I was involved in the organisation of the 50th anniversary commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz, while First Secretary at the British Embassy in Warsaw. The 50th did not receive anything like the media coverage given to the 70th, of which more later.
Senior British visitors to Poland invariably included a concentration camp on their itinerary, and from escorting people around I visited camps a great deal more often than I would have wished. I found the experience appalling and desolate. The first I ever saw was Majdanek and I recall that I just had to sit helpless and shivering for some time. One thing the experience left me with – including meeting survivors and both Polish and German eye-witnesses, and seeing the architects’ plans for camps – was a contempt for those who claim the whole thing did not happen, or was an accident, or was small scale.
It in no way diminishes the genocidal attack on the Jews to remember that a vast number of Poles also died in the camps, as well as gypsies, homosexuals, the disabled and disparate political prisoners. I tried sometimes to diminish the horror I felt at involvement with the camps, with attempts at humour. I was present at a meeting listing the guests of honour; the President of Lithuania was included. I whispered that he was coming to represent the camp guards. That was offensive, and I apologise. But there is a real problem that to this day Eastern Europe – including Poland itself – has not come to terms with historical truth about collaboration with anti-Jewish genocide and other attacks on minorities. I recommend this website, which tackles these issues very honestly and is well worth a lengthy browse.
It requires bigotry not to be able to understand why nationalist resistance movements against Russian occupation became allied with Germany during World War II. That would be reprehensible only in the same sense that allied collaboration with Stalin might be reprehensible, but for the added factor of enthusiastic collaboration with genocidal and master race programmes and fascist ideology. That is what makes the glorification of Eastern European nationalist figures from this period generally inappropriate.
I fear however that the real reason that the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz received so much more coverage than the 50th is a media desire to reinforce the narrative of the War on Terror and Western policy in the Middle East by invoking the spectre of massive anti-Semitism. There have been isolated but deplorable, apparently anti-Semitic attacks of a small-scale terrorist nature in France and Belgium in recent years. But to conflate this into stories of a wave of popular anti-Semitism in Europe is a nonsense. Maureen Lipman’s claim that she may have to leave the UK is not just silly but disingenuous. I do not believe she feels in personal danger of attack – there is absolutely no reason why she should – she is rather making a political point.
There are two factors which could exacerbate anti-Semitism at present. One is the appalling behaviour of Israel and its indefensible action in continually seizing Palestinian land and using its military superiority to dominate and occasionally massacre Palestinians. Regrettably, there are a very small minority of people who wrongly blame Jews in general for the actions of Israel.
The second factor is of course the terrible economic hardship wrought across the whole world by irresponsible banking practices, and the fact that the bankers luxury lifestyles were maintained at the cost of everybody else. There are still a tiny minority of people stuck in the medieval mindset associating banking with the Jewish community. There is in fact a very plausible argument that if any “race” has a disproportionate influence on the development and character of international banking since the mid eighteenth century, it is the Scots! But those who see banking as a racial issue are nutters.
You could construct an argument from these factors, and you could identify that anti-Semitic people do exist. They certainly do. They dominate the very small category of people who get banned even from this free speech blog. But are their opinions intellectually respectable, promoted in the mainstream or able to be expressed openly without fear of either social or legal consequences? No, no and no. Anti-semites are fortunately a tiny and strange minority. I might add that in my numerous and frequent social contacts in the British Muslim community, I have never encountered anti-Semitism (unlike, say, Poland and Russia where I encountered casual anti-Semitism quite frequently).
The final point, is of course, the conflation of anti-zionism with anti-Semitism. That seems to me the fundamental design of the media campaign exaggerating the scale of anti-Semitism at the moment. Yes, we must always remember the terrible warnings from history and it is right to remember those who died in the concentration camps, Jewish, Polish, Romany, Gay, Communist or any other category. But we should be aware of those who wish to manipulate the powerful emotions of horror thus evoked, for present objectives of the powerful.
Uzbek in the uk 12.42
I cannot agree about the differences that you list.
