechoslovak Army. He started his service in a cavalry regiment in Košice. At the same time he studied at a school for cavalry officers in Pardubice until July 1936. From October 1936 to August 1937 he was trained at the Military Academy in Hranice, where he transferred from the cavalry to the air force. He was promoted to lieutenant and specialized as an aerial observer. After his training he was posted to the 5th Observation Squadron of the 2nd "Dr Edvard Beneš" Aviation Regiment, stationed in Prague. From October 1937 he was trained as a pilot in Prostějov. On 30 September 1938 he graduated and was posted to the 33rd Fighter Squadron at Olomouc, where he flew Avia B-534 fighter aircraft. On the same day as Bryks qualified as a fighter pilot, the United Kingdom and France signed the Munich Agreement that forced Czechoslovakia to cede the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany. On 15 March 1939 Germany occupied the remainder of Bohemia and Moravia and the resulting Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was forced to dissolve its army and air force.  In the meantime Bryks' girlfriend, Marie Černá, became pregnant. On 18 April 1939 Bryks and Černá got married and her father, a butcher, gave Bryks a job as his assistant. The baby, a daughter, died two days after being born. Until the German Invasion of Poland Bryks secretly helped Czechoslovak pilots to escape to Poland. In December 1939 Bryks got a job as a civil servant at the Ministry of the Interior, but after three days he resigned.

Second World War.

Escape from the Reich Protectorate.

On 20 January 1940 Bryks escaped from Bohemia and Moravia. He passed illegally through Slovakia and into Hungary. He was arrested in Hungary on 26 January and held in jail in Budapest until 4 April, when he was extradited to Slovakia. He escaped, went through Hungary again, reached Yugoslavia, and on 17 April 1940 he reported to the French Consulate in Belgrade.  From there Bryks travelled through Greece and Turkey to French-ruled Syria, where he embarked on a ship to France. The ship reached France on 10 May, the day Germany began its invasion of France, The Netherlands and Belgium. Bryks and other Czechoslovak Air Force personnel were sent to Agde on the coast of Languedoc. But the Armée de l'air was fully occupied resisting the German advance and repeatedly having to retreat to different airfields. It had neither the instructors, equipment nor time to retrain the Czechoslovaks to operate French aircraft. On 22 June France surrendered and on 27 June Bryks was evacuated by ship.

Royal Air Force 1940–41.

Bryks reached Britain, where he was commissioned into the RAF Volunteer Reserve as a Pilot Officer. He was retrained at RAF Cosford in Shropshire, where he learnt to fly the Hawker Hurricane. On 4 August he was posted to the recently formed No. 310 Squadron RAF, which was the RAF's first squadron formed of exiled Czechoslovak personnel. However, on 17 August he was posted for further fighter training with No. 6 Operational Training Unit at RAF Sutton Bridge in Lincolnshire.  Then on 1 October Bryks was posted to No. 12 Operational Training Unit at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire, which taught light bomber aircrew. On 11 November he was posted to the Headquarters Ferry Pool at RAF Kemble in Gloucestershire, which worked with the non-combatant Air Transport Auxiliary. On 1 January 1941 he was transferred to No. 6 Maintenance Unit at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire as a test pilot.

Hurricane pilot with 242 Squadron.

On 23 April 1941 Bryks was at last posted to a combat squadron. He spoke good English thanks to his secondary school studies in Olomouc. He was posted not to one of the RAF's Czechoslovak squadrons but to No. 242 Squadron RAF, which was commanded by Douglas Bader and had a large Canadian contingent. At the time it flew Hurricane Mk IIb aircraft as night fighters, so Bryks was trained in night flying and navigation.  When Bryks joined 242 Squadron it was based at RAF Stapleford Tawney in Essex. While he was with the squadron it was transferred to RAF North Weald, also in Essex. Bryks became friends with a WAAF, Gertrude "Trudie" Dellar, who was the widow of an RAF pilot. 242 Squadron's rôle was changed to Circus offensives over German-occupied Europe, escorting RAF bombers with the purpose of drawing a "Luftwaffe" fighter attack. On 17 June 1941 the squadron took part in Circus 14. This was a late afternoon attack on Lille in northern France by 23 Bristol Blenheim bombers of 18, 105 and 110 Squadrons escorted by 19 Hurricanes and Supermarine Spitfires. A large force of Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters from I, II and III/Jagdgeschwader 26 led by flying ace Lt Col Adolf Galland plus Bf 109s from III/Jagdgeschwader 2 attacked the formation, shooting down 13 of the 40 RAF aircraft that took part.  The RAF raiders managed to shoot down only three Bf 109s. One of these was downed by Bryks, but then three Bf 109s attacked his Hurricane, hitting its fuel tank and setting it afire. Bryks suffered burns to his face and ankle and his cockpit filled with smoke. He bailed out at an altitude of, about west of Saint-Omer-en-Chaussée, losing one of his flying boots as he did so.

