tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84710820690319805812024-03-16T22:12:53.751-04:00Bieganski the BlogD Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.comBlogger1140125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-2751524596506391642024-03-08T07:48:00.004-05:002024-03-08T07:48:43.434-05:00The Boys in the Boat, The Peasants, and The Zone of Interest: Three Terrific New Films <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwJgZo9IeNJd_e-veFLLQo6jBJ78arlXxSKKBzH2UA8iVYFrd4buCjbYZM0WACTsdcuTm9pEoodY4DTQopBlvTlC_sbiO3p9R6illdytjF8IsjPJlhXJmm3AtMtYxMKT1yWUjMrbq06Ro5mxYDECsEiEIECCqU8xhm3ZitWsDsqzANnAZiEt-tSaNfpUX0/s1107/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="970" data-original-width="1107" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwJgZo9IeNJd_e-veFLLQo6jBJ78arlXxSKKBzH2UA8iVYFrd4buCjbYZM0WACTsdcuTm9pEoodY4DTQopBlvTlC_sbiO3p9R6illdytjF8IsjPJlhXJmm3AtMtYxMKT1yWUjMrbq06Ro5mxYDECsEiEIECCqU8xhm3ZitWsDsqzANnAZiEt-tSaNfpUX0/w400-h350/Capture.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><br /> The Peasants is the single most beautiful film I've ever seen. The Zone of Interest is a Holocaust film. Both were shot, at least in part, in Poland. The Boys in the Boat tells a World War II story. <p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Boys in
the Boat</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">, <i>The
Peasants</i>, and <i>The Zone of Interest</i>:<br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Three great films best seen in a theater</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Friend, I beg of you. Go to a theater
and see three great movies sometime soon: <i>The Boys in the Boat, The
Peasants, </i>and <i>The Zone of Interest. </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Leopold Staff, a Polish poet who
survived the Nazi occupation of Warsaw, said that "Even more than bread we
now need poetry, in a time when it seems that it is not needed at all."
Movies are democratic. They are accessible and they are communal. It's
fashionable to declare one's superiority by sneering at popular culture. It's
harder to sneer when you remember that Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a fearless
counter-jihadi, was inspired by Nancy Drew novels, and that <i>Top Gun </i>and <i>Saving
Private Ryan </i>drove military recruitment. Politics is downstream from
culture. The culture we support with our ticket-buying dollars is as important
as the candidates we support with our votes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">We get something from publicly watching
a movie together with our fellow citizens. <i>The Major and the Minor </i>is a
1942 screwball comedy. I'd watched it a couple of times at home, alone, on a
small TV screen before seeing it for the first time in a jam-packed, Greenwich
Village art house theater. In that crowd of rollicking laughter, I suddenly
realized what a very naughty movie <i>The Major and the Minor </i>is. Its
double entendres had flown right over my head. While watching <i>Gone with the
Wind</i>, a loud and spontaneous sigh erupted when the camera zoomed in on
Rhett Butler's handsome face (see <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L4-Y_nPqMM"><span style="color: windowtext;">here</span></a>).
Gathering in the ladies room after a movie like that is a genre of
psychotherapy. While washing your hands you ask complete strangers, "Do
you think Scarlett and Rhett ever got back together?" You comfort and
enlighten each other and the world is warmer, more connected, less lonely and
tense. Mel Gibson's <i>The Passion </i>depicts Christ's torture, crucifixion,
and death in grisly detail. Three Muslim guys took seats directly behind me.
They were joking sarcastically. Clearly, they were in the theater to mock.
After the film ended, I turned around to check on them. One was doubled over,
distraught. His companions were rubbing his back and speaking softly to him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The loss of public movie-going erodes
not just community, but also art. Ali's well is a famous, eight-minute scene in
<i>Lawrence of Arabia. </i>Most of what we see is a completely flat, lifeless,
tan desert landscape against a blue sky unbroken by any cloud. Two men draw
water from a desert well. A tiny dot appears on the horizon. Slowly we realize
that that dot is a man approaching on a camel. He shoots one of the men to
death. As we wait, and wait, and wait for the approaching man<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to arrive, we experience a fraction of the
desert: the emptiness, the boredom, the terror, the sudden and irrational
violence, the value system so very different from our own. That scene could
never move us in the same way on a small screen. And, when we are watching
alone on a small screen, we can fast forward through the parts we don't like,
like, say, the grim depictions of the Holocaust in <i>Schindler's List. </i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">My students, trained on media that
rushes and delivers jolts of violence and sex aimed at the lizard brain's
reward-squirting mechanisms, lack the ability to sit through a scene like Ali's
well. They also have trouble sitting through a complex lecture on current
events, or a long story of personal struggle told by a friend. Movies, like all
art, have the potential to train us to be our best selves. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Boys in the Boat, The Peasants, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">and <i>The Zone of Interest </i>are
three very different films, but they are all innovative, in different ways. <i>Peasants</i>
is so innovative another movie like it may never be made again. <i>Zone</i>
rewrote how the Holocaust will be treated in film, and how it will be
understood. <i>Boys </i>is rebellious, counter-cultural filmmaking in ways I'll
detail below. All three films have much to say about our current
politico-cultural landscape. Each addresses community. Each, given their visual
and auditory artistry and impact, should be seen in a theater.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a> <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Boys in the Boat </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">tells the previously obscure story of
the University of Washington rowing team's underdog victory at the 1936
Olympics in Berlin, Germany. This was the same Olympics at which Jesse Owens, a
black American, won four gold medals, as frustrated racist, Adolf Hitler,
glowered. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The film is based on the 2013 book by
Daniel James Brown. <i>New York Times </i>writer Timothy Egan said that Brown's
book, "is about who we used to be. And who we still could be. Like the
best history, its then-and-now wow factor is both embarrassing to the present
and inspiring to the future." Brown's book has almost 90,000 Amazon ratings,
averaging a 4.6 score out of a possible 5. The book was published nine years
ago and it is number 7 on Amazon's charts this week. A popular reader review
calls the book "thrilling, eye-opening, often heart-wrenching." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Boys </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">the movie was directed by George Clooney with a script by
Mark L. Smith, who also wrote <i>The Revenant. </i>The cast does not include
name-above-the-title stars, and that added to the film's verisimilitude for me.
I'd never seen lead actor Callum Turner before, and his anonymity contributed
to my totally believing him as Joe Rantz. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Within the first few minutes, I was
grateful to <i>Front Page </i>reader Mo de Profit for recommending this movie
to me<i>. </i>Movies do telegraph their worth in just the first few minutes.
Movies are made of light. You know this if you've ever tried to take a picture
of a meadow glowing with golden sun, your beloved pet, or a baby's smile, and
failed. The underexposed meadow looks like a dungeon, a shadow turns your baby's
nose into a trombone, and poodle Fido's eyes glow red like some fiend. If a
movie is getting light right, it might get other features right as well. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Boys </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">opens with sunlight on rippling water. A river flows
between two wooded banks; above, the tracery of flying insects sparkles in the
mist. The score by multiple-award-winning Alexandre Desplat is buoyant, sweetly
playful, matching the play on light on the sun-dappled stream. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">A boy is trying to manage a row boat. He
is overcome by the wake of a passing motorboat. An old man approaches. I swear
to deity, I started crying right then; I would go on to cry multiple times
throughout the film. I was reminded of the opening scene of <i>Saving Private
Ryan, </i>which begins, not with World War II combat, but with an old man, in 1998,
accompanied by younger relatives. I immediately got what director Clooney was
going to do with <i>Boys</i>. He was going to craft, as faithfully as he could,
an old-fashioned movie-movie, with a straightforward narrative of an admirable
but flawed hero who triumphs over hardship. And that, in Woke world, is
rebellion. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Clooney wasn't going to engage in the ambitious,
film class showmanship of Christopher Nolan's <i>Oppenheimer</i>. Clooney
wasn't going to give the old white man a black wife and an Asian grandson. He
wasn't going to include an obligatory scene where the male lead receives a
lecture from a superior black woman about his ancestors' presumed sins or has a
basic fact explained to him by a gender nonbinary waiter. Clooney, probably not
intentionally, was sticking his finger in the eye of Woke commandments. I sat
back to enjoy the ride. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">After the contemporary opening scene
between the young boy and the old man, <i>Boys </i>shuttles us back into the
past. We see the headlines on a faded newspaper. A hand lifts the newspaper,
folds it, and places it inside a decrepit leather boot in order to cover a hole
in its sole. Joe Rantz lives in the rotting carcass of an abandoned vehicle.
And he is not alone. He exits his "home" and enters a smoky shanty
town of similar impoverished "hoboes." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Joe looks like an Aryan god. He's tall
and strikingly blond. We associate his appearance with wealth and power. But he
is poor. Again, this is transgressive filmmaking. We are about to witness not a
story of "white privilege" but of white poverty, white work and
sacrifice, and white endurance. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Before you arrest me for the above thought
crimes, please have a look at my review of <i>The Woman King, </i><a href="https://www.frontpagemag.com/are-you-racist/"><span style="color: windowtext;">here</span></a>.
I loved looking at all the black heroine's athletic bodies onscreen. These
women were powerful and honorable. They worked hard and achieved high. Yes <i>The
Woman King</i> was historically inaccurate. I enjoyed it as a movie, not a
history lesson. I loved <i>Boys </i>at least partly because I loved seeing all
the white male bodies onscreen. Some critics felt differently, and hated the
sight of those white male bodies. More on that, below. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">We watch Joe in an engineering class,
where a pretty blonde, Joyce Simdars (Hadley Robinson), flirts with him. Joe is
stoic. Joe's friend Roger Morris (Sam Strike) gets him in trouble by talking
during class. Joe is, again, stoic. He goes to the cafeteria, counts his meager
change, and stoically leaves without eating. Joe meets with the bursar, who
warns him that he is in danger of being ejected from the University of
Washington because he has not paid tuition. Joe begs for more time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">After Joe leaves, we see agony on the
bursar's face. She's just doing her job, but it's hard. The camera's dwelling
on the bursar's face after the main character leaves is one of the details that
makes <i>Boys</i> so rich. It renders her character more complex. This is the
Depression. She's had to do this before. She hates it. Clooney cared enough
about this very minor character, the nameless bursar, to give her a redemptive
onscreen moment. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Roger approaches Joe with an idea. They
can try out for the school's rowing team. If they are accepted, they will have
access to food and a room. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"How many fellas get picked?"
