From: Peter Gannushkin <shkin@shkin.com>
"Leaving aside how much people each of them killed I would still claim that there was nothing compared to the Holocaust and if we will remember it there will be nothing like that in the future I hope."
I ask this question seriously and don't mean to be confrontational or playing devil's advocate: Why does nothing compare to the Holocaust? Surely there have been other (attempted) genocides. I'm not so sure why first we have to rank historical atrocities and then accord the Holocaust top honors. Or why we must view Hitler as not only a historical figure but the embodiment of pure evil. Is what he did any more evil than the genocide of the Native Americans or the Armenians? Or the hundreds of years of trans-Atlantic slavery? These questions especially bother me because growing up Jewish I felt that Jewish identity (at least of the middle-class American variety) was largely defined negatively, around victimhood. I always got the impression that it was important to be a Jew because my grandparents had to leave Poland and Germany and it was my responsibility to repopulate the race. Or by not being observant I'd be betraying my family. I never felt too much of any real religious conviction and was sickened at how the basic ethical concerns of Judaism were never followed. Ben _________________________________________________________________ Get a FREE online computer virus scan from McAfee when you click here. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963
Hi Ben, I see the Holocaust as the most successful and the most organized genocide which ever happened. I don't want to rank it and put it on the top. The point is exactly not to compare. It happened, it was bad, we should remember and don't let it happened again. Period. When we start making comparisons and conclusions that Sharon is as bad as Hitler, we are sliding toward dangerous idea that probably Holocaust was not that bad and it had some reasons. I think, the truth is: history is not the math, there is no "if Hitler, then Sharon". Saturday, February 21, 2004, 1:08:28 PM, you wrote:
From: Peter Gannushkin <shkin@shkin.com>
"Leaving aside how much people each of them killed I would still claim that there was nothing compared to the Holocaust and if we will remember it there will be nothing like that in the future I hope."
BA> I ask this question seriously and don't mean to be confrontational or BA> playing devil's advocate: Why does nothing compare to the Holocaust? BA> Surely there have been other (attempted) genocides. I'm not so sure why BA> first we have to rank historical atrocities and then accord the Holocaust BA> top honors. Or why we must view Hitler as not only a historical figure but BA> the embodiment of pure evil. Is what he did any more evil than the genocide BA> of the Native Americans or the Armenians? Or the hundreds of years of BA> trans-Atlantic slavery? -- All the best, Peter Gannushkin URL: http://downtownmusic.net/
I see the Holocaust as the most successful and the most organized genocide which ever happened. I don't want to rank it and put it on the top. The point is exactly not to compare. It happened, it was bad, we should remember and don't let it happened again. Period. When we start making comparisons and conclusions that Sharon is as bad as Hitler, we are sliding toward dangerous idea that probably Holocaust was not that bad and it had some reasons.
well... Holocaust was bad but still it had reasons (believe me, if you study it and it's roots you'll see how logic it was in Germany/Europe development and context of this time, though , of course, not innevitable (as nothing human is)), very wrong reasons but still there was... this shouldn't be occulted, and this is exactly why it should be remembered, cause it prooves nothing's genuinely inhumane... labeling the holocaust as "inhumane" is simply washing our hands clean of it! Nazi Germany was/is the biggest faillure of the politic... I say the biggest because all politic fails at a certain level, but this was the biggest in 20th century. My two cents Olivier I think, the truth is:
history is not the math, there is no "if Hitler, then Sharon". Saturday, February 21, 2004, 1:08:28 PM, you wrote:
From: Peter Gannushkin <shkin@shkin.com>
"Leaving aside how much people each of them killed I would still claim that there was nothing compared to the Holocaust and if we will remember it there will be nothing like that in the future I hope."
BA> I ask this question seriously and don't mean to be confrontational or BA> playing devil's advocate: Why does nothing compare to the Holocaust? BA> Surely there have been other (attempted) genocides. I'm not so sure why BA> first we have to rank historical atrocities and then accord the Holocaust BA> top honors. Or why we must view Hitler as not only a historical figure but BA> the embodiment of pure evil. Is what he did any more evil than the genocide BA> of the Native Americans or the Armenians? Or the hundreds of years of BA> trans-Atlantic slavery?
-- All the best, Peter Gannushkin URL: http://downtownmusic.net/
_______________________________________________ zorn-list mailing list zorn-list@mailman.xmission.com To UNSUBSCRIBE or Change Your Subscription Options, go to the webpage below http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/zorn-list
participants (3)
-
Ben Axelrad -
Olivier Borzeix -
Peter Gannushkin