Points we all need to be more conscious of as we try to avoid life's hurdles coming at us fast and hard.
Americans today are more afraid than they have been in prior generations. Many of us feel isolated and fragile. Joining a powerful group (or one that is loud and appears formidable) feels like a safe thing to do; a way to be part of a "pack" and not a target. The entertainment industry, academy and large corporations all are actively endorsing, or refusing to resist, anti-semitism that is becoming a mainstream attitude. The public is a big market looking desperately for a safe haven and loud, politically active organizations use, or excuse, violence to herd the vulnerable into the fold with the threat of shaming, excluding, ghosting, bullying, etc.. Students and employees are particularly vulnerable to group pressure to conform. No individual seeking a private life can ignore the pressure completely because resisting group-pressure has such a high social price. We need examples (stories) to show us how to survive group pressure without becoming a martyr to it.
This is a superb (if shocking) essay. The shock is that so many people under 30 have doubts that the holocaust might have happened, or don't believe that it did. This is a warning of what happens if the lessons of history are forgotten and to evaporate altogether into the ethers.
The importance of the impact of Schindler's List on public opinion must not be lost.
This brings me to recent events.
Within 24 hours of the Hamas attack on Oct 7,, I saw dozens of short videos documenting what Hamas did. But within the next 36 hours, many of the most graphic videos were removed from YouTube and I've since been unable to locate them.
The videos I viewed were examples of raw, disgusting vicarious brutality which was filmed by the Hamas "fighters," which videos they proudly posted on-line. They did so to celebrate their conquest and brag about their torture, murder, incineration, rape etc. of civilians of all ages. For Hamas and their fellow tavellers, their deeds were a source of immense pride.
Now, for context, some history.
In the first 2 or 3 years of WW-2, the Nazis dispatched Einsatzgruppen into the east (mainly into the USSR but also Poland).
The Einsatzgruppen followed the German Army (Wehrmacht) and were responsible for the mass deportation, killing and torture of civilians in conquered villages. (Some reports suggest the Einsatzgruppen were responsible for a million deaths.)
What strikes me is the difference between the Nazis and Hamas: As with their concentration/death camps, the Nazis went to great lengths to hide the actions of the Einsatzgruppen. (The Nazis did film much of what they did, but did not release the films for public viewing. It was only after the war that the full extend of Nazi depravity became apparant.)
So unlike, Hamas, the Nazis did not reveal the existence of Einsatzgruppen, much less publicize or brag about their mission or "accomplishments."
With the removal of the Hamas videos from public access, a truly important part of history has been erased. Indeed, the actions of Hamas are already being warped through moral relativism, if not burried outright, and I fear the real importance of this particular horror will soon be lost.
To be sure, the Hamas videos are horrible, sickening, abhorrent and hard to view. But those videos need to be seen if we are to understand and remember what hate can do, has done and will do again if history is again allowed to become irrelevant.
I hope with all my heart that somehow we can find a way to tell a story that recaptures the power of Schindler's List. Now, more than ever, we need it.
This comment connects a lot of ugly dots for me. It really raises huge, uncomfortable questions about the importance of witnessing, and what we have to be willing to look at -- and to make public -- if we are to reckon with our worst selves and have a realistic chance of doing better. Thank you.
Points we all need to be more conscious of as we try to avoid life's hurdles coming at us fast and hard.
Americans today are more afraid than they have been in prior generations. Many of us feel isolated and fragile. Joining a powerful group (or one that is loud and appears formidable) feels like a safe thing to do; a way to be part of a "pack" and not a target. The entertainment industry, academy and large corporations all are actively endorsing, or refusing to resist, anti-semitism that is becoming a mainstream attitude. The public is a big market looking desperately for a safe haven and loud, politically active organizations use, or excuse, violence to herd the vulnerable into the fold with the threat of shaming, excluding, ghosting, bullying, etc.. Students and employees are particularly vulnerable to group pressure to conform. No individual seeking a private life can ignore the pressure completely because resisting group-pressure has such a high social price. We need examples (stories) to show us how to survive group pressure without becoming a martyr to it.
love these thoughts and the way they are put. compact and absolutely clear statement of the problem.
This is a superb (if shocking) essay. The shock is that so many people under 30 have doubts that the holocaust might have happened, or don't believe that it did. This is a warning of what happens if the lessons of history are forgotten and to evaporate altogether into the ethers.
The importance of the impact of Schindler's List on public opinion must not be lost.
This brings me to recent events.
Within 24 hours of the Hamas attack on Oct 7,, I saw dozens of short videos documenting what Hamas did. But within the next 36 hours, many of the most graphic videos were removed from YouTube and I've since been unable to locate them.
The videos I viewed were examples of raw, disgusting vicarious brutality which was filmed by the Hamas "fighters," which videos they proudly posted on-line. They did so to celebrate their conquest and brag about their torture, murder, incineration, rape etc. of civilians of all ages. For Hamas and their fellow tavellers, their deeds were a source of immense pride.
Now, for context, some history.
In the first 2 or 3 years of WW-2, the Nazis dispatched Einsatzgruppen into the east (mainly into the USSR but also Poland).
The Einsatzgruppen followed the German Army (Wehrmacht) and were responsible for the mass deportation, killing and torture of civilians in conquered villages. (Some reports suggest the Einsatzgruppen were responsible for a million deaths.)
What strikes me is the difference between the Nazis and Hamas: As with their concentration/death camps, the Nazis went to great lengths to hide the actions of the Einsatzgruppen. (The Nazis did film much of what they did, but did not release the films for public viewing. It was only after the war that the full extend of Nazi depravity became apparant.)
So unlike, Hamas, the Nazis did not reveal the existence of Einsatzgruppen, much less publicize or brag about their mission or "accomplishments."
With the removal of the Hamas videos from public access, a truly important part of history has been erased. Indeed, the actions of Hamas are already being warped through moral relativism, if not burried outright, and I fear the real importance of this particular horror will soon be lost.
To be sure, the Hamas videos are horrible, sickening, abhorrent and hard to view. But those videos need to be seen if we are to understand and remember what hate can do, has done and will do again if history is again allowed to become irrelevant.
I hope with all my heart that somehow we can find a way to tell a story that recaptures the power of Schindler's List. Now, more than ever, we need it.
I look forward to your next installment.
This comment connects a lot of ugly dots for me. It really raises huge, uncomfortable questions about the importance of witnessing, and what we have to be willing to look at -- and to make public -- if we are to reckon with our worst selves and have a realistic chance of doing better. Thank you.