Joe asks Roger. Roger asks another applicant. "Eight" he tells Roger.
Roger says to Joe, "He doesn't know." Roger doesn't want Joe to know
that these desperate boys' chances are terribly slim. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Crew Coach Al Ulbrickson, aka "The
Dour Dane," (Joel Edgerton) is unsmiling. Edgerton has told interviewers
that coaches always look unhappy, and during competitions, they look like they
are about to have a heart attack. They work very hard, but once their team is
in the game, they lose power and must surrender to fate. Studio executives
warned Clooney that Edgerton was not warm and fuzzy enough. Edgerton's
Ulbrickson reflects the values of a different time. This coach would never
award anyone with a participation trophy. <i>Boys </i>saves the warm and fuzzy
for the final scene. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Ulbrickson tells the assembled students
that most will not make it. "The average human body is just not meant for
such things," he says of the extraordinary demands of competitive rowing. "The
average adult man is carpetable of taking in roughly four liters of oxygen per
minute. An oarsman must be able to consume as much as eight. You will train
your bodies to do this," the trainees are told. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In his book, Brown reports that in
competitive rowing, "your body burns calories and consumes oxygen at a
rate that is unmatched in almost any other human endeavor … rowing a
two-thousand-meter race … takes the same physiological toll as playing two
basketball games back-to-back. And it exacts that toll in about six minutes …
the body must immediately produce anaerobic energy. This, in turn, produces
large quantities of lactic acid, and that acid rapidly builds up in the tissue
of the muscles. The consequence is that the muscles often begin to scream in
agony almost from the outset of a race and continue screaming until the very
end …<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pain is part and parcel of the
deal. It's not a question of whether you will hurt, or of how much you will
hurt; it's a question of what you will do, and how well you will do it, while
pain has her wanton way with you."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Washington recruits run, saw logs,
do sit-ups. After a day of that, Joe reports to a soup kitchen. He sees a
fellow recruit and leaves, without eating anything. Roger offers to buy him
dinner. Joe declines. He retreats to his abandoned vehicle, where, by the light
of a kerosene lantern, he reads an engineering textbook and glances at a giant
sore on his hand. He approaches Coach Ulbrickson, who at first says he is not
available for a one-on-one with a mere trainee. Joe persists, asking how much
he will be paid; he needs to pay tuition. Ulbrickson says he will not get any
money till he is accepted to the team. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"Ivy League coaches don't get asked
that," a reporter says to Ulbrickson. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">That he won't get paid yet is tough
news, but the respect is evident. Ulbrickson refers to his trainees as "son."
Trainees refer to Ulbrickson as "sir." There is not a single f-bomb
in <i>Boys</i>. When the team wins a significant victory, one says, "I
could get used to this," and another says, "Not bad, huh fellas?"
They are understated. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Ulbrickson is writing the names of those
who made the team onto a blackboard. As he writes the final name, we are eager
to know if Joe made it. But Ulbrickson's shoulder blocks our view of the
blackboard. I actually craned my neck to see the invisible name. Masterful
filmmaking. Of course Joe made it; the point is that Clooney made us care whether
Joe made it or not. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Joyce, the ebullient girl who has been
trying to get Joe's attention, is at a desk studying. She hears a pebble strike
her window. She sees Joe. They go for a moonlight rowing lesson. Though sitting
close, they do not kiss. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">We see Joe and Roger staring at
something that is pleasing them a great deal. We can't see what they are
staring and smiling at. The camera pans around as Joe and Roger move and we see
old-fashioned, indigo-and-white-striped "mattresses." These
mattresses are about as thick as a blanket and they are atop bare wire frames.
The room's walls are dirty cinder blocks. There are exposed pipes. Joe and
Roger are over-the-moon with joy. The mattress is too short for Joe but, as he
reclines, he smiles like the cat that ate the canary. To us, the room looks
like a prison cell in an impoverished country. Joe, though, rejoices at what
his hard work has won him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">After another grueling day of training,
when any normal person would rush to a hot meal and a warm bed, Joe sees a
light above the boat house. He investigates and finds a racing shell up on
wooden horses. George Pocock (Peter Guinness), an elderly man with a British
accent, enters. He is the boat's builder. He tells Joe he could always use some
help. Without hesitation, Joe takes a broom and begins to sweep wood shavings
from the floor. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"Your parents must be proud,"
George says. Joe merely snorts quietly but derisively. We in the audience have
not been told this directly, but from Joe's poverty and his derisive snort, we
conclude that Joe comes from a bad family background. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">A university administrator, with an
insincere smile, threatens Ulbrickson. If his team does not win something, and
soon, Ulbrickson will be let go. With the trainees, Ulbrickson was the one with
the power. This serpentine administrator has power over Ulbrickson. George, the
boat builder, quietly suggests that Ulbrickson change the coxswain. The
coxswain guides the team's speed, direction, and pace with oral commands
shouted through a tin cone attached to his mouth by an over-the-head wire.
Bobby Moch will be the new coxswain. He is ballsy, hungry, and willing to go
against Ulbrickson. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Washington team must compete against
better funded teams from more exclusive universities. Crew members from these
schools are "senator's sons," who are "in boats before they are
in shoes." Ulbrickson gives morose pep talks including "They are
legacy. You? Try not to make a mistake. Don't tip the boat over." Coxswain
Bobby is outraged and tells his crew to defy Ulbrickson's lack of faith. Yes, Washington
is an underdog. But under Bobby's wily strategies and demanding commands,
Washington defeats the University of California at Berkeley. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The crew celebrates. Impressed girls
invite crew members to "someplace quite so you can explain to me how
rowing works." "Someone wanted to do my algebra homework!"
another crew member says. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Don Hume rarely speaks, but he is the
team's "stroke seat," a key position. He is also an accomplished
pianist. He is sitting alone. Bobby tells Don that tonight is his night. It
will never come again. Don is too shy to make eye contact with a girl. But
Bobby does get him to play piano for the celebrants. Don plays, "Ain't We
Got Fun?" The partiers sing along. "Not much money, oh, but honey,
ain't we got fun? There's nothing surer, the rich get rich and the poor get
poorer … Even if we owe the grocer … tax collector's getting closer … Ain't we
got fun?" <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Joe and Joyce finally come close to
kissing but a chaperone intervenes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Joe recognizes, in the street, the
father who abandoned him. His poorly dressed father is delivering lumber. Joe
approaches. Joe reminds his father that he abandoned Joe when Joe was a just a
child. His father replies that he was a solider when he was 14. He offers Joe a
job delivering wood. "Or do you prefer your boat?" Joe's father
sneers. Joe feels depressed, confused, and humiliated. He malfunctions in the
boat and quits the team. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">George, the boat builder and sage, asks
Joe for help on a boat. They are rubbing whale oil into the hull. The boat has
to shine "till you can see your freckles reflected in the surface."
George counsels Joe. "You are not your father. You do not have to quit."
Joe begs Ulbrickson for his spot back. Ulbrickson explains, "It's not
about you. It's about the boat," meaning not just the craft, but the unity
that is required for victory. Looking unsure, Ulbrickson allows Joe to rejoin
the crew. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">A crew member calls Joe "hobo."
Joe grabs him. The other team members pull the combatants apart. The team
member who called Joe a hobo apologizes, and admits that he has shoplifted from
Woolworth's the clothes he is wearing. Joe shrugs and can't make eye contact. "Doesn't
matter," he mumbles. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The team wins a key match and, thereby,
qualifies to represent the US at the Olympics. But they can't go. There is no
money to send them. The Olympic committee will, after all, send a "legacy"
team of "senator's sons," a team fully funded for the trip. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Ulbrickson asks how much they need. "Five
thousand dollars," he is told. Ulbrickson's shocked face tells the story.
It's an impossible sum. Ulbrickson realizes he can harness the media to make
this story public. Average citizens will donate. When the money is due, they
are still three hundred dollars short. The Berkeley team coach shows up and
offers Ulbrickson that amount. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The team goes to Berlin. Hume, the
stroke seat, becomes ill. He competes anyway. The Germans cheat. The team is
given a bad, distant position and does not hear the start called. The team wins
anyway. And we return to the old man and the young boy. The boy says to the old
man, "Did you like rowing eight man crew, grandpa?" and Grandpa Joe
Rantz, slowed by time, replies. "We were never eight. We were one." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">By the time the credits rolled, my
handkerchief was completely damp. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I want to mention just a couple of the
scenes that were so beautiful that I really want you to see this movie on a big
screen. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The trainees are on the floor of the
boat house doing sit ups. The diagonal line of their bodies occupies the lower
right quadrant of the frame. Above them the sleek shells they will soon row are
stacked in a horizontal line. Across the right middle of the frame, a
horizontal line of another group of trainees exits the boat house. The upper
left quadrant of the frame is white light from the sun outside. It's a
composition worthy of a photography classic. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In another scene, the new trainees, now
graduated to full-fledged team members, carry their twelve-foot oars into the
doorway of the boat house for a group photo. This brief, beautiful shot is
choreographed like a ballet. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I totally forgot Edgerton the actor and
saw only Coach Ulbrickson. Callum Turner is superb as Joe Rantz. Luke Slattery
is dynamic, charismatic, and charming as Bobby Moch. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Director George Clooney's goal was to
create a film that followed the aesthetics and behaviors of the time of the
film's setting. His actors, after winning a race, high-fived each other. No,
no, no, Clooney instructed his cast. High fiving had not been invented yet.
When Joe and Joyce finally kiss, an hour into the film, Clooney directed them
in an "old movie" style of kissing. No visible tongue. Joe and Joyce
kiss goodbye before Joe leaves for a competition. They are in a station, next
to a mint-condition, vintage train engine. I immediately thought of Judy
Garland and Robert Walker in the poignant 1945 movie, <i>The Clock. <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Back in the day people didn't chatter on
and on about their psychological state – not in movies, and not in real life.
