Holocaust: Remember the Non-Jews (As Well)
01/27/2009
Above: Inmate number 1-9-9-6 was among the few Roma to survive Auschwitz. The Nazis didn’t bother to tattoo an ID number on Antonin Hlavacek’s arm. Romani children, like the elderly, weren’t meant to live long, so his number was written in ink. (source)
January 27 is the International Day of Commemoration to honour the victims of the Holocaust. It is forgotten far too often that holocaust does not only refer to the atrocities suffered by the Jewish people during WWII.
Rejecting any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or in part, the General Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution (A/RES/60/7) condemning “without reserve” all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief, whenever they occur.
It decided that the United Nations would designate 27 January – the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp – as an annual International Day of Commemoration to honour the victims of the Holocaust, and urged Member States to develop educational programmes to instil the memory of the tragedy in future generations to prevent genocide from occurring again, and requested the United Nations Secretary-General to establish an outreach programme on the “Holocaust and the United Nations”, as well as measures to mobilize civil society for Holocaust remembrance and education, in order to help prevent future acts of genocide. (source)
It seems therefore appropriate that we should take a good look at the world as it is now and judge whether people learned from the horrendous lessons of both world wars and the too many occasions thereafter when entire nations were/are targeted and denied their basic rights.
Violence begets violence. The world forgot the words it once uttered: Never Again! Remember! Before it’s too late.
I dedicate this blog entry to my grandfather’s sister. While he was out there fighting the occupation forces in Slovenia, she was taken to Auschwitz. She was not a Jew, she was not Roma, she was simply the sister of a man who would not bow to the territory-hungry aggressor who’d tried to make his Slovenian family deny its roots and turn its members into his nationally correct citizens. Aunt Pavla survived and as, unlike the Roma above, she was deemed worth a tattoo, she can still show her camp number to the younger generations. I would have liked to add: lest we forget. But honestly, so many other horrors have been committed by and upon humanity since and are in progress now that nobody walking the Earth with open eyes could or should possibly let it slip from mind.
pengovsky said,
January 27, 2009 @ 2:16 pm
I think Auschwitz, Treblinka, Dachau (were members of my family were sent) and other Nazi concentration camps are still vivid images in our collective memory.
That is why every government which employs concentration camps is trying very hard to keep them from the eyes from the public. Remember Bosnia? When footage of Bosnian Muslims held in Serb concentration camps were finally aired, the world finally realised who the bad guy was.
There is anything worse than stripping a person of his/her humanity. And if after WWII concentration camps were mostly in the domain of non-democratic regimes, I fear they are becoming ever more popular in western countries as well. And again they are being filled with people who only have their human dignity left.
dr.filomena said,
January 27, 2009 @ 2:23 pm
Mr. P, I certainly hope that your comment regarding vivid images sticking in our memories holds true and that the imagery was not lost in those slightly younger than ourselves or spending their youth in other countries. What may seem natural and self-evident to you and me may very well not to others.
When some of the most powerful countries in the world, ones that are allegedly the pillars of western democracy, establish their own similar establishments and support the conversion of a narrow strip of land into a concentration camp of an entire nation where nobody has a fair chance of living a half decent life with hope of a better future, one has to wonder. Perhaps, times of change have finally come (again). Let’s see what the man so many expect so much of can do.
Can we?
Adriaan said,
January 28, 2009 @ 12:19 am
In the circumstances perhaps this article might be of interest?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7842671.stm
Global Voices Online » Slovenia: Honoring Auschwitz Survivors said,
January 28, 2009 @ 2:02 am
[…] Filomena dedicates a post to her grandfather’s sister, an Auschwitz survivor: “She was not a Jew, she was not Roma, […]
Luka said,
January 28, 2009 @ 4:12 am
“and support the conversion of a narrow strip of land into a concentration camp of an entire nation …”
I fully agree that the war in Gaza and the general approach to the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis should be severely criticised and that proper measures should be taken immediately, but in order to do so it doesn’t help one little bit to term Israeli opperation in Gaza as “Holocaust” and declaring Gaza strip to be “concentration camp” as some repeatedly do even in the media. First of all, as you might agree, this serves exactly the purpose that goes against your wish, namely never to forget what Holocaust actually was, by completely reducing its meaning to to a military opperation (or war, if you like) the kind in Gaza. Besides, such designations, in my oppinion, could be gross insults to the victims of the Holocaust. For the historical memory’s sake, we should not simply term every populist right-winger a “Nazi”, since in the long run this will turn against us.
dr. filomena said,
January 28, 2009 @ 9:15 am
@Adriaan: Thanks for the link, interesting.
