Sol Salbe
My late father, a Holocaust survivor, used to say that one of the things that worried him was what would happen once his generation died out. With no living evidence, would the Holocaust be simply forgotten? Would it be used as a political argument for causes he didn't support?
Sure, the January 25 special UN session to commemorate the anniversary and numerous media features have temporarily raised consciousness. But on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, the memory of the worst crime of the 20th century is beginning to fade. It is chilling to read of the number of young people who have never heard of Auschwitz.
Those who have heard of it think of it as a Jewish issue. But as UN general-secretary Kofi Annan reminded the world at the assembly: "Other groups slaughtered by Nazi Germany included the Roma people, Slavs, Soviet prisoners of war, the handicapped, Jehovah's Witnesses and homosexuals." It would have been a crime against humanity if only one of these groups had been targeted. In the case of the Jewish people, Annan said, "An entire civilisation, which had contributed far beyond its numbers to the cultural and intellectual riches of Europe and the world, was uprooted, destroyed, laid waste".
Surprisingly, one of the best accounts of that destruction came from an unexpected source. The British Guardian's Lawrence Rees tracked down Oskar Groning, a former SS officer at Auschwitz, who was incensed at the way some fellow Germans thought it "inconceivable" for so many bodies to have been burned.
"But Groning knew very well it had happened — for he was posted to Auschwitz in September 1942, as a 22-year-old member of the SS. Almost immediately he witnessed the arrival of Jews at the camp. 'I was standing at the ramp', he says. He watched while SS doctors first separated men from women and children, and then selected who was fit to work and who would be gassed immediately. 'Sick people were lifted on to lorries'. Groning estimates that 80-90% of those on the first transport he witnessed were selected to be murdered at once.
"Later, he witnessed the burning of bodies: 'This comrade said, "Come with me, I'll show you." I was so shocked that I stood at a distance. The fire was flickering up and the kapo [a prisoner in charge of work details] there told me afterwards details of the burning. And it was terribly disgusting — horrendous.'"
Lessons
Inscribing the Holocaust on humanity's collective memory is one thing. Learning the lesson is another. Yes, everyone repeats the mantra from Kofi Annan down: Referring to the recent cases of genocide in Cambodia, Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, he said: "On occasions such as this, rhetoric comes easily. We rightly say 'never again.' But action is much harder. Since the Holocaust the world has, to its shame, failed more than once to prevent or halt genocide."
Too right! Everyone says "never again". But their actions speak louder than words. The whole UN session was a good case in point. Just look at the choice of speakers. Literally millions of US Jews have lost relatives in the Holocaust. Selecting Paul Wolfowitz, a key architect of the war on Iraq which has killed around 100,000 Iraqi civilians, is an insult to the memory of my relatives.
As a life-long supporter of Palestinian human rights, I was pleased to read about the presence of the Palestinian observer during the session. I think it was wrong for British Muslims to boycott the equivalent event. The Holocaust stands on its own and should not be turned into a political football. But the Israeli state has done precisely that.
Using the Holocaust to justify its ongoing treatment of the Palestinians is again an insult to the victims. Palestinian activist Mazin Qumsiyeh put it neatly when he said: "Conflating Jewish historical suffering with the interests of the Israeli government...is analogous to conflating Native American suffering with US government interests and capitalism."
One could go on: where were the representatives of the Red Army which actually liberated Auschwitz? Where were the spokespeople of the Roma people or the gays?
But we must get back to the real lesson. The Holocaust would never have happened if it were not for the participation and acquiescence of ordinary people. So like the Israeli refuseniks and anti-war activists everywhere, we must stand up and oppose injustice now. There is no point in waiting to see if it develops into mega-genocide, for then it will be far too late.
"'I would like you to believe me' says Oskar Groning, the bank clerk who became an SS guard. 'I saw the gas chambers. I saw the crematoria. I saw the open fires. I was on the ramp when the selections took place. I would like you to believe that these atrocities happened, because I was there."
From Green Left Weekly, February 2, 2005.
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