http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspxBy Martin Fletcher, NBC News Tel Aviv Bureau Chief Recently -- and for the first time -- I have been reading survivors’ accounts of the Holocaust. Turns out I am not alone in being delayed in addressing the subject. I was surprised, for instance,en-USCommunityServer 2.0 (Build: 60608.1)http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101820Tue, 27 Mar 2007 12:59:28 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101820Rachael Stonewood, WV God bless you and I wish this never happened. I pray for u to find peace for the rest of your life. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101826Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:07:21 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101826Dov Avni, Brooklyn, NYAs the first-born child of Holocaust survivors, I've gone through the stories since I was a small child. And I still can't read stories, I haven't seen Schindler's List and I haven't gone to the Holocaust Museum. I walked through Auschwitz and cried for a solid 5 hours. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101833Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:12:39 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101833Lilian GreenAs an Australian night-owl news junkie, I have been watching the Today show ever since it was on at 2am, and now 4am, our time, enjoying all the foreign correspondents. It shouldn't matter but I'm glad to learn that Martin Fletcher is Jewish. I always watched his reports with interest, especially from Tel-Aviv where I used to live. Maybe it matters because of what our families went through, and which is instantly understandable, even though often unspoken, in Survivor families and children of Holocaust Survivors . Thank you, Martinhttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101835Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:15:19 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101835Jane Doe Seattle, Wash.Thank you for your words and for reminding everyone who takes the time to read them that this time in history, no matter how hard to accept or remember, DID happen. Shame on ANYONE who tries to deny it or try to convince others that it did not happen for their own advantage. Hitler was an evil man. There is no way to change history or what happened in the death camps. Remembering is painful, but necessary.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101837Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:18:26 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101837Jackie Richardson, Oklahoma City, OKHow can people say such things never happened? It's a miracle that those who have survived are brave enough to share their wealth of information. I'm 53; still have the actual pictures of the concentration camps from WWII that belonged to my dad. As an American serving during those times he didn't say much about it w/out pausing, weeping. God bless all of the people who survived, and those who sacrificed their lives to save them.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101842Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:21:40 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101842TJ Campbell, Tifton, GAI have been a student of the holocaust for many years, feeling an obligation to the murdered millions to learn what led men to do such unspeakable deeds and to do my part to prevent it from happening again. I have little hope that manking has learned it's lesson and the sadness that this causes me is very deep. The world has stood in inaction while millions more have been slaughtered in Africa, Asia, and the Balkans. Only national self interest has induced nations to occaisionally do something more than talk. While diplomats wrangle overr words and protocol millions are in peril even at this moment. Mankind has yet to learn that what happens to one group may one day happen to us and that we all have an obligation to show mercy, hate injustice, and love our neighbor. Most chilling is the growing fringe group who claim that no holocaust even occurred. It is for this reason that the slaughter of the millions must ever be kept in the headlines and never forgotten. Each of us must face our collective culpabilty for tolerating genocide, ethnic purging, and all of the other euphamisms of hate put into action. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101843Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:21:52 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101843Amy S., Newnan, GeorgiaAnother fascinating book is "Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account" by Dr. Miklos Nyiszli. He worked under the infamous Dr. Mengele, but as a prisoner. It is very interesting, though depressing, and a very quick read for those wanting to know more about the camp.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101844Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:22:31 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101844PAT N , MCALESTER, OKTHE WORLD MUST NEVER FORGET WHAT HAPPENED. I HOPE TO BE ABLE TO VISIT THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM SOMEDAY. mY GREAT AUNT FROM LITHUANIA DIED IN A SLAVE LABOR CAMP, LEAVING BEHIND EIGHT CHILDREN.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101847Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:26:29 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101847Susan RochowDear Martin: I'm so grateful for this testament to your readers about your long personal journey to the literature of the Holocaust. I'm a 66 yr old, white, post-Christian Unitarian grandmother from Chicago, now living in a nearly all-white Eastern Establishment community, and I've been reading diaries, books about and from the Holocaust survivers for 40 years. There's so much more for the reader now than there was 25 years ago. I think, in my case, it's a "survivors guilt" behavior. I've always had a heightened sense of my "elite" social place in the world, knowing I could have been born ANYWHERE in 1940; it was a miracle, I think, to have been born here in the United States rather than anywhere else in the world, in 1940. But, yes, I read the diaries, and I thank you for saying, "Thank God, I'll never know...". I feel that way almost every day in this terrifying world, as I sit here wrapped in the big safe mantle of the territory of the United States of America.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101848Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:27:30 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101848Cloe Wood, Princeton, NJHow can anybody deny the Holocust?http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101857Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:36:55 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101857EDR - NYCI too am a child (grown women with children now) of a Auschwitz Holocaust (Dr. M) survivor. A large majority of my family was killed, and those that survived all had the numbers on their arms. As a child, it was not discussed, just understood. No one wanted to revisit that pain. Who could blame them. Even to this day, for me, the pain they suffered lives in me, to my surprise, greater than I ever imagined. I cannot, nor do I ever, go see movies or read books related to the Holocaust - it's still just so fresh. I feel guilt in not trying to learn more but at the same time, it's just to painful to revisit - even one generation removed from the event. I cannot explain it.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101860Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:42:47 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101860Sherman RennelsPlease finish this story the world needs to know. God Bless Israel http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101861Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:43:30 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101861not stupid, Seattle areaSome 40 odd years ago as a soldier stationed in Germany, I had the opportunity to visit Dachau. Little remained then of the camp itself - concrete building foundations neatly lned up in rows with small wooden signs designating the "building number" and the remnants of the crematorium. Whatever "rememberances" (explanations) there were were billboard sized and written in English and German coldly describing (in a "matter of fact" style characteristic of German) the camp itself and presenting some pictures. An interesting thing was that the English and the German were essentially equivalent, without embellishment. I happened to be the only person there on those "Killing Fields" (the analogy fits, use it) for the entire time of my visit (a little over an hour) - on a somewhat cold February Tuesday, just outside of Munich. That visit still haunts my memorieshttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101867Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:54:46 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101867Harold Gordon Salinas, CAI read your story. It broght back long surpresd memories. I spent one year in Aushwitz. Don't know how I got out and lived. I wrote about my eperiances, a book "The Last Sunrise" in Aushwitz, 1992. Harold Godronhttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101869Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:55:03 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101869Larry Gutman, Holbrook, NYA most appropriate article, with the Passover holidays, and the anniversary of my fathers liberation from Auschwitz. This time of the year always brings many of those thoughts to mind as a son of a survivor. As my family celebrates at the Sedar (Thank God Mom And Dad are still here to celebarte.) talk of the camps is often brought up but as he looks at his grand children he knows why he survived and so do I. As far as your other thoughts and self questioning I think all children of survivor's families have similar thoughts, Please G-d as you said we or our children should never know of such atrocities but should never forget them. Be Well.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101875Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:01:23 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101875John GibbonThanks it's hard to understand that feeling but your analogy is certainly one I know. It made me remember stepping into the boxcar in the Washington memorial but for the opposite reason being alone and knowing how people were packed in. Glad to hear the survivors have a place to meet, in their case some things are best forgotten, in our case they must never be and you have helped us to do that. Thanks.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101880Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:08:12 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101880Gerry Schein, New York CityI have long appreciated your news reports from Israel.There's a heart and soul that attaches to the facts in your reports. Your column today only further undersores the greatness of the survivors and that unfortunately their heroism passes with them. Thank you.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101884Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:12:23 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101884adeeb majdI visited concentration camps last year in West Bank and Gaza Strip. I agree with you describing death and fear, the smell of human wast. The buzz of daily death that may haunt you anytime. These people's concentrations camps has lasted for 59 years and counting.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101885Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:13:08 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101885MikeEverytime the liberal democrats join the terrorists in bashing Israel, they need to be read a story like this.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101888Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:14:19 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101888Dani Gannon, Cherry Hill, NJAs unimaginably difficult as it must have been for any of the survivors to document their experiences, it is essential that as many of these exist as possible. The survivors are passing on naturally day by day and, eventually, they will all be gone and the only way to keep alive the memory of the worst period of modern human history will be these accounts. God bless them for putting themselves through the horrors over and over again so that posterity will never forget the suffering.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101892Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:17:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101892SILBERSTEIN, BROOKLYN, NEW YORKI am a son of survivors of the camps. My father was 1 of 7500 Jews who survived the Lodz Ghetto. Out of 250,000 Jews living in Lodz before the war. It is still early in history for the heart to pour the tears that it really needs and feels to. I have never cried when I heard any story of the survivors. But this year when I read the story of the chief Rabbi of Israel my heart broke down and found the time to let the tears flow. As time goes on the tears will flow when children and children's children hear the stories of what happened to the fathers grandfathers and great grandfathers. We must prepare them with the stories and accounts. The true purpose of the past will be revealed, BUT NOW WE MUST CONTINUE ONWARD AND NOTIFY THE GENERATIONS OF WHAT HAPPENED.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101893Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:17:36 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101893Lorn BergstresserHow encouraging to hear that these dear folk can get together under such positive conditions. Having just read Bodie Thoene's powerful historical novels (Zion Covenant series) of those dark days and seeing how people survive such atrocity ... reminds me of the strength of spirit God has given his people.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101894Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:17:55 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101894Betty, Albuquerque, NMI have never understood and never will understand what the world has against the Jewish people. Aren't they God's creations as well as us? I feel so bad for all the atrocities committed and wish the world would stop and look at them and LEARN..http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101901Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:27:19 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101901TOM SPRINKLE, DALLAS, TEXASComplacency and denial by the non-european nations including England and the United States allowed Hitler's government to get away with this. A whole ship load of evacuees was turned back at the shores of the U.S.A. only to be returned eventually to the death camps. I have visited Dachau(sic)and read many books and stories of the death camps and although it is hard to fathom how it could happen, you only have to look at the fanatics in the world today that would do the same when they get the chance to any group in their sites. We have Americans right now saying 9/11 was planned by the U.S. government instead of laying the blame where rational people know it lays.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101902Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:27:24 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101902P. WalstonAs a 20 yr old who was just experiencing the world in 2003, I went to Dachau concentration camp and it really made me become a student of the Holocaust. It's amazing though how we all say "never again," but a genocide is happening right underneath our noses and the most powerful nation in the world, the U.S., nor the UN, iw doing anything to stop the atrocities in Darfur. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101903Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:29:10 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101903R. Hicks, Hutchinson, KSI'm a professor of history specializing in Nazi Germany and Holocaust studies. I would like for any Holocaust survivors to speak with me. I hope to have my work published within the coming year.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101908Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:34:16 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101908Bea Heilpern, Edgewood, MDMy Mother and her family (1 brother) left Germany before the camps. They were still scarred by having to leave their families in Germany. Unfortunetly my mother died when I was a baby and my grandparents lived in Reno, NV while I lived in New York. My uncle and his family also died when I was little. As I get older, I realize what happened in the camps should never be forgotten. I have no family left on my mother's side. Sometimes I feel like an orphan.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101911Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:37:50 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101911Stewart Raiman, Bradenton, FLAre the law's still in effect about the Nazi Party during WWII? If so why aren't they used to put the american nazi away? I though that Treasion is still punshable in the US Constitution. How can anyone who fought in WWII stand by and allow these people to go on the way they do. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101918Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:42:41 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101918Charlen, Chicago, IlDear Mr. Fletcher, I am a christian, a mother of 6 and a ministers wife. I have visited the holocost museum, and for years was sympathetic to the cause, until 911. That was when I started studying why this was all happening, and was shocked to find that the same people who claim to have these things done to them would turn around and treat people the way they have the palestinians. I'm sorry for the suffering, but there were also a lot of people killed in Hiroshima. I'm sure this won't be posted, because that is how these things are never told. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101920Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:43:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101920Mary, Harrisburg, PAWhat was not directly address was the courage it took to continue living afterwards. While I have read a great deal about the camps, including many, many accounts, what interests me is the courage and determination to rebuild their lives. This is such a great testamony to these people and might help all to many other victums of torture.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101921Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:44:00 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101921Tammy Erickson miln IllI am sadden and disgusted as it is hard to believe a human could allow this to happen,yet it did and it is happening again in that African nation as we speak.Bush said when elected that the genocide would not happen on his watch.Well we are still waiting and yet he just wants to keep up the destruction.When will it come to haunt us as a nation?History will most likly repeat itself in our nation and in our time.I only pray that the day is not at hand.Yet with each day a new evil is emerging and no one wants to see the forest for the trees.About 1/3 rd of Americans believe we are living in these times.The mainstream media will not cover what is really going to happen and it too is sad and disgusting.We have been duped and someday in the very near future we will experience what so many did not so long ago.This post will probly not get posted as the mainstream media would like to call all of us 911 truthers crazy.So I am leaving the media with just this question-who will save your soul?http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101933Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:51:25 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101933Jim Derike, Boston, Mass.My grandparents never made it out of Treblinka. My great uncle did not survive Sobibor. Operation Reinland took the best and brightest of all ages in Poland. To those who say the Holocaust never happened, I say you are fools to not heed the atrocities of the past to prevent this from happening in the future. 1.5 million + Jews, mental handicapped, political figures,are testimony to how genocide passes without so much of a farewell from non-believers. See the burial sites, see the history, the unimaginable horrors. talk to the russian liberators, the american soldiers who walked into the camps; the smells, the bodies. I pray that governments in the middle east and elsewhere see the madness for what it is and never treat mass genocide as someone else's problem. Shalom to you! http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101938Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:53:26 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101938Charles Sykes, Peoria, AZI, a non-Jew, visited Dachau in 1989 with my father who was visiting when I was first stationed in Germany. It was an eerie, life changing experience, bringing to the forefront the incredible evil of the Holocaust. When I saw a photograph of a woman and her two small children being led off at Auschwitz, I wept. I offer my greatest respect and sympathies to those who endured such horrors -- Jews and non-Jews alike.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101939Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:53:55 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101939Denyse FarrellDear Mr. Fletcher: Thank you for your comments. I believe that the West (inclucing the USA) carries a moral obligation to support Israel because of the Holocaust. Your notes, and remembrances of survivors and their children, are essential to keeping that reality ever present. I am a gentile who can, therefore, never full appreciate your experiences. I do, however, seek to understand and remember. May God bless you and yours during this Passover season.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101940Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:55:13 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101940Karen Zeiger, San Diego, CaliforniaDear Martin, Thank you for your wonderfully written words. I have always been an admirer of yours, your stories have always been so fairly presented they did not portray your own personal involvement. Whenever I am inconvenienced, I think, how could I have survived? Please keep up your wonderful reporting. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101943Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:57:11 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101943Yankiel, Fishers, IndianaMy parents barely escaped from the Lodz Ghetto and fled east into Siberia...I was born there on a snowy day in 1946. Their families was not so lucky. None survived. We say we will never forget, but vile atrocities are happening every day throughout the world. When will it stop?http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101947Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:58:24 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101947BobGrowing up in Brooklyn in the 60's it seems that most of my neighbors were "refugees"(we didn't call them survivors then) with green numbers on their arms. They never talked about it then and probably still don't talk about it now. Your story was touching and poingnant, unfortunately now that you've "outed" yourself the anti-semites of the world will look at your reporting in a different light from now on. A zissen Pesach.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101948Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:58:37 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101948Lee CarterOne of the best recent books is Lost: Searching for Six of the Six Million by Daniel Mendelson. It is beautifully written and is a moving account of life in a small town in Galacia. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101952Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:01:31 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101952Loretta Franchini, Erie, PAI Can't understand how anyone can say they hate the Jewish Nation. Jesus Christ is Jewish. These are his blood relatives. How can anyone say they beleive in Jesus Christ and not love his people. God Bless Isreal. I am Roman Catholic and love my Jewish brothers & sisters.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101954Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:01:57 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101954J Walker, Orlando, FLThe Holocaust was over 67 years ago, another continent, another people, another era, almost another planet. There's been more than enough talk about it, it's over, fini, stop it. Beyond the Nazis and their collaborators, neither Americans nor others have any guilt in this, do not need the continuous rehashing and don't give a damn anymore. If you like tragedies, get some variety, there are older and there are newer. Please! http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101956Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:04:05 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101956Peter Peet Lancashire U.K.I during my time in Germany with British forces I visited many concentration camp locations, all very well kept but only serve as a reminder of those tragic times when you read the heartfelt stories. Being a pre-war baby I to a degree understand, and am ashamed to say not one nationality seems to have taken heed of this terrible lesson.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101958Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:05:47 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101958henry jacobs MD JDthanks martin, for the thoughtful story. my dad was in the lodz ghetto and auschwitz and my mom was in auschwitz for 4 years. my mom lost her parents and 4 brothers and sisters including her little sister helen. it was a black, evil subversion of humanity. treblinka, mauthausen, majdanek and auschwitz are a scourge on the history of mankind. we must be vigilant and protest the continued callous indifference to the death and suffering of people on this planet. evil cannot be ignored because it is like a cancer and will drag us all down with it. we should all practice random acts of kindness and demand that world governments stomp acts of genocide wherever they occur. 