(Jewish Group) It really bothers me that Trump has emboldened the neo-Nazis

[steve2470]

I think when history is written, his emboldening of the far right and neo-Nazis will go down as one of the very worst aspects of his legacy. Before Trump (please correct me if I'm wrong), I don't remember hearing about neo-Nazis seeking public office. Now it seems to be a weekly or monthly thing.

Between being an avid student of World War 2 and going to Berlin recently, I've become very much aware of the potential threat they are. When you are in Berlin and look at the Reichstag (and its intact bullet holes), see the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and the Topography of Terror, it really brings it home to you in a more immediate and emotional way. I did not see Sachsenhausen or any other concentration/work/death camps but I'm sure that also really brings it home to you.

I'll be glad when we no longer have to cope with neo-Nazis seeking office on a regular basis. Except under their own rock.

[unblock]

1. i have visited both dachau and theresienstadt

at one of them (dachau, i think), the tour guide was a survivor of the camp itself. he showed us some steps and a platform he had been forced to build. it was then used to hang jews. not only did they actually kill people with it, but they also tortured many people (the now tour guide included) by putting them through mock executions, which they would call off at the last second.

my mother is a holocaust survivor, but many of my relatives were killed during that period.

the open hatred donnie and the right-wing is trying to normalize is genuinely terrifying, as is the entire nazi menu of propaganda strategies that the right has adopted.

[steve2470]

2. I'm so glad your mother survived

Those camps must have been really searing emotionally. I'm sorry to hear many of your relatives were killed by the Nazis.

[unblock]

4. they were, for me. to see them in film is one thing.

but to go be there, to see and touch places where such horrors happened, to see a small area and imagine over a hundred people forced to sleep in such a small area, to see carvings in the walls, etc.

a movie can somehow bring something to life and yet make it feel fictional at the same time.

going there really drives it home. makes it less fantastical than the movies, more ordinary... more real.


note, my mother was never in a camp. she was smuggled out as an infant. my grandparents were evicted from their apartment after the ss took away the jews from that building but managed to miss them (the super told them 3 jewish families; they didn't check my grandparents' apartment after they counted to three because two jewish families were living together in another unit). they fled first to belgium after the anschluss, then out of belgium during the few weeks after the polish invasion and before they marched through belgium. in england for a short while, then on to america.

they lost everything, though. in order to get out, they had to fake going on a picnic in the ardennes forest and just take a walk in the woods. all their possessions got left behind, and the smugglers took what cash they could safely carry.


i can only imagine what it was like for my grandparents. losing everything, including your country. starting over with nothing, in a foreign land, no job, no savings, just the clothes you're wearing, not even knowing the language. and with a baby, to boot.

[steve2470]

6. your grandparents were very brave and very strong! nt

[Behind the Aegis]

3. It bothers me too.

Personally, I feel pinched by both sides, but the right is becoming increasingly more mainstream, which really concerns me. I was in Berlin last year and saw all those places, as well as the memorial to the Sinti (Gypsies), which was quite nice and the memorial to the GLBT, which SUCKED! I broke down in tears when I saw it. It is literally across the street from the one for the Jews. Of course, I also visited Dachau and Auschwitz, I posted pics in the Photography Group, but just checked and none of them are showing up. Did you also see any "Stumbling Stones"?

The "president" has encouraged these assholes in a way which hasn't been done before, even by uber-conservative putzes, but they have always been there. There is a song by Paula Cole ("Where Have All the Cowboys Gone" fame), called "Hitler's Brothers" that I post every now and again (I'll post it at the bottom), and the refrain is:

Hitler's brothers are still alive,
Their army seems to grow in size,
Hitler's brothers are on the rise,
They're wearing everyday disguises.
... In camouflage or business suits.

That song was from YEARS ago! Frankly, I am just biding my time before there is an attack against the Jews. I don't know to what scale, but I do know what the reaction will likely be, and I am preparing for that as well. Given that I am gay too, I also have a "double" fear of what is happening, including the blasé attitudes I see from our side in regards to LGBT issues. So many will drone on and on about "white privilege" and "male privilege" and seem to forget there is "Christian privilege" and "straight privilege" to combat and confront as well. Personally, I can't recall ever being so disillusioned by people from my own side of the political spectrum as I have been with the rise of this asshole and his administration.

ETA: Ooops forgot to add the song

[steve2470]

5. good song, thank you

I also saw the memorial to the Sinti and to GLBT. I also saw the memorial to GLBT when I was in Amsterdam. I think I saw a few "stumbling stones" in Berlin ? I did so much walking and my feet hurt so much that we didn't stop to examine them.

Your pics in the Photography group, do you remember who you hosted them with ? Photobucket has been notorious about blocking pics unless you pay their exorbitant fees.

[Behind the Aegis]

8. I had my pics on "postimage".

I think they must have a time limit on how long a picture can show. I noticed others who had posted pics from there also have broken links after a few months.

[Permanut]

7. What a twisted up pretzel..

So Mango Mussolini moved the embassy to Jerusalem, which

generated adulation and praise from the Christian bible thumpers, who

claim to "love the Jews", e.g. Jack van Impe; meanwhile,

Mango Mussolini encourages hate groups like the nazis.

WTF?