Never again!

[mapleleafalumnus]

Ladies and Gentlemen of SRP:

Yesterday, a swastika (or hakenkreuz, if you prefer the German term) was painted on the exterior wall of Temple Beth Israel in the city of Jackson, Michigan. I apologize for not knowing how to provide a direct link to this story, but it can be found on MLive.com under the article entitled "Graffiti, Swastika Found On Temple Beth Israel in Jackson." If anyone knows how to provide the link, please feel free to do so with my gratitude.
I am not Jewish. Heck, I'm an atheist. My father landed on Juno Beach on 6 June 1944 to stop the spread of the pestilence known as National Socialism. Later, he saw the Survivors of Dachau, and befriended them. I met some of those Survivors as a boy and young man, and listened to their recollections. I telephoned my father after reading this article, and the first thing he said was the first thing I thought after reading the headline: NEVER AGAIN!
Maybe it was some stupid kid who painted this because s/he had nothing better to do last night. Regardless of who and why, I am sickened beyond belief at this act.
Right now I am ashamed to be a resident of Michigan.

[JackofDiamonds]

This is unfortunate. But I think you are on the right track, this is most likely some youth-young adult and did this out of boredom or as a cry for attention.

It is my personal belief that actions like these only hold the power that society gives it. So if the local news paper prints out a huge story and gets it on every website they can, it becomes a bigger issue and affects more individuals.

If I am wrong and the rebirth of Third Reich is upon us, then we have more problems in the world than I thought. But I sincerely believe you are correct with your first thoughts; it's probably kids.

JackofDiamonds

[EisenFaust]

Unrelated point, but nationalism and socialism are gaining some serious ground throughout Europe at the moment as a result of the economic crisis and the increase in xenophobic policies and propaganda - I can't imagine we will experience any sort of militarised uprising as a result, but the trends sure are troubling...

[fpessanha]

Unrelated point, but nationalism and socialism are gaining some serious ground throughout Europe at the moment as a result of the economic crisis and the increase in xenophobic policies and propaganda - I can't imagine we will experience any sort of militarised uprising as a result, but the trends sure are troubling...

Indeed, nationalism is rising a bit in Europe. Socialism... not so much. The current crisis is troubling and there are some overtones that remind us of the 1920's and the rise of fascism. The right wing movements wink at the uneducated idiots that prefer brawn over brain in order to gain a bit more power... the idiots feel happy and start waving fascist flags and all that. But Nazism is still fresh in our memories and the NEVER AGAIN cry is strong in everyone's throats. That will not happen again. Sadly, other nasty things will happen if you forget our past, but WW2 was a very successful vaccine against Nazism. At least in Europe and in a broader populational scale. Sure, there's the odd fascist-ish party... but they are minorities, really.
What really concerns me is not the rise in right wing demagoguery. What concerns me is the fact that bancs have taken hold of real politics and are manouvering policies towards their gains when politics should be about providing the best for the people. Robbery in such a scale is not good in any way. The result is simple: democracy is in peril, facing the advances of technocrats that say when and where to have an election because the financial markets might not like that...

[mapleleafalumnus]

Is no one else sickened by the intentional defacing of a house of worship with a universal symbol of hatred?!?

[xuz]

Is no one else sickened by the intentional defacing of a house of worship with a universal symbol of hatred?!?

Of course, swastika was not always the symbol of hatred, and to many culture and religion, it still is not.

The word "swastika" comes from the Sanskrit svastika - "su" meaning "good," "asti" meaning "to be," and "ka" as a suffix. The swastika literally means "to be good".

Swastika - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

How the symbol for being good was used unite nations in the most organized and heinous war crime of our history is quite frankly beyond me.

[Pithor]

Unrelated point, but nationalism and socialism are gaining some serious ground throughout Europe at the moment as a result of the economic crisis and the increase in xenophobic policies and propaganda - I can't imagine we will experience any sort of militarised uprising as a result, but the trends sure are troubling...

I hope you understand that '1933-1945'-type national socialism is not a simple sum of nationalism and socialism.

On topic: Why anyone feels the need to portray acts of vandalism or disrespect towards houses of prayer is beyond me. From swastikas on synagogues to drunken youth pissing against the wall of a catholic chapel.

On a more cynical side note: Being Dutch I have heard the phrase "Never again!" too often in this context and noticed it is often uttered as a purely dogmatic reflex (I am speaking from my point of view and background and do not mean to trivialize the OP's father's experiences or post for that matter).

Let me elaborate. Looking back at history, I am skeptic about how hard people would really struggle against creeping and increasingly aggressive oppressive forces; Hitlers Third Reich didn't happen overnight and started out much, much milder than it ended (a slight understatement, I know), yet it took quite a while for nations and people involved to realise something even smelled fishy.

Things sneak up surprisingly easy on people, making them do things without second thought they never would have expected themselves to do, ever.

As referring to the intentional destruction of jews specifically, I don't feel there's much to fear. A small anti-semetic neo-nazi fraction in Jackson, Michigan is no real threat (abject: yes, destructive on a massive scale: no), and the situation in the Middle East is a different discussion altogether, which frankly I find most unsatisfying for all parties involved. And I doubt any nation will ever actually start a full-scale war with the state of Israël, such talk is more likely than not interior political rhetoric.

[carlmaloschneider]

I haven't read any of the replies to your initial post. I think it's important to state that. It's a very interesting and important post. My father also fought in World War II, but on the German side. When I say 'fought' I mean 'served', he was an Adjutant, which I understand to essentially mean messenger or clerk. But he has interesting stories he doesn't like to share.

I am enraged by stories of violence against anyone; but most of all children. Violence directed at any race, at any time in history, by any perpetrator is obnoxious, vile and base.

Lack of love for one another and to one's environment and God, if one has one, and lack of love for love itself, I suspect, inspires such outward acts of hate as you've spoken of. And also fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of uncertainty. A tribal protective attitude.

I like that you don't like it.

[mapleleafalumnus]

I haven't read any of the replies to your initial post. I think it's important to state that. It's a very interesting and important post. My father also fought in World War II, but on the German side. When I say 'fought' I mean 'served', he was an Adjutant, which I understand to essentially mean messenger or clerk. But he has interesting stories he doesn't like to share.

I am enraged by stories of violence against anyone; but most of all children. Violence directed at any race, at any time in history, by any perpetrator is obnoxious, vile and base.

Lack of love for one another and to one's environment and God, if one has one, and lack of love for love itself, I suspect, inspires such outward acts of hate as you've spoken of. And also fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of uncertainty. A tribal protective attitude.

I like that you don't like it.

carlmaloschneider:
Thank you. Peace out, bro'!

[mapleleafalumnus]

Pithor:
I appreciate the respectful tone of your post, and I agree with almost everything you wrote. The one point on which I disagree with you is "I doubt any nation will ever actually start a full-scale war with the state of Israël, such talk is more likely than not interior political rhetoric."
As a boy I was educated by Jesuits, who always referred to adherents of the Islamic faith as "Mohammadens," not Moslems (or Muslims). Fortunately, this was counter-balanced by my father, who was a professor of history and political science, and would correct their deficiencies in my education. However, they both shared one prediction: the PLO, Syria, Lebanon and/or Iraq would, if in possession of nuclear weapons, definitely deploy them against Israel. This satisfies von Clausewitz's definition of "total war."
In my original post I stated that I'm an atheist. Live and let live is how I choose to view matters of faith. This story, combined with observing/participating in my father's interviews of Survivors, and the ensuing friendships I fortunately developed with them makes me very sensitive to their perspective. Let cooler heads prevail!