6 million should not have died terrible deaths without a lesson learned.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101960Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:08:34 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101960Lisa, Harpers Ferry, WVMy father was a US GI who helped liberate Dachau. He told us that if we forget we are Jewish - someone will always remind us -- in large and small and hurtful ways - but they will always remind us. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101967Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:13:07 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101967Hugh Kirsch, Minneapolis MinnesotaBoth as a Jew and a person who teachs about the Holocaust in 6th grade religious school, I greatly appreciated your comments Mr. Fletcher. For too many people the Holocaust is starting to become but a mark in history. You have shown that there are circumstances in our lives today that can help us remember, and hopefully learn from the past. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101968Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:14:13 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101968Richard Kent, Anna, TexasI'm not Jewish but I wear the Star of David around my neck. My wish is to visit the concentration camps knowing this atracity did happen.I would love to join them at the cafe to listen, talk and glean everything I can. I will do this.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101969Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:15:17 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101969CG, New York, NY Adeeb Majd's comment comparing the Holocaust to the "concentration camps" in the West Bank and the Gaza strip is just as atrocious as the Holocaust itself. Its misinformed people and anti-Israel propaganda that further give weight to Holocaust deniers and anti-Semitism. There is NO comparison of the systematic murder of 12 million PEOPLE to Iran, Jordan's etc manipulation of a "Palestinian" peoples' plight to further their goal of wiping Israel off the map. As a 20-something American Jew, it is our responsibility not only to “never to forget” the Holocaust but to educate our generation and future generations. As our grandparents begin to pass away and our parents get older, we must preserve their stories to insure that their legacies are not forgotten and that people like Adeed Majd, who spread lies and propel anti-Israel and anti-Semitism sentiments do not go unchallenged. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101971Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:17:50 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101971john r. wheatley. ozoir la ferriere, france.yes i agree with everyone's comment's on this subject, i still do not know why they keep picking on the jew's? but it has occurred to me that if there are still holocaust survivors there might be some perpetrator's still alive! long live ISRAEL.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101973Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:19:45 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101973Bob Powell, Hagerstown, MDSeveral years ago we were visiting the Jewish Heritage Museum in lower Manhattan, and while we were visiting the area devoted to the Holacaust my wife stopped to look at pictures of children. Nearby was an older couple, and the elderly gentleman pointed to one of the children and said that his wife was one of the children my wife was looking at. The woman then stepped up and pointed to herself in the photo. My wife turned and held her in her arms and shared some tears with her. I never thought we would ever meet an actual survivor, but what a place to meet one.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101978Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:24:49 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101978Lisa Pacheco, Baton Rouge, LAFor me as a Christian, the hatred of Jews I will never understand. As Jesus walked on this earth as a human being, he was a Jew (he was referred to as Rabbi in the Bible and celebrated Passover etc). Jesus the Christ came to be by His death which was the final part of a propehcy that was fulfilled. Hitler studied to be a priest and espoused Christian beliefs. Somewhere he snapped as do all the fanatics before and after him--the Klan and all of those types of organizations, radical fundamentalist churches who think Jesus was a white guy with pompador hair. He was a middle eastern person whose ministry was directed to those who were not worthy of the ministers of the day. For all of these Jewish people and those who sympathized with them to be sent to hell on earth and some to death for merely being born a Jew at the hands of a mad "Christian" elevated these people to the levels of Sainthood in my book. I saw a documentary "Paperclips" It was moving and fabulous and I watch it every time I can catch it. May Hitler and those like him past in present rot in hell for doing their atrocities to any group of peoplehttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101981Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:28:13 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101981JoJo archertsAnd Germany allowed the Red Cross full access to all the concentration camps--not one document reports that any prisoner was gassed or burnt or killed by the nazies. Question--why are there so many Jews if only 6 million had been accounted for in all of Europe prior to 1937 ? It is a punishablecrime to say 5.999,999 only died. Go-ahead arrest me ! http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101983Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:29:53 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101983Bob New York, NYGrowing up in Brooklyn in the 60's it seems that most of my neighbors were "refugees"(we didn't call them survivors then) with green numbers on their arms. They never talked about it then and probably still don't talk about it now. Your story was touching and poingnant, unfortunately now that you've "outed" yourself the anti-semites of the world will look at your reporting in a different light from now on. A zissen Pesach.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101987Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:32:35 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101987lillian white, pinetops n.c. 27864Every one should read & take to heart Martin Niemoller "First they came for the communist---http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101988Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:32:59 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101988S. LongMy sister's mother-in-law was 10 when her father was forced to fight for the Nazis. When the Russians came, they told the family it had 24 hours to get out of the country or they would be shot. On their journey, their father died in the forest, and they had to leave his body there. She died just recently, and her family will not talk about that time period. Please don't let these memories pass without note. My nieces and nephews need to know their legacy.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101989Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:33:11 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101989ben sciarcon rpovidence riNo one listened then and no one listens now as holocausts happen all over the world. My father went through Auschwitz then Mauthausen and finally liberated at Ebensee in may 1945. It is a shame that human beings do not learn from history as our teachers,parents and governments often dilute the truth or deny that these things ever happened. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101990Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:33:15 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101990Michael, Carmel, CAI am aa 67 year old Jew who lost many family members in the Holocaust. I visited both Auschwitz concentration camps about 10 years ago and felt the same shivers deep in my spine as I walked the grounds and saw many artifacts, some of which might well have belonged to my family members. A pox on the house of any who dare to deny the existence of the Holocaust. THOSE WHO DO NOT LEARN LESSONS FROM THE MISTAKES PAST ARE COMDEMNED TO REPEAT THOSE MISTAKES! Eternal vigilance.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101991Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:33:17 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101991Shirley Birenz, Wyckoff, New JerseyI am a second gen. I know this feeling well. It happens to me all the time. I have the stories of my parents burned into my psyche and everthing I do is touched by it. For example, while skiing, I wonder how I would survive without shoes or my parka. While gardening, I imagine digging weeds for food or cleaning up the leaves with a gun turret at my head. When my children were younger, while holding their hands while crossing the street, I imagined myself holding them while online for selection. The author, Thane Rosenbaum wrote a book that I recommend - Elijah Visible. Up until that book I didn't realize that others had the same experiences. I've been to Dachau, Theresienstadt (both the town & fortress, as well as Auchwitz/Buchenwald and my experiences at those camps enforced my wonder how anyone survived at all.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101993Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:33:42 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101993TAM Oceanside, Ca.Martin Fletcher, you are a Mensch. My Berlin born Jewish mother, met my Sorrento born Italian Catholic father in night school in Coney Island, learning English. In marrying, they agreed to have the children 3, learn both religions, and make a choice on which to follow, when old enough. My mother's sister remained behind in Berlin, believing because her husband was a Burgher Meister, they had political protection. they sent a son to England, a daughter to the USA. They were hunted down and exterminated. I remember my mother's tears, as those of her other siblings. I could not then, nor now, understand man's inhumanity to man. Isreal gave me the incredible feeling of survival, each time I visited there. Other Middle East countries showed me disrespect, and invaded my personal space. Today, I cannot understand the revival of anti-Jewish hatred, and the unfortunate belief of too many vocal politicians, that it is wrong of the United States to support Israel. How many more 9/11's, SS Cole's, Embassy bombings, etc. must we tolerate before we really read what the koran teaches believers, "Convert by the Tongue of the Sword." This is not a peaceful religion, every one of us is a Heathen. We are all in jeopardy. World, wake up. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#101995Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:35:48 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:101995R. Marcum, St. Albans, WVMy father was a US Army soldier that arrived in Germany near the end of WWII. He helped with the DP's (Displaced Persons)quite a bit. He was horrified at the Nazi's treatment of the Jews and others that he came into contact with. He was a young boy that had been drafted when he came of age, so when he got to Germany he looked, and was, very young. He related that once while transferring supplies between Stugarrt(?) and other towns his truck slid off the road and got stuck, because of ice. The DP camp was close by and the DP's took him in, fed him and gave him a place next to the fire. My father always got angry when someone cast doubts on what had happened in the Holocaust. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102000Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:37:32 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102000OliviaI second Cloe Wood's question--how can anybody deny the Holocaust? The fact that the Holocaust happened is horrific enough. However, when you take into consideration not only the fact that the sort of racism and other forms of intolerance that spurred the Holocaust still live on, and the fact that similar genocide is currently going on in places like the Darfur region, it means that people have not learned from history--which is even worse.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102002Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:39:19 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102002Dennis CampbellI have always enjoyed Martin Fletcher's reporting, so it is with interest I read this personal information about him and his family.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102005Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:42:00 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102005Bill, Huntsville, ALI find it ridiculous to equate the experience of attending a soccer match with a march to the crematorium at a death camp. Fletcher should have stayed at Cafe Europa a bit longer and focused more on those survivors who know all too well how it really felt to face death every day. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102010Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:45:04 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102010J. MeltonUnfortunately, our government has learned nothing from the past. Remember the "ethnic cleansing" of the Serbs? Now genocide has moved to Africa. First in Rowanda, now in Darfur and moving into Chad. And as with Germany and Hitler, our government does nothing. Since these countries have nothing to offer the U.S. the deaths are not important. As citizens, each and every one of us need to become involved and make our voices heard.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102011Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:47:14 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102011B BennettIt is a monsterous abuse of free speech when certain people abuse the memory of those murdered by evil men to further their own political agendas. 12 million people were brutally killed (half Jews, half Non-Jews)because of the bigotry of some and the complacency of others. adeeb majd, you should be ashamed. Refugee camps are not extermination camps. There is no gassing or mass murder there. Those refugee camps themselves were built and maintained by the UN. If their residents want to build their own country than they would be better off to employ Ghandi's peaceful methods which succeeded than those of their own violent leaders (who have only brought dispair and poverty to their followers). A more honest comparison to the holocaust of the 1940's would be the current genocide in Darfur. But I notice you don't mention that. I wonder why?http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102012Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:48:36 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102012Boris KupermanHow relatively easy it is for us to mull over the past indescribable atrocities and say “never again” and ignore today’s reality of the devastation in Darfur and other places around the world! As a jew, I would wish that experiencing such tragedies brought compassion and unyielding intolerance against all evil, and have the Israel as an ardent and outspoken enemy of those who commit such crimes - as those that our families went through - but it only happens when we are being harmed. As sad as it is, we have learned so little from so much pain. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102013Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:48:56 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102013Bruce Gray Houston, TXI was born after the Nazi terror and have the upmost respect for the Victims. Myself and my thirteen year oid daughter visited the Holocuast Musem in Houston and we could't even talk on the way home we were in shock.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102014Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:50:31 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102014Sol R.To compare the the brutal, barbarous and insane slaughter and destruction of European Jewry to the current condition of Arabs in refugee camps is ludicrous, belittling and insensitive. Not to mention dangerous. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102015Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:51:24 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102015Jeff Lavelle, Lawrenceville NJI have been following the events of the Holocaust for many years and still can not put down a new book on that Dark Period of the 20th Century. I am not even Jewish and I look for answers as to who,what,when & how??. Matter of fact I am reading "The Dentist of Auschwitz - A Memoir by Benjamin Jacobs". The pain that was suffered during these time I could not think of, I try to put myself in the shoes of the auther and try to understand how this happen. I always say Why not put up a fight?? Fear was the key to the raise of the Nazi Machine and the camps that followed. I am truly sorry that these events took place and I hope and pray for peace in Israel. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102016Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:51:37 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102016Jeff Lavelle, Lawrenceville NJI have been following the events of the Holocaust for many years and still can not put down a new book on that Dark Period of the 20th Century. I am not even Jewish and I look for answers as to who,what,when & how??. Matter of fact I am reading "The Dentist of Auschwitz - A Memoir by Benjamin Jacobs". The pain that was suffered during these time I could not think of, I try to put myself in the shoes of the auther and try to understand how this happen. I always say Why not put up a fight?? Fear was the key to the raise of the Nazi Machine and the camps that followed. I am truly sorry that these events took place and I hope and pray for peace in Israel. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102017Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:53:03 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102017Roy, Corona, CA As an army brat I grew up in Germany and as a child our elementary school took a field trip to a place where the Jews were slaughtered. As I type this email, I get chills remembering those dark places were death was manufactured I am not sure how widely read this column will be, but what another great thing for the Jews to remember what their people were forced to suffer through. It would seem that this is a part of the healing process, a part of a call to not forget the kind of evil people are capable of carrying inside them against another because of their race or religion. I am saddened however when descendants of African slaves in America relive their tragic history we are labeled as complainers. When the call for remembrance of our ancestors is made all of our hearts should desire to be healed of any hate we harbor; for time has shown that hate unchecked grow into uncontrollable act of insanity.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102018Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:53:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102018Steve Ramer,Garnerville,New YorkBoth of my parents lost their entire families in the Holocaust.My parents were able to escape to England where my sister and I were born.We tried to get our parents to write or record their story and they died without this being done.Our brother lived in Switzerland taken care of by people from Kindertransport.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102020Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:53:22 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102020Jack Fort Leavenworth KSThe poster equating the refugee camps in Gaza to Dachau has obviously never visted a real extermination camp. I have been to three. They are nothing like a refugee camp, nothing.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102021Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:53:25 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102021Michael SteinThanks for writing this story and, of course, I hope the world will say enough to all atrocities committed against innocent civilians: in Israel, Palestine, Romania, Darfu, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe, among others. God bless!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102024Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:55:45 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102024MVO Altus OKI lived as a child in post war Germany in the 50's. I vividly remember our housekeeper being terrified that Hitler was still alive. For years I have read accounts of survivors of the Holocost, historical novels (Thoene and others) and have no doubt that the Holocost happened. I weep when I read of those that deny it. We must never forget, we must learn from the past and work to prevent and stop the murder that is happening today. Human life is sacred no matter what nationality, faith or color. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102033Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:02:30 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102033Margaret, Niagara Falls NYSo hard to think about but oh so necessary. I lost no one, am not Jewish and yet am haunted by the facts. May those survivors find any happiness that they can here on earth and surely they will be rewarded in the hereafter. God Bless All.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102034Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:02:51 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102034Patrick Crowe, Fallon, NevadaJesus says"Love thy GOD with all thy mind and heart, and Love thy neighbor the same" Peacehttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102035Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:03:15 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102035R. Pipes NY,NYYeah, it happened. No one should forget Germans also executed millions of non-Jewish, which also should be remembered. Jewish people should remember how many non-Jewish sacrificed their lives to help them during WWII. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102036Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:04:41 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102036Clay Horton, Seattle, Wash.My father, a young soldier of 20 years old in the 103rd. Infantry Division, was in the the first liberation wave of one of the death camps. He was one of the first soldiers through the main gates. Through out my childhood years, as he told his children his military stories, he kept certain memories closely guarded to himself. He always talked about his military experiences, but for some reason unknown to us, he avoided this subject. It was not until the early 1970's that he finally started to talk about the experience and horrors he saw as his unit broke down the gates and went from building to building looking for survivors. Each sight worse than the previous site...each area a living death. He would forget the vacant eyes and lifeless stares on the skeletal faces of the people still barely alive shuffling towards him in that horrible place. He showed us the pictures and tried to retell his stories through tears and choked back sobs. As he slowly and painfully relived his experience, he made us promise never to forget what he was telling us. "Never forget," he said! "Never! Never forget, so it will never happen again!" To this day, I keep the photos and publications of the horrors he experienced in a safe place so if the time ever comes when the horrors are again questioned, I will keep my promise to him and be one of the first to stand strong!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102041Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:07:51 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102041Karen NeelI have been sitting here reading this article and I find that I have tears in my eyes. I have heard the stories of how some people think there never was a holocaust but I say to them; Go and visit those camps and take in a very deep breath and then tell me and all the survivors that this never happened. I have read little on the holocaust and the death camps but since reading this article and the comments of survivors children I am compelled to read more and to try to understand what, if anything, made these mad people tick. I agree that there is geneocide going on in this nation as we speak and we should not turn a deaf ear to what is happening in Darfur but do our best to get this government and there's to stop it. It could happen here, in the United States and we need to make sure that it never does. They say that history repeats itself but we need to step up to the plate and make sure that it stops and never continues. My prayers are with all Holocaust survivors and their families everwhere. My prayers also go out to Martin that God grants him the piece to continue this article and to open the eyes of all Americans everywhere no matter how old or young to see that this really did happen and to understand why and how people can do these things and to never let it happen again; EVER.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102046Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:12:41 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102046Veronica BarnesMove on and get over it. The Jews and Israel are not the only people nor only country that has suffered since the beginning of the history of man. Look at Africans, Greeks, Turks, Kurds, American Indians- all of these groups have been displaced, put in to slavery, killed because of who they are. Its seems though that the Jews are the only ones who have the monopoly on pity and the inability to move on "despite of" instead of "because of".http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102048Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:14:45 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102048abd scottsbluff nei cant say that i am i child or grandchild of surviors but my heart heart does go out to those that had to go though that horrible ordile. I heard on the news a while back that some are trying to call the holocaust a myth. I dont see see how the extermination of millinos can be called a myth. I know a man who only survied the camps becasue he could cook. He did not approve of what was going on. Yet he was helpless to do anything to stop either and theat is something that plagues him forever. My heart and soul go out to all. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102055Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:18:07 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102055Carol Petrou, Kirtland, OhioI'm proud to say my uncle was the first American soldier through the Dachua gates, seeing firsthand the horrors. He was a liberator and also witness for the survivors and the dead spirits remaining. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102059Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:19:08 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102059c. brown,,myrtle creek,or.Wow,, I just sat here and cryed. I only know my mothers side of the family, my fathers is just a blank page. But to never know any grandparents or others, I can see why they just would like to dance.And take in the now and let the past go, but being wise to never forget and keep a watchfull eye out for what's happening now.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102060Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:19:08 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102060Carol Petrou, Kirtland, OhioI'm proud to say my uncle was the first American soldier through the Dachua gates, seeing firsthand the horrors. He was a liberator and also witness for the survivors and the dead spirits remaining. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102061Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:19:23 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102061D. Sims Phoenix, AZThis is a truly amazing article. As a Christian who loves Israel and a descendant of African slaves I personally found it quite moving. I have always felt there was a common bond, if you will, between Blacks and Jews. The survival of both through some of the most horrifying events in mordern history is a testimony of God's grace towards His children. Holocaust survivor's stories must be told and retold to every generation so they nor the horrors they went through are ever forgotten.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102065Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:21:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102065Helene, Millsboro, DEThis was a very good story by Martin Fletcher. My family has watched him for years and always marveled at his wonderful way of delivering news. I had no idea that his parents were Holocaust survivors. That just makes me want to reach out and send him a warm hug and say, "You are not alone". G-d bless you.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102072Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:25:14 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102072Jesse TolerEnough of the WWII Holocaust. Black Christians in Africa are being annihilated by Muslims in a real Holocaust, and I don't see Jews doing anything about it.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102073Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:25:41 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102073John DoeNo one says it doesnt happen. They just say less people died then announced. How come the first number estimated was 10 million jews and then it went down to 6 million. Science will tell us how many. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102074Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:25:42 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102074Jane DoeThere is a very good documentary that was made entitled "Purple Triangles". The Jews were not the only people to undergo persecution, death & unspeakable torture. The holocaust was most definitely a fact of history, albeit one to be ashamed of.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102075Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:25:55 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102075D. Shiner, Pittsburgh, PAJust as I believe that the Holocaust was the most horrific behavior that humans can subject other humans to, what about the 'camps' in Palestine? What about the atrocities that are occuring there as we speak? Is this not in a some ways like a mini holocaust? http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102076Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:26:23 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102076Tonya Quillin, Pittsburgh, PAIf you have not read the holocaust accounts I urge you to do so. Eli Wiesel is my favorite author not just in his holocaust account but in other pieces which I believe only a survivor can write so eloquently and personal. For some this may be difficult to read but so worth the gain in knowledge. I continue to educate my children as age permits so their generation will not know this sadness. Thank survivors you know for their bravery in teaching us basic respect and love of our fellow man.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102078Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:26:51 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102078Avrom HerskovitsMy name is Avrom Herskovits. I was born in Malmo Sweden. My Father Samuel Herskovits was born in Kosce Slovakia. Siemens Corp and the SS killed all of my fathers living relatives family of 10. Untill today Siemens Corp still runs owns and operates mines they captured in WW2. My father was in Buchenwald and was liberated by US forces. After the war my father looked for another living jew from Kosce he found one in 1982. Now I continue the search. As a child of 2 survivors mother was a Polish partisan. The only thing I can say is GOD please help your people. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102081Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:29:16 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102081Penny OtteLet us never forget!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102082Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:29:32 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102082Edward Adler, Las Vegas,NVMike, stop the conservative nonsense about Israel! I am a liberal Democrat and I support Israel 100%. I do not bash Israel and we do not need right-wing political dogma involved in the Israel's survival. If you belive what you wrote above than you don't know what you are writing about.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102083Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:30:37 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102083Red Cross, Durham, NCIt would seem to me that Holocaust survivors and those that dwell on this issue should be the first people to protest such things as Gitmo and other secret prisons. I wonder why that is seldom the case?http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102084Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:31:55 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102084Carol Anne Seattle WAIt takes nothing away from the 6 million Jewish deaths for us to remember that a similar number of Poles, Slavs, Gypsies, Communists, homosexuals and other "undesirables" were also murdered in those camps.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102102Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:40:54 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102102John Causby Chattanooga,Tn.It is a shame that people still live this as part of their lives. If only people where more loving in this world it would be for the better.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102104Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:41:17 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102104Michelle, Antioch, CAWhen we lived in Far Rockaway, NY (1961 - 1964), I remember "the grandmothers", older European immigrant women, who sat and watched us play from the park benches. If you hurt yourself and cried, the other kids would send you to "the grandmothers" who would hug and hold you, dry your eyes and check your hurt. If it was more than they could handle with their tissues, they would point to the building for you to go to your own mother. What I remember most is while they didn't speak English, but they understood distress. I now wonder how many of those women were Holocaust survirors. They wore dark dresses with scarves on their heads tied under their chins. I just read "Sala's Gift" by Ann Kirschner, her mother's story of the Holocaust. I was in my first year of college before I discovered that the more appropriate statement of loss is "TWELVE MILLION people were exterminated by the Natzis, 6 million were Jews". I'd only heard of the "6 million Jews", but the Jews seem to discount that there were 6 million others! When I was home sick from work watching a PBS station, I saw footage from the liberation of a camp. The people there were all races! I was so shocked to see an Asian man and a Black man behind the gates. It was a wake up call to me that people of color were affected as well.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102105Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:41:30 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102105ben sciarcon rpovidence riNo one listened then and no one listens now as holocausts happen all over the world. My father went through Auschwitz then Mauthausen and finally liberated at Ebensee in may 1945. It is a shame that human beings do not learn from history as our teachers,parents and governments often dilute the truth or deny that these things ever happened. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102108Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:42:31 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102108CYMPolitical views should not matter this happened and should always be prevelant in our minds irrigardless if we are democrat or republican. What the survivors went through should not be cheepend by what you feel is wrong with the US government http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102110Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:43:59 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102110Morrie Baker, Scottsdale, AZMy 9 year old son, when asked in Hebrew School class what he should do when other kids yell, "dirty Jew", immediately responded, "fight back - we don't take that any more!" Jewish Kids today are proud, and strong, and united, We as a people no longer sit back and hope things will get better, while watching them get worse. NEVER AGAIN! The people Israel LIVE!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102112Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:44:22 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102112Don DukemanMy heart goes out to the holocaust victums and survivors, as it does to the slaves in the 1800's. Now let's solve todays problems so we don't regress and have the same thing happen in our future.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102113Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:44:37 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102113Karl KettlerInteresting! Not one single contrary view is presented. Surely there are those who question the "holovcaust." and wish to express their opinions about it. BUT have no fesar the truth will be kept hidden. No debate tolerated. The earth is flat and that's it! Mr. Rennels writes "Please finish this story, the world needs to know." I agree let's hear the WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH! Do they dare?? So far its been all one sided. Mr. Rennels earlier asked "how can anyone deny the holocaust"?. Simple Mr. Rennels the facts don't support it and those so called "survivor" tales (God there are still so many of them after so many decades)have a personal agenda. Why shouldn't they try to portray themselves as victims? It pays. But just ask this one simple question. How many non-Jew inmates have ever testified under oath that there were gas chambers and that humans were being gassed to death in them. The answer,according to official transcripts and records? NONE! NOT ONE! I'm not talking about totured confession of German officials. Oh I'm sure they will "find" some now that I raised the issue! Not one single hearsay would stand up in a legitmate court of law. Not One! Why don't we have the U.S. Supreme Court decide after hearing ALL sides of this issue!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102117Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:48:36 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102117Fred KaiserI consider myself extremely fortunate since both sets of my grandparents emigrated to the US prior to The First world War. My maternal grandmother left Poland in the early 1900's, went to England and then to the US. She left the majority of her family behind, including siblings born after her departure. After the war, in early 1947,when I was only 10, she was contacted by a man, a survivor from her home town. My mom and dad took her to meet this stranger. To this day, I still remember how they both cried when they met. Even though they did not know one another, he recognized her immediately, since he knew her younger sisters, left behind and swallowed up in the death machine, as was the rest of the family. Of all the other families left behind, I know nothing and that is evidence enough as to what happened. Fred Kaiser http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102119Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:49:52 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102119karl kettlerCorrection it was Cloe Woods not Mr. Rennesls who ask "how can anyone deny the holocaust."http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102120Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:50:00 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102120J. S. ReedThough not a Jew, I have always been embarassed by the "Christians" I have known that denied the depths and totality of the Holocaust. I am a third generation Swede who, from my childhood, read and understood the nightmare years, as well as the stories of the Righteous Gentiles. My embarassment is that there were not more. Please be assured that there are those of us who are not Jewish that reiterate, "Never Again" - and that today sacrifice jobs, relationships, careers, and safety to tell the truth to those who still deny. It frightens me how many young "Christians" do not know, or are unwilling to learn of, the blind complicity of their religion during the Holocaust.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102121Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:51:16 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102121T, GeorgiaWe cannot forget this happended. As a child going to private school I was taught of the Holocaust, and reading the Anne Frank Diary as a young adult. My teachers were Polish nuns, even meeting people and seeing their numbers on their arms. I know their sadness, it makes my heart heavy. I hope the world can remember and help those in current events so these horrific events stop. But there is always evil in the world, and it's a hard battle to fight.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102125Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:57:43 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102125Elzbieta Sakowski, Elizabeth, NJTo anybody who deny the Holocaust: go to Poland and visit Oswiecim (Aushwitz). After you see it, then tell the world what it is then.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102126Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:59:14 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102126Pat Potter-EfronI read the accounts of the holocaust, because my husband could not. He was born in 1944 and grew up being told the Christians living all around him were not to be trusted. However, knowing when I married him that there are always times of pogrom in humankind, I read voraciously, looking for the signs that my children or my husband might need protection. I still watch every incursion on liberties for all, so I have busy lately, as you can guess. God bless you. We do things when we can, and they come to our attention when we need to have them available. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102127Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:59:42 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102127BM, Detroit, MII want all these scoundrels in the world who deny Holocaust and I do not want to name them because everybody knows who they are and I do not want to be 'politically incorrect' to see Dachau, Auchwitz and numerous, numerous places of mass killing of Jews and stop saying all that nonsense. When a president of a big nation tells something like that - he is my personal enemy, because the Nazis killed 25 people in my family, just shot them with machine guns irrelevant of their age.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102130Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:01:34 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102130Olga Shibtini, Bridgeport, CTI am not Jewish, but I do have some close Jewish friends. I have never been able to see any of the movies of the Holocaust because it sickens me that Hitler and the Nazis were able to kill and torture so many innocent people simply because of their religion. I too read for the first time the book "Night" with my 15-year old son because it was assigned in his English class. I cried for most of the book. What makes me the saddest is the fact that the world has not learned from this tragedy. Look at what happened in Bosnia not too long ago when 7000 Mulim men and boys were killed simply because of their religion. What is also surprising to me is that many of the people who's ancestors suffered at the hands of the Nazis are doing the same thing to others like for example in Israel. Look at the way the Israelis dehumanize the Palestinians, steal their land, kill innocent women and children and torture the ones that are put in jail. It shows that people don't learn from the atrocities of the past when they continue to be repeated. I ask God to bless anyone who is being oppressed whether they are Jewish, Christian or Muslim (or any other religion) because we are after all, God's children.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102131Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:03:14 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102131Rob, New York, NYThe holocaust that was perpetrated by Germany was horrific and should never had happened. We should remember all people who suffered in that holocaust. Hitler persecuted people for their ideological and political beliefs, race, religion and sexual orientation. All people need to be remembered equally. No one life is more important than anyone else's. I would also say is that it is not enough to just remember what happened but to dedicate ourselves to stopping modern day holocausts or potential holocausts. We currently have a holocaust in Darfur going on and a potential one in Israel against the Paliestinians. It is remarkable how we remember the past so well but we can't resolve the present day problems. The Palestinians and the people is Darfur are suffering. Both want peace and freedom. They deserve that.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102133Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:04:02 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102133Richard HannonMurders, atrocities, genocides and systematic killings have occurred throughout history - even today - as highlighted in a couple of previous posts. But, NEVER has an entire CIVILIZED nation of modern people engaged in such horrendous and DEVILISH actions as the German people under the NAZI GOVERNMENT - and carried out in such a PROFESSIONAL and SCIENTIFIC FASHION! THAT FACT is what must never be forgotten! Nor should we forget the millions of other victims of that HELLISH regime: e.g. Gypsies, Homosexuals, Mentaly Deficient (BY NAZI STANDARDS), Jehovah's Witnesses, POLES, Etc, Etc, Etc! http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102135Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:04:37 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102135Tony Settles, Houston, TexasLast April I read Elie Wiesel's book "Legend Of Our Time." The last chapter is called "A Plea For The Dead." It describes the entire world's refusal to stop the Holocaust. Wiesel tells of Arthur Ziegelbaum, member of the "National Committe To Free Poland," in London exile, who put a bullet in his brain on the doorstep of the House of Commons because they knew what was happening but did nothing. Wiesel sums it all up by saying "To the world the Jews were not friends. It was its own heart the world incinerated at Auschwitz." Roosevelt, Churchill, the Pope, etc, refused to assist refugees, bomb the rail lines to the camps, etc. And mankind has not learned the lesson of history; the Darfur, Sudan genocide is now in its fifth year and the world's silence is deafening. Where was the world's conscience during the Holocaust, and where is the world's conscience now? Mr. Martin Fletcher, I know it is years too late, but I wish to give you my condolences for the loss of your relatives in the Holocaust. God bless you and God bless all the Holocaust survivors...http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102138Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:05:20 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102138Michelle, CaliforniaI am glad that the Holocaust is still remember and will definitely not be forgotten and I appreciate the courage of those who choose to bear witness. This is why I believe it is an unfortunate crime that the Israeli government is conducting illegal practices of its own against humanity. If anything, I would have thought that the Israeli government would have more respect and sympathy for its Palestinian neighbor. Instead, it seems that the Israeli government refuses to acknowledge that only a racist regime could enforce policies such as the establishment of illegal settlements, movement restricting I.D. cards and a meandering Berlin-esque separation wall.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102141Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:06:59 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102141S. Sahonchik, Bend, OregonI was a 13 year-old child when WWII ended...so, in my formative years, I remember my mother telling me about and seeing pictures of what the Nazis were doing to the Jews. Those facts made such an impact on me...it terrified , shocked and baffled me as a child It was unbelievable to me that human beings could do such horrifying, cruel things to other innocent human beings....even to little children like myself. And at 75 years-old, I am STILL trying to understand. I've read so many books about the Holocaust, especially, books written by those brave survivors; but, I know, as long as I live, I will probably never understand those who did those horrible things...nor the Germans who looked the other way. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102142Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:07:51 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102142mike lasouris, tempe az.life goes on, my ancestors were slaved, abused and humiliated. life goes on. i don't dwell on that to draw pitty... I realize given the nature of man anyone with uncontrolled power will do the same. look at the palestinians, they are being dealt the worst of the situation. one way or the other they have to find a way out of it. life goes on. quit the whining....http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102143Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:11:03 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102143Louis Solnicki, Toronto, CanadaMy mother and father who were Polish Jews and my older brother who was born in France fortunately escaped from the Holocaust and fled to Portugal due to my father's forsight. They lived safely in Portugal during the war. Then they arrived in Canada Passover, 1944. However, members of both my parents' families perished in the gas ovens including their parents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles and cousins. My father's family was completely decimated except for 1 brother and 2 aunts who had moved to Israel in the 30s. My mother's family fared better. Several sisters and brothers survived by hiding out in Russia and later moved to Canada after the war. I was born in Canada in 1945. As a child, I grew up knowing what had happened to my extended family in the Holocaust. My mother had managed to save some photos from her youth in Warsaw before the war, including pictures of her parents and also pictures of my father's parents and his brothers and sisters.These pictures haunted me and I felt great sorrow at the loss of family. At times, my mother, but never my father, would reveal details of her life before the war in Warsaw, her life with my dad in Paris where they had moved in 1936 and their flight to Spain and to Portugal when the war had started. My mother's sister and her family also fled with my family to Portugal, and I remember my aunt telling me when she had first learned in Portugal about the death of my grandparents in the gas ovens and how painful it was to tell my mother. My mother spoke occasionaly about her father, but never about her mother. My dad never spoke about his parents or his brothers and sisters. Although my father had done an amazing and wonderful thing by figuring out a way to rescue my mother and brother and my aunt and uncle and cousin by fleeing to Portugal and later to Canada, the ghosts of both my parents' families haunted our home. My older brother has painful memories of being on the run as a child of 3. My parents were very fortunate and yet they suffered from survivor's guilt and depression. And my mother's brothers and sisters and their families who had survived the Holocaust and later came to Canada were also psychologically wounded by the Holocaust. Recently, I have watched with horror and shock at the rising tide of anti-Semiticism/anti-Israel sentiments in the Arab/Moslem world which combine the most vile aspects of the medeaval Catholic Church's anti-Semiticism and that of Hitler and the Naziis. The worst is the Holocaust denial of Abadinijad of Iran. The Arab/Moslems are dupes easily manipulated by their religious and political leaders, and Abidinijad is a crazy man. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102147Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:13:47 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102147mike lasouris, tempe az.P. Walson. remember those folks in Darfur are black as most would call them "lesser human beings". that's why none of those so called "civilized" nations pay attention to Darfur. No gold, no religious interest, no oil there basically no reason to prevent the genocide there. Nothing to gain nothing to fight for, so let's all pretend it's not happening.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102150Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:16:12 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102150JW, ChicagoDear Mike, I know that this won't make me very popular here but I would suggest that Israelis should read stories like this as they apply their hateful policies towards Palestine. Often we forget that people are people. The children of your enemy are still just children. I don't really blame the Arab world for hating the US and our policies of supporting the Israeli suppression of Palestine. Sun Tsu, author of the Art of War, says, “Never back your enemy into a corner. Always give them an avenue of escape.” What we have done through our Israeli policies is back the Palestinians into a corner. They have no where to go; they have no opportunity of redress for their grievances. We have created the suicide bombers by offering their generation no opportunities or hope – the last desperate act of the hopeless. One might notice that there aren’t too many American suicide bombers running around. Why do you suppose that is? Is it because Americans are not of the Arab or Palestinian race? Does that ring any bells? Does that sound the least bit familiar? Here's a hint - Jewish race. Hate is hate, Mike. Let’s recognize it when we see it.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102159Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:22:49 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102159Linda FersztI too am a child of Survivors & wish to address those of the 2nd Generation who feel such guilt over Holocaust avoidance. I can only say DON'T! At 45 I forced myself to face the demons that had pursued me for so long. I felt I owed it to my parents & the many others who saw the face of evil & survived; I owed it to the grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins I never knew. So, for years I read & watched all things Holocaust & only found more pain. Peace & closure could not be had by staring into that dark abyss. I finally realized the answer was right in front of me in the oft-repeated words of my late father, David (Auschwitz #140934), NEVER LET THE WORLD FORGET. Go forward into the light and spread the word. We cannot undo the past but we can change the future. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102162Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:26:04 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102162Brandy, Syracuse NYI have read Eli Wiesel's Night, its a haunting and intense book that will not easily leave your memory. I'll never understand how hatred can become so violent. It's a true life tragedy we should learn from. History does have a way of repeating itself. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102170Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:35:42 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102170Mark KlimaszewskiIt always pains me when people referr to the holoccaust as an exclusively Jewish experience. Many millions from other nationalities or religions also perished in those camps or in factories as slave labour. My father Kazimir showed me a photo of the prewar wedding of his sister. Of the some 25 people in the photo only three lived through the war. My family of Polish ethnicity of truely ancient lineage (traceable back 1000 years) were considered "untermenchen" sub-humans, and extreminated. The holocaust involved not only six million jews but twelve million slaves of other races that perished behind the wire. My father lived through the war and moved to Canada to start over. But, now in my mid-fifties I look back and realize that my father did not survive the war. His soul was murdered and he went through a life a shattered man not finding out for thirty years how his family perished. So I ask for the silent dead of my family in their unmarked graves...please remember the millions of the other nations that were so unfortunate to have Nazi Germany as a neighbour...http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102176Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:37:25 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102176Jebathainteresting how most of you who never experienced the holocaust directly can sit here and feel sorry for themselves while the same thing is happening in Iraq or Dafur right now. Only one group seems to gain from attocities while all others go barely noticed.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102180Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:38:55 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102180john floridaHOLOCAUST it never happened !!! according to the Iranians .Those poor people never exhisted. How can any normal person deny the facts that have been presented for generations. Everytime anyone sees or reads about what happened it should be a reminder that MOMSTERS do exhist in this world and should be held up to the world as what they are "Monsters" that is the only word that i can say in mixed company. The people murdered should remembered forever by the world for the pain they endured and the pain that their families still endure at the hands of those animals. We should always keep a wary eye on anyone who would deny that it ever took place.As for the survivors and their families i hope peace comes to you and yours and that the world will never be witness to that sort of thing ever again.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102181Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:39:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102181Fox Purtill, Stockholm, SwedenThose of us who were not there and don't have immediate relatives affected by it don't really have a grasp of how horrible the Holocaust was. There are still those in the world today that are wiping out others for the race or nationality they are. History taught us these people can and do exist that allow events like this to happen. They are still happening, maybe not on the same scale as WWII but definitely the problems still exist. Some have learned nothing from history. What is humanity if we do not progress beyond these evils.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102182Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:39:18 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102182Jon NussWe pray that evil programs like this are stopped before they can ever happen again. Therefore, we must remember and not forget the past.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102184Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:40:15 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102184Jane Doe, New York, NY"Everytime the liberal democrats join the terrorists in bashing Israel, they need to be read a story like this." This statement requires that a few points be made: 1) It is possible to be both furious and devastated by the Holocaust, support the existence of Israel and yet also disagree with specific points of Israeli foreign policy (indeed, many Holocaust survivors and their families, who live all over the world, fall into this category). 2) Equating today's Islamic terrorists (or any terrorist group, be they in Ireland, Spain or Thailand), with the same people who orchestrated and carried out the Holocaust is both historically inaccurate and detrimental to producing a solution to what is a completely different social, political and ethnic phenomenon. 3)"Liberals"--artists, writers, university professors, political activists, journalists-- were some of the only people speaking out against the ascendence of Hitler in Germany and the atrocities against Jews, homosexuals and other "undesireables" in Europe in the 1940s. This is a beautifully touching and personal story. Let's try to keep the hatred and anger out of it.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102197Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:47:01 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102197Wiser, Covington, LAIsreali is currently implementing its own extermination/genocide of Palestinians, i.e. committing its own "Holocaust", in occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Shameful Jews.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102198Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:47:17 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102198Marv CohenNever again. The State of Israel must remain as the national homeland for the Jewish people as it was promised by God to Abraham in the Bible. I too lost relatives in the death camps and I often ponder what they could have brought to the world for the betterment of mankind.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102210Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:52:11 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102210Charleston, South CarolinaIn 1965 I was a 13 year old, Southern Baptist girl, growing up in Miami. One evening while I was babysitting for one of my regular families, I went looking for something to read after putting the kids to bed. I found a book entitled "The Murderers Among Us". I liked murder-mysteries and thought it sounded interesting. I read that book from beginning to end in that one evening. When the parents of the children I had been babysitting came home I told them I had read the book and asked if they had any other books on the subject. Mr. and Mrs. Hayme were horror struck. They said that my parents would probably be livid that they had exposed me to such things. I assured them that wasn't the case. I went home that night and asked my mother if she knew about what had happened to the Jews during WWII? To my astonishment, my mother, who had always been an encyclopedia of information, said she knew very little, that "people don't talk about things like that". I told her I wanted to know more and she gave me permission to do find other books about the holocaust. Yet it is that night when I read "The Murderers Among Us" for the first time that I remember so vividly. It was like someone had flipped a light switch and exposed me not only the foul malevolence that can exist in this world, but also to the fact that there are people, common, every day people, who not only endured and survived such cruelty, but persevered and went on to live their lives as kind, generous human beings, despite what they had been subjected to. I admire the modern day Isrealies and count myself lucky to have grown up with so many Jewish friends. I have taught my children about the holocaust, not so much as a lesson about what was done, but more about what can be done, when good people look the other way and "don't talk about that kind of thing". George Santayana wrote that, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". I believe that those who don't discuss the past, out loud and often, are condemened to repeat it.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102216Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:57:31 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102216JohnWhat the Japanese did the Chinese and Korean people is similar. Yet the Japanese government is denying it! http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102220Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:00:32 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102220Jim VNever again has become a slogan.We watch as genocide occurs in Bosnia and Rwanda,not wanting to get involved. But not Israel.With our help,their Jericho ballistic missiles paired with thermonuclear payloads assure that next time those who would "complete" Hitler's work will find their great cities,as well as the essence of their civilizations,reduced to talcum powder. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102228Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:07:03 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102228Tom OuelletteOnly Jews matter. Boo hoo. Look how long it has taken America to recognize the suffering of non-Jews in W.W. II. Gypsies, Ukrainians, Chinese, Koreans etc. don't count 1/20th as much as the Jews. Everyone got slaughtered. I am sick of the Jews who only care about Jewish victims. They are racists.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102231Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:07:51 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102231Patricia Batista-Hedges; Naples, FL.I want you to know that there is hope for the future. There are people out there that are trying to help prevent future genocide...and to support knowledge, love and understanding between the world's peoples. My best friend is Jewish and I am Christian and we have been "family" for almost 28 years. Her father was a committed member of the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg, FL. (NOTE: Elie Wiesel is on the Honorary Board of Advisors). Since her father's death over a year ago, my friend has taken up this cause as her own, supported by her mother. My two teenage sons and I had the recent priviledge of attending with her the Florida Holocaust Museum's Tribute Dinner which was dedicated to six extraordinary heroes among us in our world who have exhibited undescribable courage to rescue one person...or over a thousand people who faced certain death. (Paul Rusesabagina/ Rewanda was the honored Keynote Speaker). This experience was so profound that it will never leave me. I was so honored to receive a follow-up note from my dear friend which said "You are truly practicing the Hebrew concept of TIKUN ALUM...'to heal the world' by raising these young men to live without bigotry and hatred". As a mother...this was the highest compliment. We can all make a difference in the world...even if it is just one person at a time! "Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world." - Desmond Tutu. We must all obey our conscience, which is the "root of all true courage" (James F. Clark), and thus, be courageous. One statement from the book "The World Must Know" by Michael Berenbaum still moves me..."I have told you this story not to weaken you but to strenthen you". Thank you for sharing yours, Martin Fletcher. Peace be with you and your family.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102242Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:13:44 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102242wowmom, Buhl, IDThank you, all who have taken time to share your comments. Just a reminder of the film "The Hiding Place". I was privileged to hear Miss Ten Boom speak in Portland, Oregon in the 70's. She and her family hid the Jews until they were arrested. She was dismissed from the concentration camp by a typographical error in her number, just two weeks before all the women her age were killed.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102247Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:15:25 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102247John White, Spring, TexasThere is still steadfast denial by some regarding this monumental tragedy, much the same as Japan's own refusal to recognize the unspeakable horrors comitted at Unit 731 in Manchuria. Japan continues to cry for no one but itself. Hitler's greed, avarice and hatred were stoked in the fires of hell and nearly swept away an entire people. When the world finally caught up with him, his minions fled like frightened scoolboys. There aren't many left today, but I hope they are hunted to the end.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102252Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:23:29 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102252hal californiaCollective memory of past atrocities does not prevent future repetitions.History proves it.We have only to look at what is tolerated in Iran ,where a perfect clone of past dictators exists down to the greed of international entities supporting the system in hope of riches.One would be amazed to read of the support Hitler received from the largest American and Allied corporations during his rise and continuing through ACTUAL YEARS OF THE WORLD WAR 11 while our soldiers were fighting- all for money!A search of the internet on that is unbelievable! We are facing identical Syrian -Iranian malaevalent dictators;Africa has become a giant killing field that has been allowed to function by a corrupt United Nations and an indifferent world. In short,all the cancers of the Holocaust continue to prosper world wide-very few get off their sofas and lay aside the pizzas to change anything. Do some investigation on your own and reach your conclusions.Hit the computer!You will be struck dumb! http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102256Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:25:27 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102256BILL ROSELLE, THIENSVILLE ,WII WAS SAFE IN SCHOOL IN AMERICA DURING WW II, AND NOW, AT AGE 71, I STILL HAVE TROUBLING RECOLLECTIONS OF THE TERRIFYING REPORTS OF GERMAN ATROCITIES THAT I, AS A FASCINATED AND FRIGHTENED CHILD, HEARD OF AND READ ABOUT DURING THOSE TERRIBLE WAR YEARS. LATER IN LIFE,I VISITED DACHAU AND YAD VASHEM. AMERICA MUST NEVER FAIL, UNDER ANY ADMINISTRATION, TO SUPPORT ISRAEL VIGOROUSLY, AND "NEVER AGAIN" MUST FOREVER BE A PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF OUR NATION'S DIPLOMACY AND OUR MILITARY MIGHT.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102257Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:25:28 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102257Helen Duclos, Jonesboro, ArkansasI have been requiring Wiesel's book Night for my freshmen since 1996 when my own daughter was required to read it. It touches them as nothing else they have read does. At first they are glad it is short, but they soon realize how painful it is to read just these few pages so eloquently written.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102259Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:26:18 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102259Andrew Anschultz, Los Angeles, CAI have heard the stories all my 45 years. My grandmother, grandfather, mother and uncle emigrated to the U.S. from Berlin in 1939. Thank God my grandfather was an engineer and able to obtain a visa. My grandmother would scarcely speak of her (large) family, of which only one cousin survived. I would encourage everyone to go to the Weisenthal Center in West Los Angeles. It is a most affecting place. They have a "station" where you can wait, in the cold, but you can then walk away to life, unlike those who only faced death.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102261Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:27:39 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102261Jorge I. Gomez, San Antonio, TXIf the holocaust survivors felt that bad about what Hitler was doing to them, how come they remain silent when the Jewish government is terrorizing Palestinians? The Jews don't have a monopoly on human tragedy, the surviviors should be as against atrocities committed by Hitler as those committed by their own government.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102262Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:28:07 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102262Janet, Buhl, IDI don't know if my message went through. I so appreciate all the comments and people who took the time to share them. Just a reminder about the book and movie "The Hiding Place" of the Ten Boom family who helped people escape the 'Purge". I heard Miss Ten Boom speak in Portland, OR, USA some years ago. She also wrote "In My Father's House"....These things offered some healing thoughts...http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102266Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:33:49 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102266Megan, new york, nyI am not jewish. I am catholic and grew up in a purely catholic neighborhood. I never had a jewish friend until I went to college. I graduated last year and now have dozens of jewish friends. I am always in awe of their dedication to family and religion...observing the Sabbath (in college!), going home for Yom Kippur when I stayed at school watching tv, ect. I've always had a grave fear of the Holocaust. I went to the museum in London and saw the movies/documentaries. I can not speak of it without anxiety getting caught in my chest. I hadn't thought about the actual survivors dying naturally within the next few years. I can't believe that tangible piece of history will be gone. The memories of these survivors and accounts of that time must not be forgotten, however. Although painful to read about, I applaud the author's courage to ensure this time is remembered by his people. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102272Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:38:46 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102272Flo Rutman, Boca Raton, FloridaI also had the opportunity to visit Dachau while backpacking through Europe 40 years ago. When we spent a couple of days in Munich, I could not pass up the opportunity to take a train to Dachau, just to get a personal feel for what had happened to my mom's family. Fortunately, they managed to flee to the United States, but one brother and his family did not escape the nazis. I honestly don't remember how long I was there, but although it had been turned into a memorial, we still could stand in the "showers" and view the "crematorium". It is something I will never forget. "Not stupid in Seattle" and I shared that experience at approx. the same time. I will never forget - what you read is only a small portion of what you really see when you have the opportunity. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102279Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:43:23 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102279Newman, Denver, ColoradoMike - You should be careful not to play the blame game regarding liberal democrats and terrorists. I am a democrat and I do not support terrorism and the discussion here is not democrats and terrorism! It is never forgetting the horror of the holocost. Keep the right perspective going here! We should pray for the living who remember and the dead who assended. What are your republican collegues doing about Darfur!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102286Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:46:59 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102286James. TexasSpanish Nazi victims' chief says was never in camp Reuters – May 11, 2005 ------ The former head of a Spanish association of Nazi concentration camp victims said on Wednesday he was never actually a prisoner in any camp and had lied for almost 30 years about his past. ------- http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=3122 http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102287Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:46:59 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102287Mark W. Frederick, MDEver wonder why 85% of the human population on earth hates Jews? It's not a coincidence. I'm am sick and tired of hearing them whine. They are surely monitoring this weblog and will only allow the posting of positive comments about them.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102288Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:49:17 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102288Randy LA,Ca.It's amazing how quickly we forget. 9/11 is already in the back of people's minds. What about the horrible acts committed by the Japanese againt POW's? To forget is to repeat!!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102289Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:51:08 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102289Robyn, Spokane WAIt is one of the world's saddest chapters in history that one group of human beings could treat another with such atrocity. I have seen Schindler's List and read The Diary of Anne Frank and Night along with other Holocaust related literature. They all make me feel a deep sadness for those who lived through it and those who didn't. I cried when there was an attack at the Jewish Synagogue in Seattle last year. It scares and saddens me that my Jewish friends could be a target for someone who doesn't like their beliefs or whatever. We must never let the Holocaust or any other persecution be forgotten. We must record the experiences and teach our children and grandchildren to love one another no matter what our differences. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102290Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:51:10 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102290VICKI NAZZARENO ORLANDO FLTHE HOLOCAUST IS STILL HAPPENING TODAY..WE MAY BE USING OTHER NAMES BUT THE HORRORS ARE STILL HAPPENING! EVERY AMERICAN KNOWS WHO TOM CRUISE IS BUT ASK ABOUT DARFUR AND YOU GET A BLANK LOOK?? http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102294Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:51:44 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102294Pat, MAPerhaps because I'm not Jewish, I did not learn of the holocaust until the late 1970's from watching the documentary World At War, narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier. I was ashamed at the time, because I was in my 20's and I simply could not understand how I did not know about the holocaust until I came upon this program. It had a huge effect on me. I have since traveled to Poland a few times, visiting their overwhelmingly sad history. And while I realize now that no matter how much I read or travel to E. Europe, I will never, ever fully understand Europe & the rest of the world in the 1930's leading up to WWII. What I can say now is how proud I am that I have taken the time to visit Warsaw. I wish more people would. It's a reminder for anyone who may not realize how catastrophic hate really can be. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102299Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:55:33 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102299Shari, SeattleA pathetic failing of human beings is that they seem determined NOT to learn from the past - they would rather "not talk about it," forget the valuable lessons to be learned, and let the whole evil cycle begin once again. Sadly, what has happened to innocent Iraqis and others around the world arrested/tortured/mudered merely on suspicion, the modern-day purges of people of oppressed religions and races, and this suffering falling completely off the radar of many, many Americans who prefer instead to listen to chest-thumping, nationalistic brain candy from George Bush et al proves that history can and will repeat itself if we stubbornly refuse to learn its lessons. That anyone cannot understand how the Germans could do such horrific deeds to the Jews, after the lies, fear-mongering, and systematic emotional brainwashing of Americans by this administration has led this nation to turn its back on the graphic suffering this president's own international policies have caused and continue to cause, is inexcusable. Be honest - how many "freedom-loving" Americans would eye suspiciously any traditionally-dressed group of Muslims in a public place? Would like to kill them, even? We must never forget the Holocaust, but we must also never forget the destructive power of systematic brainwashing of a people by its government, and the horrific consequences it can lead to if not checked. I applaud the bravery of Holocaust survivors to look into that dark, evil chasm and tell their stories. It is essential that they speak out, so that we future generations do not forget the cruel depths of man's inhumanity to man when given unrestricted power. However, we must also equip ourselves to see the same patterns of history unfolding in the present and thwart them at every opportunity, if we are truly to do the victims of the Holocaust (and all who have suffered and died for being of a particular race or religion) real justice.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102306Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:58:35 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102306Tom Lorenz, Toronto, CanadaAs a Canadian of German desecent I always pay close attention to any articles about the holocaust. I always wonder what the current survivors are doing and where they live. It is heartening to hear that they have a gathering place, in Israel, where they find the emotional strength to meet and, hopefully, still able to enjoy a cup of coffee. It would be a great experience to share a cup of coffee with these survivors and to be able to speak to them. I wish that this cafe had an internet chat group so they could share their feelings with people from around the world.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102309Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:59:31 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102309Michael, Milwaukee, WisconsinWonderful article, but when you refer to HOLOCAUST could you please state which one you are referring to. Since there have been so many including the one that my people endured (the Scottish). And of course the one in Africa that is happening now. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102310Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:59:47 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102310Jack G, Albany, CaliforniaTo the people who don't believe the Holocaust happened, please read Maus I & II, see how well you sleep after reading those books. For my 50th birthday, I went to Daucha, I crawled into an oven, I couldn't sleep for 3 days after that, Some of the people who died in that oven weren't dead, you should have seen the finger marks in the brick. Yeah right, it never happened.............. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102311Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:00:29 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102311Kay, Greensboro, NCWhen I first learned of the Holocaust, I used to wonder if I were brave enough to hide Jews if I had lived in Nazi Europe. I would like to think I would. Several years ago, my husband and I visited Dacheau. I cried the entire visit. I can't understand the hate!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102316Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:05:22 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102316Delmar FairchildThere are no words that can describe what it must have been like to be victimized as were the Jewish people during that time. This barbarism is far from over though and is happening today in Darfur and in Iraq by the Islamic Fundamentalists. Where are the nations that would fight for the survival of a black race or non aggressive Muslims? All Civilized nations should be in there fighting including Israel. We got kicked in the teeth during "Blackhawk Down" in Somalia and President Clinton got us out the quickest way possible. He cut and ran. Today the United States is following in the footsteps of Nazi Germany when the American people are required to register their firearms as was the case in 1939 Germany for the Jewish community. Being disarmed and complacent, it was totally possible for the Holocaust to happen. The only defense there is against home grown or worldly terror is strength in numbers and in arms for self protection. The Founding Fathers of America knew this could happen here and protected us through the 2nd Admendment. Israel knows it too and has been armed since after WWII. Many of the Jewish people in America vote for the Democratic party that wishes to disarm the American citizen. They should not stand for it because if they think the Holocaust couldn't happen again, wait a little while. History is repeating itself and with the large population we have coming in the near future on earth, it will be worse the next time and not limited to the Jewish people. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102318Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:07:24 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102318Celeste, Joliet, ILI have been teaching Literature of the Holocaust for the last 5 years in a Catholic high school. It has always been necessary to teach Holocaust history alongside the literature. Illinois law requires Holocaust education at 5th, 8th, and 11th grades but often times it is a very distilled version of events. However, I find that when students are exposed to diaries, poetry, memoirs, and most especially, survivor testimonies, in conjunction with historical events they are better able to develop a greater sense of compassion for their fellow humans. It has always been my goal to help them recognize that any genocidal event occurs because of attitudes and misconceptions that one group has about another. As painful as the details of the Holocaust can be, the students who take my class each year give me hope that one day the human race, even if it is one person at a time, can achieve a higher level of compassion and love. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102323Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:10:36 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102323Anne Goodwin, Kansas CityTo compare the West Bank and Gaza to the extermination camps of Auschwitz, Bergen Belsen, Dachau, and hundreds of others is an absolute sin. Is Israel loading up children into cattle cars and gassing them? Is Israel forcing men and women to dig their own mass graves and then shooting tens of thousands into the dirt pits? Germany killed one third of the world's population of Jews in four years. Today, the Palestinian population is growing faster then the Jewish population. A comparison of the Middle East and the Holocaust is an outrage. To Israel and the Jews: We stand with you. We know Jesus was a Jew. We know G-d gave you Scripture. We stand with you and will Never Forget. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102330Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:15:08 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102330Esther ZeligsohnIt's so nice to read that Holocaust survivors have a place to go to be happy. I am a child of Holocaust survivors and always saw a sadness in the faces of my parents. It was very difficult for them to always block out the painful memories of losing so many loved ones in the concentration camps. My parents are now gone, but it's good to know that the dwindling number of survivors that are left have a place to get together.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102338Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:18:36 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102338adele, seattle waSo, Marv Cohen believes that Israel must exist for the jews because "God promised Palestinian lands to the Jews." Please tell us if God is a Real Estate Agent who sells (promises) land to the jews. Next we hear that Jews are the "chosen people by God". Well, God seems to be the fountainhead of INJUSTICE AND A RACIST to choose and prefer one group of his/her creations to others. P L E A S E stop all this nonsense. Israel exists only because America and Britain didn't want the European jews to come over. To John Florida: "Iranians deny the holocaust"? You have fallen in to the zionist propaganda trap. The only Iranian who has said anything about it is the President, who never said holocaust did not happen, he said no-one has dared question whether it did happen the way we are told it did and it is time to allow scholars, historians, and researchers find out the FACTS OF WHAT HAPPENED. Remember that the whole story of (6 million, was it 5, 4, 2, 1, jews) appeared only 10 years after the liberation of concentration camps. It makes one wonder about the ability of the Jewish propaganda machine in U.S. and Britain how much they could have fabricated and twisted the facts of what had happened. Let us find out. Let people talk and debate the issues without being labeled anti-semitic. Iran held a conference on the holocaust. All American media reported that it was a conference about the denial of the event. Not so, it was a conference to find out what had happened and discusse it. You are so brainwashed. Wake up ameica!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102339Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:18:47 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102339Sean, Torrington CTI guess "Never Again" only holds for Jews? We've had genocides occuring in many places post-WW2. Not to the same scale as the atrocities perpetrated by Nazi Germany, but bad enough. What was done? Darfur festered and Bush invades Iraq to bring them 'freedom' *eyesroll* We'll never learn the lesson of the holocaust. We didn't even learn the lesson of Vietnam, or not to fight a freakin' land war in Asia! I have become quite cynical about my fellow man.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102340Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:18:50 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102340Anne Goodwin, Kansas CityTo compare the West Bank and Gaza to the Extermination Camps of Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Dachau, and hundreds of others is an absolute sin. Is Israel forcing men and women to dig their own mass graves and then shooting tens of thousands into the dirt pits? Is Israel loading up children into cattle cars and then gassing them? Germany killed one third of the world's population of Jews in four years. Today, the Palestinian population is one of the fastest growing in the world. Any comparison is an outrage. Israel and the Jewish People, we stand with you. We know that Jesus was a Jew and that God gave his Scripture to you. We stand with you and we will Never Forget.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102341Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:19:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102341lindaBoth my parents non-jews where in concentration camps, my dad they send to russia where he was put to work my mom was put in Dachau, till this day my parents have a hard time showing love, once in a great while my mom might mention something, it gives me fear, I feel for them and all that where.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102345Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:19:50 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102345Sharon Lynn BrooksMy grandmother and her parents and grandfather were fortunate enough to leave Berlin in 1905 and come to America where they had a road building business in Cleveland. They left other relatives behind by the last names of Hollicker and McIlrath. As far as I can tell by searches I've done, there are no known records for those names of those families left behind in Berlin. I'm certain they all perished. Still to this day, it saddens me deeply to know that I had relatives who suffered terrible deaths and whom I know nothing about their lives prior to the Holocaust. Only God knows who and how and when they were taken. I still pray for those ancestors. I did required reading in school about World War II and Anne Frank's Diary and others. Always, in private, I cried and cried at their stories. I cry now also for the survivors who are trying to keep their stories alive for future generations. We must never forget.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102347Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:19:58 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102347Duane, Montgomery, AlHerman Wouk's War and Remeberance documents a Jew's journey though the hell of the camps. In reading the book and then watching the mini-series one must ask: how could man do this to his fellow man? We all must continue to remeber and pray so that this can never happen again.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102349Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:20:12 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102349Anne Goodwin, Kansas CityTo compare the West Bank and Gaza to the Extermination Camps of Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Dachau, and hundreds of others is an absolute sin. Is Israel forcing men and women to dig their own mass graves and then shooting tens of thousands into the dirt pits? Is Israel loading up children into cattle cars and then gassing them? Germany killed one third of the world's population of Jews in four years. Today, the Palestinian population is one of the fastest growing in the world. Any comparison is an outrage. Israel and the Jewish People, we stand with you. We know that Jesus was a Jew and that God gave his Scripture to you. We stand with you and we will Never Forget.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102350Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:21:37 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102350VICKI NAZZARENO ORLANDO FLTHE HOLOCAUST IS STILL HAPPENING TODAY..WE MAY BE USING OTHER NAMES BUT THE HORRORS ARE STILL HAPPENING! EVERY AMERICAN KNOWS WHO TOM CRUISE IS BUT ASK ABOUT DARFUR AND YOU GET A BLANK LOOK?? http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102351Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:22:52 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102351mike lasouris, tempe,azOk! you've milked the holocaust for all it's worth, now let it go. time to let someone else whine about their pain,in the 15th-18th century my ancestors were packed like sardines shipped to the new world, the Korean suffered attrocities at the hand of their conquerors. Darfur is still suffering, in your back yard Palestinians are living their own holocaust that the jews provide for them. yet you don't hear their cries, you're so busy whining about your past that you don't hear others crying of their present. does that mean you matter more than others? I'm not a democrat nor republican, i'm getting sick of the whining and the complaining of the holocaust. it's past let it go.... look at your blessings. the most powerful nation in the middle east, not the richest but the most feared (that's power), the jews assasinate, pillage, destroy other people lives and houses. nobody dare talk about that, nobody mention the assasination, nobody mention they nuclear capabilities fearing the risk of being called "anti american, unpatriotic". give others a chance to whine, you've milked the holocaust long enough.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102354Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:24:12 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102354Pamela, Baton Rouge, LAI am related to a survivor of the death camps by marriage. It hurts my heart that he had to go thru this. I am sure that I have blood relatives that have either survived or died the Holocaust. I pray for Israel and for her peace, knowing that it will come when Christ returns.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102355Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:25:59 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102355mdw, sarasota, flHolocaust is a reminder of the blind hate, and suffering of millions of people...many of which were not of Jewish fate. One of those was my grand father who by a miracle survived two! concentration camps - Buchenwald and Auschwitz. Lets not forgett those people too, PLEASE. The camps did not discriminate. I remember the stories told by my grandparents, the pictures from the time when my grandfather returned home...The hate and blind following of orders bore something that must not ever be forgotten. It is our duty to remember. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102357Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:29:46 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102357Deb, MichiganIt's too bad that a minister's wife doesn't know the facts. Charlen from Chicago, there is no such thing as a palestinian refugee. The ones that stayed (invited to do so) in Israel are Arab Israelis and enjoy the same freedoms and benefits as the Jews. The others CHOSE to leave and trust their leaders that rob everything from them and leave them in squaller. Please feel free to investigate THESE FACTS. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102361Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:31:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102361C. Bauer (now Carlson), Atlanta, GAI am from Nuernberg/Germany and now have American citizenship since 2000. I feel extremely sad and horrified about what my fellow Germans have done to Jews who were also Germany citizens but just happened to be of the Jewish faith!! It is very scary to imagine that one day, a particular group of citizens could be singled out and be executed by the millions. I am horrified at human nature and what the "right" circumstances can do to people's moral values (this also applies to what happened to the Blacks in America). The Holocaust is an extremely shameful part of German history. I feel that the average German could have done more to help Jews persecuted by Hitler's regime. I have cried many, many tears for all Jews who perished while reading many books about the Holocaust. I continously cried while watching Schindler's List and find myself feeling the pain and anguish of those who suffered. I also know that unless you have experienced this horror first hand, you cannot comprehend the full extent of it. By reading and watching movies about the Holocaust, we can get a tiny bit of an idea what it must have been like. Words fail when we think of the unnecessary suffering and death of millions. But we must speak and act to never, never, ever allow such a horrible thing to happen to anyone again!! We must speak up loudly whenever an injustice has been committed. All people are equal in my eyes. I cannot change the past and I cannot reverse the mistakes of my forefathers and fellow Germans, but whenever possible, I will help prevent any injustices committed towards anyone. Let's apply the lessons from the past to the present and future. If we all do that, the world will be a much better place. God bless all the survivors and their families. I am sure that God has a special place in his heart for all human beings who have laid down their lifes for others and everyone's freedom! Let's all work together to make this world a peaceful place where everybody is truly equal.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102365Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:36:55 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102365Sean, Torrington CTI am 32 and gre up in an affluent Connecticut town. I have been filled to over-flowing with Holocaust stories and history, etc. Quite frankly, I'm tired of hearing about it. In that environment, even discussing the wisdom of the creation of the state of Israel on the spot claimed in the 'holy books' got accused of being 'antisemitic'. When I wonder why we pour Billions into the state of Israel I'm told I must hate Jews if I don't want to support Israel in this manner. My leaders have ignored the lessons of history quite consistantly, but *I* must constantly have these 'lessons' thrust at me? I protested the Iraq invasion, I demanded my government do something about Darfur, but I was ignored. Money and time was spent trying to get my country to do the 'right thing' but they ignored me. Unless the message becomes universal, people will begin to resent hearing about the 'Jewish Holocaust'. Let us use some examples of genocide that are happening RIGHT NOW. Dwelling only on the horrors of the Nazis makes us look like hypocrites...only caring about the attempted extermination of a group if they are 'like us' or we feel guilt towards that group (See: late entry into WW2). How about some stories from Bosnia. Or Darfur. Or Iraq...I keep hearing about how Saddam was trying to exterminate Kurds. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102366Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:39:08 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102366Boris Kuperman, Jacksonville, FLHow relatively easy it is for us to mull over the past indescribable atrocities and say “never again” and ignore today’s reality of the devastation in Darfur and other places around the world! As a Jew, I would wish that such tragedies brought compassion and unyielding intolerance against all evil, and have the Israel as an ardent and outspoken enemy of those who commit such crimes - as those that our families went through in Nazi Germany, - but it only happens when we are being harmed. As sad as it is, we have learned so little from so much pain. It is far too easy to blame the ones who stood by and did nothing, in those dark days, but just as easy, we discount that we tend to do the same…http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102367Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:39:26 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102367Olga, Boston MAThe Holocaust has still many other victims no one talks about. My father was a teenager when his whole family was taken away including his mom and 5 siblings (in fact a whole Jewish village was taken away never to be heard of again). He survived because he was in the outhouse! For a long time during the war he lived in hiding. After the war when no-one come back, my father become a very angry and bitter man. Never learned to love or trust. Angry at God for allowing this to happen. He was never able to have a stable relationship. I could not talk to him about God and I could never convince him God did not killed all his family (he said, God allowed it). I never had a loving dad, I can say I did not have a father! So I think that in many ways his family was a Holocaust victim, he was a victim and I was a victim, or radher my lost childhood was the victim. I am now 'grown' enough to make peace with who my father was and why. I pray for him. He passed not long ago and I hope that heavens will allow him to finally heal. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102372Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:41:14 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102372Deb, MichiganIt's too bad that a minister's wife doesn't know the facts. Charlen from Chicago, there is no such thing as a palestinian refugee. The ones that stayed (invited to do so) in Israel are Arab Israelis and enjoy the same freedoms and benefits as the Jews. The others CHOSE to leave and trust their leaders that rob everything from them and leave them in squaller. Please feel free to investigate THESE FACTS. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102378Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:46:41 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102378FloridaI can't believe the narrow-mindedness of some of you people. Look in your history books and read on your own computers. THE HOLOCAUST DID EXIST!!!! The Jews don't whine, and they have been mistreated. Yes, there are other tragedies in this world because we as americans are asleep. We think the poor palestinians are being bullied by the Jews, go to Israel and see for yourself. I have been there 4 times and seen how things are. Paliestians are hurting themselves. They fight each other and every body else. They had green houses that Jews built in Gaza, do you think they kept them and used them? No they tore them down, because they were built by Jews. People wake up, the Holocaust did exist and will happen again. Read God's word.