http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspxBy Martin Fletcher, NBC News Tel Aviv Bureau Chief The blog I posted last week "Holocaust survivors always 'survivors'" provoked so many interesting -- and contradictory -- comments that I’d like to respond. Many readers shared memories, othersen-USCommunityServer 2.0 (Build: 60608.1)http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109135Mon, 02 Apr 2007 13:57:15 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109135Deborah Lipsitz, Chino, CAWell said.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109140Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:09:51 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109140Christine Bar Harbor , MeI believe we should be reminded until it no longer happens. I don't believe people should ever forget how people lost their live's to such brutal and horrible ways . People still loosing their lives and there children that are unspeakable to the human race they not only loose life but any dignity and way of life before all this happens to them. As for people who think it dosen't exist or never happened, Shame on you! And for all those who ignore it, what if it happened to you, really think what it would be like and how you would react......http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109145Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:17:22 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109145Debby Young Bellevue, NeThe Holocaust needs to be kept alive. We should not ever forget the evil that was and that still is. Whether it was in a concentration camp or in a dungeon, genocide is alive and well and people just play dumb and turn their heads. I wish there were traveling museums for the Holocaust so all could see the evil that was done and could understand the evil that is still here. It should never happen again, but it will continue somewhere.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109146Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:17:55 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109146Anthony J. Newbill Wickenburg , AZWhen Censorship overcomes free expression , this is the result . If people cannot voice their thoughts freely history is history.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109149Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:22:07 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109149ginapeople are violent. it seems increasingly so. its the facist state of a lot of the world. its horrible. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109163Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:33:08 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109163PART OF THE PROBLEMIT IS SAD THAT THERE ARE STILL SO MANT PEOPLE THAT WILL NOT ADMIT TO THE WROND DOINGS OF THE JEWS OR ANY OTHER RACE THAT WAS WRONGED FOR BEING "DIFFERENT". THE HOLOCAUST SHOULD BE REMEBERED. RWANDA SHOULD, SLAVERY SHOULD HOW WE TREAT OUR VETS' SHOULD. HOW DARE PEOPLE ACT AS IF NONE OF THIS HAPPENED. IT HAPPENED AND IT IS PAINFUL. ME MYSELF I AM OUTRAGE I HAVE A JEWISH IN LAW (I AM BLACK AND PUERTO RICAN) I HEAR HER TALK ABOUT HER GRANDPARENTS AND GREAT GRANDPARENTS ALL THE TIME AND ABOUT WHAT THEY WENT THROUGH. IT HURTS ME TO MY SOUL .http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109172Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:41:58 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109172Anne Kennedy-Rackham, Colorado Springs, ColoradoAlas, we priviledged Americans have never been subjected to terror raining down on us. We've never had to watch our children tortured as we die, or been forced up into the hills to hide from vicious bands of homicidal racists. Don't get me wrong. I'm very happy that we have not had to experience what most of the world has, at one time or another, and I would gladly die to keep my country safe. But, we should be bright enough, here in the land of milk and honey, to know we can only stay safe by widening our scope...by looking aound and extending, if not help, at least a little compassion. If we could find a way to feed everyone (not really beyond the Earth's wonderful bounty) and help just one generation of children grow up without war and death all around them, the world would be forever changed. The people who hit upon the idea that all are created equal really did mean all people; not just all Americans. It pains me to see their beautiful dreams of life, libery and the pursuit of happiness twisted into avaricious greed and mean-spirited intolerance. But, then, I can afford to be Utopian. After all, it's all around us, here in the land of milk and honey.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109173Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:42:22 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109173Angela Daley, Provo, UtahMy college professor was a survivor of the Holocaust. She still bears the tattoo given to her as a child. My husband's best friend helped reburry hundreds of victims in the former Yugoslavia in the late 90s and still has nightmares of the carnage. Instead of dying the events, we need to learn from them. We need to learn the dehumanizing that goes on before genocide and avoid it. Racism comes in all colors and creeds. All of God's children need to work together and keep these tragedies from happening again and again. The Holocaust was not the first or the last. But, its importance lies in the fact it was the first widely documented case and its the most studied. We can learn from what happened in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. We can remember and we can work against it. Obviously we haven't learn enough. Or the innocent souls in Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo and Rwanda would not have suffered so much loss. Pray for Peace, but don't forget to act.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109180Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:48:57 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109180M.R.Chase, Franklin, North CarolinaI, for one, will never doubt the holocaust took place. My Grandfather helped to liberate two of those evil places. I will never doubt your fathers pain either. Do the Jewish "whine" louder than any other group targeted for genocide? No, I do not believe so. Could this be the case? The Nazi Holocaust was simply the first recorded by modern media so that the world saw almost first hand the organized evil visited upon an entire people for no better reason than a personal prejudice. My respect, my love, my prayers to those who survived, to those who did not, and for those so ignorant as to believe this atrocity never occured.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109200Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:13:50 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109200Alan PorcoI was a Film major in college. In a class on documentary films, we saw home movies taken by German officers at Auschwitz. There was one scene that was so upsetting I had to get up and leave. The scene showed emancipated bodies being shoveled into a mass grave by bulldozers. How anyone can deny the Holocaust is beyond me. But then there are those who believe the Earth is flat and the center of the Universe. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109203Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:18:25 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109203Sean, Torrington CTI just think it is sick that the USA obsesses over the Halocaust at every turn, while actual genocides occur right in front of their noses. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109215Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:31:10 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109215Angela, Saint Paul, MinnesotaI feel that I can honestly say that anyone who denies the genocide of the Jewish people (among other targeted groups) which occurred during the WWII period by the Nazis is simply ignorant to history or does not want to admit fault. For some, this may be any easy way out of escaping blame for atrocities. Some may argue that the Jewish community receives more attention for the genocide against them, and this may be true to some extent for the simple reason that it happened during a World War. The genocides in Africa and Cambodia, for instance, may not have received the publicity which the Holocaust did for this very reason. Yes, there were as many, and in some cases more, murders with these genocides but they were not encompassed by a war that overtook the world, and for that reason may not be receiving the press which the Holocuast has. Either way, no genocide, I believe, can be considered better or worse or more worthy of public attention than any other. They are all terrible and render the human race more susceptible to the evils of the world and of mankind itself.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109220Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:33:26 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109220David Kingsland, GeorgiaLikewise, The Vietnam Memorial Wall, albeit smaller than some you mentioned. So it doesn't have to happen again, we will stop it in Iraq.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109223Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:36:18 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109223joseph montreal canadawhat about the armenian genocide that every body knows about but fail to talk about . http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109224Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:37:09 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109224Glenn, El Paso, TXHate. It is a gift from God. I came from a jewish bloodline that ended with my Grandmother. My father, oddly enough, is an athieist. Her family disowned her because she married a gentile. They hated her decision more than they loved her as a daughter. To them it was more important for her to maintain a pure jewish bloodline than her emotional well being. So much for what any jew thinks. I was in Israel as a Navy sailor. Our command spent about a week warning us not to wear cammoflauge patterned clothing, that the israeli's view it as clothing a terrorist would wear. To make a long story short. I was shore patrol and had to go pick up one of my shipmates from the local PD. He was beat to crap because he was wearing both t-shirt and trousers in the very pattern we were told not to waer. The thing is, he was a blond haired, green eyed boy from North Carolina. I spoke to the Israeli watch captain, a New York jew transplant, asking him why they would do such a thing, that he should know better because he was an American as well. He told me that he wasn't an American and that he has nothing to do with us. Well, so much for what any jew thinks. The point I'm trying to make is that those who whine at one time were on top. And if ever they get on top, well, they do what they have to to remain there. I was watching a documentary of Palestine, while the British still controlled. It was amusing to see that the jews were using the exact same terrorist tactics against the british that the Palestinians are using today against the Israelis. The only attack the Palestinians need to undertake in order to mirror the jews is an attack on a hospital. After close analysis, if I had an enemy, I would destroy them completely, because not doing so invites reprisals from their offspring at some later date. It only makes sense don't you think? Isn't this such a wonderful petrie dish God has made for us? I bet we keep him entertained for hours.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109225Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:38:07 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109225Brenda, Brownsboro, TexasAlthough I have no personal connection with anyone who has experienced genoside. I feel very strongly that it is something that should never be forgotten. In forgetting or ignoring I think we make it eaiser to continue and no race has the right to eliminate another for any reason.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109230Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:42:14 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109230RONALD FIOREYTRUE WHAT YOU SAY BUT HERE IN THE USA IT'S ALL ABOUT THE JEWS AND THAT THE HOLOCUST OF WW11 COMES ACROSS AS JUST A JEW THING, LIKE WE WERE RESPONSIBLE. WHAT WE ARE RESPONSINBLE FOR IS THE GENICIDE OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN, AND I MIGHT ADD THAT ISRAEL RECEIVES MORE FOREIGN AID THAN THAT WHICH IS GIVEN TO THE NATIVE TRIBES. WE SUBSIDIZE THE ILLEGAL SETTLEMENTS ON PALESTIAN LAND, YET OUR OWN GOVERMENT CAN NOT PROVIDE THE NAVJAHO NATION WITH WATER. MAY BE OFF SUBJECT, HOWEVER I HAVE MANY JEWISH FRIENDS, BUT I AM DEFINITLY NOT PRO-ISRAEL.