Today is Yom HaShoah or Holocaust Memorial Day. I have a strong connection to the Holocaust. My father watched his family murdered by Nazi troops (you don’t want to know how he survived). My mother and her parents escaped from their little Polish village just days before the Nazis burned it to the ground. (Of course, there’s the sad tale of my uncle who survived a concentration camp only to be murdered when two pieces of sh*t robbed his grocery store, but that’s another story for another day.)
The Holocaust DID happen and, sadly, it could happen again. The recent spate of attacks on Asian-Americans is a disgusting manifestation of the large swath of ignorance that cuts through American society. What no one reports, however, is despite the fact that Jews comprise just two percent of the US population, they have been the victim of more than half of the hate crimes in this country every year for at least the last five years.
It has been said by people like Mark Twain that Jews are the victim of their own success. How is it, exactly, that so many Jews who came to the US in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were so successful, given they suffered enormous discrimination, did not speak English upon arrival and there were no government programs to help them? Well, I have my own theory, but I do not want to incite a flame war. Suffice to say no one should ever become successful by doing nothing except playing the victim.
Never Forget! Never Again!
#YomHaShoah
#NeverForget!
#NeverAgain!
Disaffected Musings 
Sorry to hear about your family during and after the Holocaust. Powerful musing.
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Thanks, Ari.
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When we next enjoy each others company, we should talk family history.
As ALL Americans, it is our obligation to teach our children and grand children that the Holocaust occurred, what happened to our family and friends, and why. A good way to do that is to have them read “Number the Stars” by Lois Lowry. It tells the story of the Danes who evacuated nearly 7,000 Jews out of Denmark to Sweden to save them from the roundup and certain death in the camps. She tells it as the story of a little girl whose family helps her friend, the Rosen family, to escape. We have several copies in our library for the children in our home.
For those new readers who might not know, I agree completely with rulesoflogic on this topic.
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A timely annual reminder
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Thanks, sir.
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It is sad to see how the gullible are swayed by the amount of disinformation that is circulating. Even in World War II, we were not immune from hate, especially for what was done to the Japanese Americans.
I haven’t visited yet, but it’s my goal to visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C.
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Thanks, JS. I wrote more about the hatred of Jews in modern-day America in today’s post.
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