As the sun sets this Saturday, July 28, 2012, the we being the commemoration of the 9th day of the month of Av on the Jewish calendar. This day, known as Tisha B’Av, is the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. It commemorates the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem and is widely recognized as the day used to remember those lost in the Holocaust when exact dates are not available. The sadness of the day is in line with the feelings of despair caused by the attempted annihilation of the Jewish people by Adolph Hitler’s Nazi Germany. This is going to be a short post designed to make a very powerful and important point. On the eve of Tisha B’Av 1941, the Nazi killing machine signed into effect the “Final Solution” against the Jews. On the eve of Tisha B’Av 1942, the Nazis ordered the beginning of deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto. And on the eve of Tisha B’Av 2012 the OIC (Olympic International Committee) will not sanction just 1 minute of silence at the opening ceremonies for 11 Jewish people murdered at one of its previous events, the Munich Olympics.
Let me make something very clear. I am by no means comparing the decision makers of the OIC to the evil murderous thugs of Nazi Germany. However, the message this sends to me is that 70 years later Jewish lives still do not hold value to many out there, and subsequently what I do on this site and what many reading do in their lives carries a great responsibility and importance to Jewish people worldwide. We must never forget, and in doing so do whatever possible to make sure the world never forgets.
I admit I am trying to sell a book on this website, but in doing so I’ve become very aware of the need to make sure people never forget what the Jewish people went through under Nazi occupation. Today’s terror attack is a powerful and sad reminder of how important this mission has become. An attack most likely orchestrated by Iran, a nation whose president leads the world in Holocaust denial, today’s bus explosion in Bulgaria shows what people who have no value for human life, specifically Jewish life, are capable of doing. The same mentality that existed during Hitler’s Germany today exists in the radical Muslim world. Make no mistake. Today’s attack was not merely and anti-Zionist activity. It was an attack on Jews by people who want the same thing the Nazis wanted, the annihilation of the Jewish people worldwide. We must never forget, because in remembering we can clearly identify when we see it again, as we did today.
Coming out of the horrors of the Holocaust, the modern State of Israel was formed. There were men and women who took it upon themselves to lead the way in what was the defense and protection of the Jewish people. With immense gratitude to those who fought and risked everything for this purpose the Jewish people and the State of Israel live on today. The future is uncertain and concerning, but without people such as Yitzhak Shamir it might not even be a discussion today. With that in mind I say, Rest in Peace to Yitzchak Shamir, an Israeli leader and a Jewish hero. May you be always remember with blessing.
As documented in the book Jew Face, the nation of Holland had 75% of its Jewish population murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Another nation with one of the smaller Jewish populations which suffered similar devastation was the country of Greece. Between 60,000-70,000 Greek Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, most of them in Auschwitz. At the end of the war an estimated 8-10,000 survived. Keeping alive the rich history and culture of Greek Judaism with such a small number remaining is a difficult task, one which my friend Richard Solomon has taken upon himself to do. The following is a link where you can acquire a CD of a discussion about Greek Jewish history and the Greek Jewish Synagogue and Museum of New York.Go to http://kkjsm.org/ and help keep alive the Greek Jewish history and culture.
It seems that often when I step into many of my friends and families homes I can’t resist the urge to tell them that I see a piece of furniture that I like. The answer I often get, “I bought it at IKEA”. They then usually turn to me and tell me how much they love IKEA and how their entire home is filled with IKEA items. This is usually the time when I tell them that I won’t buy from IKEA. And here’s why.
Between 1933-1945 Germany was ruled by one of the most brutal, murderous, sadistic governments this planet has ever seen. The rule of the Nazi party in Germany took the world down a path that led to the death of over 60 million people. Millions were murdered in genocidal fashion by the Nazis lead by their leader Adolph Hitler, including 6 million Jews from all over Europe. While this was taking place, many turned a blind eye. Even leaders that history has declared to be great men, such as FDR and Winston Churchill, may have known to a certain degree what was taking place but took no action. We may never know for sure what they did and did not know until the Nazi party was defeated in 1945. At that point in time however we do know that the word got out of what had taken place. The death camps, the gas chambers, the torture, the medical experiments, this all began to come out and become public knowledge in 1945. It was at this time that Ingvar Kamprad, the founder and owner of IKEA decided to begin attending pro Nazi meetings in his hometown in Sweden. Yes Sweden. Not Germany, not Austria, Sweden. Since the time I was old enough to understand the history, I have been clear on the difference between the German who was a nominal member of the Nazi party, and the German who was an active member of the Nazi party. I still think it speaks volumes that the United Nations chose, as one of its Secretary Generals, Kurt Waldheim, a man who not only should never have been head of a worldwide organization, but more than likely history would show as more likely to be a candidate for prosecution based on war crimes. He was not only an active member of the Nazi party, but an officer as well.
