He describes the Nazis and the six million Jews they murdered as “two white groups of people.”
Oddly enough, Goldberg’s structure is partially correct insofar as it follows fairly closely the modern identification of race as a “social construction”. The term “white” was born precisely to identify those who should not be considered slaves to movable property, and Jews in the European diaspora generally fell within this definition, despite the many other persecutions they suffered.
On the other hand, the Nazis certainly defined “Aryans” and “Jews” as racial classes in their own “social structure,” so Goldberg was wrong about the attitudes involved. Like the proverbial Facebook relationship, “it’s complicated.”
But there is also a bigger issue involved. Who “owns” the Holocaust when it comes to claims of historical or current victimization?
Although Jews, whatever their “race,” formed a group of Holocaust victims, they were not the only victims or even the majority of the victims.
Yes, the Nazis murdered six million Jews.
They also murdered nearly twice as many others, including (according to Wikipedia) non-Jewish Russian civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, Polish Catholics, Serbs, the disabled, Roma, Freemasons, Slovenes, homosexuals, Spanish Republicans, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Some of these murders were due to racial or ethnic reasons. The others were not.
The only positive aspect of Nazi persecution and murder is that it inspires a constant, constant feeling and determination: “Never again.”
But even this positive side is constantly tainted in two ways.
One is an inappropriate petition: For almost any political reason, someone is almost certain to cite the ghosts of the Holocaust as an analogy to their treks. In doing so, they often, though not always, abuse the memory of the dead to produce ugly, trivial, or simply inaccurate political considerations.
The second is inappropriate claims about the status of Holocaust victims from the exclusive rights of organizations (and states) that claim to represent the Jewish people.
“No @WhopiGoldberg, #hole was about the Nazis [sic] The systematic extermination of the Jews – which they considered the lower race, ”the Anti-Defamation League tweeted. Jonathan Greenblatt“
As Greenblatt continues, immediately after the distortion of the Holocaust: “The distortion of the Holocaust is dangerous.”
Whenever the Holocaust is compared – credibly or not – to anything that does not directly concern the Jewish community, Greenblatt and others can be trusted to raise ceilings and insist that such comparisons be made only in support of their own opinions. recommended reasons.
Jews have good and obvious historical reasons to be constantly interested in the Holocaust and to be especially energetic in opposing any kind of encore.
These good and obvious reasons do not justify Greenblatt et. al’s claims of monopoly ownership or veto over the use of Holocaust analogies in current events.
Factor: Thomas L. Knapp
| (Twitter: @thomaslknapp) is a director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism (thegarrisoncenter.org). He lives and works in northern Central Florida. |
This is the “View” column. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The Helsinki Times. This column has not been revised, and HT is not responsible for any inaccurate or misleading statements in this article.
Source: The Nordic Page