"We Will Gain the Upper Hand"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with the designated Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari about the battle against terrorism in the Sunni triangle, the difficult coexistence of the different ethnic groups and the foundations of the new constitution:

"We must seal off the borders of Iraq hermetically and use all available means to prevent the terrorists, the people behind them and their helpers, from entering and leaving the country unchecked. ... More and more Sunni politicians, and also religious dignitaries, are now willing to participate in drawing up our new constitution. We want to win over every Iraqi for the new constitution. ... Everyone will have the same rights, including the members of numerically smaller religious communities."

"Gruesome Legacy"

Morocco: Rabat's young ruler Mohammed VI is laying bare his father's sins. Victims of torture are describing Hassan II's reign of terror before a committee of investigation. The Maghrib kingdom is the first state in the Arab world to seek a public debate of its own past. More than 22,000 victims of political persecution have come forward, 200 will initially make public statements. The vast majority of the victims is demanding financial compensations, others want clarity as to the fate of their relatives, or an end to their being banned from exercising their professions or excluded from health insurance cover. Some victims of the state terror find the official efforts at reappraising the past too tame, however. The US State Department, which normally regards the opening course taken by the young monarch as confirmation of its faith in the expansive power of democracy, recently published a report suggesting that even today the observance of human rights in Morocco still leaves much to be desired.

"Guys with Dead Eyes"

Russia: Liberal and radical opposition groups are joining forces in protests against the Kremlin's politics. A state youth that is loyal to Putin is to take on the challenge.

"More Flexible Interpretation"

SPIEGEL interview with Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister of Luxembourg and incumbent president of the European Council, about the reform of the stability pact and the argument over the European Union's budget:

"We want to modify the instrument sensibly. In favourable economic times, deficits and debts must be decreased and the reserves have to be accumulated which we need in order to take countermeasures in times of poor growth. That's the goal, and anyone who closes their mind to this simple necessity is giving up common sense entirely. ... We have been hearing complaints that German net payments are far too high for many, many years. They are only being voiced more vehemently now. But neither can it be denied that particularly high demands are made on Germany when it comes to financing the European budget. It's okay that the government in Berlin wishes to correct that. However, it should not be forgotten in the process that in a community based on solidarity there will always be some who pay more, and some who pay less."

"A New Lack of Inhibition"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Paul Spiegel, the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, about German anti-Semitism and the argument with the Interior Ministry over the immigration of Jews from regions in the former Soviet Union:

"Something which ought to have all democrats up in arms is threatening to become socially acceptable. I'm talking about the desecration of Jewish cemeteries, not once a month or once a week, no: virtually every day. And I'm talking about intellectuals like Hochhuth, and - on a different level, of course - about Church dignitaries who draw irresponsible and dangerous parallels between the Holocaust and abortion. ... The key lies in the schools. Many teachers are doing their best and I see some wonderful examples of dedication going far beyond the usual. But where, I ask myself, are the further training courses for teachers to help them implement the issue of the Holocaust didactically in such a way that pupils won't just wave them aside irritably. Most adolescents these days know what happened to the Jews in the Nazi era. What they really want to know is why something like this was able to happen in Germany. ... Some 200,000 people have arrived since 1989, 13,000 a year. When you see what a fuss is being made you get the impression as though millions of people had suddenly descended on Germany and were bringing about the collapse of the social welfare system. If you want to talk about atonement for the Holocaust at all, then taking in Jews from the East is an opportunity for that. ... Unless we get massive financial support, we will not be able to manage. Even in a community in a large city like Düsseldorf, which has increased from 1500 to 7400 members, we have huge money problems."

"The Embargo Front"

Foreign policy: Even the members of his own party, the SPD, reject Gerhard Schröder's desire to lift the European Union's ban on arms exports to China. The Greens are urging their foreign minister to put up a resistance.

"Devil in the Sea of Huts"

Contemporary history: Was the concentration camp doctor and murderer Josef Mengele one of the top researchers into genetics? Last week, historians in Berlin presented new findings according to which the SS physician carried out his horrific experiments in Auschwitz on behalf of elite German laboratories. Josef Mengele was not a Dr. Moreau but an up-and-coming young scientist who carried out experiments beyond any ethical considerations and in close collaboration with the professors of the Reich. Mengele investigated central issues in heredity. Why do twins develop differently? What role do the genes play and what role do birth and the environment play? Questions which were also occupying experts on the other side of the Atlantic. Later, when Otmar von Verschuer had assumed the chair for human genetics at Münster University in the new Federal Republic of Germany, he had no recollections whatsoever. Auschwitz? No idea. But in actual fact the head of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute had a hand in the business. All the circumstantial evidence suggests that Mengele was acting on his behalf.

"The Muse of the Copper King"

Art: The German Baroness Hilla von Rebay was an adventure-loving woman, a passionate patroness and the permanent girlfriend of one of the richest men in the USA. New York owes its Guggenheim Museum to her - but only now, four decades after her death, is she being suitably honoured there. This spring Hilla von Rebay is to be rediscovered - in the form of a biography and an exhibition at that world-famous institution, which would not have existed without her: New York's Guggenheim Museum. For decades the latter declined to take any notice of her. The unconventional career of the lady from Germany was the product of her thirst for action, a number of coincidences and the highly charged times she lived in. In America, all she wanted to be was an artist; at first she got by in New York with very little money, and in 1928 she met Solomon Guggenheim, one of the richest men in the country, at a dinner. She called him "Guggi", and enthused about the progressive art in Europe, and soon he started crossing the Atlantic with her at regular intervals to shop for art.

"A Peculiar Dream"

Legends: The Thomas Mann House in Munich became famous through the Mann family's stories, but it was torn down decades ago. Now a private individual is rebuilding it. In the next few weeks, a new villa will be completed on the grounds where the house once stood. From the outside it looks like the Poschi. Alexander Dibelius, a citizen of Munich and the head of the German branch of the international bank Goldman Sachs, has had it built according to original blueprints and intends to use it as a private home. Already, "literary walks" pass by the Poschi. And Dibelius has agreed to allow Munich's Friends of Thomas Mann put on events in the house once it has been completed. In the end, the reconquest of the Poschi seems to be a success.