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 22:44:35 GMT
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Viewed:
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440 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Jeremy H. Sproat writes:
> Anyway, consider the source. And eveyone has an agenda. And Jeremy rambles
> on and on ad delerium. Um, that's my point, then. :-,
Okay...
I just thought I'd point out that I wasn't trying to negatively criticize
anyone specifically for the manner in which they choose to remember the
Holocaust. To that extent, I think that I am with Shiri inasmuch as
personal accounts certainly have a truth about them that statistics can
never hope to relate in their sterile numbers. I don't think there is any
doubt about that...
I was also not trying to pick a fight with the makers of Schindler's List
for the way they chose to remember the victims relevant to their story --
well, not exactly anyway. The film is good, whatever factual errors and
mistakes it may make I still think it's message is a worthy one. I think
it's portrayal of the Nazi played by Ralph Fiennes is surprisingly
sympathetic -- in the end I thought of him as someone rather pitiable and
not necessarily in his right mind. Being a victim of the Nazis was
obviously a terrible fate -- but actually being a Nazi probably was no
picnic either. Imagine the utterly weird double-thinking you'd have to
perform to do the things required of you by your mad Nazi culture. I am not
putting these kinds of victims in the same category, but it's worth
mentioning. It's also worth mentioning that most people are quite willing
to just "follow orders" to a surprising degree. It's so easy for these
things to happen again if we are not careful. Good people will do very bad
things given the right circumstances...even if it means making themselves crazy!
If Dave! and Daniel are right about the activities of Elie Wiesel (chewing
Clinton out, etc.), and I kind of remember this incident also, he certainly
honors us all with his compassion and steadfast refusal to look the other
way. It's hard to stare down horror with dedication. And bearing witness to
horror is a beginning to the end of horror. Let's keep the horror in the
harsh light of day, where everyone sees what the horror-mongers are doing!
When they think they act in secret, it's so much worse...
I think some of you know that I am Latino, and I don't want to go too far
afield of the original subject matter, but my family and friends in South
America have been victims of politial oppression and torture. My own
parents had been tortured in Argentina, their homeland. You should have
seen those nutty Argentines goose-stepping down the streets of Buenos Aires
-- that was scarey! And yeah, these were just young draftees -- many of them
good persons doing bad things. Think of the young american men in Viet Nam
-- same thing...
That's pretty much how I see these young Israeli and Palestinian men too! As
kinds of victims in a political fiasco. Nobody wins until we drop the
weapons and start talking more. It doesn't matter who started it -- how are
we going to stop it?!
It's no fun for anyone in this crazy world sometimes...please, try and do
what's right!
-- Richard (watching, for what it's worth)
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: A question of remembrance...
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| (...) Sorry, I wasn't trying to pick a fight, either. I certainly didn't receive your words as negative criticism towards myself -- I definitely need to try to express that better in the future. FWIW, I liked the movie. The first time I watched it (...) (23 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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| (...) I'm not saying that big lies don't happen. I'm not defending the media, either. Um, I'm not sure what I'm saying. :-, Shortly after seeing Amadeus, I was made aware of the Salieri conspiracy. The movie was mean, but so what? As a work of (...) (23 years ago, 24-Apr-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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