They coped. Clooney recommended films to Turner. Turner told <a href="https://ca.news.yahoo.com/boys-boat-actors-describe-working-154714292.html"><i><span style="color: windowtext;">HuffPost</span></i></a>, "Gary Cooper in <i>High
Noon</i> and <i>Mr. Deeds</i>, watching movies like that. Spencer Tracy and
tapping into Woody Guthrie."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I thought for sure that Rantz was a
composite character, meant to represent Depression hardships. In fact, Joe
Rantz was a real guy. The film is telling a true story about real people. Rantz
did look like an Aryan god. Rantz was temporarily abandoned by his father when
he was ten, and, permanently, when he was fourteen. Joe came home one day and
found his father, his stepmother, and their children packed into a car with an
oval rear window. As they drove away, leaving Joe behind, Joe could see his
younger sibling through that oval rear window asking, "But what about Joe?"
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">All Joe could remember of his mother,
who died when he was four, was the handkerchiefs she stained with blood as she
succumbed to cancer. At times, he had to forage for food in the forest. Rantz
earned a chemical engineering degree and worked for Boeing for thirty-five
years. He remained lifelong friends with his fellow rowers. Joyce Simdars
really was pretty as a picture and she and Joe were married for 63 years. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Don Hume had worked, as a youth, in pulp
mills. This work damaged his lungs. He became ill with a respiratory problem in
Berlin and lost 12 pounds. The <i>New York Times </i>says Hume was "ill
and nearly unconscious" during the race. He rowed in spite of this.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Brown told Amy Wilder of the <a href="https://www.columbiatribune.com/story/entertainment/arts/2014/09/28/dogged-research-informed-imagining-help/21719116007/"><i><span style="color: windowtext;">Columbia Daily Tribune</span></i></a>, "These
were really wonderful guys, the kinds of guys you'd want your daughter or your
sister to marry. They were humble, good-hearted, earnest, hardworking kids."
And, as a group, they became greater than any one of them apart from the
others. Brown met Rantz shortly before Rantz succumbed to heart failure at age
93. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"When Joe first mentioned 'the boat'
to me, I didn't understand what he meant. But he quickly made clear that it
meant what all of them had done and what all of them had become together. It
was a term he used for the single entity that rowed for a gold medal in Berlin
… These guys were incredibly bonded together … Crew is a sport that is all
about mutual trust and close cooperation."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Brown continues. "I get emails all
the time from readers, and certain things come up over and over … people on
both sides of our political spectrum … say basically, 'If only people on the
other side would read this book, the world would be a much better place.' … if
there is something in the message that appeals so much to both sides and tends
to bring us together, then I'm all for it."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Filmmaker George Clooney was conscious
of the story's power to inspire people. In a director's cut interview, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-boys-in-the-boat-with-george-clooney-and-john-watts-ep-463/id1067471691?i=1000639660541"><span style="color: windowtext;">Clooney said</span></a>, "I think we've all been
worked over the last few years … We've all felt like people have been separated
into one side or another and gotten angrier and angrier and angrier … When I
read the book, I was really inspired by the idea – we can't do this without one
another. We can't get through it without one another. That's the feeling you
get by these kids who were torn by the Depression, and forced together, and
somehow ended up being George, John, Paul and Ringo."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Luke Slattery, who was so compelling as
Bobby Moch, told the <a href="https://denvergazette.com/arts-entertainment/denver-actor-luke-slattery-is-on-a-rocket-without-a-paddle-john-moore/article_f3dc90d8-b7dc-11ee-ad57-472cc2349c07.html"><i><span style="color: windowtext;">Denver Gazette</span></i></a><i>, </i>"The sport
of rowing itself [is] a metaphor: You can only row well when you pull together.
I don't want to sound naive when I say this, but there were moments in our
history where differences were put aside and we pulled together for a common
goal … I'm just proud to be a part of something that tries to uplift. This
movie has this pure-hearted impulse to give people the belief in themselves
that they can overcome tremendous adversity. It's rocket fuel for perseverance."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Callum Turner told <a href="https://ca.news.yahoo.com/boys-boat-actors-describe-working-154714292.html"><i><span style="color: windowtext;">HuffPost</span></i></a> that, just like the original
"boys in the boat," the actors playing them also discovered how hard
work toward a common goal can transform men. "You know what's crazy,
without sounding too sentimental – it's impossible not to – I created a bond
with these guys that's going to live with me forever … We rowed together, we
ate together, we went out together, we watched movies together … And we were
all pulling in the same direction to try to achieve something that was
seemingly out of reach … We set the target of reaching 46 strokes per minute,
which is what the guys did in the last race to win the gold. We all moved at
different paces, the process was up and down … We got to 46 and we were
shocked. There was … this euphoric feeling that we'd set out five months ago to
achieve something … we were all so proud of ourselves …<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm just so proud of those guys. I'm proud to
be friends with them."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">How did our Woke overlords respond? Many
professional and amateur reviewers and commentators condemn <i>The Boys in the
Boat </i>as "stoic," "old-fashioned," "traditional,"
and "boring." Professional reviewers at <i>Rotten Tomatoes </i>give
it a low score of 58%. The <i>Rotten Tomatoes </i>audience score, on the other
hand, is 97%. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Woke condemn <i>Boys in the Boat </i>as
sexist and racist. Siddhant Adlakha at <i>Mashable </i>condemns the film's
whiteness. "The Nazi swastika represents nothing for the movie's white
characters." In fact Bobby Moch was Jewish. Don Hume and George Hunt
served during World War II. The film's white characters, according to Adlakha,
are "fighting for" "little." Because they are white, doncha
know. White people never struggle. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The <i>Lainey Gossip </i>website calls <i>Boys</i>
"a mawkish sports story … a weird 'don't forget the white dads did a
thing, too!' plea." Joe's poverty is "comical." Depiction of Joe's
poverty is "pornography." "This film knows it has a race problem
yet has no interest in meaningfully addressing it!" Rather, it's a film
about "white men" "rowing their little boats." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Newsweek </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">reported that merely the release of the
film's trailer "caused quite a stir online, with many criticizing its
apparent lack of diversity." <i>Newsweek </i>quoted comments like "Toxic
masculinity and no diversity. This just won't do!" and "Wow. That
white pasty skin out in the sun is hard on the eyes," and "White
people working together toward a common goal can accomplish anything. No
diversity required." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The <i>Next Best Picture </i>website
reports, "The submissive role of the film's female characters and no
substantive characters of color … are still startling to see in a film in 2023."
<i>Fish Jelly Reviews </i>condemns every aspect of the film, including Desplat's
musical score. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>The Boys in the Boat </i>is
for grandparents because it is "incredibly boring." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Now you understand that in telling,
through beautifully crafted images, a straight line narrative that focuses on a
compelling character who achieves in spite of impossible odds, <i>The Boys in
the Boat </i>is the most transgressive, revolutionary film of 2023. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">There's an ironic coda to our Woke overlords'
objections to<i> Boys </i>as too white, too male, and too inspirational. I had
never heard of "the boys in the boat" who won gold at the Berlin
Olympics. Until Brown's book came out in 2013, their story remained obscure.
When asked why, Brown told an interviewer that Jesse Owens' story overshadowed
others' accomplishments. Owens was "the fastest man in the world,"
"the greatest and most famous athlete in track and field history." As
the <i>New York Times </i>reported in its 1980 obituary, "A member of what
the Nazis mockingly called America's 'black auxiliaries,' Mr. Owens achieved a
feat unmatched in modern times." Americans were too busy paying attention
to the achievements of a black man in 1936, so they overlooked the achievement
of eight white men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Peasants </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">is the single most beautiful movie I
have ever seen. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amHCTTvWP4o&list=PLNPu5y66HOdC6h1Y-jRsOnlEw9O2cGo33"><span style="color: windowtext;">The soundtrack by Lukasz Rostkowski</span></a> is an hypnotic,
kickass, chthonic orgy of agony and ecstasy emerging like a geyser from the
Polish earth. <i>The Peasants</i> is the most Polish movie I have ever seen. In
being so very, very Polish, it ends up being utterly universal. Viewers around
the world can see themselves and the negotiations they must navigate to get
through the day. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Peasants</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"> is animated. First, live actors in real
sets performed the story. Then, those images, frame by frame, were turned into
oil paintings by over a hundred painters in Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, and
Serbia. The process is so difficult that another film like <i>The Peasants </i>may
never be made again. <i>The Peasants, </i>in spite of its great beauty, is as
grim as the grave. But, like life itself, <i>The Peasants </i>provides one hell
of a trip before the final destination. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Wladyslaw Reymont (1867 – 1925) was born
into an impoverished noble family. Beginning in 1904, he published his
four-volume, ethnographic novel<i> </i>detailing the lives of Polish peasants.
In 1924, Reymont was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Directors DK and Hugh Welchman followed
up their 2017 animated film, <i>Loving Vincent, </i>with an animated <i>Peasants.
</i>The film's plot is simple and timeless. In this small village, under
Russian colonial domination, peasants are completely interdependent. They need
each other for day-to-day survival. They sow, harvest, and celebrate together. A
wagon gets stuck in the mud; neighbors must arrive to push it out. The cabbage
harvest is good; everyone celebrates while gathering together to process it for
kraut. One person's business is everybody's business. Any coloring outside of
the lines is quickly quashed. One can cause trouble simply by being too
beautiful. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Teenage Jagna (Kamila Urzedowska) is too
beautiful. And not just that. She spends hours creating <i>wycinanki</i>,
elaborate paper cutouts. She uses primitive sheep shears to create delicate
images of flying birds. She holds these up to the sky and moves them to and
fro, as if giving them flight. The villagers assess Jagna's obsession with
creating pretty things as contrary to their work-oriented values. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Boryna (Miroslaw Baka), the wealthiest
peasant, is an old widower. He claims the best of everything in the village
already, so of course teen Jagna will be his property. Everyone in the village
wants to see Jagna's wings clipped. Her beauty is too provocative. Jagna is
forced to marry Boryna. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Antek, Boryna's son, also wants Jagna.