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109238Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:47:04 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109238Candace L. Dickerson, Falls Church, VAThank you for the above. My father entered the camps in Germany to document what happened there and who were the survivors. He never talked about what he saw nor did he forget. My father was raised in a Germany speaking home in America and he could never forget his disgrace. My brother spent two tours in Vietnam and never speaks of what he saw. Now my son remembers his tours in Somalia, Honduras, Iraq and Afghanistan and never speaks of what he saw. He experiences nightmares in its place. I know the evil man does to man due to religion race and fear of the "different." As a nation of human beings, we must never forget and strive to never let it happen again.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109246Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:53:53 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109246Velandy Manohar, MD, FAPA, Haddam,CT We are all diminished and bereaved and mutilated and subject to vivisection by the genocidal assassinations of specific vilified members of the Human Family. In the Sanatana Dharma Tradition Genocidal progroms constitut Brahma hatya/ Atma Hatya( Violent attacks on the divinity of humans and God the Craetor) All of us are descendents of the progeny of the Eurasian Adam with an M168 marking on the Y chromosome and his lovely lady with a Mitochondrial marker designated L3. They were living in East Africa. Once they left the shore of East Africa they spread East west and north south. In the space of 30,000 years they had spread to Australia the far corners of Asia and Europe and corossed the frozen tundra across the Bering starits to the Americas and stopped only when they reached the southern tip of S. America. Thus every continent but for Antarctica was populated by the hardy, ingenious and adaptive children of the prototypical Adam and Eve. Most Religious texta assert the common humanity of all people who are made in the image of God. Sanskrit texts proclaim eg.1. The first verse of the Isavasya Upanishas proclaims," Isavayam idam Sarvam." (God pervades all that exists.) 2. The concept of Vasudeva Kutumbakkam (Family whose mebers are embodied souls)3. Every prayer ends with this benediction, Sarve janana sukhino bhavantu( May God bestow comfort and Joy on all Humanity)4.Another prayer pleads,Prithvi bara naso Mukhunda( O God Deign to ease the burden of Humanity.) For those readers who may be adherents of other religious traditions they are already aware of the core values of their faiths that may parallel these nuggets extracted from the ore of Sanatana Dharma tradition. For those who agnostic or theist they will be able to join with others who may differ with their views and reflect the answerto this question that Dunne asked and answered, For whom does the bell toll? It tolls for us( the members of the human family who are being exterminated because of their morphological religious or ethnic characteristics. ( it is important to point out tht the superficial external morphologial characteristics that are udes to segregate the members of the human family into races or even sub-human entities or 3/5ths of a human being began to appear only 30,000 years ago a mere blink of an eye in the long and successful adaptation of modern humans to every environment on this Planet. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109248Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:55:08 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109248Helen Rolon, Reading, PAAll I have to say is that remembering genocide serves to honor the victims and to remind us how evil it is and to learn from the past so that we can try not to let history repeat itself.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109250Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:56:36 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109250John MarshallMankind, in general has never been good at remembering beyond the moment. Ground Zero, at The World Trade Center has its spectators, but most of the memories are in the hands of movie makers and book publishers. Genocide? Since it usually covers years, the dead are lucky to make the daily news. No one wants to understand, let alone notice, what the human race is capable of. The networks understand that there viewing public, do not want to hear about it. If one of them televised an in depth report on the genocides of today, it would probably be one of the lowest rated programs for it's time slot. With the world's indifferent attitude toward death, genocide is a hard sell. When you speak of the Jewish Holocaust, where most of the survivors are no longer with us, it becomes an impossible sell. Genocide needs to be documented and made public. However, it will be a lonely pursuit for those people courageously keeping the dead, in front of the public. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109255Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:00:02 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109255Amy Sandusky, Corona, CAWe must not forget, and we must remind those who come after us, so that these atrocities will not be repeated. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109261Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:04:57 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109261RASHID EL AMIN, CHICAGO, ILLINOISi agree that they will always be victim but it is a need to restore their humanity.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109262Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:05:51 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109262TLQuinones, Las Cruces, NMI am so saddened at those who DONT believe the Holocaust happened. As a kid I remember seeing film of the bodies being bulldozed. I remember the skeleton bodies of the survivors. Why cant they just get over it??? What kind of person would ask a question such as this??? If something like this happened to your "kind", your family, your neighborhood, how quickly do you think you'd be able to "just get over it"? Its a horror of humankind! This is a people who have suffered greatly. All the way from Biblical times. Jesus our saviour was a Jew who was wrongfully killed because he was seen as a threat, as many still see the Jewish people. Jewish people, though white, are made to be less than human, a lesser form of white,if you will, made to seem as if they deserved what they got from the Nazis (if they didnt make it up thats is, right?) and dont deserve what theyve rightfully earned in society. Theyve had to fight for their rights - the right to pray, the right to freedom and the right to simply exist - then AND now. Ive grown quite tired of hearing them refered to as THE JEWS. Its not simply a name, its like calling a black man the 'N' word. I hear that fourletter word tossed around in conversations with my inlaws. I hate it. We are all the same in the eyes of God. When will people understand that? I can only see those whose "race" havnt had to suffer (like many "white" cultures)say things so callous and hateful. White america, whites in general, are lucky to have not had such attrocities on just their "kind". So those who havent experienced such things are less likely to understand. Its unfortunate that people no longer care for their fellow man. What God must be thinking about humankind. I have to appologize, though I know words mean very little, to the Jewish community for those who do not believe and have understanding. I cry at the horror that your culture has gone through. And I ask God to bless you all. May God bless the endeavours of those who wish to honor the victims of genocide, who died undeservingly because of the hate of others. AMEN.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109269Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:08:51 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109269Joseph Chang, New York, New YorkGenocide is an unspeakable, monstrous, and dark stain on human history. What's even more unspeakable is that governments and organizations, especially the UN, cannot find the moral courage to combat genocide even as it happens in places like Darfur. Perhaps the words "never again" should be changed to "never again until the next time". I hope with all my heart that I am proved wrong.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109273Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:10:10 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109273Steven L. Doughty , Gerlach, NevadaThe Jews do not hold the record for genocide. The English killed millions of Irish through starvation and slaughter in the name of religion...no walls, memorials or protest are ever mentioned..to the Jews, "get over it"..don't forget it, just move on.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109279Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:14:48 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109279Zoran B. Ventura, CA Everyone in the world talks about Auschwitz, Belsen, Buchenwald…Sobibor but the world and the author dont know nor mention about Jasenovac concentration camp (Croatia) that was run by Croatians in WWII. There 1.1 million mostly Serbs were butchered by Nazi Croatians along with the Gypsies. Now you know why Serbs fought the Muslims and Croats in the Balkans it’s simple as that. Bosnian Muslims division known as "handar" (curved Muslim knife) were so bad that even the SS were appalled at the stuff that they were doing to the Serbs. My own father witnessed bodies floating down the river full of red color and bodies with no heads. So it’s not the Jews that were victims in the war yet they keep talking about it. You also mention Kosovo, let me tell you a bit about Kosovo. Kosovo is Serbian birth place of our orthodox religion yet Kosovo Albanians there have been destroying churches that are over 800 years old and that is with NATO troops there for last 7 years. I will also mention how they machined down 5 Serbian kids as they were swimming in the river and that too was in 2003 with so called NATO troops there. Do you thing that the world would allow this to happen to Jews and their sacred grounds if the Muslims were doing this? Kosovo to Serbs is what Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Vatican is to Catholics and other Christian religions, what Mecca and Medina is to Muslims yet the Kosovo Albanians are allowed to do what they want. The stuff they have been doing to Serbs there has been going on since 1979 ( read the NY Times article). Since 1999 when so called peace troops from NATO took over the control over Kosovo province over 500 Serbian churches have been destroyed, 700 Serbs have been killed and over 2000 missing. Now, they want to be independent country, it would be like Mexicans trying to take over Maryland and Virginia, PA as they are majority there but it’s a birth place of America. Would rest of Americans allow this? How would you feel if they destroyed the Alamo? http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109282Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:16:37 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109282Christopher KidwellI don't think that your father was making it up, however I do take issue with the number of people who were killed in the concentration camps. If 6 million people were killed in those concentration camps, judging by a 100 pound person at 5' 6"...... there would be no space in or under the concentration camps! They would all have to be made of bodies or have bodies in EVERY SQUARE INCH, according to the math. Considering that even with the Nazi's meticulous record-keeping, we haven't found any mass graves outside the camps....... the number of people murdered had to be less than is stated by people after the Holocaust.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109284Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:22:12 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109284john floridaWhen all you have is alittle flame to remind you of the people who once made up your family it has to be the saddest thing in the world.For the people that never studied that history i can seee how they don't understand . They are all involved in the problems in Africa, which are by no means a small thing. Yet i noticed the the articles about africa written in this blog a couple of days ago have gone for the most part unanswerd, which leaves me to think do we realy care?? or is this the flavor of the month in holliwood. Is it being replaced with having kids in africa or adopting kids all over the world when we have plenty of children right here.What happened to the jews and how it happened are the type of things that cannot be ever. The families of these dead are still among us an d deserve our support. We as a nation support the U.N. and the African union when they decide what is to be done we will as usual do our part and more. They can no longer just dump everything in our laps and walk away. It is time for us to follow their leed and do as much as they do.The amount of support we as a nation give all over the world would probably take on hell of a bite out of our national debt. I am sick of indirectly being taxed by the U.N.