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This article explores the assortment and primary methods of waste collection within the Reichskommissariat Ukraine during the occupation by Nazi forces. The Ukrainian occupational press serves as the primary source for this article. It demonstrates that the extraction of various resources and the plundering of material valuables were directed towards supporting the economic and military power of the Third Reich, with waste collection policies being one of its facets. To facilitate this activity in this realm, the Nazis utilized existing infrastructure within the territory of Ukraine, including warehouses, factories, and offices of Soyuzutyl, established on the eve of the Second World War, as well as the infrastructure of the consumer cooperative system. It is shown that the specificity of Ukraine lies in assigning waste collection duties to consumer cooperatives, which transformed into the primary suppliers of various raw materials for the needs of the Third Reich. Local administrations and individual cooperatives actively participated in this endeavor, and special associations were also established. Additionally, the occupying authorities sought to involve schoolchildren and the broader population, developing various incentive systems for this purpose, although the participation of these actors was minimal. The article examines the peculiarities of waste collection propaganda within the territory of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine, which was based on ideological motives such as gratitude for liberation from Soviet rule, as well as economic motives related to the need for waste to produce consumer goods for the local population by enterprises of the Nazi regime. It is argued that primary attention was given to collecting scrap black and colored metals, as well as bones, paper, and rags. The author suggests that the scale of economic plundering of Ukraine was much larger than commonly believed, yet acknowledges that this requires further in-depth research involving a wide range of archival sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past century was not only the age of totalitarianisms and genocide, whose victims were whole nations or their overwhelmingly great proportions, but also the time of mass displacements, deportations, escape or relocations of populations, which especially affected Europe. World War II and the time of new, post-war geopolitical reality abounded in enormous human tragedies. The consequence of these unfortunate events is also the issue of compensations for the property lost by the people who were forcibly resettled from the areas where they lived. The documents confirming the ownership of a particular property lost as a result of relocation are the most important evidence constituting the basis for claiming compensation paid from the State Treasury in Poland. Unfortunately, there are cases when the documents in question are forged with the aim of obtaining excessive monetary benefits under false pretences. During a hearing of evidence concerning the payment of compensation the body conducting the proceedings concluded that there were striking discrepancies between the documents describing the property left behind. The documents deposited with the Polish Central Archives of Modern Records differed from the document presented as genuine by the party in the proceedings claiming compensation. Forensic examination proved that the examined document was not genuine and had been counterfeited. The case study of document forgery discussed in this article proves that the use of non-invasive forensic examination methods is an important element in establishing historical truth indispensable in making a correct legal decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bomb-peak signal preserved in the Arches® cotton paper was used to detect art forgeries imitating the work of Chinese artist T'ang Haywen (1927–1991). The dating of seven legitimate T'ang Haywen art pieces showed that the timing of the paper production was consistent with the artist's use of Arches® paper starting in the early 1980s. The measured F14C of the paper from the 14 suspected forged paintings shows that the support material was produced in the last decade (2008–2011), therefore the art pieces could not be genuine T'ang Haywen works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a reprint of the article "Mathematical Games," by Martin Gardner, which appeared in the December 1956 issue of "Scientific American." It focuses on flexagons, their history before World War II, and how to create several hexaflexagons. It mentions that flexagons are folded paper polygons from crooked or straight paper strips.