The competition between Boryna and Antek is a literal tug of war, with each man
grabbing her and pulling her close, as the village gossips. Soon every man in
town is bragging, falsely, that he has had sex with Jagna. This braggadocio, no
matter how false, upsets mothers and wives. Someone needs to be lynched, and
someone is. It's a sickening scene. It reminded me of actual stoning videos one
can see on the internet. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">After we left the theater, my
movie-going companion, a man, asked, "Was the point of this movie that men
are pigs?" Indeed, the women in the film say that, "Men are pigs who
stick their snouts in any trough." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I responded, "Did you see the women
in that movie?" These village women are drama-obsessed gossips and
troublemakers. They kill with their tongues and through shunning. They use even
folksong lyrics to lacerate their targets. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">My friend then asked, "Doesn't this
movie support every negative stereotypes of Poles that you worked against in
your book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bieganski-Stereotype-Polish-Jewish-Relations-American/dp/1936235153"><i><span style="color: windowtext;">Bieganski</span></i></a><i>?</i> These Poles drink
vodka, fight, and have sex. They work like oxen." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">No, I explained. It's all about
pronouns. When people stereotype Poles, the operative pronoun is
"they." They get drunk, they bicker, they are like animals. In <i>The
Peasants, </i>the operative pronoun is "we." The magic of art is that
viewers see themselves and their world in the sometimes vicious, sometimes
loving, sometimes beautiful, sometimes hideously ugly village of <i>The
Peasants. </i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Boys in the Boat, The Peasants, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">and <i>The Zone of Interest </i>are all
about communal life. In <i>The Peasants, </i>community is like Kali Durga, the
Indian goddess. Community gives life; community destroys; in a cycle as never-ending
as the seasons themselves, as planting and harvest. <i>The Peasants </i>is a
closed system. There is no escape. If you want to survive, you have to play the
village's game, or die. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In <i>The Zone of Interest </i>–
reviewed <a href="https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-zone-of-interest-2023/"><span style="color: windowtext;">here</span></a> – Auschwitz Commandant Hoess and his
wife Hedwig are, they believe, members of the Master Race. As such, they have
no responsibility for the million plus human beings whose murder Hoess supervised
just over the wall of his lovely garden. Hoess' Nazi community is perhaps the
most evil humanity has ever created. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Boys in the Boat </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">are beneficiaries of a community we
should all keep alive. In this community, you face hardships but you don't
complain; you do your best under the circumstances life handed you. You work
hard. You deal with pain. You support your teammates. This community is so
threatening to Woke that cultural arbiters must denounce <i>The Boys in the
Boat. </i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Each of these films would be reduced to
a joke had they adopted color-blind casting. In February, 2024, Google's image
generator, Gemini, created controversy. Users asked for an image of Marie
Curie, a Polish, woman scientist, and Gemini responded with an image of a black
Muslim man. Asked for an image of a Gestapo officer, Gemini responded with an
image of a black Nazi. Had these films<i> </i>presented us with a black Joe
Rantz, a black Auschwitz commandant, or a black Polish peasant, the films would
be laughing stocks or worse. Color blind casting works with some stories, but
in others it simply can't, and we shouldn't demand it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Danusha Goska is the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/God-Through-Binoculars-Hitchhiker-Monastery/dp/1947067613"><span style="color: windowtext;">God Through Binoculars: A Hitchhiker at a Monastery</span></a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></u></p><br /><p></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-8244816426543253182024-02-15T10:12:00.004-05:002024-02-15T18:49:49.948-05:00The Zone of Interest: Movie Review <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYzFYeVzPaVpqqF8ppVBe5Ha5IR6NQ3jPvoy7mXFfPXxal2J-zzbaDsMSPtPJo6eHbU3-m0IfFgTg0_vzyjtScqhFqHlXfZdCKjPO1CguPJj2WjEwjIeP_g6RXfASrtsHG0d7VXa5eYBorcFbJxijC2bYiUNngqjxxK4DP9VdJ0K39hTyoYvrBcsobGjAa/s384/The_Zone_of_Interest_film_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="259" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYzFYeVzPaVpqqF8ppVBe5Ha5IR6NQ3jPvoy7mXFfPXxal2J-zzbaDsMSPtPJo6eHbU3-m0IfFgTg0_vzyjtScqhFqHlXfZdCKjPO1CguPJj2WjEwjIeP_g6RXfASrtsHG0d7VXa5eYBorcFbJxijC2bYiUNngqjxxK4DP9VdJ0K39hTyoYvrBcsobGjAa/w432-h640/The_Zone_of_Interest_film_poster.jpg" width="432" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Zone of
Interest </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">2023<br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A Masterpiece from a TV Commercial
Director</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Friend, please do something for me. Put
this article aside and find the nearest theater showing <i>The Zone of
Interest. </i>Walk into the theater knowing as little as possible about it. Then
return to this article so we can exchange notes. I need to talk about this
movie with others.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Zone of Interest </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">is going to generate a great deal of
talk. There will be debates and podcasts. There will be university courses and
peer-reviewed scholarly articles. There will be a backlash industry
pooh-poohing every accolade the film receives. If you wait too long, your
chance to have your own experience of the film may slip out of your hands. You
may feel, "<i>The Zone of Interest </i>is its own industry. Seeing it
would be too much like homework. I'd prefer the latest superhero movie."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">You may be thinking, "Another
Holocaust film. They're just are fishing for an Academy Award! Why can't we
have movies about other atrocities? And I don't like watching people being
tortured." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">First, there is no torture, and almost
no violence, in this movie. I cry at movies and I didn't cry while watching <i>Zone.
</i>Days later, while merely thinking about it, I cried. I had nightmares. Even
in my nightmares, there was no blood. There were merely well-groomed, clean
people behaving in accord with their value system, their character, and their
mental defenses. And we need Holocaust movies because the Holocaust was a big
deal. And we can have movies about other atrocities, too, like <i>Twelve Years
a Slave </i>and <i>Killers of the Flower Moon. </i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Zone </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">is universal and timeless, like W. H. Auden's poem "Shield
of Achilles," which uses Jesus' crucifixion and Achilles' shield to
discuss twentieth-century atrocity. Both Auden's poem and <i>Zone</i> say as
much about slavery or the Cambodian Killing Fields or the Gulag as films
directly addressing those topics. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I recommend <i>Zone </i>to every
thinking adult<i>. </i>I say "thinking" because a subset of viewers
are not getting this movie. There are some negative fan reviews online. These
say that the film is "boring." "Nothing happens," they
complain. "There is no plot." Bless their hearts. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Thinking adults are capable of
observing. "To observe" implies an increase in cognitive activity
from "to watch." If you know how to observe, you will get <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Zone. </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron, winner of four
Academy Awards, said, that <i>Zone </i>is "probably the most important
film of this century, both from the standpoint of his cinematic approach and
the complexity of its theme." And if you are thinking, "Oh, this
movie sounds too artsy-fartsy. I like more direct fare," don't let that
stop you. Glazer got his start in that most democratic of forms, the TV
commercial, where he depicted drinking a Guiness beer as tantamount to being a white
stallion emerging from ocean surf. Glazer knows how to create images that
penetrate to your lizard brain. He wields that magic here, not to sell beer,
but to bring you closer to yourself, your own lowest fears and highest prayers.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In the article, below, I will summarize
the plot, and then discuss the filmmaker, his approach, and the history he
addresses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a> <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Zone of Interest </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">A Summary<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Note: this summary will provide some
background information that is not provided in the film itself. For example, I
indicate the name and identity of a girl who distributes fruit at night. That
information is not in the film. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Zone </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">opens with eerie, powerful sounds, that sounded to this
listener like stylized trains, breathing, and distorted, distant choruses of
keening humans. The film's title, in a minimalist, white, sans-serif font on a
black background appears, and then fades so slowly I wasn't sure if it were
fading or not. The screen is black for minutes. The sound remains. The movie is
teaching us how to understand it. The movie is cluing us in that we must
listen, and not just see. We unconsciously obey. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Birds sing. A small party picnics on the
shores of a sparkling body of water. The image is crisp and bright; we almost
squint from the sun. We can make out individual blades of grass on one side of
the water; and individual trees on the opposite shore. We would love to plunge
into this scene. It offers pure pleasure: family, sun, nature, peace. The group
rises. Beautiful girls carry baskets through lush undergrowth to gather
berries. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">They drive home through the night. Kids
in the car say things that kids say in cars. They arrive at a large house. We
hear dogs barking. We associate the bark of a dog with domesticity, with loyal
and slobbering Fido protecting his humans from a passing racoon. But no. There
is something sinister and threatening in these barks. There is the muffled
sound of screams. How far away are those screams? It's hard to calibrate. There
is a subdued industrial roar. The husband and wife retire in their separate
beds. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The next day, the paterfamilias is
blindfolded. His children guide him by hand. They lead him to a canoe. It is
their birthday present. The paint is still wet and were he to sit in it, he'd
stain his lovely uniform. He asks about the canoe's provenance. I have my
sources, the wife assures him; it is handmade. We can guess at the sources; we
can guess at the hands; we can guess at the problem of staining. Dad is wearing
a Nazi uniform. Beyond this happy, domestic scene, beyond a wall, rise ominous
towers, and barbed wire. Dad is Rudolf Hoess, mom is his wife Hedwig. Rudolf
departs on horseback for his workday. The kids say their "Seig heils"
and head to school. Hedwig, holding her baby, strolls around her extensive
garden, and murmurs the names of flowers to the child. A hyperactive black
Weimaraner accompanies the family. A servant hangs pristine white sheets on a
clothesline. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Rudolf Hoess was the longest-serving commandant
of Auschwitz. He and his family did live in a villa that shared a wall with the
concentration camp where an estimated 1.1 million human beings were murdered. The
Hoess villa was quite close to the gas chambers and the crematoria, as maps <a href="https://war-documentary.info/objects-around-aushwitz/">here</a> show. Filmmaker
Jonathan Glazer's meticulous depiction of the Hoess' time in Auschwitz is
supported by extensive research. One can find archival photos of Hoess and his
children canoeing in a craft very like that in the film, for example. In the
film, Hoess identifies a bird; in real life, Auschwitz had a designed
ornithologist, Waffen-SS member Günther Niethammer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">A zombie-like workman in shabby clothes
pushes a wheelbarrow full of packages toward the Hoess villa. In a manner that
appears as if this transaction is routine, the man hands paper-wrapped packages
of foodstuffs to a cook. Finally, he hands over a large burlap bag. Hedwig
calls a group of female servants into the dining room and lays out silk
lingerie. "Take just one each." The women, with downcast eyes and
expression-less faces, pick over the lingerie. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Upstairs in her bedroom, before a
mirror, Hedwig poses with the contents of the burlap bag – a lush mink coat. Hedwig
fingers the coat's hem. She reaches into the coat's pockets and finds a
lipstick. She sits at a vanity. Will Hedwig actually touch the lipstick of a
murdered Jew to her pure Aryan lips, we wonder? Hedwig arrives, step-by-step,
at that violation. That violation of Nazi purity laws. That violation of
hygiene. That violation of simple human decency. Hedwig sniffs the lipstick.