Prisoner of war 1941–45.

Bryks landed safely and started to bury his parachute. Frenchmen who had seen him descend gave him a civilian coat to hide his RAF uniform and told him to come to a safe house in a nearby hamlet. Bryks hid in a barn until nightfall, then went to the hamlet where he asked at a house for a doctor to treat his burns. The occupants betrayed him by calling the Germans, but when Bryks heard their motorised patrol coming he fled the house and hid in a garden. The patrol caught him, beat him up and took him to St Omer.  The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was subject to Nazi Germany, whose authorities deemed anyone from the Protectorate who served in Allied forces to be a traitor. He could therefore be executed and his family would suffer reprisals. Therefore, Bryks assumed the identity of "Joseph Ricks", born in 1918 in Cirencester, a Gloucestershire market town about from where he had been spent two months at RAF Kemble.  But when he was shot down Bryks was wearing the Mae West lifejacket of a Polish colleague from 242 Squadron, F/O Henry Skalsky. Therefore, the Germans who questioned him at St Omer suspected he was Polish, and sent him to Dulag Luft at Oberursel in Hesse for interrogation by a Polish-speaking German officer. There he was accused of shooting a "Luftwaffe" fighter pilot who was parachuting from his Bf 109 in the air battle near St Omer on 17 June. For this he was threatened with being court-martialled in Berlin. After the war no such shooting was found in German records for that day. The accusation seems to have been a false one to put pressure on Bryks. On 22 June Bryks was transferred from Dulag Luft to Oflag IX-A/H in Spangenberg castle in Hesse-Nassau. Here he advised the Senior British Officer (SBO), Maj Gen Victor Fortune, of his true identity. Fortune knew the threat to Czechoslovak pilots in captivity, and supported Bryks' assumed identity. And "via" the Red Cross Bryks, posing as "Joseph Ricks", started writing to Gertrude Dellar.

Escape from Oflag VI-B.

On 8 October 1941 Bryks was transferred to Oflag VI-B at Dössel in Westphalia. There again he advised the SBO of his true identity. The PoWs' Escape Committee authorised a team of four men, including Bryks, to dig a escape tunnel through frozen clay. On the night of 19/20 April 1942 three Poles and three Czechoslovaks escaped through the tunnel in pairs. Bryks was one of them, paired with a fellow Czechoslovak, Flt Lt Otakar Černý. Bryks and Černý aimed to reach Switzerland. Around midnight on 28 April Černý was recaptured near Marburg in Hesse-Nassau, but Bryks was not caught. Near Giessen in Hesse-Darmstadt he stole a bicycle. He passed Offenbach am Main. A German guard shot at him as he crossed a bridge near Stuttgart in Württemberg. After this, short of food and water, Bryks fell ill with dysentery. He hid in a wood near Eberbach in Baden. There on 31 April a group of Hitler Youth captured him.  Bryks had been on the run for 11 days and had travelled south from Dössel before being caught. On 5 May 1942 he was taken to Darmstadt and held by the Gestapo. He was returned to Oflag VI-B at Dössel where he was treated in the camp's infirmary from 8 May to 10 June.

Escape from Oflag VI-A.