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102379Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:49:49 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102379James Albert, Okmulgee, OklahomaI was raised a Southern Baptist of German Heritage. My ancestry in Germany is not clear. On the 60th anniverary of the fire bombing of Dresden, I learned through the internet that members of my family died in the camps. My Father knew Yiddish sayings, which I am sure he did not learn in Paris, Texas where he grew up. We are all separated by just a few degrees. I travel and work in the Middle East. I pray that we can learn to be partners in peace and build a future. I grieve for all who have perished and what they could have done in our world today.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102387Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:58:38 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102387Gabe, New York, NYIt's sad to see Hitler presented as the cause of all this evil. They try to pin everything on Hitler, and disassociate themselves from these crimes. But in fact, Hitler was only a tool. If there was no Hitler, some other German leader would have done the same thing. The Holocaust would have happened anyway. It is the German culture that is responsible for this criminal behavior. Even today, Germans secretly think of themselves as superior to many others. That is where the true problem lies.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102390Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:03:10 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102390susieI feel for the survivors. I grew up around the kids of these people. I naturally felt close, being adopted. But, when I got older, and moved to a city where Jewish people hated me for my biological father's name, I told them I didn't do anything to them. It continued, and continued, and one even threatened to put the mob on me....I was shocked that this kind of vendetta existed-the city? Richmond, VA. I hated the blames, I joined the army. Yeah, I saw for myself, and it moved me, but again, I too, learned about my past-maybe that's why I was given up, but its hell to be blamed for something you didn't do...and to keep blaming is just isolates you-the individuals did this, not Jews overall-I reunited a woman who'd been in auschwitz, with this young girl from philly-one had been told to find her, and I guess it was thru me, a catholic born, half german, black irish, italian girl. I've been to sarajevo, and iraq is ugly as it gets-hate is hate, and you push people away if you keep it flowing thru the generations. I lost a friend to Bill Clintons' murdeous antics. I lost a cousin in the pentagon, so if you wanna know about hate, hmmm it only eats yourself up...life is meant to be happy.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102398Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:12:29 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102398Elise, Eastchester, NYThose who keep referring to the holocaust happening to the Palestinians, let us not forget that when ALL the Arab nations attacked Israel in 1948, they warned the Israeli Arabs that they would be murdered (by those same Arabs)if they did not leave Israel. Let us also not forget that the refugee camps exist because their loving Muslim brethren refused to accept them as citizens of the Arab countries to which they fled. The only people to blame for the Palestinian problem are the Palestinians themselves for not even trying to improve their lot, not reaching out to their fellow Muslims in other countries to help them do anything other than destroy Israel, the Arab nations who have used them as pawns since 1948, and especially since 1967, and for accepting terrorism as the only way to spread their message. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102399Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:12:33 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102399Patricia Batista-Hedges; Naples, FL.I would like to add to my earlier response. I am saddened by some responses of anger toward Jewish people and Holocaust survivors and their families. At the recent Florida Holocaust Museum's Tribute Dinner (which my two teenage son's and I, who are Christians, were so priviledged to attend with our "Jewish family"), they honored six extraordinary heroes through-out the world who displayed unbelievable courage putting their own lives in jeopardy to risk saving the life of another...or even thousands of others. But yet only one of them honored was Jewish. The honored Keynote Speaker, Paul Rusesabagina ("Hotel Rwanda") is from Rwanda, Africa and saved 1,200 people from genocide. He is not Jewish. Major David Rozelle, another honored "Hero" is an American who served in Iraq, and returned to lead his unit even after he became a leg amputee. I don't think he is Jewish. Jason L. Thomas, an American, and former U.S.Marine, showed his heroism when he rescued the last two survivors found in 9-11, two Port Authority police officers trapped in the rubble of the World Trade Center, even when others had given up finding any survivors. I don't think that he is Jewish. Kerry Reardon, an American father who while teaching his daughter to drive in Florida, dove 14 feet into Tampa Bay to rescue a 7 year old boy (who I believe is Moslem and a new immigrant to the U.S. with his mother and step-father), whose family's truck had just driven off the bridge and could not free the boy. I don't think that Kerry Reardon is Jewish. Another heroine, Sophal Stagg, is still rescuing children from her homeland, Cambodia, where the Khmer Rouge killed 2-3 million Cambodians in the "Killing Fields". She is not Jewish. Only one hero honored by the Florida Holocaust Museum this year, Sam Schryver, is Jewish, and a Holocaust Survivor, who was a member of the Resistance, and who later, while in a concentration camp, escaped to inform oncoming Allied/Canadian troops that 876 prisoners existed at the nearby camp and stopped them from bombing the camp. The Museum, yes, documents the Jewish Holocaust and honors the heroes of this time in history. But they have another mission, which is so evident, on-going and profound, to honor those heroes of our current world, who are making a difference...who see a wrong and try to right it, even though risking their own lives. The Museum's mission is also a commitment to bring attention to and stop all future genocides and "rid the world of injustices", not just Jewish ones. "YOU MUST BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD" - Mahatma Gandhi...not just point the fingers at others, often without really knowing them and their mission. We all must be teachers...and ordinary heroes. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102402Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:14:19 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102402Olga Shibtini, Bridgeport, CTDeb, Michigan. It is you who are sadly mistaken. I know many individuals who have families in Israel who are oppressed EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!!!!!!! The ones whom you claim choose to leave, did not do it because they wanted to leave their lands. They were tricked by the government! There are many families who have documents proving that they are the rightful owners of their land; however, they were kicked out to let settlers in. People who came from other countries and claimed that to be their land. You don't think there is no such thing as a Palestinian Refugee. Then I suggest you go and visit those camps where they are existing (because you cannot even say they are living)! You are responding in the same ignorant way as those who say there was never a holocaust!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102412Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:21:30 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102412Raquel, Alameda, CAThe majority of everyone on this blog are correct: We Should Never Forget...but we have. The Nazis reasoning for exterminating all those people (Jews, Catholics, Gypsies, and millions more) was the most disgusting and ugly side of being a HUMAN BEING. On the other hand you are all a bunch of hipocrites. You've turned We Should Never Forget into nothing but a mouth full of words....If you want to never forget, then turn it into some kind of action to make sure "IT NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN". Right now in Darfur you have ugly disgusting human beings killing innocent men, women and children. THESE ARE THE NAZIS OF TODAY. Yet, we have this wonderful blog about what a great story this is. It's a sobering story that still rings true today. The difference between the Holocaust and the Genocide on Darfur is this: WE HAVE AND HAD HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS TO TELL US ABOUT THE HORRORS THEY WITNESSED, BY THE TIME THE WORLD TAKES NOTICE OF DARFUR, THEIR WILL BE ONE LEFT TO TELL ALL THE FUTURE BLOGGERS THEIR SURVIVAL STORIES AND SHOUT THE MANTRA "WE WILL NEVER FORGET!"... Be proactive today and make a difference now.... www.savedarfur.orghttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102415Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:28:40 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102415Gail, Atlanta, GAIt is understandable why one would not like to remember or discuss something as horrible as their experiences during the Holocaust. In researching my family our roots in slavery and the "Trail of Tears" are glossed over with memories of happier times. While visiting Yad Vashem on a recent trip to Israel, I was waiting in a room for friends to catch up. A man seeking remnants of his family found his mother. I did not know him but rejoiced with him and carry that moment with me. There is not one of us who consider themselves "human" whose family has not been touched by our inhumanity to one another. Unfortunately in order to prevent the horrors of the past we must continue to shine light on them so hopefully they can be prevented in the future.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102417Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:29:35 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102417norman from boston, massI, too am a child of survivors. Both of my parents were sole surviving members of families of 7 children. My mother could never speak of the experience and was terribly scarred. My father was more able but also was spared the concentration experience as he was a member of the Polish underground. He also lost a wife and child. Survivors are a special lot. They rarely divorced. For many, it was very difficult to assimilate, even into the US Jewish community. But there was nothing quite so entertaining as a gathering of survivors bound together as family (without the blood line) engaged in their intense screaming and carrying on in yiddush. It felt like being in a Woody Allen movie in yiddish. My parents have passed and I know their lives in the end had its happy moments. My father was so content to be alive, to have friends and simple work and to be able to love his family. Thank you for helping me tear up thinking of him. I miss him and my family honors my parents memory.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102418Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:29:58 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102418Teresa Killebrew, Grapevine, TexasI was terribly disturbed that such horrible, unthinkable things were done to any group of people. (I was born after the years of the Holocaust, but know that even today our ears are closed to those who are experiencing persecution.) So disturbed, I tried to read as much as I could to understand how these atrocities could have occurred. In a period of about 3 months I read every book I could find about the Holocaust. Many nights as I lay reading, I cried uncontrollably. So saddened, I sought to find a way to share my grief. A couple of years later, I went to a lecture about Jewish traditions given by a Rabbi. After the lecture was over, I went up to him and asked if I could say I was sorry even though I wasn't the one who committed those atrocities. He pulled me into his arms and cried and told me he had never had anyone even offer any apology. I knew it was inadequate, but yet there was an exchange of heart and soul and grief that created a space for healing. But as a human being I have to say....oh how sorry I am that anyone suffered such things. I still cry each time I think about it, so I can barely begin to grasp the pain someone who actually endured it.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102422Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:35:21 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102422Ameer Raschid, Bodrum, TurkeyTAM Oceanside, Ca. (Sent Tuesday, March 27, 2007 11:33 AM) posted the following: "Other Middle East countries showed me disrespect, and invaded my personal space. Today, I cannot understand the revival of anti-Jewish hatred, and the unfortunate belief of too many vocal politicians, that it is wrong of the United States to support Israel. How many more 9/11's, SS Cole's, Embassy bombings, etc. must we tolerate before we really read what the koran teaches believers, "Convert by the Tongue of the Sword." This is not a peaceful religion, every one of us is a Heathen. We are all in jeopardy. World, wake up." TAM should not try to demonize Islam and Muslims by misquoting or misinterpreting the Qur'an. Many Jewish supporters of Israel are engaged in this in order to isolate the growing number of Muslims in the US as undesireable as Jews were considerd undesireable by Hitler. Jews and Christians as "People of the Book" were not forced to convert and were a protected people even though many regard this as mking them second class citzens. They were in another class but were able to practice their faith and escaped what happened to their brethern in Europe. Jews were welcomed to Turkey from Spain after living and thriving under Moorish rule, only to be forcefully converted or killed while others were driven out. Jews were also accepted in Turkey prior to WW II when they had few other places to go. No doubt,minorities everywhere never had an ideal life due to hatred of the other but many Jews lived in comparative peace and prosperity compared to the pogroms they suffered in Europe. We mustn't forget the anti-Semitism that existed and still exists today in Poland,Hungary, the Ukraine, Russia, Hungary, Austria, etc. Arabs and Muslims in the US have the advantage of associating in harmony with their fellow citizens who may be Jews or Christians while those Arabs in majority Muslim countries are subject to propaganda and the sterotyping of Jews as the enemy and also as persecutors of Palestinians. It is a fact, that during wars, the enemy is demonized.Palestinians are considered untermensch even in Israel. Those Israelis who call for justice for the Palestinians are considered leftist traitors or self-hating Jews. We don't have to play a numbers game as it states in the Torah and the Qur!an that whoever kills one human (unjustly) it as is if he has killed the whole huuman race and whoever saves the life of one human being it is as if he has saved the whole human race. Terorrists who kill themselves and innocents cannot escape the judgment of the Hereafter. I am an American Muslim from a converted Austrian Jewish father. My Hungarian cousin survived the Holocaust, although his parents did not. Even Jews who converted could not escape the Nazi racism which found Jewish blood going back to grandparents sufficient to be sufficient to be sent to the camps. The lesson of "Never again" should be extended to all those who are persecuted for their religious or political beliefs, their nationality, ethnicity or race. Israel has the right to exist as long as it gives the others the same right. Peace with justice is made with enemies who before vowed to kill or conquer. If they don't become friends, they at least agree to co-exist. Might alone, whether by democracies like the US or Israel, does not make right, it only postpones it. "Justice delayed, is justice denied." Hamas, at this time , cannot accept the right of Israel to exist because Israel has not yet accepted in practical terms, the right of Palestinians to exist in a viable state. It denies the right of return for one Palestinian but accepts the right of any Jew to come to Israel. Every settlement comes through negotiations and compromise. Israel negotiates from a position of power and self confidence while the Palestinians from weakness and humiliation.Only a courageous Israel can make a just peace. Salaam and Shalom. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102423Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:35:48 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102423Debbie, Houston, TexasI am not a Jew. I don't know of any family member who fought during the war. I am 46 years old. I only know that when I first heard of the horrible, horrible things that were done during the holocaust while in junior high school, I felt it was my obligation to learn and research everything I could about that time. It gives me chills sitting here typing this. My heart aches for every child, every woman, every man that was sent to the concentration camps, for everyone that lost a family member, for every survivor, for every one of them that have the memories of this horrible time. I am so ashamed of mankind. There is no more done now for those who face extermination for whatever reason, than there was during the holocaust. Mankind truly has not learned from its past. I cannot fathom the kind of evil that exists to destroy millions of human lives. My prayers are with each of you.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102431Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:42:50 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102431M. J. Simmons, St. Paul, MNThank you, Martin. You write down what we all should be feeling and remembering; so, that we can change the whole world for the better. Peace to you...http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102432Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:42:56 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102432JdP, WVI read with interest Mr. Majd's comments about the co-called camps in the Palestinian territories and I feel, as I know many Israeli's feel, saddened by his words. Unfortunately, the political and social upheaval in Israel today, with regard to the Palestinian territores, remains complex and not nearly as simple a "solution" as Hitler's Nazi Party in the 1930s and 40s. Then, Hitler and others (bolstered in part by the fact that one member of the previous German administration who signed the treaty of Versailles was a Jew) decided that his country would be better served by annihilating an entire race of people. The Jews throughout Europe then (in Poland, Germany, and Austrai to name a few countries) were political, financial, educational, and medical leaders and many Germans, suffering from one of their worst depressions, hated any one who was successful. It is difficult today to directly compare Nazi Germany and modern-day Israel (despite what the despot Jimmy Carter says) and I hope that Mr. Majd can understand the obvious differences. That being said, there is little place for any party or government to hold people against their will because of religious or political differences. Perhaps the termination of suicide bombings would be a good place to start, eh?http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102437Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:46:14 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102437Rose, Memphis, TNDear Mr. Fletcher, Thank you for sharing your story. I am a first generation of Survivors. My grandmother died without ever sharing her story. I would ask her when I was a child and she would respond with "isn't the sky a beautiful blue today?". My mother died far too early in life, as result of alcoholism, because she could not deal with the memories of what happened. The Holocast forever tens of thousands of families that live today. We must NEVER, EVER FORGET the cruelities and inhumanty that one individual can inflict on another. Thank you for your insight and your willingness to express your thoughts and feelings. Rosehttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102443Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:57:40 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102443Jackie.AZI really appreciate when someone (such as your self) will put a subject such as this in the fore thought.Unfortunately it is not talked about nearly enough.We are coming to the days when the people that actually suffered through this terrible event in history are nearing an end. My grandfather harbored a jew in his home and got caught,he did 2 years in Sachsenhausen and was unable to ever relive those memories with us(he is no longer with us). I can understand not being able to talk to us about it but I wish I had more answers. I read what ever I can ,I have been to the Holocost Museum(which is unblieveable) and someday I will make a trip to Germany/Poland to see the camps. I know it sounds morbid to have such an interest but I feel that my generation and younger will be the people who will be teaching generations to come, to make sure these otrocities never happen again. These actions were concentrated on the Jewish which my gradfather was not but felt in his heart that he had to help,someone else felt different and outed him.So many people suffered because one individual felt he had a right to say who is good and who is bad. Let us all remember that we were put on this earth, even if we dont have the same beliefs, religions or traditions. It is up to us to live in harmony and love one another,do for others as you wish them to do for you.We only have one life,live it to the fullest!!! http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102444Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:59:40 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102444ManWithCompleteFaithI am a MUSLIM . I am sympathetic to the Jewish people and feel very bad and upset whenever these things happen. But I am shocked to see the same people who CLAIM to have these things done to them would turn around and treat people the SAME way and in most cases WORST behaviour that any Human has seen in years TOWARDS other people.I'm sorry for the suffering, but there were also a lot of people killed in Hiroshima, Bosnia, Sudan, India and African countries. And every time I see these things happening around and committed by the same people ...I start to have doubts about the History of Jewish suffering..and doubts about The Holocaust. I grew up believing the accounts of the history of WW2.Laws that forbid asking questions protect not the truth, but vested interests. Only in this one area is the mere asking of a question or the performance of a laboratory test grounds for imprisonment for a crime deemed so evil that even the truth is not allowable as a defense.History is full of atrocities.And for all those atrocities save ONE, the victims themselves cry out for more examination, more study, more research. Only in this one area do the victims work so hard to punish anyone who wishes to take a closer look. We are all asked to buy the used car of Holocaust politics without being allowed to check out just what kind of engine is under that hood.But more than anything else, it is the manner in which historians, chemists, and researchers are punished for asking a question that has caused me to suspect some dark and terrible secret is being hidden from the general public, and in an age where we were all lied to about Iraq's mythical weapons of mass destruction, the idea that we can be lied to on such a grand and horrific scale has become mainstream. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102447Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:02:04 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102447John LowellA Catholic with a life long interest in the history of Europe in the first half of the twentieth century, I read Martin's comments today with concern and personal sympathy. One's imagination is simply staggered by the enormity of the crime that was endured by the Jews of Europe during this period. To me it has been the personal stories that have been the most impactful, the rescues, the accounts of the decades long pressure exerted by Nazis of many stripes and in many countries on Jewish families to force their emigration from rightful homes, ending, of course, in the most mind-numbing atrocities. A professional friend, a Jew, who has served me well for twenty-five years tells of the loss of his entire family in Poland and White Russia during this time and the thought haunts me with my every visit to him. No Christian learning of this background can fail to discern the shape of these developments. My wishes for personal peace and happiness go to those that have survived. John Lowellhttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102451Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:05:29 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102451Mark Harris, Springfield, TennesseeI enjoyed reading your article. I was wpondering if you might be able to help me answer an old question in my wife's family. My mother in law was the orphaned daughter of a German national born in Soest Westfallen. This German man was named Eberhard Feldmann, who travelled to Honduras, Central America immediately before world war 2 and married a local woman. When the war began, Mr Feldmann was deported to a camp in Texas and later sent back to Germany where he was never heard from again. I am curious as to whether he might have been Jewish and been a victim of the nazis and whether his name might reveal his ancestry. Any help would be appreciated. God Bless, Mark.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102452Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:05:38 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102452LIsa McNeil, Alpharetta, GeorgiaDear Mr. Fletcher, I am not of that era of World War II, but my mother was a child during that time. She visited Auschwitz and the Holocaust Museum. She said she was moved to tears over the things that were displayed. She described the buildings and the area and I felt saddened by what she described. I cannot understand how mankind can be so very cruel. I try to believe in my heart that there is good in all people, but sometimes it can be extrememly difficult. I only wish that everyone of those people you mentioned can find peace. I wish you peace too Mr. Fletcher. And I wish that someday the people of the troubled region of the Middle East will experience peace. Perhaps the world will finally become one of far less hate and much more love and respect for one another. Peace to you always Mr. Fletcher. God Bless you. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102453Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:05:43 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102453Edina, Springfield, MA As sad as the topic is, it was very refreshing to read your story. The media puts way too much focus and effort in pointless and useless things (i.e. what kind of color Lindsay Lohan’s hair is; what kind of coffee Britney Spears drinks). They should be talking more are things like this. Reading your story brought a lot of tears, fears, memories...back, that have not really left, actually. As a 22 year old genocide survivor (Bosnia), this story is very close to the heart. The horrors, the vivid memories, the constant nightmares… are so real and frequent that I honestly do not know how any of us genocide survivors (be it Holocaust, Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur (Sudan)….) can actually “function”, if we were lucky to survive. And then there is the quilt …. That quilt where you constantly ask yourself: “Why did I make it but so many others did not?” However, you know what the worst part is ultimately?! It is when those twisted, evil minds (either the perpetrators of the genocide or those like them) start denying that it ever happened! That is what angers and hurts the most! That is what brings that ultimate feeling of inconceivable desperation and humiliation, excruciating pain and immense anger! I am glad to see that people actually care. I am glad to see that so many years later, children and grandchildren of the Holocaust survivors, actually talk about it and are educated about it. That gives a glimpse of hope in this cruel and deceitful world today. It makes me think that maybe all is not lost, and that the sufferings of those of us who were caught in the horrors of genocide, will not be forgotten. Oh, and just maybe, maybe if we educate people enough, no one else will ever have to go through it. I wish….I hope… Oh, and you are absolutely right when you say that happiness has been denied for the survivors. I do not even remember that taste of happiness (it has been a long time since I was seven, which is when the war started). Very rarely to I feel joy, and even when I do, it is almost always bitter-sweet because the memories come rushing in. You form this shield around you; you put that fake smile on and you pretend when necessary. Yet inside, the pain overrules any possibility of ever feeling that foreign thing to us known as happiness. However, if only, there would not be more genocides, if only one child less would not have to go through what I and millions of other genocide victims went through; if only the children of Dafur (Sudan) could be saved now; if only …then it would be all worth it; then I would feel better. Everyone, please raise awareness about genocide; please tell your stories; please help Darfur(Sudan) now. Thank you. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102454Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:09:00 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102454Ed, Orlando FLAs I read all the previous comments only one thing comes to mind. Ignorance breeds hate. Throughout history more people have been killed because of their religious beliefs than for nay other reason. And since the Jewish faith predates Christianity (yes, Christ was Jewish), Jews have been persecuted longer than other religions. Are we whining? NO! Do we want retribution? NO. Why? We are peaceful people. We want a homeland where we can worship at the site of the sacred Temple which was destroyed so many years ago and is now a Mosque. We want to be left alone to live our lives as everyone else wants to live theirs, in peace. The so-called Christians who deny the Holocaust and blame the Jews for Palestine and all the other ills of the world are ignorant of what Jews are really about. We are not money grubbing devils who are controlling the Blacks to control the world banks as was said so many times throughout my life. We are people who are entitled to the same basic freedoms and bound by the same basic principles as everyone else. Do unto others has seemingly lost it's meaning in this world. Yes the WWII Holocaust happened. Yes others besides Jews were killed. Japan has killed Millions of other races. So did the Russians and Chinese. I feel for those others as strongly as I feel for the Jews. Why should anyone have to die? When will people learn to tolerate? In the end there can be only one conclusion if things continue as they are. It was stated succinctly in the Kingston Trios "Merry Minuet" and states, "What Nature doesn't do to us will be done by our fellow Man". Believe and LEARN!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102457Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:13:22 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102457John Doe , Las vegas , NevadaMy Great Grandparents died in Aushwitz. They were burned. My mother grew up with Anne Frank... until they went in to hiding... seperately. My mother was luckier than Anne. They went to school together .. at the school for the Jews. To this day my mother is angry that Anne's family stayed in one hiding place instead of moving around ( the way my mother was moved. She is angry that she lost her friend; angry for all the frinds she lost; angry for her lost Grandparents; and I am angry... and I don't want to be angry anymore. I am a second generation Survivor. This scar; this pain gets passed through the blood, through the generations. My mother took me to Holland to the very doorway where the SS came and took away my Greatgrandparents ; where she watched them go from the second floor window and knew that she would never see them again. Those that think this did not happen; those that try to argue that the holocaust is a lie are beyond ill .Those that know what happened will NEVER FORGET ! http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102460Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:17:56 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102460Art Fishbaine, Altoona, Pa.Of course thousands of people are being mistreated and killed daily throughout the world. And we should do everything we can to eliminate these atrocities no matter what the country, religion or skin color. But what separates rhe holocaust from all else (and what is almost universally ignored) is that the Jews were singled out to be slaughtered all over Europe--and eventually the world. There would be no end until the "final solution" was reached -- the eradication of Jews from the face of the earth.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102467Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:25:51 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102467Donna, Colo Spgs, COFor those immature, ignorant, self centered of you that are "tired" of hearing about it....and believe the Jews should just get over it, I have a few words for you. The Jewish people will always remember...as should everyone else...but more important, what other nation in this world has always been, continues to be and despite the years gone by still has to defend it's right JUST TO EXIST under the constant daily attacks on their children and families while just trying to live their own lives in peace on THEIR OWN LAND...YET, they still manage to become the educators, the doctors, the scientists and educators in the free world without threatening everyone and everything else...Israel took a desert and created an amazing place so they didn't have to TAKE anyone elses land or infringe on anyone else....those that disagree need to read the Myths and Legends of the Middle East (short version). No one in reality is closer to Jesus....if anything, the rest of the Christian world should be standing up and shouting their support; some people complain and do nothing...The Jews complain and try to take care of everything and for those unaware, even though they have had nuclear technology for years, they have never used it to blow up their "brother" in arms....be fearful, that when the other side has it, you won't be so blaise, they will have no trouble holding the world hostage for any reason. Thank God we have SOMEONE (Israel) in this world that doesn't hate our (US) guts in that part of the world, even though the US turned their back on Jews when a ship full of educated, healthy and skilled people (and WOMEN AND CHILDREN) trying to escape was unbelieveably sent back to Germany, knowing they would be executed when they got there!!!! Jews make no excuses and "dig in" to try to be productive in the most dangerous area in the world,and the things they have managed to do with nothing is a feat in itself; and without becoming suicide bombers and terrorizing the world with it's unabashed and maniacal acts, contributing NOTHING positive in this world; making more babies, violating and torturing your own women and children, keeping them ignorant enough not to strike back, all the while threatening and becoming more and more destructive and violent every day. No, the Jews are still just trying to survive in a world that openly seeks to annihilate them....I would ask....what then will the world do with a "people" that know of nothing except to get down on their knees, speak with a forked/uneducated tongue and would rather kill you than speak to you, offering nothing in return for your allegiance other than to keep your life... perhaps...http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102472Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:31:19 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102472Washington DCGood day all. First I would like to say that I very sorry that many of you lost love ones during this distasteful time in history. However after reading some of the comments I was disturb to find that there are some who say that people don’t talk about the Holocaust anymore or that we should never forget that “Time in History”. Personally I think we talk about to much. It appears that everywhere you go in the US the “Jews” either own or retain position of power with in the business community. Why is it that the “silver spoon” is handed out to just about every Jew that you meet? I think every one needs to realize that we are talking about the same class of people who were enslaved, freed; only to enslave another class of people. SLAVERY HAPPEN BEFORE THE HOLOCAUST!!!! And some of your “Jewish” family enjoyed the perks of slavery and racism. The death count during slavery far exceeds the number of those who lost their lives during the holocaust. Think about. Ships that were lost at sea carried hundreds of slaves who were stored in the bottom of the ship. Some did not make it because of sickness; some did not make it because they were thrown over board for the sake of saving rations for the crew. Let’s not even talk about the number of lives lost here in the states. No one wants to see anyone enslaved and killed unless you are a mad person. But please understand this; the Jews are not the only class of people that have gone through hell. As on person put it here on this site: “Interesting how most of you who never experienced the holocaust directly can sit here and feel sorry for themselves while the same thing is happening in Iraq or Dafur right now. Only one group seems to gain from atrocities while all others go barely noticed.” http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102473Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:33:23 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102473Lou, KCHere in a nutshell is the problem with the world: Everyone is caught up in the "Groups" names and not the individual. All the victims of hate and crime should be viewed as individual people and not as groups of people. We feel isolated from groups, but if we know of the individual then we feel their pain. If we feel the pain of others and posess any empathy then we will fight against the suffering. I should also point out that almost all the evil deeds in the world are caused by economics. Its not about religion, color, or gender, its about control and money. Why do we allow inhuman suffering for our fellow man (or woman)? You'd think we could of evolved by now. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102474Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:36:40 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102474Ann BuhrowIn 1939 just a few months before Holland was ocupied, my parents and myself along with my 1 year old brother were on the last ship to leave Rotterdam. As I remember the ship was full of young german jewish children, probably going to relatives in the states. They were the lucky ones.It was very hard times also for the Dutch, as many stories were told to me by my relatives. They hid a lot of jews in thier homes. I have been back many times to see my relations. And was always amazed at my birth country . But always was thankfull to be in the USA. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102476Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:41:09 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102476Donald Moreno, Raleigh NCMy first hearing of the Shoah was as a young man of 15. I and others had been invited to attend a meeting in which the facilitator was to share historical facts and something about international relation, I can't fully remember the circumstance. What I do remember is the numbing shock I experienced as photo after photo was splashed across the projection screen. I felt as though I had been assualted mentally and spiritually as a human being. I was reduced to tears; it was just to much. After leaving the auditorium, I wanted to forget what I had experience as quickly as possible and simply deny that this bit of world history had never happened, but I have learned to deal with it and approach it an event that needs to be understood so that the same dynamics do not reproduce themselves enabling such an event to reoccur. Never Again!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102478Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:42:56 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102478Michelle, Antioch, CAIn order to make sure a more complete history is taught to our children, we must contribute. I am a first generation Caribbean American. When my son came home from school talking about how hard Christopher Columbus' voyage was, I had him lie on his back next to me on the floor in the middle of the room. I had him squeeze as close to me has he could while I squeezed back. He finally told me he didn't want to play that game. I sat up and said to him "That was how our people came to the new world across the sea traveling packed together chained side by side stacked in the bottom of the ship like a wood pile". I could only tell him so much because he was only 5 yrs old, but he got the message. When I went to back to school night and saw his picture of Columbus' voyage in nothing but black crayon, I was frightened that he might need to see a therapist! His teacher told me that his picture was the best representation of the crossing of the Atlantic. It was a hard and terrible journey. He was much older when he studied WWII, but high school history only tells them so much. I talked with him about what I learned in my Social Psych class about the Holocaust. How the Jews were treated worse than cattle. He had tears in his eyes listening to some of the terrible things I told him that his school books wouldn't. I am currently reading "Medical Apartheid" by Harriet A. Washington, "The dark history of medical experimentation on Black Americans from colonial times to the present". It is hard to digest. In 2000 on PBS, there was an all day program about the history of the United States. I heard things I'd never heard before. One of them was how Hitler used American Social Darwinism of the 1890s to the early 1900s to help justify elimination of Jews!!! America was doing its own cleansing of undesirable whites and finally people of color. They found reasons to isolate them and steralize them. Some of these people hadn't even reached puberty. This went on until Clinton passed a law to stop it in the early 1990s. That was more than 100 years of cleansing. My older sister was almost a victim of this in 1977 when she was in her early 20s. She went into the hospital for surgery on a cyst at the base of her spine. She didn't have medical coverage, was young and black. Any children she produced would be a burden to society according to Social Darwinism. They gave her paperwork to sign while she wasn't wearing her glasses. She insisted on having her glasses to read what she was signing. They kept telling her it was just a consent form. When she read it, it was truly a consent form, but a consent to a hysterectomy! She asked them what she was doing with a form for surgery on the front when her issue was on her back. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102480Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:46:42 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102480Ken WoodFolks, I truly am sorry for happened 65 years ago. But other people suffered also. The Jewish Nation has made this passion. We who have lost loved one in the Great War are never heard from. But the Jewish people continue to make it front page news, for there own advantage. We are now fighting the Jewish wars and my family are again to die for your suffering. But as Jimmy Cater says, "we are not allowed to say anything against the Jewish Nation". Stop using the past for your own advantage. Others died. Lots of others. It's not all about you. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102484Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:50:14 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102484Jane Doe, Lyons, KSI thought the article was good. But I had mixed feelings after reading all the comments. First, I don’t how anyone who does their own research believes there was no holocaust. There is too much material to disbelieve. There are first hand accounts from victims and evidence brought back by American soldiers. As a child, I watched the “The hiding place” at church in the 70’s, being told never to forget. Ann Frank’s Diary was my first assigned book in middle school. I have researched WWII in depth in college and taken history classes taught through the eyes of victims. Now I’m a historian and museum director. I have seen this cycle of hatred over and over. My thinking goes back to one thing I was taught in church after the movie, as remembered by an elementary student, evil events happen but we should try to stop them. Second, (here is my conflict as talked about by others) I have never understood the position of the country of Israel and their treatment of the Palestinians. I only see a conflict of interest. How can Israel treat their neighbors as they do after going through the holocaust? I do believe the Palestinians have been cornered and are fighting to stay alive. I never understood why the government allows other horrific events to continue. I always thought the slogan never again would carry over. I wonder if Israel would have more respect if they would help people in conflict. (By the way I am the descendant of German Jews who came to America.) http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102486Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:56:16 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102486mnt town, ColoradoI understand remembering the Holocaust and honoring the innocent lives taken, no matter what race or nationality of those deseased. We all have to pour our emotions into the worlds current events. Take a look at where all the people that have written in are from- notice the numbers,notice they're from all over, notice how even to this day peoples lives are not the same because of the holocaust. The horrible effect of this dreadful event will be lived on through our history and our grandchildren's history. So do as you have been told "remember and never forget", but also realize we should voice our opinions and direct our energy at preventing another "holocaust like" event and trying to salvage what already has been destroyed. The world will be destroyed because of religion eventually. True believers in any religion and high body counts have alwatys gone hand and hand. Sad but true. Let history be my proof. For those that did'nt get the my drift- I'm talking about acting on the present situation our country has involved itself in the middle east, and mainly quit dwelling on the past if you want to make any difference for the future generations. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102488Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:57:45 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102488Patrick Cunningham Minot NDkarl kettler, you amaze me. Are you also one who maintains the world is flat? The evidence and sworn testimony is out there for all the different races and creeds of people who were victums of the Holocaust. Our grandchildren attended a Jewish pre-school for several years. As a Catholic grandparent it was touching and moving to watch all the children there, Jewish & non-Jewish. No hatred, no angry, just kids who accepted one another. The school had to have security and guards and all kinds of alert systems because of the threats. How can anyone want to hurt any child.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102496Tue, 27 Mar 2007 22:08:18 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102496mikeGood story Martin and good comments from the readers. Now if only you could do one in real time on Darfur so we can help the living so that we dont have to read another piece like this 50 years from now.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102501Tue, 27 Mar 2007 22:13:00 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102501NKB Wapak OHMy Opa ( thats German for Grandfather) was in the military during the war, he was in supply. And yes he was on the wrong side of the war, but he did his part for the right side. When a vital supply was needed for combat it or a componant that was needed for it to work were missing, shipped to the wrong place or simply not ordered. He did this as often as he could get away with it. Some supplies made it into the "wrong" hands and he was proud of the role he played in that war. He would be proud that his grand daughter is engaged to one who is of Jewish lineage. Not all Germans supported Hitler and my Opa was one who was horrified at the war being waged. Maybe he didn't make a huge difference, but I imagine that when he passed he had a good review by the Almighty. I have memories of a great man standing up for the Jewish population as best as he could. He had a family and lost everything by the end of the war, but he never lost his humanity. It is my goal to take my daughter and her fiance to Germany and visit the places that took so many lives one day so that they may pass on to their children the knowledge of the Holocost and remind them to be ever mindfull of the past so that we may not repeat it.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102503Tue, 27 Mar 2007 22:15:54 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102503Lane, Naples, FloridaSo many times, and for so many reasons I have wondered why why why the U.S. did not intervene in the aggression of Hitler. The Holocaust just one of a thousand. If only we had stopped him before! Now, I wonder why it is so difficult for all to see why intervening in Iraq and Hussein's genocide of his own people, agression toward other contries, etc., is worse then what would have been the inevitable alternative. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102511Tue, 27 Mar 2007 22:22:57 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102511Ron S, San Francisco CA"Deb of Michigan" statements about palestinians are as misleading as they be. More obtuse rhetoric by americans who claim they know but have never witnessed the atrocities on either side of the wall. Arab-Israelis like their christian counterparts in Isreal do not have the same rights as jewish citizens and probably never will. They enjoy liberty that is not afforded to those on the other side of the wall (who are themselves victims of Nazi-like crimes), but those liberties are not the same as those who claim jewish heritage. It's pathetic to see rhetoric being thrown into contemporary history books rather than two sided views supported by facts.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102519Tue, 27 Mar 2007 22:34:41 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102519Stuart Goldbarg St Paul, MN1 of 5. If you only read and believe what you want to read and believe, you may never learn that there is abundant evidence from non-Jewish survivors of the Shoah, including some famous cases. The anti-Semitic publisher who for twenty years incited Polish bigots to riot against and murder Jews, one fr. kolbe, was himself murdered by the german bigots in a death camp. So, let's not hear any more nonsense that the german murder machine is a hoax. 2 of 5. Jews of the Reform and Conservative movements are at the forefront of rescuing the Muslim people of Darfur from the latest holocaust. The White House and the last Congress were too busy chiselling in Iraq an Ohio to be bothered with this horrific mass murder. 3 of 5. Conservative republicans like Sens. thorkelson (r-MT) shipstad (r-MN) and bush (r-CT & grandfather of the present occupant of the White House), besides chas lindbergh, henry ford, rep hamilton fish jr. etc. supported Hitler. Goebbles even had nazi material printed up by rep hamilton fish's manhattan office. The "america first committee was the most successful tool the nazis used to infiltrate the conservative wing of the republican party. Several of these people turned out to be german agents who spent the war in Leavenworth. Unfortunately, we did not put any where near enough conservatives in prison for their treasons. All my life, I have heard conservative republicans deny or minimize the holocaust, or explain it by claiming that Jews killed Jesus - as if people in the 1930s & 40s could be responsible for something that happened 1900 plus years earlier. We should have hanged prescott bush, but we were just too liberal. 