She samples the color of the lipstick on her hand. She touches the lipstick
with her fingertips and transports color to her lips. Finally, she rubs the
used lipstick to her lips.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">She hands the coat to her servant Aniela
Bednarska and demands that it be cleaned. Be careful of the lining, Hedwig
warns. Doomed Jews sometimes hid valuables in the hems of coats; that is
probably why Hedwig was manipulating the hem and detached the coat's lining. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Hedwig lunches with Nazi wives. They
gossip about "shopping" at "Canada." The film does not
pause to explain what "Canada" is. Canada was Auschwitz slang for a
warehouse of goods stolen from prisoners. One Nazi wife mentions that someone
found a diamond in a toothpaste tube. "They are very clever." "I
must ask for more toothpaste." Another joke: a fat Nazi fell in love with
a dress but it was too small for her and the zipper broke. "I will lose
weight for this dress." Laughter. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">A woman mentions that "Helga
Palitsch's husband only adopted that little Polish boy to keep her at home.
That's what she told me. And he bashes her around as well." This comment
is never explained. It reminded this viewer of an episode in Fania Fenelon's
memoir, <i>Playing for Time. </i>A transport of Polish mothers and children,
destined for immediate gassing, arrived. A Polish toddler wandered up to SS-Helferin
Maria Mandl and outstretched his arms. Mandl lifted up the boy and was
attracted to his beauty. She dressed him sailor suits from Canada, played
mother-and-child games with him for days, danced with him, and eventually personally
delivered him into the same gas chamber that had previously killed his Polish
mother. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Outside, Rudolf arrives for a meeting
with two salesmen. A male servant rushes to take Rudolf's boots to an outdoor
faucet where the water runs red with blood. The salesmen wonder if they must
also remove their shoes. No, they are told. Inside Aniela prepares a glass of schnapps
on a silver tray. Her movements are very precise and her posture is cringing.
It's clear that she fears if she spills one drop she will be killed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The recently arrived salesmen are <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/nuremberg-trial-testimony-of-engineer-fritz-sander-on-crematorium-design">Fritz
Sander</a> and <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/nuremberg-trial-testimony-of-engineer-kurt-prufer-on-crematorium-design">Kurt
Prufer</a>. They represent J. A. Topf and Sons, a company founded in 1878 that
was the largest supplier of crematoria for concentration camps. They explain to
Rudolf a new crematorium design. With this new design, even more humans can be
incinerated in even less time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In his Nuremberg testimony, Prufer would
later state, matter of factly, "I have known since spring 1943 that
innocent human beings were being liquidated in Auschwitz gas chambers and that
their corpses were subsequently incinerated in the crematoriums." Sander
would testify that "destruction of human beings" was his "duty"
to Germany. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Hoess sons, Klaus and Hans, come
home from school and play with toy soldiers. Rudolf and Klaus ride on horseback.
The 24-7 drone of mass death is the soundtrack to their leisurely ride. Rudolf
asks his son, "Do you hear that?" We, the audience, distinctly hear
thousands of people being murdered. Rudolf says he hears a bittern, a marshland
bird with an unusual call. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In the evening, Rudolf enjoys his
birthday cake and candles with his family. Annegret, the baby, is crying
loudly. Rudolf makes a wish and blows out the candles.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Outside, Rudolf is seen through the
irons bars of the gate around the garden. He smokes a cigar that glows red in
the night. He is looking toward the concentration camp. Then he walks around
his yard. There is a shower fixture over his swimming pool. It appears to be
leaking. He tinkers with the pull chain. He enters his house and marches about,
methodically turning off all the lights, and locking doors. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">We in the audience are reeling. Rudolf's
glowing cigar parallels the crematoria. His pool's malfunctioning showerhead
reminds us of gas chambers. Is Rudolf blindfolded when he gets his present, is
Rudolf locking his doors and turning out lights a metaphor? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Upstairs, the oldest Hoess son, Klaus,
is in his top bunk bed examining, with his flashlight, gold teeth. His little
brother, Hans, emerges from the lower bunk and asks to see. Klaus displays his
toys. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The following scenes are shot with an
infrared camera. It is night. Aleksandra Bystron-Kolodziejczyk, a Polish girl
on a bicycle, is carrying a sack. She approaches an area where camp inmates
have left work tools. She leaves apples. The infrared camera renders the night
scene black and white. The face of the girl glows white against the dark
background of the camp and of arriving trains. Black and white may be a
metaphor for the morality here. Aleksandra literally glows white against
darkness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Rudolf and Hedwig face each other as
they lie in their beds. Hedwig asks Rudolf to taker her back to an Italian spa
they had once visited. "All that pampering," she says, wistfully.
Rudolf is distracted. He promises but immediately forgets what he has promised.
Hedwig requests chocolate from Canada. Rudolf mocks Hedwig's laughter as
pig-like. She oinks; he oinks. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">We hear the sounds of arriving, doomed victims.
All we see is Rudolf on horseback and smoke whirling around him. The screen
fades to white. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Rudolf is at a desk counting out piles
of several different international currencies. We hear a letter of
recommendation written for Rudolf. Apparently his superiors plan to transfer
him. He does not want to be transferred; he wants to stay in Auschwitz. A
friend is recommending him via this letter read in voice-over. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Rudolf and the children canoe. Rudolf
teaches his kids about stork migration. The kids splash in the river. As Rudolf
fishes, a gray plume approaches behind him. He registers surprise, and reaches
down into the river. He pulls up part of a human skull. The plume reaches him;
it is dumped ash from the crematoria. Panicked, Rudolf rushes to gather up his
children. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In the villa, servants are scrubbing the
children. Rudolf flushes ash out of his nose. Aniela must next scrub the tub in
which the children have bathed. She pauses before doing so; the audience
imagines her disgust. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Linna, Hedwig's mother, arrives. She
mentions Siemens, a large company that runs a slave labor factory in Auschwitz.
There were many such companies that collaborated with Nazism; you can see a
partial list <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_involved_in_the_Holocaust">here</a>.
Rudolf is dictating a note to his officers to treat lilac bushes with care. When
picking flowers, Rudolf instructs, pick them carefully so that the bush is not
damaged. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Hedwig gives Linna a tour of her garden.
Linna wonders if Esther Silberman, for whom she used to clean house, is on the
other side of the wall abutting the garden. Linna mentions that she was outbid
for Esther's curtains. Esther used to host "book readings." What were
those about? Hedwig and Linna decide that Esther's "book readings"
were "Bolshevik stuff. Jewish stuff." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Hedwig points to her kohlrabi and
mentions how much her kids love it. "Rudolf calls me the Queen of
Auschwitz," she brags. Linna shows pride in her daughter. We in the
audience hear screams from over the wall. The camera focuses on flowers, ending
on a red dahlia; the screen turns entirely red. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Lovely young girls read from the Hoess
villa guest book. "The heartfelt time we spent in the Hoess house will
always be among our most beautiful holiday memories. In the east lies our
tomorrow! Thanks for your National Socialist hospitality!" <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Rudolf is dressed all in white. There is
a lawn party. Rudolf informs Hedwig that he is being transferred. Hedwig, furious,
refuses to leave. Approach higher ups, she badgers Rudolf. Tell them that we
followed Hitler's plan to colonize the east, she says. They'll have to drag me
out of here, she insists. She demands to be allowed to stay in her "paradise."
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rudolf, sad to be parting from his wife,
but resigned to her insistence, agrees. He informs the children at dinner that
they will be separated, but, "The life we enjoy is very much worth the
sacrifice." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Linna rises in the night and looks out
the window at the glow of the crematoria. She appears distressed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Elfryda, a German nanny, is in the attic
getting drunk, as Annegret, the baby in her care, wails, as she did at her
father's birthday party. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Rudolf is in the stables, informing his
horse that he has been transferred and will be leaving her, the horse. He
strokes the horse and talks to her, telling her that he understands how hard
his absence will be on her, and how much he loves her. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Rudolf is in his office, conducting a
business call. He tells his interlocutor that a new transport will arrive
tomorrow. "Tell him they're Dutch and he can have his pick." We don't
know if "he can have his pick" of sex slaves or slave laborers. We
know the Dutch are more desirable than Poles or Jews because they are more Germanic.
In fact the man to whom Rudolf refers is Walther Durrfeld, an I. G. Farben
engineer who used Auschwitz slave labor. "Heil Hitler etc," Rudolf signs
off. A woman arrives and begins to disrobe; he goes to her. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Rudolf is making his way through a
tunnel. He arrives at an underground sink. After his contact with the woman,
who was possibly a prisoner, possibly Jewish or Polish, and therefore
sub-human, Rudolf scrubs his genitals. Rudolf arrives back in his home and
discovers that his daughter Inge-Brigit has been sleepwalking, as is her habit.
