Auschwitz Liberation Anniversary Means Too Little To Too Many View From The Middle
By Charles Rogers

Today, January 27, 2005 is the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the concentration camp in Poland where, during World War II, millions — most of whom were Jews — were exterminated by Nazi soldiers by gas, lethal injections, shooting, hanging, hunger and disease. Although at one time I could not fathom that some would not know about this tragic time and place in the existence of man, I shudder when I think of the subject now.

The fact that there are those who apparently prefer to ignore the murders of so many people at one time in one place for the sake of genocide eludes me, although I know it is true. The key word here is, of course, “ignore,” of which other words are derived, such as “ignorant,” or, in this case, “ignoramus.”

It seems the message is not getting across. Young people are not being taught enough about the Holocaust in schools, at least not to the degree that they should. It seems they look upon it as another fantasy, like a comic book or a movie with computer-generated subjects, where blood and bodies and those crying out for justice or help of any kind make no impression.

Today we have a special, tragic anniversary, but too few know about it; about how even the name Auschwitz can still strike terror in the hearts of those who survived it.

Yes, there are still some who were there in 1944 and saw their parents taken away from them and put into an adjunct camp on the same grounds called Birkenau, where the gas chambers swallowed them. On this date in 1945 when the Russian soldiers came to the gates, they saw how the German soldiers had hurriedly tried to dismantle those chambers and the smoldering ovens where the bodies were stuffed and cremated.

Although the retreating Nazis took some of the prisoners with them when they fled, they had to leave those who could not make it. They were the ones who, although starving and weak and with broken bones, managed to smile and greet those who freed them. We have seen the pictures of the men in striped clothing, the hollow eyes reflecting the ordeal of months or years of terror; the hopelessness, even though their liberators were at hand.

We see these things and we are reminded of them often, especially during Yom Hashoah ceremonies. The Jewish community here — especially in New York — are wise enough to keep the “Never Again” phrase in the forefront. They try to keep reminding mankind about how man has treated his fellow being in the past.

But are they doing enough?

A case in point, of course, has been blatantly brought to light with the antics of a prince of the British throne, Prince Harry, going to a costume party wearing a khaki shirt decorated with a swasti-

ka — the symbol of the Nazi Party — on his arm. We need not go into that part of it any further. The ignoramuses — Prince Harry and those around him, including his body guards and, yes, his older brother (who will some day be King of England!) — have said enough about themselves.

The tragic point, however, is how shallow they all are; how they can treat it like a prank by an immature 20-year-old.

Word has it that his father, Prince Charles, thought about taking Harry to the museums in Auschwitz to show him what he mocked.

It wouldn’t do any good. He wouldn’t understand what Auschwitz means.

Sad to say, there are more ignoramuses in the world every day.