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Remembering What We Value
By Bernie Steinberg
Director, Harvard Hillel
James von Brunn is a passionate hater of Jews, blacks, and the soul of America as a place where respect for difference is a condition for human dignity: not only are all human beings equal, but each is unique. This recognition of difference applies both to individuals and groups.
And so, von Brunn chose an appropriate venue to express his rage at America.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum celebrates the dignity of human difference. It presents a narrative that unapologetically underlines the distinctive centrality of the Jews in the Holocaust while including and articulating the specific identity of other groups both victims and heroes, including the role of Soviet, British, and U.S. troops in the liberation of Europe. In this story, human differences are not homogenized. Nor do differences exclude. An overarching theme is interdependence between diverse people whose distinctive identities are a ground for dignity and appreciation.
As the name suggests, memory is at the heart of The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Memory is not simple recall. In Biblical terms, the Hebrew root for 'remember' (zkr) means to be mindful, to be aware, to pay heed. Memory suggests involvement, concern, engagement, and responsibility. It is often connected with a verb of action. Memory then concerns moral consciousness, action, and identity. When I remember what I value; what deeply concerns me; what moves me to action; when I know where I stand-- I strengthen my identity. .When I lose my memory, I forget who I am; I lose my identity. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum then provokes reflection on identity and values.
Like many American Jews, my family memories include the persecution of Jews in Eastern Europe. Last summer, 18 family members took a journey of identity. We visited the towns in Ukraine from where our families fled to the US between the world wars. In Kupel, a 93 year old woman described the day in November 1941 when Nazis rounded up and murdered 900 of the 1000 Jews in my mother's birthplace. "Do you want to see the mound where they are buried?" she asked. "It's close by--down the road right by the old mill". The old mill?! I had heard of the mill. It had been recounted and described in family stories: it had been built and run by my great-grandfather.
The accumulated sense of our journey was. "What if the family had remained in Europe? Thank God we escaped! How grateful that we had made it to America, where we had been born; raised, and thrived. At one point when discussing the gap between our experience in America and the memories of our family in Europe, my cousin, a former CEO of United Airlines said: Anti-Semitism still exists, and grows yet it does not define us as it did our parents and grandparents.
James von Brunn's murderous attack at the U.S. Holocaust center does not contradict this insight. On the contrary, it reminds us that in a free society, a culture that is based on appreciation for difference, where our moral agency is strengthened, we need not be paralyzed by fear, nor can we permit ourselves to become morally complacent. The heightened awareness that hatred is alive, well, and contagious --provoked by a World War II navy officer -- can mobilize us to action and renew our commitment to civic engagement, the blessed opportunity and obligation offered by this country.
Dr. Bernard Steinberg is the President and Director of Harvard Hillel.
By Bernie Steinberg |
June 13, 2009; 11:43 AM ET
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Posted by: Farnaz1Mansouri1 | June 13, 2009 2:13 PM
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The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum celebrates the dignity of human difference. It presents a narrative that UNAPOLOGETICALLY (emphasis mine) underlines the distinctive centrality of the Jews in the Holocaust while including and articulating the specific identity of other groups both victims and heroes, including the role of Soviet, British, and U.S. troops in the liberation of Europe. In this story, human differences are not homogenized. Nor do differences exclude. An overarching theme is interdependence between diverse people whose distinctive identities are a ground for dignity and appreciation.
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"Unapologetically." This would be hilarious if the need NOT to apologize were not so apparent. It is an unfortunate reminder of Jew-hatred, that which MAY NOT speak its name, that we should be made to feel the need to apologize for genocide conducted by Christians. The aftermath of the Shoah is with us and will be with us until the end of time. Many of the surviving victims experienced debilitating health problems for the rest of their lives. Notable among this large group were those subjected to the Austrian Catholic Mengele's "medical" experiments.
For some among this group later treatments provided relief, however limited. However, for many deliberately infected with his pathogen coctails, no help could ever be found. Thousands of surviving victims, who had been confined in Auscwitz died in their sixties form a lung ailment, never satisfactorily identified.
Then there are the children of these victims and their children's children. There are also the unborn. The generations we shall never see. The destruction of an entire civilization, not to mention the persecution of Jews in African and the Middle East, also part of the Shoah.
Unapologetic. Hilarious. Who should apologize?
The USHMM focuses on genocide. It is a useful source on the Holocaust, the genocide of the Jews, the persecutions of the handicapped, some elderly, gays, Porjaramos (spellings vary), the Sudan genocide, Rwanda, etc. The essayist gives additional details.
Unapologetic.
Posted by: Farnaz1Mansouri1 | June 13, 2009 1:59 PM
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The author writes:
"James von Brunn's murderous attack at the U.S. Holocaust center does not contradict this insight. On the contrary, it reminds us that in a free society, a culture that is based on appreciation for difference, where our moral agency is strengthened, we need not be paralyzed by fear, nor can we permit ourselves to become morally complacent."
NOT really. It reminds most Americans that they have to be vigilant in denying the antisemtism they practice, drum up diverse strategies to deflect from the killer's stated intent: "to kill the Jews," bury this incident as quickly as possible, perhaps adjacent to the grave of Johanna Justin-Jinich, make it the tale of how the murdered (martyred) Stephen Johns is not getting "adequate attention" (read the Jews give themselves too much publicity).
Not a reminder not to be "morally complacent," merely a reminder not to be moral.