@Luka: I never termed the Israeli operation as holocaust, although I very well could have. May I draw your attention to the part of the text that goes: “It is forgotten far too often that holocaust does not only refer to the atrocities suffered by the Jewish people during WWII.” Perhaps I should have added the definition of the noun:
holocaust: an act of great destruction and loss of life
(from the Greek ὁλόκαυστον (holókauston): holos, “completely” and kaustos, “burnt”; source)
True, the other, much better known definition of holocaust or rather the Holocaust, is “the Nazi program of exterminating Jews under Hitler”. And while we all agree that this horrific plan should never be forgotten, I believe that neither should we forget the fact that holocaust was committed both before and after that particularly effective extermination plan, nor should we forget the reasoning of the related UN resolution, which condemned “all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief, whenever they occur”.
I cannot think of a greater insult to the victims of the Holocaust than their descendants committing crimes against humanity.
Like Obama, I, too, would want my family to sleep undisturbed by military attacks. I would also want my family to have a chance at a better future. And I suppose it’s not unreasonable to assume that Palestinians in Gaza share those sentiments.
Luka, you say: “…the general approach to the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis should be severely criticised and that proper measures should be taken immediately…” and this should never ever be followed by a “but”. Let’s continue with an “and”, perhaps.
pengovsky said,
January 28, 2009 @ 9:46 am
Luka does have a point. The Holocaust (in this case the holocaust of Jews) was far more than “just” an extermination plan. It was the direct result of the Nazi “übermensch” ideology. It was not “just” about land or “just” about oil. It was about belief that a certain “breed” (for the lack of the better word) is superior to all the others, which – as a result – must be destroyed.
Jews speak of The Holocaust, Roma speak of Porrajmos, Slovenians have “Machen Sie mir dieses Land wieder Deutsch” episode.
I agree however, that it makes little difference to people under attack if they’re being shelled because of territorial aspritations or because the other guys are racists (the end result being the same – death and suffering).
So, while Gaza strip probably isn’t a concentration camp, I can totally imagine that it feels like one. And having one of the most fierce armed forces on the other side of the border does not help either.
The thing is, that Israel is – ever since 1967 – rapidly depleting what was thought to be an eternal supply of moral capital against the (Western) world. As a result, certain parallels are being drawn…
Luka said,
January 28, 2009 @ 10:11 am
The “but” part was a bit below the belt, since you know I was not justifying anything with it, but, on the contrary, was claiming it does not amount to a good enough argument. I didn’t say you termed Israeli attack as holocaust, but you did say Gaza was a concentration camp, which goes along the same lines. Gaza = Auschwitz? Don’t think so. Yes, maybe many people do leave there in unbearable conditions, however, they are not being tatooed, forced to slave labour, and thrown into furnaces.
I know what holocaust means in Greek, but I seem to have missed the objective of “complete and total destruction of people” in this Israeli attack. You don’t kill 1000 people if you are aiming for annihilation, right? You try killing them all, unselectively. So yes, even though I condemn the war of this kind, I still think that terming it as “holocaust” would be extremely tasteless. Again, not because I would like to justify the war, but because I want to preserve the memory of the unimaginable inhuman atrocity of the Holocaust.
“I cannot think of a greater insult to the victims of the Holocaust than their descendants committing crimes against humanity.”
I agree, using Holocaust as an excuse for the eternal role of victim is tateless in a similar manner.
“I, too, would want my family to sleep undisturbed by military attacks.” Obama, you, the Palestinians in Gaza, the Israelis in the cities within the range of Hamas rockets … Everybody!
dr. filomena said,
January 28, 2009 @ 10:20 am
(I think Palestinians wouldn’t care half as much about that fierce army if it (and in the case of the West Bank its settlers) had stayed on the other side of the border and indeed, if the border as such existed in the first place.)
Mr. P, thank you for the thoughtful comment. This issue is so extensive in its scope that it is a great disservice to all involved to succumb to the temptation of overly simplifying its background and current implications. Some things, however, are pure and simple and should remain such.
dr.filomena said,
January 28, 2009 @ 10:53 am
Luka, I apologize as I should have made it more clear that the “but” comment was not directed at you, but all of us. I happened to find myself wondering about “but” last night for a length of time, much before your comment was written.