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109289Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:27:38 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109289Kina Harris, Fresno, CaliforniaThank you for this article. Yes, we must all remember. It is so painful but in order to never have these atrocities repeated again, we must hear the truth, we must allow ourselves to know and feel the true pain, we must remain sensitive. Let the pain sink in so that we will never become desensitized and see these torturous genocides repeated. I am an Armenian living in America. Our older family members still tell the stories of the horid Aremenian genocide and we will always pass it down to our next generations. Never forget.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109294Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:33:08 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109294Anne Burtyn, Westminster, ColoradoI am a high school history teacher in Colorado, U.S. Last year I was appalled by the school districts' choices to eliminate (yes, eliminate) certain curriculum from World History and American History classes which I teach. Due to budget and time constraints, the district decided that the World War II curriculum needed to be pared down, eliminating any mention or even a day of discussion of the Japanese Internment camps. My question is this: how, as a history teacher, am I supposed to teach American History, (our role in WWII), without even teaching about the Japanese internment camps? Well, I can't. You simply cannot teach history cirriculum chosen and organized by administrators who aren't history scholars or teachers. Well, anyway, I enjoyed your article on genocide and the history of other horrific genocides which have occured throughout history. Especially poignant was your remark: "I have not noticed any differences in the extent of pain, or how it is expressed." Thank you.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109296Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:35:33 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109296Boris Kuperman, JacksonvilleMartin, I never paid much attention to those belittling someone’s pain. Ignorance is plentiful and only Universe will heal it; don’t waste your time on them. But the crushing part of it all is that many of our children and their children’s children, just like your father, will remember many gruesome killings of their time, and will light up a candle for the victims of today and the future. The ignorance is not only in those who deny, but in all of us who allow! You cannot argue with the Truth that we have learned nothing…http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109297Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:36:18 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109297Judy, WisconsinI honestly believe that the only way people can take a stand of indifference is because they refuse to educate themselves. It is easier to remain blind and ignorant then to accept the atrocities brought on by such ignorance. Use the internet, turn on SCOLA, use the vast amount of knowledge available and educate yourselves. We need to support each other in our fight against all injustices or it might be; your children, your parents, your loved ones. Who will be there for them if we all just concentrate on ourselves?http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109309Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:44:19 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109309A. Orwin, UtahNo one is making it up. I remember a girl in my class in 1976 for a history project had her maman come in a talk of how they escaped but the rest of the extended family did not. I still remember the way this old woman cried at losing everyone, the stories she told and the look in her eyes when she finished and told us not to forget what she had said. One of the boys in the class asked why should we not forget wouldn't it be easier to put it behind and move on? (we were in 10th grade). She stood tall, looked him straight in the eye and said NO, do not forget because when you forget you don't look for the signs of it happening again. It keeps you wary. Then she strode out the door. It was a very humbling experience. Yes it could have been made up but not the same exact story told by thousands and with no book to learn from but a life of horror to learn from.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109313Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:45:50 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109313Ara, Los Angeles, CaliforniaPerhaps if the world had been steadfast in its efforts to stop the first genocide of the 20th century (perpetrated by the Turks against the Armenians), there would not have been other genocides, and thus this discussion would ceaze. Since that did not happen and as a result more than 1.5 million Armenians were killed, the complacency exhibited by the whole world at that time created an impetus for more genocides. Every human should honor those that perished or survived any genocide, and more importanty bring all perpetrators or the heir of perpetrators to justice. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109314Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:47:35 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109314Arturo Jabra'il SanchoTHE TWIN HOLOCAUSTS This year is the 700 hundred year anniversary, marking the arrests of Knights Templar in Paris, on Friday October 13, 1307. History has memorialized the commencing date for demise of the Templar Order, which reached a climax with the death of Knights Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay, who was burned at the stake, facing Notre Dame, on March 18, 1314. Jacques fiery end, would official signal the beginning of The Inquisition, which set the tone for Jewish persecution in the coming centuries, reaching its own notoriety in Nazi, Germany. Most people talk only of the Jewish Holocaust, but few realize that there has always been genocide, within the human race. Treachery, greed, and ambition, have fueled many fires beneath the stakes and ovens. Somehow the spirit survives the torment of those who either perished in the flames, or were erased from memory by the earth itself. Holocaust survivors are scattered across our globe, but only two share the same timeline, that traces the history of The Inquisition. During the last three decades, the lost books of the Gnostic Christians, along with their traditions, some of which were familiar to the Knights Templar, are coming to light once again. The contents of The Nag Hammadi Library, and the recently reported Gospel of Judas, are a few representations of gnosis, that were nearly erased through holocaust. Roman Catholic Pontiff John Paul II, apologized for the Jewish Holocaust, but no condolences have ever been made for the death and destruction committed against the people of a similar church. When we talk about holocaust apologies, let us be mindful that the suffering of one community can only be reconciled, by acknowledging the similar fate of one's twin. A.J.S.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109315Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:47:55 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109315SefJews arent the only ones. I dont see anyone honoring the genocide against palestians or against Bosnians. In fact the court wouldn't even find Serbia guilty of war crimes. How is that for justice.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109320Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:49:48 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109320William, Minneapolis, MNI am not Jewish, a Bosnian, or an Arab. I have never felt the pain of genocide. I don't have close or distant relatives who have suffered the cruelties of humanity. But I don’t need to have had these things happen to understand how painful the tragedy of genocide can be. One thing I am though is a soldier who has been to places where these horrific acts have taken place. I’ve been to the Middle East, Bosnia, and Haiti where I’ve seen the death and horrors with my own eyes. It deeply saddens me to hear someone say genocide didn’t really happen or those people should stop whining. Let’s not forget that the slaughter of the Jews by the Nazis happened with in this lifetime. There are still people alive today that managed to escape the concentration camps. For the naïve person that asks “Why can’t they just get over it”, ask yourself, if your parents were killed in the holocaust or if you never got to know your grandparents because they died in those camps, would you get over it? I would think not.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109325Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:55:24 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109325SefAnother thing what about the people that killed in Laos, Cambodia, and other neighboring countries by americans and by bombs that where randomly dropped. How come those military officials are not convicted of war crimes. How can saddam be convicted but bush isnt convicted for killing more people then saddam. Simple, as the nazi leader once said, "It will always be the victor who tries the defeated for crimes." Americans did the same thing as nazis yet they are not convicted of war crimes either.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109326Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:55:35 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109326truly orthodox jewIt is ludicrous to deny the holocaust, it is the cheap, sensationalist tactic of those craving attention.However what is worse is our community's response to it.What really irks me is double standards. We expect muslims to tolerate the cartoons mocking their prophet muhammad published in the French "charlie hebdo" newspaper while we want the holocaust to be a sacrosanct issue, not open to debate. We call palestinians savages when they protest against being attacked, against the mocking of a prophet for whom they have a profoundly personal reverence and love while we ourselves burn down the synagogue whose members attended the holocaust conference. without any knowledgeof their scripture we ridicule their religion for prescribing stoning to death for adultery when it is a judaic tradition mentioned twice in the Torah( in leviticus and deutoronomy)that some muslims have adopted as law; there is no mention of it in the koran it is only found in certain sayings of muhammad (the authenticity of which many muslims doubt). We should be shocked and aggrieved by every human tragedy, not just the ones that touch a personal note in us. lastly, zionism is not judaism. as long as we accept the Israeli government's systematic destruction of the palestinian race. When we hear of sewage flash floods (yes, sewage flash floods)in the palestinian refugee camps (worse living conditions than the warsaw ghettoes) we should know there is something, somewhere that we are doing wrong.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109327Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:55:41 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109327Clay, Vine Grove KentuckyI lost my daughter when she was 10 and I received some very good advice. "Loosing a loved one is like having a hole in your heart. You can either fall into it or build a bridge across it. Either way you can never refill that hole, and sometimes your bridge breaks and you have to rebuild it." http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109328Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:58:25 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109328SefI'm sorry about your mother. Im glad that your father lights a candal in remembrance. It is great they he wont forget. The people who are sympathetic to genocidal maniacs are ignorant and stupid.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109330Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:59:35 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109330swhy is this always about the jews. why dont we mention the genocide in jenine and south leb the jews do . is it becuse they control the media.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109336Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:06:20 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109336Bill Dunn, Tallevast, FLI am 62 now. When I was 5, 6, and 7 years old, we were stationed in Germany. My father was in the Army. On the way back home, we came back on a Displaced Persons ship. I remember telling a older man I liked his beard and he cried. I asked what was the tatoo for. He started saying, "Tell the World what you saw...Tell the World what you saw." When we reached New York, Ellis Island, he and other skinny people got off and danced in a circle. Survivors! Tell the world what you saw and see!