Standing not silent - Yom HaShoah

“The civilized world stands revolted by a bloody pogrom against a defenseless people. Every instinct in us cries out in protest against the outrages which have taken place in Germany during the last five years and which sank to new depths in the organized frenzies of the last few days. . . . If you saw a gang of cowardly ruffians set upon a helpless man in a public street and proceed to beat him, you wouldn’t long remain silent. If you saw a fanatical mob pillage and burn a church or a synagogue you wouldn’t long remain silent. If you saw a brutal band drive helpless families from their own homes, you would speak out, and promptly.” ~Thomas E Dewey, November, 1938

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760309,00.html

http://www.ushmm.org/remembrance/dor/years/detail.php?content=2008

April 27 – May 4 marks the Days of Remembrance, set aside by the US Congress as our nation’s annual commemoration of the Holocaust.

Friday, May 2 marks Yom HaShoah – Holocaust Memorial

This isn’t your typical “holiday” filled with commercialism and parties. This is a solemn day of remembrance, of mourning. Whether you have family who were lost in the Holocaust, family who survived the horrors, or have no familial connection at all, it’s a day to mourn those lost and to make a solemn promise of “never again.”

As the atrocities fade further and further into the past, as living survivors becomes more and more rare, it become ever more important to remember the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.

When I was in school, we studied World War II and the Holocaust simultaneously. Many of my teachers were old enough that the scar was still fresh, the wound still bleeding, and the pain still very real. Years passed and I had children of my own; I was surprised when in their first World History classes, my children barely heard of the Holocaust, that this incredible atrocity was mentioned only in passing, then brushed aside as “covered.”

Actually, surprised is too bland a word. I was shocked, stunned into disbelief, and outraged. The curriculum gave more coverage to Cinco de Mayo, a cultural festival marking the anniversary of Mexican troupes defeating the French and commonly mistaken for Mexican Independence Day

(which it isn’t – that would be September 16).

They spent an entire week covering Cinco de Mayo, but all of 10 minutes on the Holocaust? Shall we discuss the conversation I had with the school regarding that particular curriculum choice?

Unfortunately, memories dim. Years pass and wounds turn into rapidly fading scars, soon to be forgotten.

Despite numerous survivors’ testimonies, despite the Nuremburg trials, despite evidence to the contrary, there are those who downplay the Holocaust. There are those who claim Auschwitz wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it was made out to be and the estimate of lives lost is overstated. There are those who claim the genocide never happened. Some even go so far as to claim the Holocaust is an elaborate hoax.

While today those attitudes may seem extreme, in just a few year’s time, it will become easier and easier to believe – with no living survivors to continue telling the tale, with schools no longer teaching on the Holocaust, who will there be to stand and speak up?

When there are no longer those who can say, “It happened” there will no longer be those to say, “and it will never happen again.”

Rush is right … right?

OK, by now, anyone who has read enough of my stuff understands that I am politically rather twisted (and if you don’t yet – read my Politically Bent page…)

The deal is – I can’t claim “conservative” or “liberal” since I tend to agree with one side on one issue, and the other side on another. And I firmly believe most people are closer to the fence than they’d like to admit.

But there are some who just drive me bonkers.

Rush … the latest crap out of this guy’s mouth basically says a soldier who does not agree with the war effort, and makes negative comments is not a “real” soldier. So, ah … lemme get this straight. In Rush’s view of the world – you’re a “phony soldier” if you have served, seen the crap going on, and come home and have some negative opinions?

Wow. I guess I know a lot of “phony soldiers” then.

I am all for supporting our troops. And I understand why we went there in the first place. And I’m not one spouting “pull ‘em out now!”

But, the last time I checked, this was America and that means everyone is entitled to not only have an opinion but to state their opinion.

Disparaging the work, sacrifice and effort put forth just because a person does not agree politically is absolutely asinine.

I happen to have a lot of military friends and coworkers. Many of them fully support the war and everything about it. Many others, however, are doing their “duty” – they signed up to serve our country in whatever capacity they were ordered to – but they personally and politically disagree with many aspects of what is happening.

And, according to the great and powerful Rush – this makes them “phony soldiers”.

I guess it would be preferable to have a bunch of brainless automatons serving as our troops? Or perhaps the blood-thirsty battle-monger type would be better? Maybe we should administer an entrance exam upon signing up for the military wherein if you can prove that you are capable of independent thought, you’re declared unfit for duty.

The worst part about this?

This guy has enough pull, enough listeners, enough “gravitas” to have a large segment of Americans parroting the same bullshit line. They won’t think about it. They won’t analyze it for themselves. They won’t stop and consider how they really feel.

They will mindlessly say, “Dittoes, Rush!” and “Rush is Right!” and the track will go on, and on, and on, until the next “hot topic” comes along, whereupon this little tidbit will get filed away, ready to pull out the next time some soldier has the temerity to criticize the country he serves.