History Lessons
On Jan. 27, 1945, Soviet soldiers entered the largest Nazi death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, in Poland and liberated the 7,000 prisoners who were still there, most of them sick and dying.
In 2005, for the 60th anniversary of the liberation, the United Nations designated Jan. 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
And so it was certainly not a coincidence that the official spokesman for Iran's government chose Jan. 27, 2009, to make a statement denouncing the Holocaust as a "big lie" used to justify the existence of the state of Israel. "The Holocaust is a concept coming from a big lie in order to settle a rootless regime in the heart of the Islamic world," Gholam Hossein Elham told a conference on Gaza held in central Iran's religious city of Qom.
Iranian leaders are well known for their embrace of the real "big lie." In 2005, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denounced the Holocaust as "myth" and said that Israel was doomed to disappear. The following year, Tehran played host to a convention of liars and deniers; a mass-circulation newspaper sponsored a cartoon competition seeking the "best" cartoon mocking the deaths of millions; and only last September a student group got more attention than they deserved for a disgraceful book celebrating anti-Semitism and mocking the Holocaust.
Sixty-four years after the liberation of Auschwitz, the generation who witnessed the barbarism first-hand is slowly passing on, many of them, like those who were liberated, sick and dying. The danger is that with the passage of that generation, the very existence of the Holocaust becomes not a matter of historic fact, but a subject of pseudo-intellectual debate, a subject about which reasonable people can differ, and a rallying cry for the ignorant and hateful enemies of Israel. News organizations will report the comments of the likes of Gholam Hossein Elham as if they were opinions, not lies. Children will grow up believing that he might be right — or at least that he is not certainly wrong.
On Monday, the eve of the anniversary, President Obama reached out to the Muslim world, granting his first network interview as president to the Dubai-based al-Arabiya network. It was an important symbol, intended to convey to the Muslim world that "the Americans are not your enemy." The new president said America had made mistakes in the past, but "the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago, there's no reason why we can't restore that."
I do not believe America is the enemy of the Muslim world. But we are, and should be, the enemy of those who would deny the slaughter of six million Jews and denounce Israel as a nation doomed to disappear. I don't know exactly what "mistakes" the president was referring to, but supporting Israel's right to exist and defend itself is not, at least in my book, among them.
It is right, and appropriate, to reach out to the Muslim world diplomatically. It is right, and appropriate, for the new president to reach out personally, to remind Muslims of his many relatives who share their faith and of his commitment to find common ground.
But the common ground must include recognition of the lessons of history. It must include respect for the suffering of those who died at the hands of Jew-haters. It must include support for the security of the state of Israel. January 27 is an appropriate day to remember and reaffirm that.
To find out more about Susan Estrich and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
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7 Comments | Post Comment
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Ma'am;... I don't deny the holocaust...I have seen close up its ugly effects for most of my life... But I do see that the biggest denyers of the Holocaust have been the Jews themselves... It is not a lie that six million Jews died, and more than that if you recognize the collateral damage... The lie is that only they died in the death camps... Roma died, Catholics died, homosexuals died, Russian soldiers died, serbs and poles and Jehovahs Witnesses...Millions of others died... In a war that killed perhaps sixty million, it is easy enough to gloss over the only religious group targeted specifically because of religion... I am not trying to do that; but I will be happy to point out that no one denys the totality of the death and destruction coming out of that war -like the Jews... Is it worse to deny that they were killed, or to deny that many other helpless prisoners died as well??? Did they not deserve it, and all others deserve it???Did anyone deserve that??? When I hear a Jewish person say six million Jews died in the holocaust, I see that person is directing my attention at a specific detail to achieve a specific frame of mind...That is just the bait, easy to see; but where is the hook??? Does the inhumanity of the nazi's justify Jewish inhumanity??? What ever their goal; when it begins with a lie they throw their whole point into doubt, in my opinion... We should mourn all suffering humanity, and not rate one life above another, even when some people ask for special treatment...Don't follow the Jewish line without considering what their loss is an attempt to justify...As far as I can tell, the Arabs had no part in the holocaust...Why they are supposed to suffer it I do not know....Why should anyone accept abuse by the Jews because of the holocaust??? I have met people who learned to recognize, and hate Jews without ever meeting a nazi... It is not with a racial hatred that some people destest them... Some times they just find Jewish culture revolting, and a perversion of humanity, even of American society... How can I correct my brothers when they forever find examples of Jewish people putting themselves beyond the law, and above decent human behavior... Idon't care if they are a Biblical people, the chosen of God, or a class of criminals...If they feel they are entitled, I feel entitled to think they are not... They should join the human race while the door is still open...Thanks...Sweeney
Comment: #1
Posted by: James A, Sweeney
Wed Jan 28, 2009 4:24 AM
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Susan, thank you for your timely reminder of the importance of this day. Particularly given that, with the Pope's reinstatement of a holocaust-denying priest, allegedly intellectual arguments are still being made to disprove that genocide occurred.
As for you, Mr. Sweeney, you exposed yourself in the last line of your post. "They should join the human race while the door is still open." As much as you may try to justify it, your anti-semitism comes through loud and clear. I'm sorry to have to break it to you, but Jews are human beings. Now crawl back under your rock.