By 20 July 1942 Bryks had been transferred to Oflag VI-A near Soest in Westphalia. From 12 August he was held in solitary confinement, but fellow-prisoners smuggled razor blades to him hidden inside bread. With these he cut a hole in the wooden floor of his cell and tunnelled to the German quarters. On 17 August he escaped through the tunnel, wearing only pyjamas, a sweater and a blanket.  Again Bryks headed south. About south of Frankfurt he found a "Luftwaffe" airfield where Bf 109 night fighters were based. He planned to steal one and fly to Britain, until a patrol with guard dogs approached. He fled and waded along a river to put the dogs off the scent. He reached Mannheim in Baden, where on the night of 8 September he was captured by German air defence troops who handed him to the local Gestapo. He had been on the run for 22 days and once again had travelled south before being caught.  Bryks was returned to Oflag VI-B again but soon afterwards he and other RAF PoWs were transferred to Oflag XXI-B at Szubin in German-occupied Poland. There he told the SBO, Wg Cdr Harry Day, of his true identity.

Escape from Oflag XXI-B.

On 4 March 1943 Polish workers in the camp helped Bryks and a British officer, Sqn Ldr Morris, to escape. The pair hid in a sewage tank that was mounted on a cart to empty the camp's latrines, wearing masks to try to protect them from the sewage. Members of the secret "Armia Krajowa" ("Home Army" or AK) hid them in a farmhouse.There they met Flt Lt Černý, who had escaped "via" a tunnel the night before. Their plan was to travel "via" Warsaw to Danzig, and there board a ship to neutral Sweden.  Morris fell ill but Bryks and Černý set off on foot. In three weeks they covered the to Warsaw, where on 6 April they reported to an address that the AK had given them. Bryks assumed a Polish identity, calling himself "Josef Brdnisz". He and Černý spent four weeks in Warsaw disguised as a pair of stove fitters and chimney sweeps. They drove a horse and cart around Warsaw, supplying arms to resistance groups and bringing in food from the countryside.  On 19 April Jewish resistance groups began the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Bryks and Černý helped to smuggle weapons and food to the rebels. The Germans crushed the ghetto uprising on 16 May. A fortnight later Bryks and Černý were lodging with a Polish widow, Mrs Błaszkiewiczowá, who had two young children and lived in a village several kilometres outside Warsaw. A collaborator told the German authorities, so on 2 June 1943 the Gestapo surrounded Mrs Błaszkiewiczowá's house and arrested everyone inside. They took Bryks, Černý and Mrs Błaszkiewiczowá to Pawiak prison, and hanged Mrs Błaszkiewiczowá for helping enemy pilots.  Bryks and Černý were interrogated, beaten and threatened with execution. On 5 June a "Scharführer" called Grunnem kicked Bryks in the stomach, beat him about the head and left him unconscious. The Gestapo held him for 63 days. He suffered ruptured intestines and a punctured eardrum. Bryks was sentenced to death for helping the AK, but the sentence was commuted.  Bryks was then taken to Stalag Luft III, near Sagan in Lower Silesia. The camp's SBO, Gp Capt Herbert Massey, sent a medical report to the UK authorities. On 10 October 1943 Bryks was transferred to the British military hospital at Stalag VIII-B in Upper Silesia. He underwent surgery on 7 November and was returned to Stalag Luft III on 23 December.

Stalag Luft III and the Great Escape.

Months before Bryks was first sent to Stalag Luft III, preparations had been started for a mass escape of 200 PoWs, now commemorated as The Great Escape. Bryks joined in the preparations, which included completing a long tunnel code named "Harry". On the night of 23/24 March 1944 "Harry" was completed, and PoWs started leaving through it in pairs. Bryks was one of the men listed to escape, but before his turn came the guards discovered the tunnel exit just outside the perimeter fence.  Only three days later, on 27 March, Bryks and an RAAF officer, Gp Capt Douglas Wilson, tried to escape. Guards saw them and opened fire, so the pair surrendered and were put in solitary confinement.

Unmasked and interrogated.