He lifts her up gently. She murmurs that her father feels "Sweaty." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"Shh," he says. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">It is night. Again, we see Aleksandra through
the lens of an infrared camera. She is distributing pears in a site where
Auschwitz prisoners might find them. As we see this, we hear Rudolf's voice
reading a bedtime story, Hansel and Gretel, to Inge-Brigit. "Be warned,"
he says. There is a sign behind Aleksandra warning that she is on the territory
of Auschwitz and trespassers will be shot on sight. "Gretel understood
what the witch hand in mind," we hear Rudolf, in the voiceover to
Aleksandra's action. As Rudolf reads about the witch's shovel, Aleksandra
leaves pears near prisoners' shovels. "The witch got cooked alive as a
punishment for her horrible deeds." Rudolf voices a little bird from the
story. "Pearls and gems for bread crumbs." Aleksandra, in the act of
leaving pears for the prisoners, discovers a tin buried in the earth.
Aleksandra takes this tin; she places a pear in its place. She leaves the
worksite. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">While bicycling home, she comes across
SS men and a pig. She hides. They leave; she continues on her way. Wanda, her
mother, welcomes her home. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In a voiceover, we hear Joseph Wulf, an Auschwitz
prisoner. The tin Aleksandra found was left by Wulf. It contains musical
notation and lyrics for his song, "Sunshine." We hear Wulf's actual
voice reading out the lyrics he wrote. "Radiant and warm / human bodies / young
and old / and we / who are imprisoned here / our hearts / are not yet cold."
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">We now see Aleksandra playing Wulf's
song on a piano. "Soul afire / like the blazing sun / tearing. Breaking
through their pain / For soon we'll see / that waving flag / the flag of
freedom / yet to come." You can read more about Wulf <a href="https://forward.com/culture/film-tv/573996/zone-of-interest-jonathan-glazer-song-joseph-wulf/">here</a>.
You can hear Wulf sing "Sunshine" <a href="https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn671467">here</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In the morning, at the Hoess house, the
bedroom where Linna had been staying is empty. We assume that Linna left in the
night, after watching flames and smoke rise from the crematoria. Linna left a
note. Hedwig, annoyed, reads the note silently, then burns it. We never learn
what Linna said before she left. We assume that Linna agreed with Nazism up to
a point, but once she confronted the flames and smoke from the crematoria out
her granddaughters' bedroom window, she couldn't take any more. Or maybe not. We
don't know for sure. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Aniela, not knowing that Linna has left,
prepares the breakfast table for two. Hedwig sits alone at that table. Hedwig
gestures to the place setting for the absent Linna. "Is that there to
spite me?" she snarls. "I could have my husband spread your ashes
across the fields of Babice," Hedwig warns Aniela. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Elfryda, the German nanny, is in the
garden with the children. She is teaching them about flowers. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">German Kapo Karl Bohner, a tall and
strapping man, is working near the greenhouse. Hedwig is in the greenhouse. Karl
enters. Hedwig wordlessly offers him a cigarette. He accepts it and is about to
leave the greenhouse. She gestures for him to stay. We understand that they
will have a sexual encounter. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Hans, the youngest Hoess son, is on his
bedroom floor playing with toy soldiers. He hears his father outside ordering
that a man caught fighting over an apple be drowned. "Don't do that again!"
Hans whispers. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">A prisoner working in the Hoess garden
scatters human ashes as fertilizer. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Rudolf is now at his new post, the town
of Oranienburg. Oranienburg was the site of one of Nazi Germany's first
concentration camps, opened in March, 1933. Rudolf is attending an outdoor
concert. One of the audience members is a German soldier with a badly
disfigured face. A woman walks a schnauzer; Rudolf bends over to pet the dog
and chat with the woman. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In a packed but orderly conference room,
concentration camp commandants meet around a long table. Rudolf presents each
with a folder outlining his talk. Oswald Pohl, head administrator of
concentration camps, outlines the plan to murder all of Hungary's 700,000 Jews,
at the rate of 12,000 daily. Rudolf then addresses the meeting, drawing
attention to the file folders he has placed before each attendee. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">It is winter at the Hoess villa. Klaus
locks Hans in the greenhouse, and sits outside, making a hissing sound,
reminiscent of escaping gas. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Rudolf meets with his superior, SS
Gruppenführer Richard Glucks in Glucks' office. Rudolf stands at attention
before Glucks. Glucks asks Rudolf a series of questions and Rudolf answers with
clipped one-word replies. "How are you?" "Good." Glucks
mentions various aspects of concentration camp operation. To each comment,
Rudolf responds with "Okay," "Okay," and "Perfect."
He is the obedient unquestioning Nazi. Glucks tells Rudolf he is to be assigned
back to Auschwitz, which is of course what he wants. Rudolf reveals no emotion.
He accepts his orders dispassionately. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Rudolf is on an examination table. A
doctor is palpating his abdomen and asking him how often he moves his bowels
and urinates. We can guess that Rudolf has had some stomach complaints. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Rudolf phones Hedwig and reveals his
emotions about being placed in charge of the mass murder of Hungary's Jews. "I'm
as pleased as punch." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Hedwig tells him to tell Eleanor Pohl
where to find valuables she, Hedwig, has hidden in a package she sent her. Rudolf
attends a party where guests wear evening gowns and fur coats. The ballroom features
a high ceiling and elaborate gilded ornamentation. As Rudolf, on a balcony,
gazes at the party below, the voiceover is his phone conversation with Hedwig. "They're
calling it Operation Hoess," he says with delight. The mass murder of
Hungary's Jews is named after him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"That's fantastic. I'm so happy for
you," Hedwig says. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Rudolf responds that it would be very
difficult to gas everyone at the party because the ballroom's ceiling is so
high. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Hedwig responds that it's the middle of
the night and she needs to go to bed. She hangs up the phone. We don't know if
she is troubled by a mass murder being named after her husband, or just annoyed
that her husband phoned her in the middle of the night. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Rudolf descends a staircase. On the
landing of one flight of stairs, he pauses, bends over, and retches. He
descends another flight, and vomits. We can see the stain on the otherwise
spotless stairs. Rudolf looks around him, checking to see if anyone has seen
him. He looks towards us, the audience. He appears to be looking at blackness
penetrated by one small hole of light.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Eventually that black space is revealed
to be a door, that opens. Polish cleaning women in blue uniforms, with lanyards
around their necks, enter the gas chamber at Auschwitz. They sweep the floor.
They move on to the Topf-and-Sons-designed crematorium, and clean it. They
enter museum rooms where murdered Jews' luggage has been collected behind
glass. The cleaning women wipe the display glass. They wipe the glass behind
which lay Jewish people's shoes, and Jewish people's crutches, prostheses, and
wheelchairs. This, eighty years ago, would have all been shunted to Canada, to
be purloined by people like Rudolf and Hedwig. We are in the modern Auschwitz
museum in Poland. And then we are looking at Rudolf, still looking at us. He turns
and continues his walk down the flights of stairs, down and down into darkness.
We can't see him any more, but we can hear his footsteps going down. The end
credits begin. Composer Mika Levi's musical score over the end credits is the
voice of pain protesting unimaginable crimes and suffering. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Zone of Interest. </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Discussion of the film. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Jonathan Glazer is a 58-year-old English
filmmaker. He directed <i>Zone </i>and wrote the screenplay. He was born in
London of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. He first gained attention by directing TV commercials
and music videos. In 2000, he directed a gangster movie, <i>Sexy Beast. </i>In
2004 he released the psychological drama, <i>Birth, </i>and in 2013 the science
fiction film <i>Under the Skin. </i>Nothing in his scant output of three
feature films suggested that he'd someday direct a film about the Holocaust
that caused reviewers to say that Holocaust films would never be the same. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Martin Amis' 2015 novel <i>The Zone of
Interest </i>"unlocked something" in Glazer's mind. He wanted to make
a film that caused the audience to see themselves in the perpetrators rather
than the victims. In the end, Glazer's film and Amis' book have little in
common. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Glazer was intrigued by the Hoess villa
sharing a wall with Auschwitz. He deputized researchers who spent four months
in the archives of the Auschwitz museum. Glazer's researchers' job was to find
any reference in the archives to the Hoess' private lives. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Such material is plentiful. As the
Auschwitz museum reports, "In accordance with the Nazi law … after 14
years of age, all [Polish] youth were obliged to perform a designated job by
the occupation authorities. 'Girls at this age were therefore sent to the
families of the local Germans, especially to officers and non-commissioned SS
officers of the camp staff, for whom they washed, cooked, shopped, scrubbed
floors and cared for the children,'" reports historian Dr. Piotr
Setkiewicz. Aniela Bednarska, a character in Glazer's film, was a real person
who wrote a memoir of her time in the Hoess house. The Auschwitz museum has
published <a href="https://www.auschwitz.org/en/museum/news/the-private-lives-of-the-ss-in-auschwitz,992.html">a
book</a> on such memoirs. From the memoir of a Polish prisoner-gardener, Stanislaw
Dubiel, Glazer learned of Hedwig Hoess' desire not to leave Auschwitz. That
tidbit inspired his film. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Glazer's father opposed his son's plan. "Let
it rot," he said, about the Holocaust as a cinematic topic. "I wish
we could – because we'd somehow evolved beyond it. But then you read reports of
the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar, the genocides in Darfur, and in other regions
of the world, and we clearly haven't," Glazer told <a href="https://archive.ph/dJpKE"><i>The Telegraph</i></a> in a January 24, 2024
article. <i>The Telegraph </i>added that "A few days after we speak, Hamas
will launch its October 7 attack on Israel, killing more Jews in a single day
than at any point since 1945."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Glazer recognized that the ethics of
Holocaust cinema are complex. "I read a lot about the ethics of Holocaust
depiction. And it kept me up at night. Still does," Glazer told the <i>Telegraph.
