It's about a community of regular people who allowed their government to fall into the hands of a charismatic leader and his cronies who snake charmed the people into accepting that any problems they were having, as a country and as individuals, were the fault of others in their society.
This government convinced people to assign blame on "the others" and while they looked the other way and abdicated responsibility, members of their community began to be arrested for no reason, their homes destroyed and their property confiscated. The country fell into wars with the rest of the world and was ultimately crushed.
It really dismays me that there are young people today who do not understand the monstrosity of the expression "Holocaust deniers". I grew up next door to some elderly neighbors who once had numbers forcibly tattooed onto their forearms and that was probably the highlight of that day. From Max and Ethel Rosenberg and a man I worked with, Joe Weiner, I learned the stories behind those tattoos from the people who lived those lives and they spoke for those who did not live to tell their own tales.
History should not be a mystery. When are humans world wide going to grow up and stop being enslaved by religious and/or political dogma and the fear and narrow-mindedness that it breeds? There are so many other things we could be doing with our passions, energy and resources. Wonderful things.
I had a dream that a very scary looking alien sat at a table with a big industrial sized blender and piles of scrolls, Bibles, Korans and Torahs. With a manic look on his face he began feeding them into the blender along with a few raw fish - was it Dan Acroyd doing Bass-o-matic?- all the while he's describing how these books appeared to be the source of power of the puny humans. Gleefully, he hits the LIQUEFY button for a minute and then chugs the whole mess, wipes his face with a scaly green forearm and strides away shouting "NOW TO CONQUER THE EARTH!". Was it the burrito I ate for dinner or too much CNN?
8 comments:
Thank you, Deb, for your insightful post on this day of remembrance.
I wholeheartedly agree- thanks for posting this.
And a wonderful book- I read it several years ago.
Neither a burrito aftermath, nor too much CNN; it's symbolism for the reality of our world. sigh.
On a totally different note, I am mesmerized by the leaf in your photos! I had to look closely to be able to see that it is real, and not something made from your dyed fabrics!
As for history, I totally subscribe to the idea that those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it. I have become very interested in history in recent years, and have learned quite a bit more than they tried to force feed to me in school...
Wonderful post, Deb. I often wonder how did we, a nation formed by people fleeing from religious persecution, became such a nation of bigots...after burning the Quorum, what do they do next, start burning Talmuds, Torah scrolls...sad, sad,
ant [one whose maternal family was extinguished in Auschwitz]
I read that book years ago. A wonderful book. It makes you think about how the whole Nazi era of German history got a toehold and how the people were too afraid to stand up against the government. I hope that the same thing couldn't happen here, but after the politics of the last decade I am not so sure. Diane
Very thought provoking post and I must look out for the book you mention.
Great photos and I love your cusspots! Mine sits on the table near my sewing chair...I often admire it (and the birdies enjoy the threads within).
Jacky xox
Just requested the book from my local library. This post seems more relevant than ever today.
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