In July 1944 the RAF promoted Bryks to Flight Lieutenant. Unfortunately the official letter sent from the UK "via" the Red Cross to tell Bryks of his promotion revealed his real name and nationality.  The Gestapo interrogated Bryks, told him his family in Bohemia and Moravia had been arrested and that he would be executed for treason. On 1 September 1944 he was brought to a Gestapo headquarters in Petschek Palace in Prague. In due course he was also held at Pankrác Prison and Loreta military prison. 23 other Czechoslovak members of the RAFVR were also being held in these prisons. They were repeatedly interrogated and told that under German military law they were traitors and would be executed.  Through the Red Cross the UK Government was told that Germany was threatening to execute the Czechoslovak airmen. The United Kingdom replied through the same channel. As the Czechoslovak airmen were UK armed forces personnel, the UK demanded that Germany afford them the same rights and protections as any other PoWs from the UK. And Winston Churchill threatened that if Germany executed any of them, the Allies would execute 10 "Luftwaffe" airmen for each Czechoslovak killed.  Germany did not revoke the threat of execution, but the Gestapo did return the Czechoslovaks to PoW camps. On 22 September 1944 Bryks was brought to Stalag Luft I near Barth in Western Pomerania.

Oflag IV-C, Colditz Castle and liberation.

Because of his injuries from Gestapo interrogations, Bryks appeared before an international medical board on 6 November. The board deemed that he should be repatriated to the UK on medical grounds, but the German authorities refused because he was still accused of treason.  The next day he was moved to Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle in Saxony. This was a high-security prison for PoWs who had repeatedly escaped from other camps. There he remained until the United States Army liberated the camp on 16 April 1945.  Bryks was returned to RAF Cosford in England to recover from his captivity and Gestapo torture. He learnt that his wife Marie in Czechoslovakia had divorced him in his absence, had remarried, and in April 1945 had committed suicide. After Germany surrendered in May 1945 Bryks went to see Gertrude Dellar and proposed to her. They were married on 18 June.  In August 1945 Bryks underwent further surgery for injuries from his Gestapo interrogation. In June 1946 he had surgery to remove a piece of shrapnel that had been embedded in the floor of his mouth when he was shot down in June 1941.

In Czechoslovakia from 1945.

On 6 October 1945 Bryks returned to Czechoslovakia and his second wife Gertrude came with him. He resumed his Czechoslovak Air Force career but his injuries, and particularly his hearing loss, prevented him from continuing as a pilot. He was posted to the Military Aviation Academy at Olomouc, where he taught English and the theory of flight. He was promoted to Captain in September 1945, Staff Captain in December 1945 and Major in May 1946. Also in 1946, Gertrude bore Bryks a daughter, Sonia.  In April 1946 Ealing Studios released Basil Dearden's film drama "The Captive Heart". In it Michael Redgrave is a Czechoslovak officer based on Bryks, Rachel Kempson is a young widow based on Gertrude Dellar, and Basil Radford is the PoW camp's Senior British Officer (SBO) who protects the Czechoslovak officer.

Persecution.

Bryks' air force career continued while a democratic coalition ruled the Third Czechoslovak Republic. But in February 1948 the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) seized power in the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état. Bryks was deemed "politically unreliable" and on 9 March was sent on enforced leave and transferred to the military reserve force. His political opinions made his superior officer Colonel Václav Fuksa to write that Bryks was "untrustworthy for his political irresponsibility and for the lack of understanding of the ideology of People's Democracy". The UK Government informed Bryks that he was to be made a Member of Order of the British Empire (MBE) in recognition of his escapes as a PoW and the help he gave to other escapees. He was invited to Buckingham Palace in London to be decorated. But the Communist authorities refused to grant him a visa to leave Czechoslovakia. Therefore, the UK Ambassador to Czechoslovakia presented Bryks with his MBE at the UK Embassy in Prague.

Three trials.