Zionists do imprison and torture. This is well documented. They even imprison and torture jewish opposition. Have you never heard of Mordechai Vanunu?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordechai_Vanunu
Zionists do exterminate other groups. What have they been doing to the palestinians these past 67 years? If you read any independent accounts of last summers actions in Gaza [as opposed to those in the zionist dominated main media] then you would realise that. This London lady was an eyewitness:
http://www.scriptonitedaily.com/2014/08/23/gaza-israels-war-on-children-warning-upsetting-footage/
Zionists do seem to want to dominate world affairs. They seem to want dominate US politics via the NeoCon grouping, which has been very effective for them. With all those dual nationals that the US people tolerate for some reason. And the US Empire certainly seems to want to dominate world affairs doesn’t it.
Uzbek in the UK, you seem to be using propagandistic arguments to defend wanton Israeli slaughter by claiming that Hamas initiates conflict whereas Israel only responds; this seems dishonest.
You also seem to be defending “Western” powers’ support of the Saudi monarchy, despite its key role in fomenting extremist atrocities across the globe.
Both of these arguments are consistent with Neoconservatism. Do you support Neoconservative policy in general, and if so, why? It looks like a cult of deception, death and elitism to me.
Anon 28 Jan, 2015 – 1:23 pm : When so many anti-Semites hide their dislike of Jews behind ‘anti-zionism’ then it’s hardly surprising the two get conflated. Just look at some of the wretched people involved in the various Palestine solidarity campaigns. They spend their lives obsessing about ‘zionists’, blame ‘zionists’ for every evil in the world, believe ‘zionists’ start all the wars, control all the world’s finances, carry out false-flag attacks and blame them on others. Are we really, honestly supposed to believe that ‘zionist’ is not code for ‘Jew’?
Are anti-zionist Jews anti-semitic?
Must say that I get sick and tried hearing constantly about the Holocaust, especially about what happened at Auschwitz back then, when the 20th and 21st centuries are just histories of indiscriminate murder of all kinds of people on a gigantic scale.
Fourteen million people were in WWII killed in this way, and Hitler’s forces killed about nine million of them, and would have killed around 30 million if they had won the war. And Stalin was no slouch when it came to killing innocents, but still he only killed about 5 million, and he didn’t instigate the war which made the lands of Eastern Europe the Bloodlands.
And the real victors of that war, the Anglo-Americans, were quite prepared to kill 200 million people if it even looked like a war was starting with the USSR – what could have begin with just an accidental explosion of one of its or their nuclear weapons.
The Holocaust is a myth, thought many Jews were indiscriminately murdered too, that we continue to exploit to hide continually from ourselves about what is going on a worldwide scale.
Are anti-zionist Jews anti-semitic? They don’t even have to be antizionist to qualify, seemingly.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/oct/05/self-hating-jew-antisemitism
Node
I wanted to get in there…to say DONT RESPOND…..it’s Bait Aint it. Fuck sake….we can always bait Beautiful souls.
They
Since the Palestinian rocket attacks began more than ten years ago, they have killed somewhere between 12 and 33 Israelis (depending on whose figures you believe).
Go look at what happened in Gaza last year and then tell me about ‘proportionate response’.
Anyhows, my last word on the subject, because this thread will no doubt turn into the usual ding-dong.
Yes, Brian, beautiful souls are easy pickings for cynical manipulators.
They mess with your mind for a while.
Then you see though them,
And afterwards,
You’ve still got a beautiful soul, and they still live in a world of lies and deceit.
Who won?
“…; the President of Lithuania was included. I whispered that he was coming to represent the camp guards. That was offensive, and I apologise. ”
Apology probably unnecessary. I suspect that the Baltic leaders will be telling their domestic supporters that that is precisely why they attended.
Many of Stalin’s supporters found his collaboration with the British and Americans distasteful. After all neither the Russians of the Germans are close to matching the successive genocides performed by the imperialists over a five hundred year period. If we just look at the brutal massacres of political opponents and their neighbours starting in Iraq and going back to Korea, through Kenya, Vietnam (Cambodia, Laos) and a wide variety of actions in such places as Colombia, Guatemala etc it is clear that those having to do with the western powers (not to mention Japan) would be advised to keep a disinfected barge pole close to hand.
These Auschwitz memorials, which mean so much to so many ordinary people in Russia as well as the other places mentioned, have become sickening rituals at which politicians attempt to disinfect their dirty hands by insulting the memories of their predecessors’ victims. I should add, of course, that many of those taking part are simply too ignorant of history to understand their position and their countries’ culpability.
