December 7, 2006--Just Ask Uncle Harry
It’s the Holocaust again.
In no way do I intend to make light of that unspeakable evil. Yes, that was evil. But I am getting tired of the various posturings about whether or not it existed; and, when acknowledging that it did exisit, arguing about what did or did not happen here and there and here.
Now the Serbs and Coats are fighting about what happened in Jasenovasc, Croatia. There is no dispute about the fact that there was a concentration camp there and that tens of thousands were brutally slaughtered. About that they agree. But in the 61 years since the camp was closed, wildly different claims about what did or did not happened there have been promulgated for political purposes—blame has been variously assigned and the number killed has risen and fallen by tens, even hundreds of thousands depending on who was in charge.
When there was a Yugoslavia, Tito, its maximum ruler, to illustrate the evils of fascism, claimed that the Nazi-puppet government in the Croatian portion of the country collaborated with the Germans in the deaths of 700,000—the vast majority Serbs and Jews and gypsies. During the 1990s, as the site changed hands—sometimes under Serb control, other times dominated by Croats, the story of what happened there also kept shifting, including the number butchered.
When the Croatian forces regained control in 1995, for example, they claimed that “only” 40,000 died in Jasenovasc; but now that both Serbia and Croatia are vying to be admitted to the European union, it is important to their status that they tell the "truth" about the past. And so there is a museum and an exhibit and researchers have determined that in fact 69,842 adults and children died in this camp.
Fine.
Meanwhile, over in Iran, where the country’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has questioned if there ever was a Holocaust, to help settle the issue, he announced two days ago that Iran would sponsor and host an international conference on the Holocaust. To it will be invited 67 scholars (they refuse thus far to release their names) from 30 countries and they will address subjects such as: The Nature of Anti-Semitism, Jews In Iran, Zionism, Gas Chambers (did they exist?), Freedom of Speech, and How the Law Treats Those Who Deny the Holocaust. (See NY Times article linked below.)
Should prove to be interesting.
In the meantime, if the Serbs or Croats or Iranians want to get some quick answers about some of these matters all they need to do is ask my Uncle Harry who was among the American troops that liberated Buchenwald. He even took some pictures from there which he brought home with him.
Unfortunately, he’s now dead. But I have the pictures if anyone at the conference is interested in seeing them.
But I'm confident that the scholars invited to Tehran will on their own still manage to get to the truth--with or without examining any evidence.
In no way do I intend to make light of that unspeakable evil. Yes, that was evil. But I am getting tired of the various posturings about whether or not it existed; and, when acknowledging that it did exisit, arguing about what did or did not happen here and there and here.
Now the Serbs and Coats are fighting about what happened in Jasenovasc, Croatia. There is no dispute about the fact that there was a concentration camp there and that tens of thousands were brutally slaughtered. About that they agree. But in the 61 years since the camp was closed, wildly different claims about what did or did not happened there have been promulgated for political purposes—blame has been variously assigned and the number killed has risen and fallen by tens, even hundreds of thousands depending on who was in charge.
When there was a Yugoslavia, Tito, its maximum ruler, to illustrate the evils of fascism, claimed that the Nazi-puppet government in the Croatian portion of the country collaborated with the Germans in the deaths of 700,000—the vast majority Serbs and Jews and gypsies. During the 1990s, as the site changed hands—sometimes under Serb control, other times dominated by Croats, the story of what happened there also kept shifting, including the number butchered.
When the Croatian forces regained control in 1995, for example, they claimed that “only” 40,000 died in Jasenovasc; but now that both Serbia and Croatia are vying to be admitted to the European union, it is important to their status that they tell the "truth" about the past. And so there is a museum and an exhibit and researchers have determined that in fact 69,842 adults and children died in this camp.
Fine.
Meanwhile, over in Iran, where the country’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has questioned if there ever was a Holocaust, to help settle the issue, he announced two days ago that Iran would sponsor and host an international conference on the Holocaust. To it will be invited 67 scholars (they refuse thus far to release their names) from 30 countries and they will address subjects such as: The Nature of Anti-Semitism, Jews In Iran, Zionism, Gas Chambers (did they exist?), Freedom of Speech, and How the Law Treats Those Who Deny the Holocaust. (See NY Times article linked below.)
Should prove to be interesting.
In the meantime, if the Serbs or Croats or Iranians want to get some quick answers about some of these matters all they need to do is ask my Uncle Harry who was among the American troops that liberated Buchenwald. He even took some pictures from there which he brought home with him.
Unfortunately, he’s now dead. But I have the pictures if anyone at the conference is interested in seeing them.
But I'm confident that the scholars invited to Tehran will on their own still manage to get to the truth--with or without examining any evidence.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
5:38 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home