Just after midnight on the night of 2–3 May 1948 the StB secret police arrested Bryks at his home in Olomouc. He was charged with involvement in an alleged attempt by other former RAF airmen, including Air Marshal Karel Janoušek, to escape to the West. Bryks was court-martialled in Prague between 14 and 16 July 1948 and was found not guilty, because Communists did not yet control these courts. But the prosecutor appealed and Bryks remained in prison.  Bryks was retried on 2 September 1949. By now the Communists controlled the courts. He was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. He was stripped of his rank and medals and expelled from the air force. His wife obtained an exit visa for herself and their young daughter, stating that it was to pay her parents in England in short visit. In fact she left Czechoslovakia for the duration of the Communist era, and did not return until 2009. After his conviction Bryks was held first in Pankrác, in the same prison where the Gestapo had held him in 1944. On 17 August 1949 he was transferred to Bory prison in Plzeň. On 18 April the prison authorities announced that they had uncovered a plan for a prison uprising and mass escape. Bryks was among those accused of the allaged plot. He was tried on 11 May 1950 and found guilty. His sentence was extended with 20 years' hard labour and he was fined Kčs 20,000. His wife protested to the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, Rudolf Slánský, but got no answer. On 6 November 1950 Bryks was transferred to a prison at Opava in Czech Silesia. There other former RAF political prisoners included Karel Janoušek. Bryks was insubordinate and resisted the prison authorities. On 18 June 1952 he was transferred to Leopoldov Prison, a converted 17th-century fortress in Slovakia. There he continued to resist the prison authorities, and he was again accused of planning to escape.

Uranium mine and death.

Finally he was moved to a prison in Ostrov nad Ohří in western Bohemia and made to work in a uranium mine called "Rovnost" (The Czech word for "Equality"). Here prisoners were paid a small wage for their work. Bryks worked hard, exceeding his work quotas, and sent his wage to help support his sick father and his wife and daughter. But in December 1955 the Communists banned Bryks from sending money to his family. Bryks resumed his resistance of prison authorities, but his health worsened. On 11 August 1957 he suffered a massive heart attack. He died in the prison hospital at Ostrov nad Ohří. The Communist authorities notified his wife in England by a brief telephone call, in which they gave her no further details.  Bryks' remains were not released to his family. The Communists secretly cremated him. Eight years later, in 1965, they buried his ashes in a cemetery in the Motol district of Prague.

Rehabilitation and monuments.

Bryks was rehabilitated after the November 1989 Velvet Revolution. On 29 May 1991 the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic posthumously promoted Bryks to Colonel. A memorial plaque to him in front of the local war memorial at his birthplace in Lašťany was unveiled on 4 June 1994. In 2004 Bryks was honoured with the "Award of the City of Olomouc" for "bravery and courage during the Second World War". A memorial plaque was unveiled outside 5 Hanáckého pluku, Olomouc, where Bryks was living with his wife and daughter when the StB arrested him in 1948.  In 2006 a court in Prague finally exonerated him of his false convictions.  On 28 October 2006 the Czech Republic gate Bryks its highest award, the Order of the White Lion, military division, 2nd class. In 2007 the Czech television made a documentary film "Muž, který přecenil českou duši aneb Útěky Josefa Brykse" (English: "A Man Who Overestimated the Czech Soul" or "Escapes of Josef Bryks"). The film includes an interview with his widow Gertrude. In 2008 the Czech Republic posthumously promoted Bryks to Brigadier General.  Two streets are named after Bryks: one in the Černý Most suburb of Prague and the other in Slavonín on the edge of Olomouc.  In 2009 two historians found out about the secret burial in Motol in 1965 of the urn containing Bryks' ashes. With this information, his British widow Gertrude Bryksová was able to visit his grave, 52 years after his death.

Honours and awards.

Bryks was awarded numerous UK and Czechoslovak honours.  UK honours:  Czechoslovak honours:

Josef Bryks, MBE, (; 18 March 1916, Lašťany – 11 August 1957, Ostrov nad Ohří) was a Czechoslovak cavalryman and fighter pilot who escaped the German occupation of Czechoslovakia and became a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. He flew a Hawker Hurricane with No. 242 Squadron RAF until he was shot down over German-occupied France in 1941.


Life and career.

1954–1983: Early life and career beginnings.