4 of 5. Maybe if Black Churches, Black Muslims, Southern Baptists, and Mormons got behind the movement to save the Muslims of Darfur, we could stop the genocide. 5th and last. The phrase Jesus was Jewish is incorrect. Jesus IS Jewish, always was, always will be. He was never a Christian any more than a Scientologist or a Muslim. The romans murdered Jesus long before any of those religions were founded.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102525Tue, 27 Mar 2007 22:48:21 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102525Sima Weiss, Jerusalem, IsraelI've just read all the many comments regarding the Holocaust. Imagine this happeneing. The brightest, most educated pillars of your community...affluent professors, physicians, lawyers, philosophers, bankers etc... become killing butchers overnight. That is what happened in NAZI GERMANY. Human beings turned into evil barbarians...butchering people...tearing babies apart with their own hands in front of their mothers. The killing rebels in Darfur are uneducated, poor, and deprived. THAT is the difference. THAT is what makes the Holocaust stand apart. A highly cultured society became inhuman, totured people, burned them in ovens, gassed them to death. And they ENJOYED doing it! Pure evil. How dare anyone compare the Holocaust to the Palestinians. I am a child of surviors. I live in Israel now. The Palestinians are treated in our finest hospitals by our finest doctors, they shop our Malls and go to the Cinemas. They wear pure silk scarves and buy Channel make-up. They have jobs in our cities. How dare anyone equate the two. We gave them Gaza 2 years ago...once just a dessert on the sea. 25 years ago the Jews turned it into a green PARADISE..a vibrant area where we built, schools, colleges, a multi million dollar produce industry, and beautiful lush towns on the sea. The day after it was evacuated, the Palestinians bulldozed every beautiful home, every school, medical facilities, sports centers, institutions and turned it into a barren dessert again, used to train HAMAS fighters. Wake up! See the truth. If the free world doesn't stand up to Iran...does not STOP Iran from acquiring Nuclear weapons...another Holocaust could happen. Israel will be the first hit. It's pretty clear who will be the next target. We must stop Iran now. And thank you Mr. Fletcher, for your personal and forthcoming piece on the Holocaust. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102530Tue, 27 Mar 2007 22:54:48 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102530Mary, WashingtonIt takes an uneducated and racist mind to deny that the Holocaust happened. What...are all the pictures, the survivor testimonies, the filmed footage, the testimonies of Allied soliders who liberated these camps all fabrications? It is for this reason that genocide continues to this day...we deny that it happened or is happening..therefore we repeat it. I remember as a 15 year old high school student reading "Exodus" by Leon Uris for the first time. I remember crying for days after reading the account of the young boy who was forced to clean the bodies out of the gas chambers, his accounts of what he saw. So what, the work was a work of fiction...that is not the point. It moved me to the point that I refused to forget that intolerance breeds hatred. What I find hypocritical is the American public. Christianity has always held a hatred for the Jews...just take a look at Catholic history..it is marred by the death of millions of jews, so much so, that Pope John Paul II apologized for this and their role in the holocaust. The Christian church has been slaughtering Jews for millenia, and depending on which part of the Protestant church you hold too, your just as guilty. It is insanely hypocritical that the same people, *points at the Christians among you* who sit here now and say how terrible and how tragic that period of time was, are the same people who would have turned their backs during WWII. American's denied that the holocaust was happening even as it was happening. It wasn't until American soldiers came home with accounts of the slaughter that American's even looked up from their dull, uninteresting lives. Maybe as American's we should focus inwards...take a look at the religion the majority of American's follow - Christianity. Islam is not the only religion that breeds intolerance and hatred...take a deeper look at your Christian history, then come back and talk to me. I can guarantee you will be sickened at what you find, because I definitely was. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102534Tue, 27 Mar 2007 23:01:47 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102534Abe Abed, Sacramento CAInvited into Israel. What Israel are you talking about DEB? First off, they are classfied as second class citizens. They are not given Israeli Passports, but given ID Cards. And they were not invited into Israel, maybe you need to investigate your own so called "Facts".http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102535Tue, 27 Mar 2007 23:03:22 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102535Doe EyedSo, I guess it is apparent to you now that everyone assumed you were only talking about Jewish survivors because you are in Israel? I feel sure ANY survivors of the Holocaust that want to dance rather than dwell on the horrors they experienced will be welcomed. I didn't get the impression the attendees or you were "whining" as some have suggested. Neither did I feel your analogy to somehow identify in some way how these survivors feel to be insulting. NO ONE WHO HASN'T LIVED IT CAN KNOW. How difficult it must be to live through such and strive for some semblance of normalcy. To life! http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102537Tue, 27 Mar 2007 23:05:46 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102537jmJews were not the only people who were sent to these camps. Others, including gays, were also sent there and murdered.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102538Tue, 27 Mar 2007 23:06:13 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102538alvin Mississauga OntarioAs one of millions of non Muslims who has come out of an Islamic terror state I want to embrace every Jew I see - Long live Israel - Israel has the courage the West lacks to stand upto every savage muslim in this world Once again Long live Israelhttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102547Tue, 27 Mar 2007 23:22:19 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102547Delmar Fairchild, Barron, WisconsinHolocausts are terrible times. Whether the holocaust in the Second World War accounted for 1 million people or 6 million, it doesn't make a difference. This has happened. Make no mistake about it and will happen again because we humans allow it. Darfur, Iraq, Slave ships -- it matters not where it is happening, but that it is. It doesn't matter why it is happening, but that it does. We do this to ourselves. There is a basic flaw in human kind. We are still animals regardless of what religion we are. We came up from the animals and we will never progress out of being an animal. When the human population becomes a burden on the Earth, pity the poor people that will be here when the "real" Holocaust happens. The demise of what little humanity there is as we know it and perhaps the demise of all mankind.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102548Tue, 27 Mar 2007 23:23:26 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102548JDThe problem is how do we prevent another holocaust in New York City? I mean really we have learned nothing in Iran for nearly 30 years and now they want to kill again. Hatred should be dealt with in a universal manner yet we find sick people around the globe.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102549Tue, 27 Mar 2007 23:25:09 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102549ZSD New York, NYThree weeks ago my wife and I were traveling through Poland and visited Auschwitz. Neither she, nor I, will ever be the same. As a man with an extensive background in construction, I was simply dumbstruck by the vast scale of Auschwitz II. It is huge. I couldn't believe the amount of planning and design, and contracts and labor and materials (miles of barbed wire and cast concrete fencing, thousands of ceramic electrical insulators, hundreds of thousands of bricks, hundreds of pre-fab wooden barracks and watchtowers that were kit-built and frieghted in from Germany)...all went into creating that ungodly place. As human beings, we are blessed with the capacity to create and realize the concepts in our minds. With those resources they could have built anything...and they chose to build that place. It is unforgivable. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102552Tue, 27 Mar 2007 23:26:33 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102552JDGun boat diplomacy - nothing less will prevent a repeat of the holocaust. Imagine a daily trip to work and seeing your fellow man being slaughtered. That was Germany 1939! Now America needs to worry if a traffic pattern will bring lawlessness in America while we go to work in the morning.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102599Wed, 28 Mar 2007 00:27:56 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102599Dr. Gordon, AlabamaI write this as a Christian with no ties to Israel or the Jewish people other than those in my heart.No thinking person can deny the Holocaust because of the millions of documents , pictures and films that absolutely confirm what mankind would like to deny.Also, probably as many were tortured and executed who were not Jews. That doesn't change the fact that the Jews were by far the largest group singled out for this extermination.Further, this bears no similarities to the present situation in the Palestinian region.The Palestinian Arab population refused the territory allotted to them in UN Resolution Number 181 of 1947, because they wanted ALL the territory that also included that allotted to Israel. One day after Israel became a nation again in 1948, five Arab nations attacked the State of Israel. These nations warned Arab residents to leave the area expecting a quick victory. Months later a cease- fire was established and these residents could no longer go back to the homes they had voluntarily left...thus the beginning of "Palestinian refugee problem".After the war, Jordan illegally annexed Judea and Samaria on the West Bank of the Jordan River and Egypt got the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. Now the refugees were in camps and villages controlled by friendly Arab Moslem states in the same territory that was allotted to them by the UN resolution! Why did they not get their nation from the friendly Arab nations? Why didn't the Moslem countries alleviate their suffering or give them their country? It is because they used their own Palestinian Arab brethren as pawns for political sympathy and manipulation, and because they did not want to live peacefully next to a Jewish state. They have subjected Israel to continual terrorism, bombings and murder for nearly 60 years, but they agonize when Israel fights back to defend itself. This situation bears NO resemblance to the Holocaust, and I find it disgusting that today's political correctness would even make such a comparison. Why is there such an outcry against the Jews? Is it not the Muslims who seem unable to live in peace with their neighbors anywhere in the world? Each person should be able to believe as he wishes and tolerate those who choose to believe otherwise. If we all did this, there would be no chance of ongoing or future Holocausts against any people, anywhere! http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102692Wed, 28 Mar 2007 01:13:05 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102692JoBobBrain, Phx, AzOlga above makes a good point: where was God? We have this notion that God allows suffering for good (Holocaust preceeds new State of Isreal), or that we join our sufferings to the sufferings of Christ for the salvation of the world, but isn't that a convient psychological coping mechanism? I wonder with all the evil (relatively speaking) in the world why this loving God "allows" it to happen? I'll take the Old Testament God back with His power and justice! At least he was engaged and smote the enemies of Isreal when needed... seems to me that we have created this God of peace and passiveness because that fits our ideal, then we invent things like "meaningful suffering" to explain away all the horror that Man does to Man. I guess I just answered my own question. Peace to all and may we figure out a way to love one another just as we are.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102809Wed, 28 Mar 2007 01:42:11 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102809L. FloridaHow cold and heartless are those who say "It is over with, finished. Move on." I have been blessed to only experience few tragedies in my life rather than such horrific ones as the survivors (my sister's death when I was 11 - which lives with me every single day of my life). I cannot begin to fathom the experience of any concentration camp victim, Jew or other. The last thing I would have the gall to say is, "It's over, move on," because I know the idiocy, lunacy, ignorance and all-round stupidity of such statements. Survivors did not have short blips of tragedy enter their lives, they lived it all day, every day, every week, every month, every year or as long as they had the misfortune to be held prisoner. There is no "move on, guys." As I live every day with difficult memories that pail to almost nothing in comparison to a survivor's tales, I know how impossible it is to simply let them go. And to those who would say the whole concentration camp thing never happened, I cannot seem to stop this statement from bursting forth: "your head is so far up the ole wazzoo it's coming back out the top again." How stupid can you be? No evidence? Where the hell have you been? Obviously not here on this earth - far from here! So, Karl K., where ya from? Pluto? And, yes we must remember to keep it from happening again. And yes the same thing is happening all over the world. And yes, we need to do something about it. And yes, I am done now.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102839Wed, 28 Mar 2007 01:54:15 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102839AR, Toronto, CanadaIt is now 50 years ago since the Holocaust, most of the survivors have passed. Why can't you all leave this behind.it is the same thing with Slavery 400 years ago. Surely the world will never allow these atrocities to happen again. I can say the above because I am a direct decendant from the indentured servants that were brought to the Caribbean. We do not try to make the world constantly be reminded of it, instead we worked hard and made something of ourselves, the same as most if not all of you. Please do not take this the wrong way but accept it as constructive criticism, stop the complaining and trying to make everyone feel guilty for the unfortunate History that we have all gone through.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102868Wed, 28 Mar 2007 02:12:53 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102868keith stimac streator il.i had two uncles who liberated two of the camps.they never talked about what they saw in the camps.it is a shame that they could never talk of the gruesome things that they saw. as these people slowly fade from our presence we hear of idiots who say that thisnever happened. i took my 11 year old grandson to hear a holocaust survivor tell about his time in the camps.when i first started reading of the holocaust as a young boy the thing that amazed me most about the germans was that they were just plain people. there was nothing out of the ordinary about them.as abraham lincoln said evil will triumph when good people do nothing.never forget all of the nazi victims be they jewish or christian or anything else that did not fit their ideals.never let this happen againhttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#102958Wed, 28 Mar 2007 03:39:38 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:102958Hasidicrebbele"Thank God I’ll never know" - how can u be so sure? i would say and pray " Please G-D, WE should all never know ".http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#103060Wed, 28 Mar 2007 05:39:03 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:103060Freddy aka Lejeune (my nom de guerre)., Bethesda, MarylandI am a teenager survivor of the Holocaust. I am aslo the moderator of the Yahoo! worldwide (in mmbership) group on Yahoo! Remember_The_Holocaust where I have posted your writing here as well as the comments to it. I was asked two years ago by the founder of the group , a Christian young woman from California, to become the manager of the educational and informative group, The group is like a town meeting , and Iserve as a convenor. I also post relevant articles nad other stuff suchas book reviews and essays. it also about promoting toleranceeducation and human rights, aswell serves as genocide alert. I have also been appointed by the Governor of Maryland on a state task force to implement education in the university system of Maryland on the topics of the Holocaust, genocide, human rights and tolerance. If you wish to visit or join the group please go to: Remember_The_Holocaust@yahoogroups.comhttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#103063Wed, 28 Mar 2007 05:48:39 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:103063Freddy aka Lejeeune (nom de guerre)Regarding your blog wriring which i took the liberty to post on the Yahoo! group Remenber _The_Holocaust, asking why it took so long to read about the HolocaustIf I may I like to wite about my personal experience as a teenager Survivor (then) of the Holocaust which could have been exterminated in Sobibor if I had stayed with the foster mother who reared me in Germany and who was exterminated in Sobibor which I would have been also if i hadnot been whisked way to rejoign my biological parents in Belgium , I like to mention that when I arrived in the US March 3, 1952 until 1989, nobody ever asked me about. And nobody wanted to know , atleast even the editor of the Washington Post who in l989 wrote to me that as a newspaper in a competitive world, such painful stories about the past would not be useful to be printed in The Washington POst. The late Dr. Javob Rafer Marcus . considered the "father"of American Jewish historyas an academic discipline and director of the American Jewish Archives at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, wrote to me in a letter dated February 13, 1989, among other things, that"Very few publishers are interested in Holocaust stories today." The pessimist writing of the late Dr. Marcus and the assessment of then editor Bradley , would be set aside with the opening of the US Holocaust memorial Museum in April 1993, as well as the widely accepted film "Schindler's List."Suddenly, it became acceptable to speak and write about the Holocaust. So much so that it has become an academic discipline. Whereas in the past I was admonished not to talk about the past, now as you all know i am managing this Yahoo! group and i waseven appointed by the Governor of Maryland to a task force to implement education in the Holocaust history, genocide, human rights and tolerance in the University System of Maryland. I even was asked and talked to students at the HIllel at the university of Maryland last year and occasionally do speak to young people at religious schools. Yet, adults, including the Rabbi in my congregation, avoid the subject.I have found it desirable not to mention the subject anymore when interrelating with adult American jews whereas young people of all religions are most eager to learn, a very positive sign ,as you can often read here in the articles I post on Holocaust Survivors speaking to high school students around the country. In a dramatic reversal , books and articles on a facet of the Holocaust have since the pessimist outlook of the late Rabbi Marcus in 1989, inundated the printed world . We b sites devoted the Holocaust since then have also appeared with a vast amount of historical data. And so we do not forget the Holocaust, fellows like the President of Iran continually keep it a current topic by his own denial harangues!! Whereas in the past I had to hide my past, as if it was some sort of communicable disease , to day I am free to write about. .but i will not mention it to my fellow American born congregantshttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#103098Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:08:36 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:103098KSIt is scary how eager people are to exploit a personal narrative to promote their own agenda. Mr. Fletcher shared a moment that is touching; a moment that he felt would open discussion. There is no denial that other people were murdered under Hitler's watch. There is no denial that there are other atrocities being committed in the world. There is no declaration of political affiliation. There is no denying that the Palestinians in the refugee camps live in horrible conditions. What we have here is an example of one man's reflection on something that touched him. Look, millions of people were murdered under Hitler, and six million of them were Jews. The fact that someone wants to reflect on that particular aspect because of their heritage is not a denial of the suffering of others. Reflection is an essential part of growth, and in order to be a well-rounded individual we must grow based on the experiences we share as people. This isn't about being Jewish, and it is most certainly not about whether or not you have Jewish friends. This is about how capable we are as people to feel compassion, for survivors of the Holocaust, as well as the people that are suffering today. Please, stop using this forum to propagate hatred and ignorance. Thank you to all that have shared stories of hurt; putting thoughts into writing can be hard, but the human spirit triumphs through hardship. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#103118Wed, 28 Mar 2007 09:31:43 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:103118CS Puyallup, WASometimes people deny things that are too hurtful to admit. My mother's family is German and Christian, and my mom was in her very early teens during WWII. When my son was in high school he took German for three years, studied German history, and became fascinated by the sick mind of Adolf Hitler. I walked in on a conversation between him and my mom one afternoon, and he was talking about all of the things he had read. She argued defensively as to how so many could have succumbed without the German people knowing the entire scope of what was happening. My son ended the discussion, as it was obviously upsetting her, and left the room. My mom and I chatted a little, and I tried to explain to her that she was just a child at the time, and maybe people just didn't talk about what was going on. I also assured her that she was not personally responsible for the incredible loss of lives. She was really upset by the entire subject, and the guilt she felt for not knowing what was happening was so intense that her frail little body was wracked with sobs as she talked. As a young girl, her most vivid memory was that of her town being bombed, and how she literally saw people being blown apart within feet of her, as they all ran to the bomb shelters. Many of the German people around her lived in fear. Her town did not support Hitler, and those who were outspoken were arrested and never seen again. SS vehicles roamed the streets of her town, with loud speakers blaring Nazi propaganda and threatening messages. When she was older, she learned that her uncle had been murdered by the SS for hiding Jewish people and attempting to assist them with passports or papers so they could leave the country. She also shared how her father (my grandfather) had been missing for eight years. She had been quite young when he went missing, and one day after the war was over, he came to the house and knocked on the front door. She answered the door but didn't recognize him. He asked her to bring her mother to the door, and she told her mother "some guy" was here to see her. Of course, my grandmother was a bit confused, however, when she saw my grandfather standing there after eight years, she literally fainted. I guess the thing I wanted to say is it is easier for people to deny what is hurtful. I wonder how many Germans feel a burden of guilt, like my mom, because the Holocaust happened right under their noses. Unfortunately the world has not changed--today the hatred comes in different shapes and colors--you would think by the 21st century, that we would have learned to intervene rather than let these things go on. My prayers go out to all of the people in our world, of every race or religion, who still suffer from past wounds, and also to those who are presently being persecuted. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/27/101802.aspx#103179Wed, 28 Mar 2007 12:47:10 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:103179karl kettlerPassover is coming and it's time to revisit the "holocaust". Curious no one ever mentions the 20 some million native inhabitants of North America that were slaughtered,most by U.S. government edict, as the Europeans marched from sea to shining sea.No one mentions that it was America that was the creator of concentrations camps,the reservatioons, where natives were reprogrammed and starved to death. Why is it always about the Jews and their claimed event that neither occurred in America nor involved American citizens? Why am I as an American Christian taxed to pay for the Jew's monuments. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial in Washington D.C. is not only on taxpayer donated realestate worth hundreds of $millions but receives over $40 million annually from the taxpayers for operating expenses. Yet Grant's Tomb and other national monuments are falling apart. If the Jews want their monuments it is time they started paying for them themselves and not burden the rest of us!