Illinois is to be congratulated for putting front and center the task of Holocaust remembrance. All of us sense the diminishing numbers of Holocaust survivors. All of us know that their personal testimony will not be heard forever. All of us ask: Will my child or grandchild ever get to know a survivor? We are grateful for each child who manages to reach the minimum age necessary to grasp the life story of a living Holocaust survivor.
And for those of us who believe that the task of Holocaust remembrance is Janus-like — forward, not just backward — Illinois is to be congratulated for bringing Darfur, Rwanda and Cambodia to the agenda. If the Holocaust was unique — we want it to remain that way. If a purpose of Holocaust remembrance is to heighten sensitivity to current genocidal acts and intentions, then we salute the inclusion of post-Holocaust genocides in the new museum. If the purpose of remembrance is prevention, then we must call to universal attention the humanity of every human being and the most basic definition of humanity: the right to life.
Given all of this sensitivity that went into the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, we have little doubt that the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt would not have been invited to participate in its dedication. In his lifetime, Roosevelt was loved, adored, almost worshiped, by American Jews. As an old Yiddish saw had it, “Di velt, di andere velt, un Roosevelt.”
We know now, however, that Roosevelt was, in his relation to Jews, an arch villain. He knew about the Holocaust. He was asked to intervene. He was asked to intervene in a way that would not have slowed the Allied war effort. He was asked to bomb the rail lines to Auschwitz. He refused. He was asked to issue American visas. He (and his co-partners in crime, Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Assistant Secretary of State Breckenridge Long), refused. He was asked to receive stray refugees. He refused. He was asked to establish a War Refugee Board. On this, he dallied while thousands were murdered, daily. Finally, the War Refugee Board got off the ground, as much against his will as with his will, and it did much good — but too late to save the millions it could have.
On the question of genocide, Franklin D. Roosevelt failed. Were he alive, he would not have been invited to participate in the dedication of the Illinois Holocaust Museums and Education Center.
Then why was President Clinton invited? He, too, failed on the question of genocide. Not only that, he lived after the Holocaust, and he personally hosted Holocaust remembrance ceremonies in the White House. Yet, when it came to learning the most basic lesson of the Holocaust — preventing another genocide — he failed. The genocide in Rwanda occurred on his watch. He did not belong at the dedication in Skokie, Illinois, any more than Roosevelt would have.
Clinton said at the dedication, according to reports, that the US intervened “too late.” Excuse us? The US did not intervene at all — until after the genocide. And read Clinton’s autobiography: there’s not a lot of anguish or rethinking or apology about American indifference during the Rwandan genocide.
Granted, the Rwandan genocide was horrifically fast. But if that is to serve as an excuse for Clinton’s failure to act, then we might as well close down every single Holocaust memorial center everywhere. For there is no law, no guarantee, not even a likelihood, that the next genocide will unfold exactly like the Holocaust. If the intent of Holocaust memorial centers is to condition us all to be on guard so that “it” never happens again, then we must know that “it” will not, in fact, happen exactly as the previous one. The entire purpose and scope of the mental conditioning behind, for example, those Days of Remembrance at the Clinton White House was to condition us all against any sign of genocide. Admit it. It did happen again.
If there is any single name that should have replaced Clinton’s at that dedication of the Illinois Holocaust museum, it is Morgenthau. Henry Morgenthau was the prime mover behind the efforts of President Wilson to stop the Armenian genocide during WW II. It was his son, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr., who was the prime mover behind the belated efforts of Roosevelt to found the War Refugee Board during WW II. Morgenthau. That’s a heroic name.
When it comes to Darfur, we have no name at all. Not Bush. Not Obama. Not Kofi Anan. Certainly no one in China or Europe.
We must be painfully careful to guard the integrity of Holocaust remembrance. Among the challenges to the many criteria of that integrity is the temptation to bring in big names for big events. Not every big name is appropriate. Another challenge is to ensure that the prime focus — prevention, moral conditioning, outrage, outcry — is never lost.
| Comments |
|