Comment: #2
Posted by: Kathy Keck
Wed Jan 28, 2009 4:59 AM
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Thanks for the reminder about the liberation date. Now I feel that you are OBLIGATED to write about the various other genocides that have taken place throughout the world, Cambodia, africa, Balkans, etc. Are these not as vicious and ruthless? By not pointing these out, the world increases the chances that another purge of the jews will take place. Horror must be stopped in EVERY place or we are doomed to allow such purges to go on forever.
Peaceful co-existance REQUIRES vigilance to end violence whereever it breaks out.
robert lipka
Comment: #3
Posted by: robert lipka
Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:14 PM
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To paraphrase a respected writer of a different political stripe than I am: I don't hate President Obama. I voted for John McCain, not against Senator Obama. I disagree with President Obama, sometimes passionately. I think the country is in worse shape now than it was eight days ago, and that history will not be kind to President Obama. I think America's standing in the world has dropped precipitously, and that it isn't just we Texans and our friends who proudly pay income taxes to support 40%+ of our citizens who think so.
On the other hand, I think your "History Lessons" piece is brilliant, with one exception. I disagree with your fear that as the WWII generation dies, the uncertainty of the Holocaust will grow. The horrors of the Holocaust are scars that humanity must wear forever. All who love freedom and justice have these scars firmly in focus. Those who do not see and acknowledge the scars, cannot be persuaded from their blindness.
Please encourage your friends who support President Obama to urge him to stop patronizing Iran. To quote recently deceased but brilliant historian Samuel Huntington in The Clash of Civilizations: "...the underlying problem for the West is not Islamic Fundamentalism. It is Islam, a different civilization whose people are convinced of the superiority of their culture and are obsessed with the inferiority of their power."
Iran with nuclear weapons in the 21st Century is like Hitler with a rejuvenated Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe in 1938. Will Israel experience Iran's version of Nazi Kristallnacht? We must have the courage to stop Iran's nuclear program. NOW!
Comment: #4
Posted by: Bob Staib
Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:48 PM
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Re: James A, Sweeney
You are right, Mr. Sweeney, Hitler did target many groups. Two he especially persecuted were Lutheran ministers and Catholic priests. The clergy in Nazi controlled regions was decimated during the war. But he targeted them to undermine their influence and control of the spirit of the people, to permit his control and destruction of their human values so they would carryout his heinous conquests. In contrast, Hitler sought the destruction of the Jews out of pure hatred, denying their very humanness. That can never be permitted. We must defend the value of every human life. Ironically, this is best understood by the Israeli sentinel, guarding the innocent on the border surrounding Israel, ever vigilant of a sign of an enemy, and by the U.S. Army volunteer, sweltering in the deserts of Iraq and the high valleys of Afghanistan. Since you doubt the Arab role in the Holocaust, I refer you to any good history book, and the name hajj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem from 1921-1948, and a NAZI sympathizer and propagandist to Islam.
Comment: #5
Posted by: Bob Staib
Wed Jan 28, 2009 2:25 PM
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A good article to stir up people's thought process. I have found that many people read one article and that one article will form their thought process for years to come. Have all the people who deny the Holocaust ever stop to read and understand the Nazi program? I doubt it very seriously. Sad to say but we are witnessing the same exact thing going on in America today. President Obama fired the first shot when he said the Republicans should stop listening to Limbaugh on the radio as he won the election. This was followed up by the Congress refusing to work with the Republicans to create the biggest handout in history at the expense of the taxpayers and this bill will come due from taxpayers rather fast.
As for the outreach to the Muslim world - I think they should be reaching out to us because it was the Muslims who started the terror programs, provide the financing, allow weapons to flow, and none have join in with the western countries with soldiers to fight them. The Muslim TV's continually show America as the Big Satan, never do you heard or see critizism of the Islamic terrorists. Iran is already screaming that America should apologize to them - just who was it that overran an Embassy and held people hostage for 442 days - America or Iran? Who has sponsored terrorism that killed over 200 Marines and 80 French soldiers in Lebanon, blew up an Israel cultural center in Argentine where that government has asked Interpol to arrest certain ex-government officials and no Muslim country will make the arrest when they are in their countries. Hold the Western nations to the highest standards of human rights and rules of law while doing everything in their power to destroy these same countries.
Comment: #6
Posted by: Gene44
Wed Jan 28, 2009 3:32 PM
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Susan, you have always been straight forward with your positions even though they may not have agreed with your party affiliation to which I say, amen. With this article, you have opened up the question that I think still goes begging, what will be Obama's position on Israel when the day comes that Iran's nuclear capability is announced? Obama is too inexperienced to deal with this issue and Israel will do what ever has to be done to protect their state. Will Obama deny them air space and send American jets to stop their jets? Can a President who stated in his own book that given the choice he would take the Muslim position first, be trusted to be fair and balanced? Are you, with your latest article, raising the question "Where will Obama stand when push comes to shove between Israel and Hamas"? I hope so, then maybe we will know where we are headed when Iran announces they have the bomb.
Comment: #7
Posted by: Dwight Dial
Thu Jan 29, 2009 6:03 PM
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