“Regrettably, there are a very small minority of people who wrongly blame Jews in general for the actions of Israel.”
Yes that is regrettable. However, it’s becoming increasingly harder not to blame Jews within Israel particularly as Israel is now officially designated as a Jewish state.
Yet another excellent piece, Mr Murray. You’ve been firing on all cylinders lately, with more than a couple of your pieces deservedly getting widespread coverage.
—
Thanks, Miss Catello, your firm word seems to have shut that tedious one-trick pony up.
Apologies: that stray …s…
Considering the blanket coverage of the the Holocaust yesterday,(they haven’t finished yet) one could be forgiven for thinking that the only victims of the second world war were the Jews. I’m tired of this, ‘the worlds greatest victims’ mentality. I wonder how many survivors (or relatives of) have given much thought to the freezing people of Gaza who are trying to keep warm next to their heap of rubble that used to be their homes. How many times have we heard these survivors (of the Holocaust) mention the conditions in which the besieged Gazan’s are living in this winter? I’ve listened to many interviews and haven’t heard any. Furthermore, to dispute that many Jews outside Israel don’t support the criminal state is stretching it a bit. Honourable Jews who are brave enough to condemn Netanyahu and his bunch of thugs are few and far between. Anon: No, I’m not anti-Semitic, I couldn’t care less about where anyone is from nor their religious affiliation and regardless of you and your attempted slurs, I’ll continue to criticise any murderous criminals, whichever god they believe in.
Node
i.m A Wee bit of a Heart worn word smith…. its such a sham on humanity… Poets, Writers. Artists. Science
Feel Free… Node…My Poem on Squonk…Not new..But
Can Mods Give Node my Email..
or have some kinda requirement… to confirm or such
Excellent post. This sentence sums up western intent. “I fear however that the real reason that the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz received so much more coverage than the 50th is a media desire to reinforce the narrative of the War on Terror and Western policy in the Middle East by invoking the spectre of massive anti-Semitism.”
Like the Black Hole of Calcutta, 120 British soldiers left to die, they kept reminding future generations of what a dreadful event it was until it became part of common parlance. It happened more than 250 years ago. We should forget about the Holocaust, not because it was a terrible event, but because there are more pressing issues like the genocides in Palestine and Ukraine, like Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, torture prisons on Diego Garcia, Private Supermax Prisons, and the whittling away of human rights.
These we can do something about. What is more, it is such evils most likely to create a similar groundsoil a new Holocausts and further genocides. People have to learn to live together under their own elected governments. And by and large in the UK we do that. But there are those trying to drive a wedge between various social and ethnic groups for political ends often backed by Israeli money.
“There are still a tiny minority of people stuck in the medieval mindset associating banking with the Jewish community.”
If anything it’s now a 19th century mindset. Scots had lost whatever prominence you’re claiming for them by that time, though they certainly continued as middle men.
These guys ruled banking in the 19th century, as they say themselves:
“In the early 19th century, the five sons of Mayer Amschel Rothschild set out from the family home in Frankfurt to the principal financial centres of Europe – London, Paris, Frankfurt, Naples and Vienna, to establish their great banking houses.”
“and soon positioned themselves as the best informed and most internationally effective banking group in the world.”
And all the great figures of that epoch have attested to that.
http://www.rothschild.com/our_history/
Meanwhile…
William Paterson and Scotland too, foundered upon a peak in Darien.
I think you’ll find it’s a modernist, rather than a medieval concern.
Craig
-I fear however that the real reason that the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz received so much more coverage than the 50th is a media desire to reinforce the narrative of the War on Terror and Western policy in the Middle East by invoking the spectre of massive anti-Semitism.-
This may well be the case but there’s another creepy possibility, which has been discussed today on RT, and that is that this anniversary is been used to try to ‘rewrite’ history so to speak and to sanitize the nationalist history (not to mention present) of the Ukraine. There is clearly significance in the choice to invite Poroshenko but not Putin.
Herbie,
Darien was not primarily a banking enterprise. In the following century, Scots founded the central banks of England, France and the United States.
Well said.
At the hight of the recent Israel aggression I made a comment that could have been considered racist. Something like “maybe there are some reasonable people in Israel, but “…etc etc .