Dieter Bohlen was born as the eldest son of building contractor Hans Bohlen (born 1928) and his wife Edith (born 1936), and grew up in East Frisia. His maternal grandmother is originally from Königsberg. He has a younger brother named Uwe. The family later moved to (Oldenburg). In his youth, Bohlen was a member of the Socialist German Workers Youth for a while and shortly of the German Communist Party, though he is not a member of any party nowadays. After getting his Abitur at the Wirtschaftsgymnasium der Berufsbildenden Schulen in Oldenburg-Haarentor, he moved to Göttingen. There, he studied business administration at his parents' request at the Georg-August-Universität, finishing his studies in 1978 with a degree.  Bohlen was still in school when he started writing music. In the late 1970s, he worked as a songwriter at the Hamburg-based label Intersong for numerous schlager singers. In 1978, he founded the short-lived duo Monza with Holger Garbode. Their first single, "Hallo Taxi Nummer 10", written and produced by Tony Hendrik, was Bohlen's first record and was unsuccessful. Monza released a second single, "Heiße Nacht in der City", a German-language cover of Nick Gilder's "Hot Child in the City", which also was unsuccessful. In 1980, he began working for the Berlin-based label Hansa. That same year, he released the solo single in English "Don't Throw My Love Away" under the pseudonym Steve Benson. It was followed in 1981 by two other singles under that name, "Love Takes Time", and "(You're A Devil With) Angel Blue Eyes". None of them reached the top 100, which led to the abandonment of the project in 1981. Soon after, he joined the band Sunday, with which he appeared on the "ZDF-Hitparade" in early 1982 with the song "Halé, hey Louise". The song was covered by artists such as Ricky King. In 1983, Bohlen wrote the song "Mit 17" for Bernd Clüver, which reached the third place of the German preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest.

1984–present: Successes as a producer.

After Bohlen produced six unsuccessful singles in German for schlager singer Thomas Anders from 1982 to 1984, they founded the pop duo Modern Talking. The band topped the German singles chart five times in a row with "You're My Heart, You're My Soul", "You Can Win If You Want", "Cheri, Cheri Lady", "Brother Louie", and "Atlantis Is Calling (S.O.S. For Love)", and were also successful in other European countries as well as in Asia and Africa. In 1987, the band split up and Bohlen founded his solo project Blue System, which he ended ten years later. He also continued writing and producing for other artists, including C. C. Catch (whom he discovered), Sheree (whom he signed when she was fifteen years old), and boy band Touché.  In 1986, Bohlen wrote the title song "Midnight Lady" of "Tatort" episode ', which was performed by former Smokie singer Chris Norman and was major hit in Central Europe, topping several charts. The song appeared on Norman's second solo album "Some Hearts Are Diamonds", which was produced by Bohlen. In 1988, he wrote the title song of "Tatort" episode ', "Silent Water", which he performed himself as Blue System. In 1989, two songs written and produced by him were sent to the Eurovision Song Contest: Nino de Angelo represented Germany with the song "Flieger" and reached place 14, while Thomas Forstner represented Austria with the song "Nur ein Lied" and reached place 5. Also in 1989, Bohlen wrote the soundtrack to the ZDF series "Rivalen der Rennbahn", which was certified platinum in Germany that same year and reached the top 5 in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.  In 1991, Bohlen produced Roy Black's final album "Rosenzeit". From 1991 to 1993, he worked with Bonnie Tyler on the albums "Bitterblue", "Angel Heart", and "Silhouette in Red". The collaboration spawned a number of successful singles, such as "Bitterblue", "Against the Wind" (which was used as the title song of "Tatort" episode ""), and "Fools Lullaby". In 1992, another Bohlen composition represented Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest. Titled "Zusammen geh'n", it was performed by Tony Wegas and reached place 10. In 1998, Modern Talking made a successful comeback, releasing singles such as "You're My Heart, You're My Soul '98, "You Are Not Alone", or Formula One songs "Win the Race" and "Ready for the Victory", but split up again in 2003.  In 2002, "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" (often shortened as "DSDS"), the German version of "Pop Idol" and "American Idol", was launched with Bohlen as one of the judges. While the jury around him is regularly modified, he has been present on all seasons. He has produced most of the winners, yielding several hits such as "We Have a Dream". That same year, he published his first book, an autobiography titled "Nichts als die Wahrheit", written in collaboration with "Bild" journalist, which sold over a million copies in Germany and got a. A second autobiography written with Kessler, "Hinter den Kulissen", was published the next year. It was criticised for its unfairness and earned Bohlen charges pressed by his former bandmate Thomas Anders. Frank Farian published the book "Stupid Dieser Bohlen: Die Wahrheit und nichts als die Wahrheit über den Pop-Hochstapler" as a response, in which he tried to expose Bohlen as a fraud. Both "Nichts als die Wahrheit" and "Hinter den Kulissen" were also released as audiobooks read by Bohlen. In 2004, he won the ECHO for Producer of the Year, while "We Have a Dream" earned the ECHO for Rock/Pop Single of the Year (National).  In March 2006, "", a satirical cartoon film based on "Nichts als die Wahrheit", premiered. Bohlen did not voice his own role, but voiced the narrator. He wrote and produced the entirety of the film's, which includes the previously unreleased Modern Talking song "Shooting Star". Later that year, he produced the song "Be My Boyfriend" for the duo Indiggo, which reached the seventh place of the Romanian preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. Also in 2006, he published his third book, "Meine Hammer-Sprüche". In 2007, the German instalment of the "Got Talent" franchise, "Das Supertalent", was launched with Bohlen as one of the judges. Similarly to "Deutschland sucht den Superstar", the jury around him changes regularly but he has been present on all seasons. In 2008, he published two more books, "Nur die Harten kommen in den Garten! Der Weg zum Superstar" and "Der Bohlenweg: Planieren statt Sanieren". In 2010, he began working with schlager singer Andrea Berg. All of her albums produced by him ("Schwerelos", "Abenteuer", "Atlantis", and "Seelenbeben") topped the German and Austrian album charts. He ended their collaboration per email on 17 March 2018. On 3 April 2019, Bohlen and Berg announced they would publish two new songs together.

