Looking back at the various topics discussed so far (collective guilt, the German expulsion, Sovietization, the Holocaust, etc.), it is once again important to put these topics and themes into present day context. First off, President Obama, in April, visited the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. Seems like old news? It's not. Press coverage in recent weeks has focused on the November elections and, this past week, remembering 9/11. The NY Daily News quoted the President as he gave a speech at the museum:
President Obama is right - we should continue our awareness about Nazi atrocities and all peoples are free and deserve to live in peace. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Even in our modern, technology based societies, atrocities still exist around the world and freedom to live in peace is challenged. Examples include Syria and the Congo, where rebels of the M23 group rape and kill while three members of the punk group Pussy Riot are sentences to 2 years in jail for "hooliganism" when in reality they were jailed for opposing Vladimir Putin and being a feminist group."'We must tell our children about how this evil was allowed to happen because so many people succumbed to their darkest instincts, and because so many others stood silent,' Obama told an auditorium filled with survivors, Jewish leaders and human rights activists....'Never again' is a challenge to defend the fundamental right of free people and free nations to exist in peace and security, and that includes the state of Israel,' Obama said."
Even more surprising, and sickening, are recent events in India, as reported by Der Spiegel, regarding the use of Adolph Hitler's name and the swastika, used by the Nazi party as their symbol and now evokes the meaning of hate promoted by the Nazis. Once again a store owner used the name "Hitler" for his business and the swastika is the logo. This store is a men's clothing store and not the first to use the name "Hitler" or the swastika. Previously, a cafe owner titled his new cafe "Hitler's Cross" while another company that produced bed linens created a bed linen line which displayed swastikas on it as part of their "Nazi Collection". In an interview with Der Spiegel, the owner of the men's clothing line admitted that he knew little about Hitler when he chose the name for the store. The owner also has no problem with the name and has no intention of changing it. Though people should not fear a name, it is hateful and intolerant to use the name of Hitler for benefit, especially financial, and so blatantly deny the mass killings in his name. India is a rising nation, both economically and socially as well as culturally diverse, and it is extremely disappointing that such businesses are allowed to exist.A comparison in the US would be naming a street after a KKK member who slaughtered innocent people of color. Naming a business after a tyrant is, in a way, honoring that tyrant.
In other news, by spring 2013 a Holocaust museum in Brooklyn is scheduled to open.The museum is titled the Kleinman Family Holocaust Education Center and will be located on 50th Street. The museum will focus on the orthodox Jewish experiences. David Layman, who helped create the 9/11 Memorial in NYC, also helped to create and design this museum.
What we should take from this is all people, no matter where they live in the world, should have access to education and intolerance should be discouraged. We continue to see that intolerance, hatred, and gender inequality can lead to imprisonment and murder.The Nazi government and the mass killings it enforced should be an example of how governments today should NOT act. Holocaust remembrance is important and a vital part of history. If we forget it or continue to avoid those countries who kill innocent people, such events will continue to happen and never end. The Holocaust, to me, represents the ultimate hatred and cruelty of man and I hope that one day, I will see the end of genocides everywhere and governments who speak up for the rights of humankind.
Here are the links to the articles mentioned in this post. Please read them and spread them around.
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-04-23/news/31388381_1_obama-visits-people-and-free-nations-buchenwald-concentration-camp
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-08-07/news/33069735_1_holocaust-museum-holocaust-project-holocaust-survivors
http://www.kfhec.org/
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/new-hitler-store-in-india-triggers-global-uproar-a-853199.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/m23-rebels-in-congo-have-committed-war-crimes-report/2012/09/11/5c7f2c06-fc1c-11e1-98c6-ec0a0a93f8eb_story.html
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