January 29, 2005
Memories
Do you know the date of Pearl Harbor off the top of your head? How about D-Day? What about V-E Day? How about V-J Day? Do you know who won World War II? Do you know what happened at Auschwitz?
Jack is upset that most bloggers failed to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. He thinks it means the Holocaust is forgotten.
The Holocaust is not forgotten. The liberation of Auschwitz is important, but it's not necessarily one of those moments in history seared into the minds of Americans. Russians liberated Europeans sixty years ago. It's one of those moments that has blended in with the long list of moments that make up the Holocaust. We've all seen the pictures. We've all heard the stories. We know about the Holocaust.
If we're going to commemorate every date important to the Holocaust, we will be in a perpetual state of commemoration. In theory, that's not such a bad idea, but in the world where we have jobs and families, we don't have that kind of time.
Ask 100 American high school students to tell you who Anne Frank is; then ask them to tell you which concentration camp she died at...and precious few will know the camp. But most of them will know her story.
And that's what is important.
Posted by Jennifer at January 29, 2005 02:58 PMDecember 7, 1941. June 6, 1944. May 8, 1945. September 2, 1945. The good guys. The bad guys killed millions of people for no particular reason than because they had the misfortune to be alive and Jewish in the same place as them.
Did I pass? (And no, I didn't Google the dates. I remembered them off the top of my head as you asked.)
Really, Jen, sometimes people are just out there looking for a reason to be offended. I'm sure someone will think my response above was insufficiently somber.
Posted by: Rev. Mike at January 29, 2005 04:41 PMI'm not "looking to be offended", I just find it funny that in Europe (where I currently live) they made a big deal out of the lives lost, whereas in the US, from what I can see at this distance, little notice was taken.
And we get offended when Europe doesn't pay attention to us...
Perhaps we should spend less time looking at our own navels if we want help in the world.
Posted by: Jack at January 30, 2005 01:53 AMMy sister is an instructor (union member first teacher second) at an elementary school. History, key dates particularly, is nearly non-existant. "Social Studies" or "Woman Studies" or "African American Studies" replaces the painful, but important, reality of history. It is what it was. My sister declares war an awful thing but does not understand why a soldier hates it more than she. It is ignorance of what and why we go to war. It is no longer taught to be proud of our military and its mission. Few if any teachers are former warriors.
In the military,we have mission statements with a "TASK" and a "PURPOSE". In other words, "To destroy the enemy and its ability to wage war in order to set the conditions for unconditional surrender." All you have to do is walk Normandy, Arlington, Verdun, Gettysburg, etc,..even WTC hole. Bad folks exist, we are slow to anger, but when we do,..
Well, apparently it went unnoticed by some, but over 150 bloggers participated in a "blogburst" on January 27 in memory of the liberation of Auschwitz. For a complete list of those who participated and all the realted blogging you can check this list. Most, but not all, of these bloggers are Americans.
Posted by: texasbug at January 30, 2005 11:04 PMIf every day is special, then no day is special.
Posted by: hatless in hattiesburg at January 31, 2005 11:10 AMok ... Now ask 100 american high school students where iraq is ...
Posted by: Bibble at February 2, 2005 06:20 PM
Jew