It was suggested to me that I take these discussions too seriously. Interesting thought......
My paternal grandmother is in her 90s. She was born in a little town outside of Riga, in Latvia, and came to the United States through Ellis Island as a tot. Although my grandfather was born in the United States, his sister, my Aunt Ida, who died not too long ago, was also born in a little village in that area, and came to the States by way of steerage. My father was born in '35, in Washington DC. When he was about 7, the Jews in and around Riga were taken by SS Einsatzgruppen, made to dug mass graves, made to disrobe, shot in the head, and pitched into the graves, with lime, and locals were forced to replace the dirt. By all accounts, the SS men who participated in these first actions in pursuit of a Jew- free Europe enjoyed their work. They even posed for photos.
Later, it was decided that such actions were inefficient, and after experimenting, the SS decided to use Zyklon- B, a cyanide gas used by exterminators, to kill Jews who were not useful for work in the camps, as well as gypsies, homosexuals, and political prisoners, in lesser number. The pretext was showering and delousing. Men, women, and children, many religious, would be forced to undress in one big room, with shower fixtures. Soon enough, the gas would come. There would be panic, but it worked quickly. The Nazis, ever efficient, took hair and fillings along with clothes and jewelry, before dumping the bodies in the creamatoria.
The ones killed quickly may have been lucky. The slave laborers were deliberately starved to death, so that they could be replaced on schedule. Of course, there were also those inmates eligible for medical experiments, and, on the other hand, the hated Jewish guards, who consented to help keep order to save their lives.
Between 5 and 6 million Jews died, hunted down all over Europe. Many, especially children, were hidden by good gentiles, who were often pious Christians, in fact, often priest, brothers, and nuns. Oddly, Italy, which was formally allied with Nazi Germany, dragged its feet more than Vichy, which did drag its feet a little over Jews who were French citizens, but which turned over refugees with alacrity, and did not long resist turning over French Jews.
None of it would have happened had Britain and France taken a strong stand against Hitler in the '30s. None of it would have happened had Stalin not made a pact with Hitler giving him a free hand in Poland. None of it would have happened had the Great Powers ensured economic stability and a reasonably swift return to the community of nations of Germany, after World War I. And the United States was determined to prevent anything like it--- the war, the atrocities, the whole sense of civilization being in the balance---- again. Thus, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift, NATO, the UN, aid to the Greek government fighting off insurrection, support for Israel, and on and on.
Here we are, it is a new century, Russia is a quasi- ally, China goes back and forth between cooperation and antagonism, and basically the United States accomplished most of its foreign policy goals of 50 years ago. And yet Jews are still threatened with massacre; revisionist regimes cooperate somewhat in trading technology that threatens our allies and ourselves; terrorists have elaborate networks throughout the world, and are actively pursuing weapons of mass destruction; and there has been, for the first time since perhaps the 19th century, an attack on the mainland of the United States.
I know that some of my problem is that the 6- month remembrance of the 911 attacks just passed. I also know that I am not thrilled that my wife has a business trip that requires her to go to Los Angeles. I also know that my son just turned 18, and I will soon have to make sure he registers for the draft. So yeah, I guess I can get to brooding over dirt- brained anti- semites on other threads, and all of those other things spoken of in my previous long post, and perhaps get a little too gloomy. On the other hand, I am grateful that my family came to the United States, and the United States has prevailed over its rivals and made the world so much better for its existence. So my gloom must be seen in the context of my admiration, and gratitude, and patriotism....... |
