Holocaust commemoration

Poststructural Pub
1

For the past few weeks, TV stations in all the countries of Western Europe have been broadcasting an unprecedented number of programmes to commemorate or inform people about the holocaust. The culmination was yesterday, when quite a few did live broadcasts of the commemoration ceremonies which took place in Auschwitz on the anniversary of that camp’s liberation. Some speakers couldn’t resist the temptation to instrumentalise the occasion for their own purposes, but on the whole it was an impressive effort.

That such a level of commemoration is necessary in some countries at least is reflected in the fact that, in spite of all the cynical press hoo-ha about young Prince Harry’s distasteful fancy-dress costume, according to a recent survey something like one-third of people in Britain and no less than two-thirds of those under 30 years of age had never heard of Auschwitz.

My own little country managed, by accident of geography as much as of history, to remain neutral during the second world war, but its shame is its failure to take in Jewish refugees in the years preceding the war. Most countries have similar reason not to boast.

To its credit, West Germany has done much to apply the lessons of the past to the present, but I am not sure that countries like the former East Germany, Austria, or the countries which either allied themselves to Nazi Germany or were “liberated” by it have made the same efforts. Russia’s relationship to the period would require a whole separate discussion.

The Council of Europe has for many years been promoting the teaching of remembrance and preventing crimes against humanity. At its suggestion, many countries have designated a special day devoted to teaching these messages in schools. Anyone interested in educational materials which they have jointly produced can check out this website

http://www.coe.int/T/E/Cultural_Co-operation/education/Teaching_Remembrance/4.Links.asp#TopOfPage.

The European Parliament has now recommended that all EU countries make 27 January a day of remembrance of genocide.

Unfortunately, just as was the case after the First World War, the call “never again” has not been heard: mass killings in Cambodia and Rwanda and “ethnic cleansing” in former Yugoslavia were not prevented.

As Tony Blair said in his address at the British national commemoration service yesterday, Auschwitz begins with a brick through a Jewish family’s window.

The sufferings of Gypsies and others under the Third Reich are often overlooked in the light of the particular virulence of that régime’s campaign against the Jews, yet they too to this day suffer discrimination and living conditions which lead to significantly lower life expectancy. Homosexuals, Russians, Poles and others (bizarrely including Jehovah’s Witnesses) also suffered grievously because they were regarded as perverted or lower forms of life.

As Rodney King put it in different but related circumstances, “Why can’t we all just get along?”

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Great post, Roger. Something for all to think about. Tom

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Many gay Americans under 70 years of age or so don’t even understand where the pink triangle they wear as a symbol of pride comes from. I try to take it upon myself to educate them.

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Educate us too, Cran! I always associated that triangle specifically with lesbianism-- a stylized pic of the mons veneris, but apparently I was wrong.

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I’ve probably told this story here before, but that’s not enough to save you from seeing it again.

In my first job after I retired, we had several seamstresses. One of them, from the Philippines, went to take her US citizenship test. When she came to work the next day, the boss asked her how she had done. She said that she got all the questions right, except for who was President during WW2.

So, the boss turns to one of the other gals–born in the US and well on the way to becoming a mother:

“Debbie, do you know who was President of the United States during WW2?”

“Umm…Adolf Hitler?”

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I can share a song I wrote, it is a post apocalyptic vision–nasty stuff, but mild to the reality of what happened 60+ years ago. There are references to the World War II time period in the song.

Ovens in the Desert

There’s a nightmare I used to have,
With a man speaking clearly, “peace in our time.”
One night the glass shatters and a creature takes his place.
The creature has a hammer and begins to build apace.

It builds a giant oven, but not for pizzas or pies.
It is labelled “Juden” in letters spelled out loud
Then I wake with sweats and fear,
And see that the creature has not died.

This time its in the desert that the oven is being fired.
This time, like the last time, there are those that sip their wine.
This time, like the last time, they make excuses for their crimes.

The “good” people stand and watch, as the fire builds its heat,
The “good” people stand and watch, as the hammers strikes the weak.
There are others that laugh louder, and dance faster with each turn.
The oven is in the desert, in the desert, humans burn.

Copyright 2004 William Chin

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Excellent post, Roger!

That was interesting about the Jehovah’s Witnesses as well. And that reminds me…while doing research on the LDS church the other day, I couldn’t help but note that they have taken liberty to baptize holocaust victims into their church. This is truely disturbing.

A JewishGen InfoFile
The LDS Agreement
The Issue of The Mormon Baptisms
of Jewish Holocaust Victims
And Other Jewish Dead

The Mormon/Jewish Controversy: This web page chronicles the controversy between leaders of the Jewish faith and of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regarding the Mormon practice of posthumously baptizing deceased Jews into the Mormon faith.

By Bernard I. Kouchel
http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often referred to as the LDS or Mormons) has spent millions of dollars microfilming, indexing and cataloging nearly every document known to man from every country on earth – including millions of Jewish records. Mormons lay great emphasis on genealogical research so that living members may undergo baptismal rites on behalf of their deceased ancestors. It is supposedly performed, commentators say, for people who had believed in Christ, but had not had a chance to be baptized. In effect, baptizing means belonging to the church.

In 1994, Jews were outraged when it became known that members of LDS were posthumously baptizing Holocaust victims and other Jewish dead. Jews find the practice offensive, something akin to the forced baptism of Jews practiced for centuries in Europe during the Middle Ages. Others see the practice as an anti-Semitic attempt to diminish the place of Jews. -[u]link and rest of story[/u]

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May they never be forgotten.

http://home.planet.nl/~elder180/strijdlied/peatbogsoldiers.htm

Slan,
D.

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http://www.pink-triangle.org/ptps/symbol.html

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Wow, Cran-- I didn’t have a clue! Thanks

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Welcome.

You’re not alone in not knowing. Even many of those who wear the pink triangles or have them as bumper stickers on their cars don’t know their history.

In fact, I can’t remember a single gay person whom I’ve told and they said they already knew…it’s sad, really, that the meaning has gotten lost.

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Thanks for the education. I will share it too.

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I am surprised that people here didn’t know where the pink triangle comes from, though I really shouldn’t be, because nobody seems to know. I’m just curious - did anybody here already know before they clicked on the link?

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I did.

Slan,
D.

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I think part of the reason gay people don’t know their history is because usually they don’t have gay children to pass it on to, like religious and racial minorities do.

They never mention in school, though, that the Nazis murdered people for reasons other than being Jewish, so that probably has something to do with the mass ignorance, too.