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109340Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:10:38 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109340truly orthodox jewIt is ludicrous to deny the holocaust, it is the cheap, sensationalist tactic of those craving attention.However what is worse is our community's response to it.What really irks me is double standards. We expect muslims to tolerate the cartoons mocking their prophet muhammad published in the French "charlie hebdo" newspaper while we want the holocaust to be a sacrosanct issue, not open to debate. We call palestinians savages when they protest against being attacked, against the mocking of a prophet for whom they have a profoundly personal reverence and love while we ourselves burn down the synagogue whose members attended the holocaust conference. without any knowledgeof their scripture we ridicule their religion for prescribing stoning to death for adultery when it is a judaic tradition mentioned twice in the Torah( in leviticus and deutoronomy)that some muslims have adopted as law; there is no mention of it in the koran it is only found in certain sayings of muhammad (the authenticity of which many muslims doubt). We should be shocked and aggrieved by every human tragedy, not just the ones that touch a personal note in us. lastly, zionism is not judaism. as long as we accept the Israeli government's systematic destruction of the palestinian race. When we hear of sewage flash floods (yes, sewage flash floods)in the palestinian refugee camps (worse living conditions than the warsaw ghettoes) we should know there is something, somewhere that we are doing wrong.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109341Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:10:57 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109341DanielleI agree with you, what a stupid question! When a person is slaughtered,and or tortured,then in that moment will they understand why we all must remember all of the Holocausts throughout time. We need to remember,and cease to do these evil deeds in the PRESENT! In forgetting,we all repeat the same stupid mistakes,and obviously we are not the better for it. Wake up human kind,and cease to commit acts of hatred against others,when who you really hate is yourselves! Go heal your own hatred of yourself, so that you may learn to love yourself,and then your brothers and sisters,for we all came from the same creator.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109352Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:21:26 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109352Yasemin, Holland, MIThe following was printed in the Grand Rapids Press (June 5, 2001). The Ottoman Empire during its 600-year history never exercised a policy of racial or religious persecution of extermination against any nation. The Armenian claims of "genocide" relate to a period when the Armenians, the majority of whom were Ottoman citizens, waged a war of independence against the Ottoman Empire during WWI, when Russians and allied forces were also invading Anatolia. It is very well documented by historians that Armenians had formed revolutionary committees that attacked Ottoman villages and massacred Turks and Kurds as well as actively assisting the invading Russian forces. The Ottoman government had to relocate the Armenians in eastern Anatolia where they were close to the Russians. Approximately 700,000 Armenians died of starvation and diseases during the relocation and the fight with the local Turkish and other Muslim people. More than 2 million Turks and Muslims were massacred by the Armenians or died during this tragic event. Historical documents do not support the occurrence of a genocide. After WWI, the Ottoman capital was under Allied occupation and all the state archives were under the control of the British authorities in Istanbul. As a result of constant propaganda and accusations by Armenian agitators, the British transported more than 140 Ottoman high officials, officers, and cabinet members, to Malta for a trial. The prisoners were held in Malta for 30 months while the British, French, and the Americans searched feverishly for evidence of alleged crimes. If there were any credible witnesses or evidence regarding the alleged Armenian genocide, the three powers would have discovered them easily. No evidence could be found in Paris, Istanbul, or in Anatolia to support the charge that the Ottomans had planned a mass slaughter of Armenians. The British High Commission was unable to forward any legal evidence to London. There was nothing in the British archives that corroborated the wild accusations of the Armenians. In America, there were already powerful Armenian lobbies. Yet, Sir Aucland Geddes, the British Ambassador in Washington, informed London on June 2, 1912, that the state department could not produce any evidence against the prisoners of Malta either. The meticulous search conducted by the British for more than two years with utmost zeal to vindicate the Armenian allegations produced nothing. There was no evidence, no reliable witnesses, no proof, and as a result, no case. On October 25, 1921, after 30 months of imprisonment, the accused Ottomans left the British colony of Malta as free men. Just as a reminder of to everyone reading the newspaper, the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), an Armenian terrorist group conducted terrible acts and attacks against Turkish diplomats, Turkish people, and Turkish work sites (between 1975 and 1985). It is time for the Armenians to admit to these historical facts. I also invite the Armenian community to cease these false accusations. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109357Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:24:00 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109357Mike Laidler, Baltimore, MarylandI don't think the jews whine too much. After losing millions in NAZI concentration camps you should expect the abuse of jews to decline, but it still continues to this day. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109365Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:34:13 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109365john floridaSean torrington: What do you mean "ACTUAL GENOCIDES" what the jews went was not real enough for you ?? Yes there are other such crimes comitted all over the world to other people that did not deserve it. those murders are not any more or less "ACTUAL" THAN THE SUBJECT AT HAND. I did not see you comment on Africa on the blog a couple of days ago, this is youre big chance to go back and make your point there.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109370Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:39:07 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109370Perlette Alvarez Reno , NevadaWe MUST not forget is right. The only thing that upsets me is that everyone especially in the US say the Jews this the Jews that. YES, THEY DID SUFFER AND DIE. HOWEVER millions were tortured and died who were not Jewish . Almost everyone here say to me - but it was only the Jews!. I know better ( I am a naturalized American now and damn proud of it!) they murdered millions in Russia and many other countries. Personally-- my aunt Simone Loche ( France) was at Auschwitz-Birkenau , suffered and was operated on.They came for her husband who was in the French underground and refused to give him up.She was one of those you see being put in the cattle cars for transportation. Some of the operations they did on her we don't know what they were.She was liberated by the Russians.She has been written up in several books one of which is Carlotte Delbo's--Le convoi du 24 Janvier (1943).Simone is on page 182 .It was made into a movie--Histoire du convoi du 24 Janvier 1943 Auschwitz-Birkenau. I have the book but I'm still trying find the movie .Thank God she came back to us .On July 6, 1993 , she was given the Medaille Militaire & La Croix de Guerre avec Palme. The highest medals awarded in France . So, Let us NOT FORGET everyone from every country who suffered such atrocities that no one can possibly imagine. I know I will NEVER FOREGET ANY OF THEM. MAY GOD BLESS THEM ALL. WE LOVE YOU .( ANYONE INTERESTED MIGHT FIND this interesting. Enter in your search field--Oradour-Sur Glane.)http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109383Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:50:50 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109383Kirt Silvers, Kansas City MoAs A person who is of Jew, African and Native American, I feel to forget the suffering of any is a mistake. To lose the human face allows inhumane practice to exist, for who hears the ghosts' of millions.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109384Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:53:36 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109384David, San Jose, CAI am an Assyrian. A semite from the middle east that the world stopped recognizing long ago. We are the Christian minority in the middle east that have seen our share of genocide. The most recent being along with the Armenians in 1914. What hurts most and why the Jews are labeled as whiners is that this is the only way to be recognized in today's world. You must make yourself be heard for the world to know and to learn. Although the Assyrians ruled the middle east over 2000 years ago we failed to learn from the people we conquered. And now we must sit back and have our churches bombed in Iraq, rebuilt with Mosques in Turkey and not recognized anywhere in the world our people run to in order to escape persecution. The squeaky wheel that gets the job done has left the memory of Assyrians off the face of the world. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109388Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:57:03 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109388Brian, Milwaukee, WIVery well written. The Holocost deniers are really just looking for attention and trying to provoke people that have suffered enough. It doesn't surprise me that the head idiot in Iran would do this, he needs alot of attention to boost his ego. Americans that buy into denying that anything like this has happened should simply get out of our country and go live in those countries that are so great and treat their people so well, like Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. Why not go live in a country where people are murdered and tortured for voicing their own opinion if those are the countries they love so much and speak so highly of. If America sucks so bad, why come here in the first place? Do the good people of this country a favor; leave and don't come back.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109392Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:59:24 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109392Sasha Petrova, Mazatlan, MexicoThose who deny the holocaust don't deserve a response. Your ignorance speaks for itself. The holocaust should never be forgotten. Nor should any act of genocide go unreported. However, I doubt anyone can truly comprehend how many atrocities have taken place throughout history. If listed one by one in a single book it would no doubt be hundreds of pages long. To say the Jews are not the only group persecuted is correct, but mans' inhumanity to man should never be viewed as a compitition over who suffered more. The fact that it still goes on today tells me that we have not learned much. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109396Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:05:45 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109396Ogaba. Richard OgabaIt is sad that genocide still occurs, despite efforts to police it. One of the worst current on-going genocide is that of the Acholi people in Northern Uganda. It is hardly heard of, primarily because the western governments, especially the US and Brittain are behind the government carrying it out. The Uganda government of Yoweri Museveni has been doing this for over 20 years, with the US government encouraging it so they can infiltrate guerrillas into Southern Sudan through unstable Northern Uganda, with the LRA providing the pretext. It is said that the CIA has information linking Uganda army officers trading arms to the LRA guerrilas whom they are supposed to be fighting, in a plan that has kept the war going for this lon. There is complete western silence even thogh the situation is worse than Darfur, becauseMuseveni is a surrogate for US activity in Africa. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109404Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:11:17 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109404Michael Philipsen, Ottumwa, IowaI object especially to the people who call it "whining" as if to remember and remind others of the many holocausts is to be a nuisance. These things have happened and are happening today, and we all must try harder to learn the lesson before it is too late. We read about Columbus and yet we don't seem to learn from our school textbooks that an entire Caribbean population was wiped out entirely in fewer than fifty years. We ignore the fact that of the Africans who were shipped across the sea to be slaves, the majority often died enroute. Perhaps it bothers the collective conscience of some that the members of the Jewish faith have so frequently been the targets of irrational hatred. World War Two was not the only time Jews have been subjected to such treatment, but it just went deeper and further than other incidents in history.