It was thankfully deleted from said video. Of course there are reasonable people, but it’s unfortunately not an outlandish reaction with so much internal support for these polices. When your seeing all the children die. I’v looked much deeper since them, but it was stupid in the first place. (Though similar memes are easily spread about Arabs or Muslims, by people that I bet would faint if the same was directed at jews, or Israelis)
Also why does it barely get mention that the holocaust was not just against Jews. Weren’t they killing off the disabled also? I’m sure they had a long list of potentials, gays etc.
…Ps, I’v a project on the go, feeling much better, sorry for dragging off topic previously and perhaps not respecting this blog for what it is, it was not my intent.
And don’t Semitic people include more than jews? I just find the whole reading of the situation grossly simplified. There was nothing special about the jews, it could have been any minority imo.
Can anyone clarify what constitutes Holocaust denial?
This is a genuine question made in good faith, and I will be very happy to be corrected on matters of historical fact.
As far as I understand it, in many countries challenging the figure of 6 million Jews constitutes Holocaust denial and is illegal.
Equally, it is my understanding that the figure originates from the end of the Second Word war and incorporates Russian figures for 4 million Jewish deaths at Auschwitz. In 1989 the Polish authorities revised this figure down to 1.5 million, and this figure has been generally accepted.
Thus the numbers have been revised down by 2.5 million, and yet the 6 million figure still seems to stand and you suggest otherwise at your peril. This can’t be right, surely?
As Orwell said, freedom is the freedom to say 2 plus 2 = 4.
Is this distinction considered I wonder. Between “the holocaust” or “the Jewish holocaust”. I assume it has but I don’t know the debate surrounding it.
Why was my post deleted? Curious as there was nothing remotely offensive in it. Unless quoting from a historical letter is considered offensive. As well as linking to an article by a historian and expert witness on Germany’s wartime Jewish policy and the Holocaust issue (which contained the quote). And accurately quoting 2 words from Mein Kampf. All evidence for a very reasonable equating of two similar politcal philosophies. That was all that was in my post.
???
Lol, you know, maybe that’s why I worry on this blog. None of my stuff seems to get deleted? I wonder if it’s some fault, I feel incredibly isolated. Surly i’v offended lots of people? and gone off topic is an understatement.
Whatever.
Craig
Makes wonder for nowaboots.. and the Difference of now…all them Scots Bankers..Greed or trying something new.. i Dunno… I have a book you can have a LOAN of it’s called a Hoposcotch of Scottish firsts..For a writer historian like you’re self..might Something interesting
Stay Freezin
Je
It is self-evident that there could be a temporary perceived common interest between a fringe of those who wished to establish a Jewish homeland, and a movement which wanted to evict all Jews from Germany. Conflating that into a “Zionists supported the Nazis/Holocast” theory is as ludicrous as it is unpleasant, and anything tending in that direction will get deleted.
I agree Je at 5.56. I just came back to look at your link because I did not have time earlier. And I find that it has gone! Why is that?
You could construct an argument from these factors, and you could identify that anti-Semitic people do exist. They certainly do. They dominate the very small category of people who get banned even from this free speech blog.
But you don’t ban the anti-Britisher racists. The people who say (as you do, come to think of it) that the British are not a race. That the British are not entitled to consider Britain their homeland, which is to say a place where those of British descent have rights over and above those of masses of people overseas who might wish to immigrate to Britain. Only Jews, apparently, are entitled to a homeland.
All the moaning and wailing about anti-Semitism is nine-tenths bollocks. It is people like Elie Wiesel — the aggressive promoters of the meme that anti-Semitism is everywhere and Jews need special protection from the primitive untermenschen goys among whom anti-Semitism is “an age-old mental disease” — who are the racists. Or at least they’re as racist as anyone.
Lets all recognize anti-Europeanism for what it is, the Liberal plan for the genocide of the European peoples as racial and cultural entities within their own traditional homelands through a program of mass immigration and multi-culturalism.
KingOfWelshNoir : 28 Jan, 2015 – 5:50 pm Can anyone clarify what constitutes Holocaust denial
So according to Wikipedia, saying “6 – 2.5 = 3.5” is Holocaust denial