Yes, I did make the connection between Gaza and a concentration camp and I do see why you may have a problem with that. It is not exactly like Auschwitz, no, but I never equalled the term concentration camp with just that particular death camp. You may agree that Gaza is an incredibly densely populated area inhabited by a number of people living in deplorable conditions under constant treat of being killed, who are not able to move freely.
You wrote: “Yes, maybe many people do leave there in unbearable conditions, however, they are not being tatooed, forced to slave labour, and thrown into furnaces.”
Luka, now this is out of line in my book. I think Pengovsky made an excellent point saying that while Gaza may not be a concentration camp, it certainly can feel like one. How does one grade human suffering? How does one rank tattooing, slave labour and furnaces against hopeless future, constant threat of death and use of chemical weapons? Impossible.
You say: “I know what holocaust means in Greek, but I seem to have missed the objective of “complete and total destruction of people” in this Israeli attack. You don’t kill 1000 people if you are aiming for annihilation, right?”
They certainly annihilated those you mention.
You say: “Again, not because I would like to justify the war, but because I want to preserve the memory of the unimaginable inhuman atrocity of the Holocaust.”
This I certainly support wholeheartedly. My point is that just remembering achieves nothing. Remembering the Holocaust in order to prevent future atrocities, that is to protest loudly against any and all actions against humanity, that is what true remembrance means to me. And in doing this, I find that we are paying respect to the victims of the Holocaust in the best possible way.
Daniel Marcus said,
January 28, 2009 @ 11:24 am
My heart sinks when equivalence is drawn between what’s happening in the Middle East and what happened during WWII.
Not wishing to let Israel off the hook – just because vicious, cynical bastards like Hamas use civilians as human shields doesn’t mean you should go ahead and kill them – but if you want to find modern-day acts more worthy of the term genocide, look no further than Congo. On Christmas Day 400-odd civilians were hacked to death by militias. The world, in its dubious obsession with Israel and the Palestians, didn’t bat an eyelid. Just thinking about it, if you want an example of modern-day fascism, look no further than the chilling, bloodthirsty, racist, medieval, martyrdom-obsessed evil scum of Hamas.
Look, the suffering of the Palestinians shouldn’t be trivialised. But its a highly complex set of circumstances has led us to this point. I personally find it neither helpful nor appropriate to use words like concentration camp in relation to Gaza.
dr.filomena said,
January 28, 2009 @ 11:54 am
Daniel, I understand your sentiments. And again, I do agree that the situation is highly complex. Your Congo example well illustrates one of my original points, i.e. that “so many other horrors have been committed by and upon humanity since and are in progress now that nobody walking the Earth with open eyes could or should possibly let it slip from mind.”
We will have to disagree on some points of the Palestine issue, but I’m sure that we share the values of treasuring peace and holding human life in high regard. And that’s a good start.
Daniel Marcus said,
January 28, 2009 @ 12:03 pm
Dr F, I couldn’t have put it better.
alcessa said,
January 28, 2009 @ 12:45 pm
Dr. Fil, I don’t think it is appropriate for us to make any comparisons or draw (moral or ethical) conclusions about the situation in Gaza.
All we can say is that the many sides involved are guilty and almost noone is innocent anymore. We shouldn’t compare the suffering of Israelis and Palestinians, because, as you say above, sufferings should not be compared. Most of all, we shouldn’t draw tales of moral, ethics and other stuff out of this extremely complicated, much suffering part of the world. None of our comparisons and moral tales can be right, just or useful. If you just start imagining every individual person’s suffering, person for person, all the reasons and circumstances… If your mind was as huge an capable as a large computer, you may detect seconds in the history of the region when things could have been changed. But possibly, the people involved didn’t notice them.
That’s what makes hating the Nazis so much easier. They were without doubt swine, all of them.
Treasure Vincent said,
October 12, 2009 @ 11:39 pm
We have to do a report on the country Luxembourg during the Holocaust, but it has to be based on the non targeted people. Do you have any imformation on the non targeted people in the country Luxembourg?
dr. filomena said,
October 12, 2009 @ 11:45 pm
Can you be more specific and I will see if I can answer your question? What kind of information are you looking for?
Treasure said,
October 14, 2009 @ 3:34 am
During the Holocaust, there were non-target people, which are the people who Hitler wasn’t after. I want information on the non-targeted people in the country Luxembourg. I’m having a reallly hard time finding information about the non-targeted people in Luxembourg. What else would you like to know?