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109411Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:16:16 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109411jane doe"In [Nazi] Germany, they first came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me-and by that time no one was left to speak up.” -Attributed to Martin Niemoeller in John Bartlett Familiar Quotation (1982, 824) http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109416Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:21:20 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109416Monique Server, Summerfield, FloridaI was a little girl in France during the war but I remember my family sadness when they would talk about the jewish family close to us that was taked by the nasy. The people that make stupid comments about the holocaust are truly ignorent even today at my age I never forget and I will never forget,I am a Buddhist because of the kindness of the philosophy and I feel sorry for all those ignorant that will never feel deeply the pain of other in order to reconize real joy when it comes http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109423Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:23:31 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109423Dana YellowfatLets not forget that one of the worlds greatest acts of genocide occured right here in the hub of democracy - the United States of America. Millions of Native Americans were torchered, enslaved, killed, and raped in the name of PROGRESS!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109438Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:28:27 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109438Carl R. Young, Corner Brook, Newfoundland, CAI'm not worried about "The Holocaust," as if there was only one. With today's cadre of North American politions and their purchasers, I worry about the next one.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109444Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:31:07 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109444wright, chicago, ilTHe value of human life is relative. Its a very harsh thought but Its the truth. I do recognize that the holocaust gets more press. I don't think its unfair because the loss of life, especially via genocide should always be remembered, especially by the decendants of the people who survived. However, I also realize that other people have been victimized and the same level of outrage and shame are not applied. It all becomes relative. You don't have to look beyond the borders of America to see crimes committed against a people for who they are- But those people are often told to get over it. FOr me thats the biggest insult. Genocide can strip a people of not just lives but often culture and worth. That has lasting consequences that become embedded in the socital fabric as well. - Genocide needs to become less relative- that's the solution. We sit back and watch a government kill its citizens in Sudan and do little if anything -WHy its not relative? - We don't have a big enough interest. When human life has value regardless of interest and color then the question will not be asked - "why don't you just get over it?"- http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109475Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:48:03 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109475John L, Bronx, NYIt is sad that so much is spent on remembrance of the deceased that more often than not the living is ignored. The homeless, improvised unemployed Americans whose directly and indirectly fought for the salvation of those enshrined and yet they themselves angry and forgotten. Then let us not forget the 15 million Incas and millions of Aztec and Mayans where genocide has been complete by the Latinos and Portuguese where Latino history has been rewritten to make them look like the victims in another man’s country. Are they any less human? The truth is that more time need be spent helping the living as oppose to the dead who can do no one any good.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109484Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:55:18 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109484Sean, Torrington CTJohn, Florida - I certainly did not mean to imply that the genocide performed by the Nazis was not real. I meant actual meaning "happening now" or per the dictionary: "existing now; present; current". You know, genocidal action that we still have a chance to stop. Perhaps a better choice of words next time.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109504Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:18:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109504Laura C, Brooklyn, New YorkBefore we point a finger at Turkey, for purely political reasons, for what occurred during the collapse of the Ottoman empire, which also resulted in a huge death toll for Turks, what about the United States admitting that what it did to the American Indians was also genocide. We always conveniently forget about that. I am not Turkish, Muslim, Armenian or native American. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109505Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:19:12 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109505Daniel Limbert, Fort Collins, COI am a Jew and have been educated about the holocaust my entire life. I have spoken with survivors and known many friends with family members who died in Europe at that time. I know that I have distant relatives who died in the holocaust. You get the point. It is my duty as a Jew to continue to talk and educate the public so another genocide never happens again to any people. Some say that we Jews whine too much about the holocaust. I say, they should be very thankful they don't have to. The minute we Jews stop telling people about the genocide that happened during WWII in Europe, or "whining" about it, is the minute people stop remembering why it is important genocide never happens again. So whether you are Jewish, Kurdish, Armenian, African, Iraqi, Native American, or any other people who have been wronged by society, it is your DUTY to educate and talk about what happened or "whine as people call it", so GOD willing, Genocide never happens again.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109508Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:20:36 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109508Kat , Quad Cities, IllinoisGenocide is real and has happened and still happens to this day not just to the Jewish, the Native Americans, or th Sudist its happing to every one in the world, when you look deep into the stitistics, you find more and more but if you are not doing anything to change it then there is no reason to say one other is wrong to atack someone elses words of it ''does not matter'' they are the same as your actionshttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109511Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:22:54 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109511Emre Kazan, Ann Arbor, MichiganThe Assyrian's aren't exactly innocent either (like the Armenians, they were used as Power Politic Pawn's -- though not nearly as successful from a marketing and P.R. standpoint) there are Scholarly Academic Turkish Journal's that deal with this issue (and why there wasn't an "Assyrian 'Genocide'"). Furthermore, who remembers the hundreds of thousand's (if not millions, depending on what time frame one uses) of Ottoman muslims, [who can classified as Laz, Hemshin-Hemshin's, Abkazian's, Circassian's, Turk's, Kurd's, Azerbaijani's, Chechen's, dagestani's, Crimean Tatar's, Nagoy Tatar's, to name a few] who were slaughtered and/or ethnically cleansed at the hands of the Armenians and Russians -- there is a book [and one of the few people that has actually given a damn about Muslims -- in this case Ottoman Muslims and the "other side" of the "so-called 'Armenian genocide'"] called "Death and Exile: The ethnic cleansing of Ottoman Muslims, 1821-1922"). I happened to have Circassian and Turkish ancestry. One of the reason's that there are a lot of them in Turkey (as well as in Jordan, Libya, Israel -- to name a few of the significant diaspora's of Circassians in the Middle East and in North Africa -- who fled to lands [from the Caucausus that were still at the time under Ottoman Control [what few that were left]). People should take a look at the following before commenting on a/the "so-called Armenian genocide": ** http://www.ermenisorunu.gen.tr/english/intro/relocation.html ** http://www.ermenisorunu.gen.tr/english/relocation/definition.html ** http://www.ermenisorunu.gen.tr/english/relocation/reasons.html ** http://www.ermenisorunu.gen.tr/english/relocation/telegram.html ** http://www.ermenisorunu.gen.tr/english/relocation/law.html ** http://www.ermenisorunu.gen.tr/english/relocation/start.html ** http://www.ermenisorunu.gen.tr/english/relocation/regions.html ** http://www.ermenisorunu.gen.tr/english/relocation/subjected.html ** http://www.ermenisorunu.gen.tr/english/relocation/measures.html It should be noted that nothing of the sort was provided for or implemented (in terms of compensation) for the Circassians, Abkhazians, Crimean Tatars, etc. by the various Czarist Russian governments. See the rest under the index of "Relocation"http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109516Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:30:44 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109516john floridaSean torrington: i did not realy think you meant it the way it sounded. I have read youre comments before and we may not agree on all the subjects but we are not that far from agreement on most. I just take a little more of a hardline on some of than you do. No problem .Do you live anywhere near TOMMY'S BIKE SHOP??http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109517Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:31:02 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109517ShaylaThe Holocaust was a very sad and disturbig point in history and yes you have every right to be upset, what I dont understand is why we constantly have to hear about it , every one learns about it in school already. Yes thoes who forget the past are doomed to repeat it but dont live in it and dwell on it, I am an African American female and Im not going to sit here and complain about all the horrid shit thats happened to my ancestors and what still happens to African American people every day. No matter where you are you will always pick up a news paper and read about some innocent bystandard(African American) being killed or attacked for no apparent reason no matter what genocide, racism and any other form of negativity towards a specific race has happened and there will always be some form of it and theres nothing we can do about it just never forget it and make sure it never happens again. Now dont get me wrong my heart goes out to all thoes who lost their lives, a loved one or if you are a Holocaust survivor all Im saying is your not the only ones.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109518Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:32:04 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109518ShaylaThe Holocaust was a very sad and disturbig point in history and yes you have every right to be upset, what I dont understand is why we constantly have to hear about it , every one learns about it in school already. Yes thoes who forget the past are doomed to repeat it but dont live in it and dwell on it, I am an African American female and Im not going to sit here and complain about all the horrid shit thats happened to my ancestors and what still happens to African American people every day. No matter where you are you will always pick up a news paper and read about some innocent bystandard(African American) being killed or attacked for no apparent reason no matter what genocide, racism and any other form of negativity towards a specific race has happened and there will always be some form of it and theres nothing we can do about it just never forget it and make sure it never happens again. Now dont get me wrong my heart goes out to all thoes who lost their lives, a loved one or if you are a Holocaust survivor all Im saying is your not the only ones.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109524Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:40:13 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109524Cee-Cee Thomas, Chicago, ILI think everyone who talks about what happened to their people, has that right. Keep it alive and never forget. This teaches our children about the struggles that our people have and still are enduring. As a black american, I come from a mixture, German, Indian and African. I don't know much about my german past due to my great-grand father being a not so good person. But what I do know, is at one time or another every nation, ethic group, race etc.. have endured something. I make sure that my son knows about slavery and how america was built off of the backs of Indians and Africans. I am not about to argue over who got it the worst. The point is, is that it happened and we all should learn from it, prevent it from happening again by educating our youth, who now a days need the most help! Forgive but don't forget!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109526Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:48:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109526Jane DoeChristopher Kidwell is an idoit! People were cremated. There are ashes for most of the people murdered.