</i>Psychologically normal audiences would not pay to see a strictly realistic
film that methodically depicted 12,000 vulnerable civilians, men, women, and
children every day, day after day, being terrorized, robbed, stripped, shaved,
herded into gas chambers, and reduced to ashes. Accurate depiction of Nazi evil
is no less challenging. All too many people are attracted to Nazi power and the
supposed glamor of Nazi uniforms. A film risks fetishizing Nazi paraphernalia. So
a filmmaker must come up with some way to communicate horror and injustice
without graphically depicting horror and injustice. <i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Glazer called his directorial approach "Big
Brother in the Nazi House." He positioned cameras, some of them hidden,
around a real former SS house really located at Auschwitz. The house was
refurbished to replicate the Hoess villa, down to a garden it took months to
grow. Glazer was not on set, but rather in a van offsite. His actors performed
scenes straight through, without stopping to adjust lighting or change
perspective. We watch the actors the way we would watch surveillance footage. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"I wanted to avoid all the
trappings of cinema – the carefully positioned camera, the nice lighting, the
make-up, whatever – because those would empower [the characters] … I had no
interest in being close to them or participating in their drama. Frankly, I
just wanted to watch them. So reality TV became the aesthetic compass,"
Glazer said. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Glazer's film is replete with authentic
details. Sandra Huller, who portrays Hedwig, wears a peculiar hairstyle that
Hedwig wears in an archival photo. Glazer actually met Aleksandra
Bystron-Kolodziejczyk. Bystron-Kolodziejczyk had been a Home Army resistance
fighter when she was just 12 years old. She did hide food for prisoners. Her
heroic story is <a href="https://auschwitzmemento.pl/relacje/aleksandra-kolodziejczyk/">here</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">About Bystron-Kolodziejczyk, Glazer told
the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/dec/10/jonathan-glazer-the-zone-of-interest-auschwitz-under-the-skin-interview"><i>Guardian</i></a>,
"It was her bike we used, and the dress the actor wears was her dress.
Sadly, she died a few weeks after we spoke … That small act of resistance, the
simple, almost holy act of leaving food, is crucial because it is the one point
of light. I really thought I couldn't make the film at that point. I kept
ringing my producer, Jim, and saying: 'I'm getting out. I can't do this. It's
just too dark.' It felt impossible to just show the utter darkness, so I was
looking for the light somewhere and I found it in her. She is the force for
good."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In the film, Klaus is a bully who plays
at concentration camp activities. Aniela Bednarska recorded that the real Klaus
was a "great ignoramus," "a future SS man" who was kicked
out of many schools. As in the film, Klaus played at concentration camp activities
with his siblings, asking a Polish seamstress to sew a Kapo sleeve band for
him. He would shoot prisoners with his slingshot. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In the film, Hedwig and Rudolf are in
separate beds and have their own lovers. In real life, Hoess reported that
Hedwig was reluctant to sleep with him after she found out about the gas
chambers. Hedwig has an assignation in a greenhouse with the ironically named German
kapo Karl Bohner. Accounts record just such an assignation. As depicted in the
film, the Hoess family stole extensively from prisoners, from food to furniture
to fur coats. As in the film, Hedwig shared her plunder with friends and
relatives. Dubiel specifically refers to Hedwig doling out underwear stolen from
"gassed Jewish women." Mieczyslaw Koscielniak was a Polish artist and
Auschwitz prisoner. He is known for his drawings depicting life in Auschwitz.
Rudolf Hoess summoned Koscielniak to advise him on the relative value of the
paintings and other artworks he had stolen, some of them from nearby Polish
manor houses. Dubiel reports that Rudolf and Hedwig required four train cars to
transport everything they stole. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In the film, Hedwig threatens a Polish
forced laborer, Aniela, with death. In real life, just as Hoess killed en masse,
he also killed individuals who personally served him. Polish conductor and
composer Adam Kopycinski was an Auschwitz prisoner. He was forced to play in
the camp orchestra, providing live music for the Hoess family. <a href="https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/historia/1534501,1,zycie-codzienne-w-willi-komendanta-oswiecimia.read">Kopycinski
reports</a> that "The concert in front of Hoess villa was a macabre
experience for us, when, about 100 meters away from us, the crematorium chimney
spewed out the sweetish smell of burnt corpses. I still remember how during one
concert my friend Dulin loudly said 'Dead people stink.' This Dulin was dead
the next day."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Dubiel recounts, "They were both
fierce enemies of Poles and Jews. They hated everything that was Polish. Hoess'
wife very often told me, 'Polish people have to pay … They're here to work
until they die.' As for Jews, she believed that they all must disappear from
the surface of the earth." Dubiel's testimony can be found <a href="https://www.zapisyterroru.pl/dlibra/publication/3797/edition/3778/content?navq=aHR0cDovL3d3dy56YXBpc3l0ZXJyb3J1LnBsL2RsaWJyYS9yZXN1bHRzP3E9YXVzY2h3aXR6JmFjdGlvbj1TaW1wbGVTZWFyY2hBY3Rpb24mbWRpcmlkcz0mdHlwZT0tNiZzdGFydHN0cj1fYWxsJnA9Mjk&navref=MzY4OzM1aiAyeGg7Mnd5IDJ6dTsyemI">here</a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Glazer says he was seeking an
"authorless," "anthropological," "forensic,"
"clinical" style. In spite of Glazer's attempt at a clinical
approach, and the film's detractors insisting that nothing happens, the images
onscreen strike this viewer as abundantly rich and full of opportunities for
interpretation. A few examples follow. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Their pet, a hyperactive black dog,
accompanies the Hoess family. In European and American folklore, black dogs are
associated with death. Muhammad identified black dogs with Satan. And the dog
is a Weimaraner, from "Weimar," the republic that fell as Nazism
rose. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Rudolf's boots must be cleansed of
blood, but the Topf-and-Sons employees can keep their shoes on. Perhaps the
bloody / clean shoes dichotomy is an allusion to the many companies that
contributed to Nazism but managed to outlive it, like Siemens, now "<a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/261527/the-largest-conglomerates-worldwide-based-on-market-value/">the
fifth largest conglomerate in the world</a>." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In the film's final scene, Rudolf, a man
who has shown no emotion so far, suddenly vomits on a pristine stairwell. Some
object to that scene; Hoess had no conscience that might cause stomach upset,
they insist. In fact, though, in 1947, as he, in a Polish prison cell, awaited
his short-drop hanging on the Auschwitz gallows, Hoess suddenly asked to see a
priest. Hoess had renounced Catholicism, the church he was brought up in, when
he joined the Nazi party. Hoess, it is said, confessed to Polish Jesuit
Wladyslaw Lohn. If this is all true, it indicates that Hoess had some
realization that what he did was wrong, and that history, and God, would judge
him harshly. The cinematic Hoess descends a darkened stairwell. This viewer saw
that as Hoess' post-execution descent into Hell. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I disagree with Glazer on two points.
First, Glazer depicts a cross hanging on the wall in the Hoess home. Rudolf
Hoess renounced Catholicism, his father's religion, when he joined the Nazi
Party. Such a renunciation of Catholicism was routine. Nazism was anti-Catholic
and anti-Christian. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Second, Glazer has repeatedly said that
he wanted to make a film that prompts viewers to conclude that we are like
Rudolf Hoess. "We could be watching the daily life of an executive at
Google … Serving the corporation that's set him up for life. I wanted to say,
'These people absolutely could be us' – and that human beings still have the
capacity for what they did."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"You have to get to a point where
you understand [Nazi ideology] to some extent in order to be able to write it,
but I was really interested in making a film that went underneath that to the
primordial bottom of it all, which I felt was the thing in us that drives it
all, the capacity for violence that we all have," Glazer says. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">No one is going to make a biopic of
LeBron James, or Marie Sklodowska Curie, winner of two science Nobel Prizes, or
of J. K. Rowling, and insist that you and I are just like LeBron James, or
Curie, or Rowling, or Einstein or Sir Isaac Newton or Bill Gates. We aren't
just like any of those people. In the same way that few of us will ever reach
the pinnacle of positive human accomplishment, few people will ever reach the
putrid depths plumbed by Rudolf Hoess. Hoess was a freak. Auschwitz survivor
Primo Levi wrote that "Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to
be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready
to believe and to act without asking questions." Many of us might be able
to become functionaries. Very few could ever be Rudolf Hoess. And that's a very
good thing. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Zone </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">begs for someone to state this: Genesis and Exodus are
correct. Humans are made in the image and likeness of God. We are our brother's
keeper. God commands us not to commit murder. When humans reject these basic
teachings, and the faith in God that compels us to build our lives and our
societies around these truths, we commit atrocities. Aleksandra, who risked her
