A swastika on an American gravestone provides a teachable moment
It was recently discovered that three tombstones in American military cemeteries are inscribed with swastikas. For example, one headstone in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio has swastikas inside a German cross, and the phrase, “He died far from his home for the Fuhrer, people, and fatherland.”
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation, headed by a Jewish president, called on the Veterans Administration to replace the headstone. The VA refused, saying:
“The National Historical Preservation Act of 1966 assigns stewardship responsibilities to federal agencies, including the VA and the Army, to protect historical resources, including those that recognize divisive historical figures or events. For this reason, the VA will continue to preserve these headstones, like every past administration has.”
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida) weighed in, calling on the VA to replace the stones. “The VA’s decision to leave the swastikas in place, as well as the messages honoring Hitler, while ignoring calls to take the headstones down is callous, irresponsible and unacceptable — and comes at a time when documented anti-Semitic incidents in the US have reached a new high.”
The headstones should stay as they are. Our reasoning, from the minor to the major:
As to current levels of anti-Semitism, hardly a soul throughout the world would have known about these headstones had the Military Religious Freedom Foundation not called attention to them. Out of millions of headstones in this country, exactly three have the Nazi imagery and language. Sometimes, the better part of wisdom is to let sleeping dogs lie. To make a big deal out of a miniscule percentage of headstones is to bring unnecessary and unlikely attention to them.
To the extent that they would otherwise be noticed by anyone at all, what is the likely response? Disgust. Offense. Shock. Those are productive responses. Another response: wonder. How did this person get this way? Why is he buried in an American cemetery. What’s the history here? Those are productive questions to ask.
Our history isn’t pure. Rep. Wasserman Shultz no doubt saluted The New York Times for its extensive focus on slavery in the American colonies, but she would destroy headstones that represent another offensive piece of American history. Inconsistent, to say the least.
History isn’t erased by the erasure of physical objects. The response of the VA that it is should preserve historical resources is right, albeit defensive. The history won’t go away if the headstone does, but if the offensive object does go away then an opportunity to learn from mistakes of history is diminished.
Reportedly backing the call of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation are B’nai B’rith International, the American Jewish Committee and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Do these organizations believe that every forgotten offense should be resuscitated? Once it is resuscitated, do they believe that it cannot be made to serve an important purpose as a reminder of the horrors of history?
We discern a knee jerk publicization of something that could and should easily have been left alone, and that elicited some knee jerk PC rather than this: Consideration of how to turn a perfectly vivid illustration of the lure of hate into a teachable image and therefore a teachable moment.
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