Personal life.

From 1983 to 1989, Dieter Bohlen was married to Erika Sauerland, who he had met in 1974 in Göttingen. They have three children: Marc, Marvin, and Marielin. From 1989 to 1996, he was in a relationship with television personality and singer Nadja Abd el Farrag, also known under the stage name Naddel. On 13 May 1996, he married model Verona Feldbusch in Las Vegas, but they separated after four weeks. The divorce was finalised on 27 May 1997. From 1997 to 2001, he was in a relationship with Abd el Farrag again.  From 2001 to 2006, Bohlen lived with model and dancer Estefania Küster. Their son Maurice Cassian was born on 7 July 2005. Since 2006, he has been in a relationship with Fatma Carina Walz, who he met in Mallorca, where one of the casting events for "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" was held. They have a daughter named Amelie (born 22 March 2011) and a son named Maximilian (born 7 September 2013).  Bohlen lives in the village of Tötensen near Hamburg. He is left-handed, but was forced to learn how to write with his right hand at grammar school. He plays tennis with his left hand because he started tennis after his school years. According to an article by the "Manager Magazine" in 2018, Bohlen has a net worth of 250 million Euros, making him one of the thousand richest Germans.

Artistry.

Dieter Bohlen's productions are characterised by simply structured compositions. In the 1980s and 1990s, often working in the studio with Spanish producer Luis Rodríguez, he produced Euro disco and Eurodance songs for Modern Talking, Blue System, and C. C. Catch with falsetto choruses. Those choruses were achieved with the help of session singers, such as Rolf Köhler, Michael Scholz, and Detlef Wiedeke. With "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" winners, Bohlen tends to focus on pop ballads.  Copyright expert Paul Hertin from Berlin repeatedly claimed that Bohlen "stole" several songs and thus breached copyright. For example, Hertin says that Bohlen used the melody of Babyface's "What If" for the production of Yvonne Catterfeld's "Für dich". Based on Hertin's expert assessment regarding the plagiarism allegations, the Berlin prosecutor's office initiated a preliminary investigation against Bohlen, which was dropped.

Other ventures.

Casting shows.

Dieter Bohlen has been present on "Deutschland sucht den Superstar", the German version of "Pop Idol" and "American Idol", since the show was launched in 2002. He often makes blunt and controversial comments, including insults and wisecracks about contestants and their singing abilities (such as "You sing like a garden gnome on ecstasy" or "Your voice sounds like Kermit getting his arse kicked"), which led to comparisons with Simon Cowell in the German-speaking press. He earns 1.2 million euros per season. He has worked with most of the winners and occasionally with other candidates, such as first season third-placer Daniel Küblböck, yielding several major hits. Since the show was launched in 2007, Bohlen has also been a judge on "Das Supertalent", the German instalment of the "Got Talent" franchise, being the only judge to have been present in every season.

