Parallels in History
Posted: December 14, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized 3 Comments
While most everyone I care about in America was celebrating the defeat of Judge Roy Moore, the worst example of a human being this week, we are here in the Czeck Republic, learning about historical bad acting humans. Today we spent the day visiting Terezin, the Concentration Camp that is outside of Prague.
In the scope of camps, Terezin was not close to places like Auschwitz, which were extermination camps, but was a ghetto and waiting station for extermination none the less. Originally Terezin was a walled military base town, which made it easy to convert into an interment camp for Jews. The reason it was not as bad, is it was the camp the the Nazi’s used to show the International Red Cross that they were treating Jews humanly. In the world of fake news that we live in now, this was the ultimate in fake.
Terezin was a large camp where the Jews were forced to live, men in one building, women in another, boy’s in a third, girl’s in a forth and babies in a fifth. A smaller older fortress that was built in 1770 by the Czeck leader Joseph where prisoners were kept and killed was just down the road. Both places had some setups that were pure propaganda to show the Red Cross. Apparently the Red Cross officials came from Geneva during the war for a four hour visit, but were kept so busy at the big camp that they never had time to see the smaller one where the killings took place.
Regardless of what the Red Cross saw in the way of fake “humane treatment,” why did they not say, “Why do you need to intern these women, children and babies in the first place?” Let alone the old people, or handicapped people who were all Jews. The Red Cross gave the Nazis six months warning they were coming to inspect Terezin, as the example camp, they had to know what was going on. Why was it alright to gather all the Jews in the first place? They were hardly the worst enemy of the state.
Most everyone I know can find nothing redeeming in Nazis, on that we can agree, but what about the Red Cross? Being a Nazi is bad, but standing by and more or less allowing the Nazis to carry out these atrocities is the next thing in line of badness. Jews were sent to Terezin as a first stop before going on to places like Auschwitz. Anyone in the Red Cross with half a brain could ask, “With new Jews coming in all the time, where are the people going out going?”
It is imperative that as humans we keep vigilant in asking questions and not believe the propaganda that still goes on today. A strong and free press is our only defense against politicians who have less than good intentions and kind hearts.
I am thankful that Roy Moore was defeated because his ideology was closer to the Nazi’s than we should have in America. What I fear is that if it weren’t for his sexual accusations he would have easily won and then we would be going more steps backwards to something closer to the Nazis in terms of censorship, lack of personal freedoms and equality.
It is not just up to Jews to “never forget,” at any time it could be any of us who are chosen to be the ones who are persecuted.
Less Dana, More Good 
Dana, you were in my mother’s room in the ghetto. She saw this recreation when we were in Terezin and had a good laugh because it was inhabited by 3x the number of young women plus innumerable bedbugs. They have not restored all the barracks and, in addition, more Jews were housed in the original officers/family quarters on the other side of the fortress yard. The Kleine Festng was a Gestapo prison. The tours of Terezin used to be conducted by survivors but almost all are gone now. Many Jews died of illness, malnutrition, etc in Terezin. At least they were spared Auschwitz, which is where my mother was deported in October 1944. Very few Czech Jews survived. She was the sole survivor of her family. I am glad that you took the opportunity to visit Terezin. It was unique as a ghetto. My mother made lifelong friends in that barracks, who were the closest thing I ever had to aunts. To understand, you have to know what Czechoslovakia was like in the Masaryk years and how the Jews were treated there before WWII. All religions were treated equally and anti-Semitism was actually illegal. For twenty years, it was a wonderful, democratic place to live and prosper.
Ruth, I am so glad your mother survived to have you. We love It here in Czech. And think the people are most kind. It is hard to imagine all that has gone on here in just the last 100 years
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
So far the quote has not found the correct attribution but it exists as foreboding today as it has in history. In our zeal of partisanship schadenfreude, we are totally abandoning our Constitution.
The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution each contain a Due Process Clause. Due process deals with the administration of justice and thus the Due Process Clause acts as a safeguard from arbitrary denial of life, liberty, or property by the government outside the sanction of law.
Where do these accused people go to get their lives and their reputations back???
I defend the right of ALL people to have due process whether Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal. We are heading down a very dark road condemning, firing, judging before people have a chance to face their accusers and see the truth revealed.
Glad you are seeing a part of the history of dark roads of humanity. Let’s do all we can to stop it happening again. Anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe and on our college campuses led by the group, Social Justice in Palestine. It is not reported in the news but poses a very real growing threat. And BTW, Christians are the most persecuted religious group at the moment across the globe.
Let’s NOT be the good men who do nothing.