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109531Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:51:08 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109531ShaylaThe Holocaust was a very sad and disturbig point in history and yes you have every right to be upset, what I dont understand is why we constantly have to hear about it , every one learns about it in school already. Yes thoes who forget the past are doomed to repeat it but dont live in it and dwell on it, I am an African American female and Im not going to sit here and complain about all the horrid s*** thats happened to my ancestors and what still happens to African American people every day. No matter where you are you will always pick up a news paper and read about some innocent bystandard(African American) being killed or attacked for no apparent reason no matter what genocide, racism and any other form of negativity towards a specific race has happened and there will always be some form of it and theres nothing we can do about it just never forget it and make sure it never happens again. Now dont get me wrong my heart goes out to all thoes who lost their lives, a loved one or if you are a Holocaust survivor all Im saying is your not the only ones.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109534Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:57:15 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109534mike, washington dcit is astonishing to me that as we are dicussing the evil of genocide and its deniers, someone writes in to deny the Armenian genocide. This historical fact is WELL DOCUMENTED by ALL the consulates, ambassadors and embassies of the nations present in Turkey at the time of the massacres. These are eyewitness accounts of the most henious ans revolting acts of torture and killing of unarmed, innocent men,women and children forced to march across the middle east deserts to NO DESTINATION with the intention of killing and starving them on the way. For you to deny all my relatives' deaths is beyond insensitive and cruel. You might as well as well proclaim yourself a nazi and deny the ENTIRE holocaust. Read your history, investigate all the diplomatic records and eyewitness testimonials from diplomats, clergy and yes, even Turkish residents at the time. When history is denied and re-written, then we do repeat it: at the Nazi meeting when the "final solution" was planned, a general asked Hitler what the world would say about the extermination. His response? "Who remembers the Armenians?" EVERY Armenian in this world had relatives slaughtered in Turkey, and we know the truth. I fell pity for anyone denying ANY holocaust. Not just for their lack of historical facts, but the hurt and open wounds their words (unintentional or deliberate) inflict on the millions of families and survivors of every genocide. Until you feel this pain, words cant describe it. This is what makes citizens to rise up and fight as they did in the Warsaw ghetto as well as other Nazi-occupied territory. Just like they had to in Turkey to stop the government ordered massacres. And yes, those letters from Turkish leaders ordering the killings do EXIST. Please visit the National Library of Congress as well as the government libraries of ANY county that had and embassy or consulate in Turkey at the time. And there are photos too, just like ones taken of Nazi victims, showing all the defiled, tortured and beheaded bodies. The "smoking gun" has and always will be there. It's so sad thjat anyone in this day and age is still trying to deny any genocde committed against an entire race, country or religion. I wonder how these revisionists can look themselves in the eye day after day withno conscience or remorse. We really do have a long way to go...http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109540Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:07:11 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109540Kiona Cuthrell, Winston-Salem, NCWell said. It is very important to know and remember history. You must be able recognize patterns so that the wrong ones are not repeated.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109545Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:10:18 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109545Wendy, West Hollywood CA I think it's very important to remember the Holocaust for some many reasons, it's important to remember the past. I am from an Armenian background there was a genocide done by the Turkish Government that killed 1.5 million Armenians in 1915. They covered up the killing of 2/3 of entire population and the world did nothing. Hitler called it his Blueprint. In a speech in 1938 he said "after all who speaks of the Armenians" "no one remembers the Armenians therefore no one will remember the Jews." Even today the Turkish Government denys this ever happened. They have lobbied other governments to keep this fact out of History. Even last year PBS who was going to show a documentary on the Genocide had an issue with Turkish Groups protesting that was not a historical fact. I ask what happend to all of my relatives did they disapear into air. My grandparents siblings, parents and cousins were killed in this. This is why remebering the Holocaust is so important and all Genocides in general. Because if the world remembered the Armenians, perhaps not as many Jews would of suffered. So we have to remember all of our pasts so we can help protect other groups in the future from systematic exstinction. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109553Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:17:49 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109553dd, new york, nyZoran, I find it funny that you are going on about the serbs and how they were victims of genocide, yet you fail to mention the fact that bosnians in Srebrenica were victims of genocide by the Serb milita and that over 8000 bosnians were killed in srebrinica in one bloody day by the serbs, brutally killed, I was a witness along with my parents of the mass killings done by the serb militia in eastern bosnia, while your father at the time had you hidden away in a safe place away from the horror. How pathetic and hypocritical you all are!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109555Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:19:21 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109555dd, new york, nyZoran, I find it funny that you are going on about the serbs and how they were victims of genocide, yet you fail to mention the fact that bosnians in Srebrenica were victims of genocide by the Serb milita and that over 8000 bosnians were killed in srebrinica in one bloody day by the serbs, brutally killed, I was a witness along with my parents of the mass killings done by the serb militia in eastern bosnia, while your father at the time had you hidden away in a safe place away from the horror. How pathetic and hypocritical you all are!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109558Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:23:42 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109558Una, Ithaca, NYAs a priviliged American I know that will never have to suffer like the Jews, Tutsis, Cambodians, Somalians, and ...let's not forget the genocide happening to the African tribes in Darfur. It seems that although we hear about atrocities in the news, so many hundreds of thousands more seem to die before the world responds. I would like to be able to do something to help...writing a check just doesn't seem a genuine response. I am grateful that I have never had to experience such horrors, and I respect the right of those who've been so totally wronged to report it in any way they choose. John Donne wrote that "any man's death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind...and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls...it tolls for thee." We are all diminished by this. It should be reported and we should have the strength to respect their right to speak of it, name it for what it is and work for change.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109564Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:28:07 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109564Onnig, Irvine, CADo NOT Forget the First Genocide of the 20th century. The Turks killed over 1,500,000 Armenians and took all their posessions in 1915. My Dad, Uncle and Aunt were survivors. Their stories are the same as you all have heard. "Starving Armenians" marching the Turkish deserts of Der Zor. Today many governments are still toying with the idea whether to accept this as reality, even after our ambassadors witnessed the tortures and killings and the plunder. Contact your congressman and ask if they recognize the Armenian Genocide. I guarantee you that you will be shocked! The time is NOW! Let's not turn the other way! Let's change the saying.."History REPEATS Itself". http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109565Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:28:26 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109565rkw fayetteville arkansas I think for anyone to say these things never happened.Is ignorant and to some extent evil. The evadence of these things are every where. I work at a senior center. And know men that walked those camps in germany at the close of the war. And to watch men that i respect and trust so much tremble when they tell what they say there is all the evedence one needs to know these things where real. So anyone that would say that it's all a lie find someone that say it and listen to there stories and maybe then you could but your stupidity aside and see.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109582Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:46:56 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109582Get RealIsrael has received FAR MORE aid from the United States than any other country, i.e., billions each year, adding to a grand total of 85 billion since 1949 (135 billion when adjusted for interest). The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Of course Jews "whine" more than others, because they have the media outlet to do so. Wouldn't it be wonderful if this same energy was spent on preventing discrimination against the Palestinians or addressing ongoing genocide in Darfur!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109585Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:51:36 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109585Eduardo Rivera, Boston MassALL of the Holocausts are terrible and should be remembered. Not just the Jewish one. The term "The" Holocaust should not be synonymous only to Jews. "The" War does not apply to only one war therefor The Holocaust should not apply to only one race.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109587Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:55:11 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109587Eduardo Rivera, Boston Mass Holocaust victims should never use the Holocaust as empowerment over others.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109590Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:59:02 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109590Jimmy, NYMr. Martin Fletcher in Tel Aviv, Not only are Jews percieved to be unique in thier ability to whine-- in both loudness and duration-- but also in thier inability to see thier own arrogance and racism. ("I'm a Jew, my ancestors were victimized, therefore I can't possibly be wrong and unjust in the way I treat my Palestinian bretheren"). Of course the Holocausst was a tragedy. But what are you going to do about it? http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109593Mon, 02 Apr 2007 21:03:27 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109593Jeff, Huber Heights, OhioTo Christopher Kidwell: I see where you are trying to go with the math, but remember that the camps were very efficient industrial machines. There was room because the bodies were being incenerated. Not always in the ovens, sometimes on huge pyres. Also, this process went on for several years spread across many camps. You will never find the mass graves, those souls were lost in the smoke. Oh yeah, and the Germans were very meticulous with their measurements and list. They left us plenty of records to estimate the death rate, size, and scope of their program. I think people don't want to believe, or can't, because the numbers are just too staggering. I don't want to take anything away from the 6 million you reference, but think about the total killed across the world at that time. In a single month, the Japanese killed 200,000 in China, many of those with swords. Easy enough to believe that the Nazi's killed millions across a continent over a period of years. Then as now, the numbers are staggering. The period of 1940-1945 was absolutely horrific and there is no way to fully absorb the numbers of dead. And think of how the pace quickened as those years flew by, what took a month for the Japanese took three days and two bombs by the end of the war. We should forget nothing about that era, more than anything other factors it gave birth to the world in which we live today. We must accept both the horror and the triumphs of that generation and take those lessons with us to the future. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109601Mon, 02 Apr 2007 21:09:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109601bobby joenot trying to belittle any of these, but can you say AMERICAN INDIANhttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109603Mon, 02 Apr 2007 21:11:14 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109603Jeff Shettler, Santa Barbara, Ca.People tend to deny such human horror for several reasons. Many can not believe that such attrocities could be commited by people, and therefore downplay those actions, such as those people who believed that the blacks wanted to be slaves and were better off, or that the indians wanted to live on a reservation, or that the Jews had it comming because they didnt fight back. This is the only way for some to accept what was happening. Another reason is the shear number of victims. 6 million jews under Hitler, 50 million russians under Stalin, these are numbers that seem unbelievable in their scope, so people decide that yes, some attrocities happened, but nothing to the extent that are talked about. (the beliefe that 6 million couldnt be burried is debunked when you simply realize that there were ovens burning bodies 24 hours a day) Many deny it for political reasons. This is the main reason for most genocides to happen. When political figures, such as those in Germany of the 1930's or those in Bosnia of the 1990's or those currently in Iran can deny former attrocities it makes it easier for them to commit the same attrocites on the "other" in the future. This becomes ironic later when, to paraphrase the holocost scholar Michael Bernbaum, a country like Iran that was insturmental in helping Jews durring the holocost now deny it happened, and Germany, perpertrators of the crimes have laws against its denial. I believe that the biggest denial is the average person believing that it can never happen again. That the perpatrators of these crimes were monsters that we would now recognize. Hitler, Stalin, Mao and all of the others who have commited these crimes are not monsters, but ordinary people. Christopher Browning makes this point brilliantly in "Ordinary Men", about one of the German battallions that did much of the killing and deprotations outside of the camps. These were ordinary people from, if it were America, what we would call middle American towns. In the movie "Blood Diamonds" a mercenary is asked if in thinks that there are good people and bad people. He answers "No. There are only people. It is their actions that make them good or bad." I would add to that that it is also our inaction that can make us bad. Those of us who see the atrocities that have happened and contiue to happen around the world without speaking out against that can count ourselves as part of the problem and as guilty as those in Germany who allowed slave labour to make most of their goods while remaining silent to the crimes being commited. "We had no way of knowing" or "What could we have done" can be no excuse when there are those who stand up and speak out. We study the Holocost not because it was the only genocide, but because it was the best recorded. We find durring the atrocities ordinary people reaching the hights of human kindness and honor, and those who fall into the abyss of darkest spots in the human soul. Both are actions that each one of us can fall into. Reading the histories of both sides of a conflict will help us understand how these things escalate. Whether it is the history of Jews and Europe, the Japanese and China or Korea, the Americans and most of the cultures we have encountered, it is important to understand how the historical debate is framed in each culture to know how we can learn from it. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109604Mon, 02 Apr 2007 21:12:23 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109604Blane, Houston, TXIf the Jews were to LEARN anything from the Holocaust, wouldn't it be that humans should work hard to STOP genocide? Why doesn't ISRAEL apply the billions it gets each year from the U.S. toward stopping ongoing genocide? Or don't they like Africans since they're not part of the chosen tribe? Why spend your life in meloncholy retrospect when you actually be doing something to help. Why not help yourself gain perspective by writing an article about the plight of the Arab Palestineans?http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109631Mon, 02 Apr 2007 21:38:29 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109631George, Los Angeles, CALost in much of this discussion of WWII Holocaust and WWI Armenian Genocide is that role that Israel and AIPAC (the American Israeli Political Affairs Committee) play in genocide denial . . . that's right, denial. Israel knows there was an Armenian Genocide (scholars like Elie Wiesel and Israel Charny have been very vocal and out in front of this issue) however, due to "realpolitik", Israel has consistently and "officially" denied that there was an Armenian Genocide in order to placate Turkey (their regional ally). Sadly, US Jewish lobbies have also engaged in this ironic & hypocritical genocide denial in the past, namely AIPAC, but also ADL and B'nai B'rith, who have in the past lobbied fiercely against Armenian Genocide comemmorative resolutions in the US Congress. That is the bur in the saddle for many Armenians, why do Jewish groups want to keep their genocide experience "unique" when the Armenian Genocide was a blueprint for the Holocaust? As Hitler said to his troops before invading Poland, "After all, who still speaks of the annihilation of the Armenians". It is high time for Israel and AIPAC to acknowledge what they know and let Turkey come to terms with its past. No Turk wants to admit his grandfather was a murderer or rapist, but to deny the crime is to abet the crime. An Armenian cannot forgive and forget when those who inherited the perpetrators government do not ask for forgiveness. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109635Mon, 02 Apr 2007 21:47:30 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109635Garry, Chicopee, Mass.A few quotes that those who make such comments about these atrocities never having occurred. "The man who has no sense of history is like a man who has no ears and eyes." "By the skillfull and sustained use of propaganda, one can make people see heaven as hell or an extremely wretched life as paradise." "Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it and eventuallu, they will believe it." These are attributed the the master of brutality himself, Adolph Hitler. Go figure!http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109636Mon, 02 Apr 2007 21:51:59 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109636Susan Myers, Holocaust Museum HoustonWe need people like Martin Fletcher to keep reminding the world that the Holocuast did occur killing six million innocent Jews and millions of other victims. Becuase this history has been taught to so many people, the world spoke up recently when genocide occured in Darfur. Generations of people will never again be bystanders because of what we have learned from reading and studying this time period. We must not forget our history or get over it, because history tends to repeat itself. Thank you Mr. Fletcher for reminding us to "never forget." http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109638Mon, 02 Apr 2007 21:53:28 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109638tarascream until you're heard, my friend. make such a noise that no one can ignore, no one can forget- so that it doesn't continue, so that it never happens again. scream.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109639Mon, 02 Apr 2007 21:53:52 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109639Kurt Mehta, New JerseyIt is very important to remember the victims and the pain of the armenian genocide, the Holocaust,the Serbs in Croatia during WW2, the crimes of the Belgians in the Congo, the crimes of the germans in Numibia, the Indian caste system, Cambodia, Rwanda, Srebenica and what was done to the Native Americans and black slaves in our own country, but if action is not taken immediately by the world community when signs of genocide pop up today or in the future, then we are not properly honoring those innocent victims and have broken the pledge of "Never Again". Did this inspire anyone to line up to help Darfur? I didn't think so. As a side note, the uniqueness of the Holocaust which deserves mention is that evil was transformed into a well oiled industrial sized killing machine at the expense of our jewish brothers and sisters and Gypsies and others classified as "undesirables". I state this objectively as a gentile American whose family is from India.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109642Mon, 02 Apr 2007 21:58:13 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109642Lisa McNeil, Alpharetta, GeorgiaDear Mr. Fletcher, I was extremely moved by your memories of your father. How he lighted the candle in memory of people. I believe that nobody should never ever forget what happened to the Jews during World War II. That is part of history and everyone should understand what those people went through during that time. Being catholic I am starting Holy Week this week at my church. Leading up to Easter this Sunday. A special time in the church calendar. I would like to say Mr. Fletcher that as I write this comment it is early evening and I would like to wish you and your family a Happy Passover. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109643Mon, 02 Apr 2007 21:59:42 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109643Diana TorrejonWhen the Indian is free... only then will there be no more wars. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution "involuntary servitude" does not apply to Indians. Our Indian Treaties of 1868 unilaterally broken...we were forced on reservations where many of us remain today under martial military rule...how long do the great White Chiefs in Washington plan to nurse us? From cradle to grave, generation to generation? How is it that my children's children's children are wards to a federal government in this the space ages of our ancestors? The American Indian is still subjected to continuing acts of GENOCIDE. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109645Mon, 02 Apr 2007 22:03:20 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109645Andre Baboomian, Glendale, CaliforniaThe pain of the Armenians is still fresh not only because Turkey will not admit to its crimes, but also because the US Government will not recognize that the Armenian genocide ever occurred. We Americans are very fast in PRETENDING to be the defenders of human rights, but when it comes to our strategic allies such as Turkey, we have a tendency to play favorites. I remember during the first campaign of President Bush, I received a flyer in the mail that promised if elected, he would make sure the US Government would recognize the Armenian genocide. As we all know, that has not happened as of today. So, not only do we not support the victims of crimes against humanity, but if needed, we will exploit them. This is unacceptable conduct in part of the only super power in the world and a country that is trying to promote democracy and human rights all over the world. When it comes to human rights, there is no playing favorites or cherry-picking. Everyone has to play by the same rules and we as the lone super power in the world, have to hold everyone to the same standards. INCLUDING OUR STRATEGIC ALLIES IN NATO. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109646Mon, 02 Apr 2007 22:03:34 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109646carol murray cumberland marylandlets not forget a jewish term....maybe is we remember that we will get involved where is genocide before 6 million parish againhttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109648Mon, 02 Apr 2007 22:09:37 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109648Gretchen, Bellevue, WAFor those of Jewish heritage, I commend your commitment to keeping genocide in front of the rest of us, and not allowing us to forget. The irony, however, is that the reason most Americans are willing to continue to hear you is that it is cool for the Holocaust to remain at the forefront since we Americans were the "heros" that ended it all. What I would love to see is the same initiative on the part of Native Americans to confront the very government and people who CAUSED their genocide. But this will probably never happen, as the nation that wants to believe it is full of "heros" so completely decimated the Native American people that they no longer have the resources to confront and make the rest of us face--and rectify--the wrongs we ourselves committed. I will also address the next comment that my father would make, and which many of those trying to deny the Holocaust would make as well... "It was your grandparents, not you, so you aren't the victim. And it was my grandparents, not me, so I'm not the perpetrator. So you should just let it go." Except that I benefit every single day from land ownership, among countless other resources ripped away from Natives whom we either displaced or dismembered.