Nominal membership was all over Germany during the Nazi reign. A tide swept the nation and many became members out of fear or just the understanding that they had to fit in. There were the heroic few, such as former German Chancellor Willy Brandt, who actively resisted being part of the Nazi party because they understood what it stood for and had the bravery to stand against it. So had Ingvar Kamprad been from Germany, I might have looked at it differently. But, no, IKEA’s honorable owner is from Sweden. And in Sweden, to be a member of the Nazi party you had to look for it. You didn’t have to resist it, you didn’t have to fight it, you had to search it out. And to add fuel to this fire, this all took place between 1945-1948. 3 years after the atrocities began to become public. Mr. Kamprad refers to this as “the biggest mistake of my life”. Well a mistake that last 3 years is a long mistake. And although I see no evidence of him having done anything that requires prosecution, I for one, a son of Jewish Dutch holocaust survivors refuse to give him my money. For those of you who feel otherwise, it is not my place to make a judgment and I have no desire to do so. Just ask yourself if this is the kind of man that deserves to be made even wealthier from your hard earned money.
Recently I’ve engaged in conversation with numerous people regarding the book Jew Face and in doing so something struck me as somewhat concerning. I have found that there are many intelligent, moderately educated people who do not have a basic knowledge of what took place in Europe between 1933-1945 and the subsequent Holocaust that resulted in the death of 6 million Jews. As a result I decided to put together this post as a quick guide for those I come across who wish to know more and for anyone else who wishes to use this as a reference for anyone they encounter with a similar need for basic information.
It starts with World War I. The first Great War took place between 1914-1918. Germany was one of the major aggressors in Europe, and by the time they were defeated by the Allied forces that consisted of Britain, France, and the United States, among others, the German army was brought to its knees and the country’s economy was left in shambles. Recovery was slow and with the great worldwide depression of the 1930s, poverty and discontent was on the rise all over Europe. Conditions were ideal for revolutions. Spain and Italy both went the direction of fascist dictatorships, and in Germany, an Austrian born ex-Corporal in the German Army by the name of Adolph Hitler would seize the opportunity and rise to leadership. He would rise to power as leader of the Nationalist Socialist party, better known as the Nazi party, which would become the ruling party of Germany in 1933.
Hitler would rule his nation as an absolute dictator and would be known as and referred to as “the Fuhrer”. The German masses would follow him with a degree of commitment and hysteria unlike any seen in history. Hitler felt that the Germans were a master race, and that any nation or people not of pure German blood would be an obstacle to his goal. Germany’s Nazi party would invade and occupy much of Europe and would continue fighting on numerous fronts as it attempted to achieve worldwide domination and the formation of this master race.
At the time this was happening, the majority of the worldwide Jewish population was in Europe, primarily Poland, Russia, and Hungary. Hitler would use the Jews as a rallying point around which he would motivate his people through hate, blaming them for the misfortunes of the German people and accusing International Jewry of being the force behind an imminent World War. When Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, for all intents and purposes, not only did World War II begin, but what was to be known as The Holocaust would begin as well. By 1941, with the implementation of what was to be known as the “Final Solution”, no Jew in Europe was safe. Although anti-Semitism had been in full force for some time in Germany, once the Nazis invaded and occupied countries all over Europe, they would set out to capture, deport, and murder as many Jews as possible. Death camps and Concentration camps were set up in various countries where Jewish people would be killed in Gas Chambers or shot en masse by firing squads. The most infamous of all these camps was Auschwitz which was located in Poland. The Nazis would not only kill these people, they would strip them of all their possessions, starve them, torture them, conduct medical experiments on them, rape them, and force them to do hard labor sometimes until they died in the process. Hitler’s Nazi Germany was responsible for the death of millions of Russians, Poles, gypsies, and anyone else not considered by their standards to be a viable part of the future master race. Nothing however represented the horrors and evil committed by Nazi Germany more than the fate of the Jewish people. By the time it would be over in 1945, the Holocaust would result in the death of 6 million Jews.
