Last night, Robert and I let Nick watch an Indiana Jones movie. He has been wanting to watch them for awhile now, so a few weeks ago, we let him watch the first one, and last night we watched the third one (with supervision and editing, of course). He noted that both movies had Nazis and asked who they were. At first, I simply left it at "They are bad guys. Very bad guys." Then we got to the scene in Berlin, where there is a bonfire of books and people are throwing more and more books on the pile. This prompted more questions, the answers to which prompted even more questions in turn. I found myself trying to relay to my son that these people were real, and they were not simply bad. They were pure evil. He asked who the man who signed Indiana's book was, and I told him. "He is Adolf Hitler and he is one of the most evil men to ever walk the face of the earth." Eventually I was able to refocus his attention on the movie without having to get into more detail of who were the Nazis and what made them so evil. I really did not want to have to expose my son to the reality and horror of what this world witnessed during WWII and its aftermath. I am not ready to mar my son's innocence with the knowledge of how evil men can be, and have been.
The next day, I was reading up on political news, and one thing jumped out at me. I had read about it earlier in the week, and had read the criticism from the "librul media" but, in light of my conversation with Nick, it struck me anew, in a way that at once saddens and angers me. At a rally this week, that included lawmakers, there were people protesting the proposed health care reform, and they were carrying the usual allotment of Nazi references - it has become so standard at these gatherings, that no one thinks twice anymore - but this time they carried something more. A photo. An enlarged photo of the dead, victims of the Holocaust who died at Dachau.
The constant comparison of Obama to Hitler is patently absurd, of course, yet there is no outcry or backlash when the comparison is made. Obama is trying to keep people healthy by providing access to healthcare for those who have none. Hitler systematically slaughtered millions of people. There is no way the two are similar in any way. They are about as polar opposite as you can get. Yet the references continue. Only now they come with visual reminders of the depths of the horror and evil that was the Holocaust.
Those people who want to parade photos of the dead because they are ideologically opposed to our democratically elected President should be profoundly ashamed of themselves. They desecrate the memories of the dead they seek to use. They disrespect the survivors who carry that horror with them every day. They trample the lessons of history and they belittle the suffering of all who were and are affected by the Holocaust.
We are so blessed and so fortunate to live in a country where dissent is valued , but to be a productive part of democracy, dissent must be brought forth from honest opinion, and not from the disingenuous disrespect of the Holocaust. Those who suffered and died in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany deserve better than to have their memories and their images abused in a dishonest attempt at dissent. And we, who love democracy, deserve better than elected leaders who quietly consent to this abuse of history.
