Subject:
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Re: A question of remembrance...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 24 Apr 2001 20:33:43 GMT
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Viewed:
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530 times
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Hey Dan, Hi Richard, and Jeremy and Dave.
First of all - I want to make it loud and clear that I am *totally* biased.
Not only am I 100% Jewish, but my whole family suffered from the Holocaust,
I have a very small extended family because most of my grandparents'
families were exterminated in WWII. My two grandmothers spent the war in
ghettoes and later in Auschwitz, my mom's dad fled to Israel right before
the war, and my dad's dad was recruited from then-Palestine to fight on the
British army. For as long as I can remember myself I've heard personal
accounts of the horror, from the Jewish side. So that's my disclaimer. I am
totally biased.
Now, to reply.
Suffering such as occured in the Holocaust should not happen. To anyone.
There is no justification in the *world* to subject *any person* to the
horrendous ordeals that people suffered then (and, as Dan pointed out, still
do suffer). And anyone who suffered and/or died from such causes should be
remembered, so that the case not happen again.
But I concede, that's hard to do. I don't do that myself (I'm a hypocrite;
but aren't we all?). There are a few problems with the statement above. A
few major flaws.
Firstly: once the personal accounts of these people are reduced to a mere
statistic, it is *so* hard to remember that each one of those was a living,
breathing person with emotions and personal plights and that *each one* of
them went through horrible, horrible things. What's 6 million? 10 million?
600,000? Incomprehensible numbers.
Secondly: It's so much easier to think and relate to what immediately
connects to you. I agree that the plights of Gypsies, homosexuals,
handicapped and others were just as horrendous as those of the Jews.
Totally. But to a Gypsy, certainly it is easier to think and remember
his/her personal history and to focus on the Gypsies murdered and tortured.
Even moreso if this same Gypsy's father (or whomever) was in the Holocaust,
survived and lived to tell his children the tale, firsthand. Even moreso if
(and of course it does) this affected the way this father raised his
children accordingly. Likewise to a homosexual, a handicap or a Jew. Or a
Bosnian. An Armenian (early 20th century - how many people know about that
but Armenians? Who talks about that?). Or someone from Rwanda. You get the
point.
Next point: Since our society *does* tend to turn people into statistics, it
becomes apparent that out of the 12 (?) million brutally murdered in camps,
ghettos, etc. by Nazis, 6 mil of them were Jewish. The Nazis targeted many
groups, but their main focus *was* on Jews. The biggest propaganda was
against them. (The stereotypes were not "the suffering Jew", but "the rich
and successful Jew while all of Germany is in inflation".) They were a large
population *and* an easy target. The other groups were easy targets as well,
but smaller populations. And the statistication (did I make that word up?)
of the suffering puts it simply; Jews were the largest group. Does that mean
that any individual Jew particularly suffered more than any other
individual? Certainly not. But nevertheless, the amount of people who were
singled out for being Jewish was *significantly* greater than people signled
out for any other reason.
Ever since I remember myself, I have heard first-hand stories and accounts
of the ghettos, the camps. I've seen the numbers ironed into my
grandmother's arm. And, yes, I've heard this as part of a biased view of
history, which is Israeli and Jewish history. I've learned that Jews were
deported from place to place, never had a safe place to stay, and look, now
we have Israel, thank God. Remember the Holocaust - don't let it happen
again - keep your eyes forward, on this new country, don't let it slip, it's
our safety net. (This is a reply to Dan's anti-Zionist argument.) This is
the way I was taught, I was raised on these beliefs. I can't say I still
believe this is entirely right; nor is it entirely wrong. It's history from
a *Jewish* *Holocaust survivor*'s point of view. All history is biased,
history is a personal thing, it's *someone's story*, and without realizing
that, it is impossible to understand history.
So what's my point? Lemme think. ;-)
I do not underestimate, not by one bit, the horrible atrocities that were
inflicted on non-Jewish populations. But I admit that they are who I think
about when I think about the Holocaust. I think about my grandmothers - I
think about the stories I've heard - about the women who had almost no food,
yet gave part of their meager rations to the younger girls (like my grandma,
who was about 15 when she got into Auschwitz. Younger than me.). You know
what I mean? I think about the underground resistance forces. The people
that hid Jews and others in their house, despite the enormous risks. I think
about those who died and those who survived against all odds. I think about
the horrible soul-diminishing acts that the Nazis tried to inflict, and
eventually failed, because look - here we are now, Jews, and homosexuals,
Gypsies, handicapped, and any other group I unintendingly omitted - still
standing, and proud. What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. Many people
were killed. But some survived, and emerged stronger therefore. Some tried
to forget the horrors, but I believe that those who remembered and passed it
on are truly the brave ones.
There's no right and wrong here. There is no such thing. And (as my U.S.
history teacher would be proud to hear me say (1)), there is no one history.
It is completely and entirely biased, and *every* person you asked will tell
history differently, focusing on different things. Jeremy's right - history
is written by the "winners". If the Germans had won WWII, I wouldn't be
sitting here, and certainly wouldn't be able to defend Jews. But they didn't
win - my grandmother *was* one of 42 women to be selected for work out of
1000 sent to die - etc., thus I'm sitting here, and I will continue to tell
the stories that I heard for as long as I live, because I was taught to
"remember and never forget" (loose translation of "Lizcor ve-lo Lishcoakh").
And for *me*, the Holocaust rememberance day (2) will remain mostly focused
on Jews, but I will never entirely put aside nor fail to mention the fact
that they were not the only group that suffered.
So peace out, and please teach your children YourStory, not HisStory (3).
-Shiri
(1) This one is for you Ms. Nields!! ;-)
(2) Which *was*, BTW, instated by Israel, IIRC. And the complete name is
"Yom ha-Zicaron la-Shoah ve-la-Gvurah" - the Day of Rememberance of the
Holocaust and the Bravery. Which is a matter for an entire other thread.
(3) Anyone ever read Politically Correct Bedtime Stories? It's her-story,
anyway!
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: A question of remembrance...
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| Hi Shiri! I liked your post very much, especially the part about the personal accounts of Jewish families during the Holocaust. Big numbers can mean nothing if we never hear the personal stories of those who suffered or died. When I read the "Diary (...) (24 years ago, 25-Apr-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: A question of remembrance...
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| (...) I find it very ironic that a whole nation apparently solemnly commemorates the WW2 persecution when they themselves are current persecutors. Very ironic. I note that there is currently an economic blockade of Gaza and the West Bank: (URL) A (...) (24 years ago, 25-Apr-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: A question of remembrance...
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| (...) I strongly agree. I remember a good sentence from some important personality in history, but can't remember who is him right now. "Death of a person is tragedy. Death of a thousand people is statistics." When you start to think about it as a (...) (24 years ago, 25-Apr-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: A question of remembrance...
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| Richard, Wow, that was an excellent post! Yes, I agree that we should remember all the victims of the Holocaust. I feel it does justice to the memory of the Jewish victims when we don't single them out, because doing so creates a hipocrisy. When (...) (24 years ago, 24-Apr-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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