Products and endorsements.

Dieter Bohlen has signed numerous advertising deals with companies such as Müller Milch,, S.Oliver, O2,,, the Deutsche Bahn, and Unilever. He has been a longtime advertising partner of Camp David. In 2020, he has been the face of Camp David for 10 years.  Between 2002 and 2008, Bohlen published five books, ranging from autobiographies to advice books. In 2005, he released a fragrance named "Provocation". In 2011, he founded the clothing label "Needs Clothing" along with Felix Werner. In 2013, he released a line of wallpapers through P+S.

Dieter Bohlen (; born Dieter Günter Bohlen on 7 February 1954) is a German musician, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. Often referred to as the "Pop-Titan" in the German-speaking press, he first achieved fame as a member of pop duo Modern Talking in the 1980s, and has since produced numerous German and international artists. He is also a judge on casting shows "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" and "Das Supertalent", having been present on all seasons of both shows.


History.

The origins of the museum can be traced back to 1911 when collector Gabrielle Enthoven began a campaign for the creation of a "National Museum of Theatre Arts". The Victoria & Albert Museum accepted custodianship of Enthoven's collection in 1924, and she continued to add to it until her death in 1950.  In 1971 Harry R. Beard donated his collection of over 20,000 theatrical and operatic prints, texts, and programmes. The Theatre Museum was created as a separate institution in 1974 when the two collections held by the V&A were combined with those of the "British Theatre Museum Association", which had been founded in 1957 to collect theatrical material to increase the impetus for the creation of a separate national museum, and of the "Friends of the Museum of Performing Arts", another private endeavour towards the creation of a theatrical museum, which owned much Ballets Russes material.  The new museum acquired many further collections through gift, purchase and bequest. These included the archives of the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre and of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company (relating to Gilbert and Sullivan operas), the design collections of the Arts Council and British Council, the "Antony Hippisley Coxe Circus Collection" and the "British Model Theatre and Puppet Guild Collection". In 1987 the Museum moved into converted premises in Covent Garden. In the 1990s it placed renewed emphasis on the acquisition of 20th century material. In 1993 the National Video Archive of Stage Performance (later renamed National Video Archive of Performance) filmed its first production, Richard III starring Ian McKellan. The collection included over 200 productions by 2008.

Closure.

On 26 September 2006, it was announced that the museum would close in January 2007 because of a lack of funds. A group called "The Guardians of The Theatre Museum" was formed in late Autumn 2006, by the theatre community, to try to support the museum.  In December 2006, it was announced that the Victoria and Albert Museum and Blackpool Council were in discussions to move the archives to Blackpool, where a new National Museum of Performing Arts would be located. The reasons given by the local council are that Blackpool has a strong theatre history, has one of the most diverse and thriving theatre districts in the UK and also houses the National Theatre of Variety.  On 7 January 2007, after failing to raise £5 million for refurbishment of the premises in Covent Garden, the closure of the museum was confirmed.

Current status and future.

The Theatre Museum was temporarily called the V&A Theatre Collections and has moved permanently to the Victoria and Albert Museum. The department has contributed to the exhibitions "Collaborators: UK Design for Performance 2003–2007" (in association with the Society of British Theatre Designers), "Kylie – The Exhibition" and "The Story of the Supremes". From March 2009, to coincide with the opening of new Performance Galleries within the V&A, it became the Theatre & Performance Department. The collections will continue to be displayed in touring exhibitions and object loans worldwide. The reading room remains open to researchers at Blythe House, Kensington Olympia. The department also owns TheatreVoice.

The Theatre Museum in the Covent Garden district of London, England, was the United Kingdom's national museum of the performing arts. It was a branch of the UK's national museum of applied arts, the Victoria and Albert Museum. It opened in 1974, and closed in 2007, being replaced by new galleries at the V&A's main site in South Kensington.