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109666Mon, 02 Apr 2007 22:42:19 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109666Inal, ColoradoI think the best way to prove to all those 'people=humans' the actual occurance of Holocaust, - is to allow them to experience such action on themselves omitting deadly consequences. We should make them spend @ least 1 week in humiliation within the walls of any still standing camps, & then escort them to the ovens/ or gas chambers (no farther actions taken of course); once they'll feel this on their own skin, they 'll reconsider their disbelieves. My great ant was taken 1st into the getto, & then into the camp when she was 13, miracalously she didn't die, but she has a number tatooed on her arm, & it's the 1st thing I see in front of me = 13 year old girl behind the fence with the number tatooed on her arm, when someone mentions wht Holocaust never happenned. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109668Mon, 02 Apr 2007 22:44:45 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109668Robin W. Madill, OKAfter reading many of the same comments mad by alot of the readers of this blog, I have to question why people say we shouldn't forget, and then chose not to even recognize that genocide is occouring right now in Darfur. Not only can we not forget it but we have to be aware enough of what is going on in the world to be able to recognize it. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109683Mon, 02 Apr 2007 23:02:17 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109683Tim H Anaheim CaWhy then does the u.s. not have congan holocaust meseums or the u.n. have a day for the congans but does for the european holocausthttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109684Mon, 02 Apr 2007 23:04:16 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109684ArthurThere was no Genocide in Kosovo except in the lies of Blair and Clinton dutifully publicised by a compliant media led by James Rubin. Look up the indictment of Milosevic prepared by the ICTY: you will not find an indictment for Genocide. Kosovo's few remaining Jews were driven out by the KLA and rescued by Milosevic before they sought sanctuary in Israel. Look up the history of these people. The forebears of the KLA, notably the Skenderberg Division of the SS, deported Kosovo's Jews to Nazi death camps during WW2 where they were murdered along with many more Serbs. Look up the history of these people. Why are you all ignoring these facts?http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109709Mon, 02 Apr 2007 23:50:46 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109709Abe. in AlaskaAnn Kennedy-Rackham, you mean white americans never experienced it. What about the genocide by white americans???? You always ignore the atrocities committed by white america, How so???? http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109721Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:07:15 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109721Sean, Torrington CTJohn, no problem, we all have our hot button issues. I just moved up here a few months ago, I haven't noticed Tommy's Bike Shop though.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109723Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:20:49 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109723Notlad, Homer, IL Wow!!! So much death and horror we have delivered unto each other and yet, we seem to have learned so little. Where is MY justice? Where is MY revenge? I am a victim too. Since the dawn of time man has murdered to further his own ambitions. It matters not whether church or mosque or synagogue or shrine, none has EVER BEEN JUSTIFIED. My mother did one right thing in her life, she raised me to see people without their facades. She beleived that our differences could be overcome with tolerance and understanding, but you can not understand someone from across the room or across town, across the country or across half a world. You must be willing to seek out that understanding and be thoughtful of our differences. Then and only then can you build a bond which can not be broken under the weight of ambitious governments or religious zealotry. I care not of your color, your race, or your religion. Neither your clothes, car, home nor money will color my view. I will look you in the eye and I will see the truthfulness of you words, I will strip your soul bare and discover the thoughtfulness of your deeds. I will measure a man by his wisdom and heart, and by his courage and his humility. And I will count him as a FRIEND and a BROTHER, and I will stand by his side until ETERNITY against all odds. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109730Tue, 03 Apr 2007 01:02:25 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109730Nettie St. Louis, MissouriIf we have learned anything from the Holocaust,then it would be to recognize the signs leading up to such a thing and to put a stop to it immediately. So far, I have yet to see that our world population has learned much at all about tolerance through such horrors,but I still hold out hope. To those who have made comments about Israel's war-mongering, you are correct in some aspects, but do not confuse being Jewish with being Zionist. They are two very different things, and not all Jewish people support such militant tactics and attitudes displayed by the Zionists toward the Palestinian populace and it's other muslim neighbors. You are then confusing religion with politics. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109737Tue, 03 Apr 2007 01:22:42 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109737Anthony VIf you are ever in Milwaukee, WI there is a Black Holocaust museum that is worth checking out. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109740Tue, 03 Apr 2007 01:35:26 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109740americanandproudSo far I haven't heard of anyone on this blog talking about the greatest genocide of all - abortion. Since 1973, 47 million babies have been killed in the US alone. In the whole world, over 1 BILLION babies have been killed in abortion. And it's happening right now, a baby dying in the US every 30 seconds. This by far dwarfs any other genocide. I thought the holucost was awful, but I think anyone who condemns the Holucost but supports abortion is a hypocrite. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109745Tue, 03 Apr 2007 01:45:07 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109745E, New YorkWhy media never mentions that in WWII Nazi killed 20+ million Russians?http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109748Tue, 03 Apr 2007 01:58:03 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109748Chuck Kucharski PaLet's face it the Jewish community has the know how and money to keep the genocide catastrophe alive and they should. Nations in the middle east still want them wiped off the face the map i.e., Iranian president's comments a few months back. They were pushed all over europe for centuries until Hitler decided to wipe them off the face of the map. The U.S. government has a lot of responsiblity in these genocide's across the world that have happened, are happening and will happen later. Being the most powerful country in the world comes with it a responsibilityto stop this genocide and validate it's existence. There were people that report these stories but you have a government sitting around a round table deciding whether they should get involved or not. This is why millions of people around the globe have died needlessly. . http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109783Tue, 03 Apr 2007 03:12:38 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109783Lani, Kansas City, MissouriPlease urge all governments to recognize the Armenian Genocide. As long as they are allowed to deny it genocides will continue.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109815Tue, 03 Apr 2007 04:28:39 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109815John Lawrence, Needles, CARosie Odonell says the jews planned the holocaust along with Bush and Nancy Pelosi wants to arm Syria as she shows support for thier troops. She should go to iran and slap the Brits.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109820Tue, 03 Apr 2007 04:39:48 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109820Juliana, Boston, MAIf you forget the past, there is no hope for the future.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109824Tue, 03 Apr 2007 04:50:17 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109824Mike, St. Louis, MOIf, as the Turks insist, Armenians were so efficient at killing Turks, why is Turkish occupied Armenia devoid of Armenians?http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109838Tue, 03 Apr 2007 05:29:51 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109838Andrew Johnson, Sydney AustraliaGENOCIDE is denial, of life, of speech, of escape, of recognition as being human. The Nazi death camps, Cambodia's killing fields, and today the Indonesian occupation of West Papua slaughters people as insects. Forty years of genocide programs against the Melanesian people of West Papua have been funded by mining West Papua's gold and copper. Instead of shutting down the Jihad terrorist camps, George Bush has commenced U.S. funding of the Indonesian military which employs Laskar Jihad and other al Qaeda terrorist groups conducting racial cleansing and replacement of Melanesian populations. http://wpik.orghttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109852Tue, 03 Apr 2007 06:07:06 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109852Ayal Rosenthal, New JerseyIf anyone, ANYONE, looks at the main aid organizations that are trying to help the people of Darfur, the one thing that stands out is that the majority are Jewish organizations. Not Muslims and not Christians, with their billions of followers, but Jews who number only 13 - 14 million. There would be more but half the Jewish world was wiped out not too long ago. Ignorance of this fact, such as ignorance of the Holocaust - which was and still is the only systematic attempted extermination of a people - and ignorance of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is both mind-boggling and sad. Sad for all of us.http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109865Tue, 03 Apr 2007 07:00:49 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109865Kristin Ruger, Los Angeles, CAAfter World War II, the Western world cried "No More!" and developed the UN with the idea that they would prevent future genocides from occurring. Obviously that did not happen. Rawanda is one example, but right now, as we speak, another is occurring in the Sudan. When we the west realize that it is not only western lives that matter. We must stop allowing these atrocities from occurring. We must stand up and say, "Enough. Violence is not acceptable. There ARE other ways of solving our problems." We, "freedom and peace loving" Americans, should take the lead. We have the resources, we just need the will to say, "Peace is the solution." Genocides are not the only crimes occurring as we sit in relative comfort, watching death unfold on the television. Human trafficking, domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse - the tolerance of violence has many repercussions for our society. It is time to say "Enough". http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109886Tue, 03 Apr 2007 08:49:12 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109886Max, SydneyThe jews do not have a monopoly on suffering, period. Although their relentless media drive over the years would certainly make you think sohttp://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#109903Tue, 03 Apr 2007 11:24:51 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:109903Milos Petrovic, Jerusalem, IsraelWhat tragically happened during the nineties in former Yugoslavia can not eraze the fact that Serbs were main victims in Yugoslavia during the Second World War, with Croatians, Bosnian Muslims and Kosovo Albanians - only than Germans - as perpetrators. Real number of Serbian victims is exceeding 700,000 in total. Yet in all the lists of genocidies listed in all posts above, there is no mention of that genocide, while Bosnia appears often. Since I lived in communism, I know right word for such 'political correctnes' imposed by 'liberal' media and short-sighted memory - it is self-censorship, one of Stalin's most powerful weapons. http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/02/109074.aspx#110134Tue, 03 Apr 2007 16:20:55 GMT8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:110134KCI read a lot about the Holocaust and went to the Museum of Tolerance about half a dozen times but what bothers me is that... for saying that Holocaust is terrible (and it was) I don't see the Jewish community helping places like Darfur... I would think after enduring such a fate as the Holocaust the Jewish community would be more in an uproar whenever the word genocide is used… but it isn’t. That bothers me…