There are a lot more details to the history, but for those who do not know what happened, it is my hope that this will provide you with a foundation on which to not only learn more but to identify the signs of evil rising up again.
When Nazi Germany rose to power in 1933 very few, if any, knew what type of horrors they would be capable of inflicting on Europe. Even with the strong anti-Semitic rhetoric no one predicted they would put their “Final Solution” which would lead to the murder of 6 million Jews. Even with Kristallnacht, “Night of Broken Glass”, German Jews knew living in Germany would no longer be comfortable, but most did not predict the gas chambers and death camps. The Nazi strategy was one of gradual progression. They did not hide their disdain for the Jewish people, but what they did was start by taking away their rights, turning public sentiment against them, removing their basic dignity, and finally taking away their life. Their strategy was so successful in Holland that many did not realize how bad it was going to be until it was too late.
Any Jew who believes that anti-Israel sentiment is not the same as anti-Semitism has chosen to turn a blind eye very similar to the blind eyes turned by so many during the reign of Nazi Germany. Israel, the Jewish state, has been a willing partner in peace and a nation that has given up land in the name of peace. We have the nation of Iran committed to its destruction. Its leadership has consistently denied the Holocaust ever happened, as I discuss in my article, “Holocaust Denial: Deceptive hatred”, and it continues a campaign of political manipulation designed to lull the world to sleep while it gains enough strength to attempt its ultimate goal, the destruction of the Jewish state. At this point in time close to 6 million Jewish people now live in Israel. Iran recently instructed Hezbollah not to attack Israel or to fire its missiles into it cities. Their reasoning is that they do not want to make Israel seem like the victim and create more worldwide support.
Their strategy is to progressively build their army, manipulate public opinion, and when they think the time is right attack in devastating fashion. The major difference between now and the 1930s is that today there is a strong and organized Jewish Army known as the IDF, Israel Defense Forces, and the response and or preemptive strike will be with the might of a nation committed to survival. Hopefully it never comes to that, but if the world and a comfortable Jewish populous turns a blind eye similar to that of the 1930s, the conflict and loss of life will be inevitable.
Children were not spared the horrors of Nazi Germany. This video, used in middle schools to introduce “The Diary of Anne Frank”, powerfully gets that message across.
When I stopped and realized that I had not made a new post in 3 days, the first thing I wondered was if anyone had noticed I had been a bit lazy. Once I got that thought out of my head a new thought came to me which I decided to share on here. It has to do with politics. Or the lack thereof on this site and in reaction to this site and the book Jew Face. I need to reference Facebook because it is there where it is often revealed who is Liberal and who is Conservative. So many have their issues they feel passionately about and on occasion they will express those views with an intensity that might be seen as harsh to some. What strikes me, and entirely in a positive way, is that when it comes to the subjects discussed on here, such as the Holocaust, survival, and the war on hatred and Holocaust denial, there are only positive responses. This does not surprise me in the least. What it does is highlight the fact that two people can disagree passionately on important social and economic issues and still be equally decent and caring towards their fellow-man. Social media has its flaws, but it also has the capability of revealing the common good in man regardless of their political viewpoints. Hopefully it will also help people choose their friends based on their actions, not on their political opinions.
As the sun sets this Saturday, July 28, 2012, the we being the commemoration of the 9th day of the month of Av on the Jewish calendar. This day, known as Tisha B’Av, is the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. It commemorates the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem and is widely recognized as the day used to remember those lost in the Holocaust when exact dates are not available. The sadness of the day is in line with the feelings of despair caused by the attempted annihilation of the Jewish people by Adolph Hitler’s Nazi Germany. This is going to be a short post designed to make a very powerful and important point. On the eve of Tisha B’Av 1941, the Nazi killing machine signed into effect the “Final Solution” against the Jews. On the eve of Tisha B’Av 1942, the Nazis ordered the beginning of deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto. And on the eve of Tisha B’Av 2012 the OIC (Olympic International Committee) will not sanction just 1 minute of silence at the opening ceremonies for 11 Jewish people murdered at one of its previous events, the Munich Olympics.
Holland's Heroes 