young life to scatter food for prisoners, and to do so much more than that,
acted in accord with Biblical truths. The proper response to a masterpiece like
<i>Zone </i>is to recommit to those truths and to act on our commitment. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">1.1 million Jews were deported to
Auschwitz. About a million died there. 140,000 Poles were deported; about
70,000 died there. 23,000 Roma were deported to Auschwitz. About 21,000 died
there. 15,000 Soviet POWs were deported; about 14,000 died there. 25,000
members of other groups were deported; about 12,000 died there. <a href="http://70.auschwitz.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=89&Itemid=173&lang=en">These
numbers</a> are overwhelming. As did Aleksandra Bystron-Kolodziejczyk, we can
resist the darkness by the way we live. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Danusha Goska
is the author of </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/God-Through-Binoculars-Hitchhiker-Monastery/dp/1947067613">God
Through Binoculars: A Hitchhiker at a Monastery</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-76305960947910666602024-01-25T12:00:00.000-05:002024-01-25T12:00:08.460-05:00A Heartwarming Facebook Post from Poles Helping Israel <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifudlOayWIHyZ4DauNjSjl0YnBGtIyoTcKrYYihfz7y8ucnIMgRVWmaSbmPCWrQ0opRmLuJzkqmKNioCFUCu0tI_IL0FI6U4C3fprgrl5WHEJpD0lxO3KTVr7xPELMkIhjx0peFinAvUzXSRk5h6F42SEzswDYkS1ngrV8At02rI5-527U6TkBkrtajUUr/s797/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="797" height="605" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifudlOayWIHyZ4DauNjSjl0YnBGtIyoTcKrYYihfz7y8ucnIMgRVWmaSbmPCWrQ0opRmLuJzkqmKNioCFUCu0tI_IL0FI6U4C3fprgrl5WHEJpD0lxO3KTVr7xPELMkIhjx0peFinAvUzXSRk5h6F42SEzswDYkS1ngrV8At02rI5-527U6TkBkrtajUUr/w640-h605/Capture.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrKDwnBFCMBO75gMkCY6cWqYOtgPJ6nhQIBv2cHzVJpFpzP7pCmFYqLpHfFuei9D_leB5A8JCWiaxfLsXTm-D3W6Ohz5GjxZohBWnxC4Dlh3rk2gR_TOybN0M_o0vC9WvFdb4RI3U7GSS2QjhfYZbzpJ3uf4U_g0paIhqL-0B9HlUe1pN3mo44VhYG3BXI/s2048/capture1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrKDwnBFCMBO75gMkCY6cWqYOtgPJ6nhQIBv2cHzVJpFpzP7pCmFYqLpHfFuei9D_leB5A8JCWiaxfLsXTm-D3W6Ohz5GjxZohBWnxC4Dlh3rk2gR_TOybN0M_o0vC9WvFdb4RI3U7GSS2QjhfYZbzpJ3uf4U_g0paIhqL-0B9HlUe1pN3mo44VhYG3BXI/s320/capture1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEhAS-PnYLNWnGtW25BmmPgx5XaXIx7l5l6FQOsyaY4rGEOVfS_wjBhfJfV7PLfYXv3hKS28czWcm_4zAh3a_5HdMrJ_hrkK2NjpGagj7RQyXhaOpCLBtvqTHXpe3N1j6OmJfCurIt-8ZiIfAbQe5Pxi1aGCHiHECjQihpWhJ1GGJiqZt8rgqOzxKVNmXu/s2048/420637923_7469111259778235_786036804020268947_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEhAS-PnYLNWnGtW25BmmPgx5XaXIx7l5l6FQOsyaY4rGEOVfS_wjBhfJfV7PLfYXv3hKS28czWcm_4zAh3a_5HdMrJ_hrkK2NjpGagj7RQyXhaOpCLBtvqTHXpe3N1j6OmJfCurIt-8ZiIfAbQe5Pxi1aGCHiHECjQihpWhJ1GGJiqZt8rgqOzxKVNmXu/s320/420637923_7469111259778235_786036804020268947_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGJCddQ8mNaoeHX1HHViuw1DugyjvYjJbHDpD80tHyyBjXoZEkBHIBTd4uiBdQsu4FsmPvTvXQQIXVqp_O10xpWAu4GwZswQljR5ySZWUWU5ZWoZc-jFTs0MkmtaqUSrnFXDp5cB_Sem0ooLnRzcC9l8TPqFE8YNlt29izSP1BKlv74DnNvAUYBAryK07n/s1080/420099583_7469116573111037_6233572437147476155_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="1080" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGJCddQ8mNaoeHX1HHViuw1DugyjvYjJbHDpD80tHyyBjXoZEkBHIBTd4uiBdQsu4FsmPvTvXQQIXVqp_O10xpWAu4GwZswQljR5ySZWUWU5ZWoZc-jFTs0MkmtaqUSrnFXDp5cB_Sem0ooLnRzcC9l8TPqFE8YNlt29izSP1BKlv74DnNvAUYBAryK07n/w640-h288/420099583_7469116573111037_6233572437147476155_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJpnvjAJAebpPL3IXTSI9Nk3DyZcmO61DJcSFeJHNxHSjfsh4xYvz3hRuE2HQQab5I0Yi446aU6PznRgPvLjclDib5H1MSTDHq6IcedlET068vj9YCp6550GmJUsiAPd5RmoewZyiHIGbnxWtCIJAgLcRN6dFAXBm-SiPxbQMq2WdDdYPXGgcWLzqHRU-V/s2048/419913772_7469112786444749_5084543344427904407_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJpnvjAJAebpPL3IXTSI9Nk3DyZcmO61DJcSFeJHNxHSjfsh4xYvz3hRuE2HQQab5I0Yi446aU6PznRgPvLjclDib5H1MSTDHq6IcedlET068vj9YCp6550GmJUsiAPd5RmoewZyiHIGbnxWtCIJAgLcRN6dFAXBm-SiPxbQMq2WdDdYPXGgcWLzqHRU-V/s320/419913772_7469112786444749_5084543344427904407_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgERvCtCvCrT3B8IhGUCS5bt3RKbFOu6ntuIeQirQNqGGRpniNAnaFiakOIOQtdO41QzE4GD0sPfHQUH7v8c96y2rT95thvy0rD_zdmc9G5khLlGrcqsiSdRPWRQbTqZQjjdoBirXsoOMYDjbI8TIoE6cXpT4KeHeV3o3amhsh2AfLPcGiniEf_eKjtAA9t/s1024/419912888_7469111113111583_1448908237860960308_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgERvCtCvCrT3B8IhGUCS5bt3RKbFOu6ntuIeQirQNqGGRpniNAnaFiakOIOQtdO41QzE4GD0sPfHQUH7v8c96y2rT95thvy0rD_zdmc9G5khLlGrcqsiSdRPWRQbTqZQjjdoBirXsoOMYDjbI8TIoE6cXpT4KeHeV3o3amhsh2AfLPcGiniEf_eKjtAA9t/s320/419912888_7469111113111583_1448908237860960308_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-36697976647665816452024-01-03T12:24:00.003-05:002024-01-03T12:24:32.174-05:00The Never Again Association Releases a Report on Grzegorz Braun <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEA1YGMX6ArQPS3qPAEmc-wwvvcNbahY0G9S1FYIkoKklC3Xyprf_IbL8uSyon0cpBZeVZX0V2wY7AVKAvWhHhnY5VEn-RNDtPZyYHFi5EjooLmjA9wQjvRrRTpO97zJalEcnlXN5ZSPwNMYx37mE76ms6zYz9MEvFuTtOZy1VKS8RGYi5IY4WqBtjmi0w/s851/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="817" data-original-width="851" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEA1YGMX6ArQPS3qPAEmc-wwvvcNbahY0G9S1FYIkoKklC3Xyprf_IbL8uSyon0cpBZeVZX0V2wY7AVKAvWhHhnY5VEn-RNDtPZyYHFi5EjooLmjA9wQjvRrRTpO97zJalEcnlXN5ZSPwNMYx37mE76ms6zYz9MEvFuTtOZy1VKS8RGYi5IY4WqBtjmi0w/s320/Capture.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Never Again
Association describes itself thus,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"The 'NEVER AGAIN' Association is
an independent civil society organization founded in Warsaw in 1996. It has
campaigned against racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia, for peace,
intercultural dialogue and human rights across the world … The major objectives
of the 'NEVER AGAIN' Association include:</span></div><p></p><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">breaking the silence and raising
awareness of the problem of racism and xenophobia;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">building a broad and inclusive movement
against racism and discrimination, for respect, inclusivity and diversity;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">eliminating or marginalizing racist,
xenophobic and antisemitic tendencies in various spheres of life."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Never Again Association webpage is <a href="https://www.nigdywiecej.org/en/">here</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In December, 2023, the Never Again
Association released "Braun's Hate," a report addressing Grzegorz
Braun's activities. The full, 29-page report can be read <a href="https://www.nigdywiecej.org/component/docstation/download.raw/172-inne/6262">here</a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The report begins, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"The 'NEVER AGAIN' Association has
prepared a special report that documents several dozen examples of hateful
actions and statements of Grzegorz Braun, Member of Polish Parliament from the
far right Konfederacja (Confederation) party. The hatred expressed by Braun did
not start with the infamous 12 December 2023 attack on the hannukiah in the
Parliament, using a fire extinguisher. In fact, the Konfederacja MP has for
years promoted conspiracy theories about Jews taking over Poland, mocked the
victims of Nazi camps, called for violence against LGBT people, and boasted
about tearing down Ukrainian flags."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Here are just a few examples from the
report: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"On 2 April 2019, in an interview
published on the YouTube channel of wRealu24, online TV, Grzegorz Braun
demanded penalties for homosexuality. He said, 'Let's negotiate not the boundaries
of tolerance, but of penalisation. … If someone comes up with a liberal bill introducing
whipping of homosexuals, then we can discuss how to implement it whether through
European Parliament or Warsaw's Parliament.' <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">On 9 April 2020, in an interview for the
Panta Rhei channel on YouTube, Braun presented xenophobic conspiracy theories
about the origins of COVID--19, 'Might it be simply an act of biological
warfare? …Who might benefit from it? The Chinese, Americans, Muscovites, Jews,
or all of them at once?'<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Braun referred to modern Poland as 'a
Russian German condominium under Jewish fiduciary government', adding that 'the
Jewish fiduciary government has, of course, its guarantor and protector in the
American empire'. He continued: 'Germans, Jews and sodomites must not re write
our history and instruct us how to behave in our own home'"<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-35126969850337967512023-12-21T15:49:00.002-05:002023-12-21T15:49:34.060-05:00A Polish Politician Extinguishes a Hanukkah Menorah. What do you do when the worst stereotypes seem to be true?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho5Z9Mzk9CbRs9VMNCO6o_voDtvc95s387vuUZduRD3Sufo9pmBpdAOGtkc3nHwVt0Jsk1OllrhXbqhASpyUAzgPIrSF1YstFj2ZbEeeOHA-6YTQ4BbrumdW8hzz3g_JpJZYKeyVP90gNVaySsOtcELNiRXZdVceN3B6_6lAv_gY6QuXQbtvp1zygVfsEV/s880/410235379_10228150658664987_343761607243866326_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="880" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho5Z9Mzk9CbRs9VMNCO6o_voDtvc95s387vuUZduRD3Sufo9pmBpdAOGtkc3nHwVt0Jsk1OllrhXbqhASpyUAzgPIrSF1YstFj2ZbEeeOHA-6YTQ4BbrumdW8hzz3g_JpJZYKeyVP90gNVaySsOtcELNiRXZdVceN3B6_6lAv_gY6QuXQbtvp1zygVfsEV/w640-h400/410235379_10228150658664987_343761607243866326_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">A Polish
Politician Extinguishes a Hanukkah Menorah<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">What do you do when the worst
stereotypes seem to be true? </span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Grzegorz Michal Braun is a 56-year-old
Polish parliamentarian. On Tuesday, December 12, 2023, <a href="https://twitter.com/sebastiantvn24/status/1734603768451444741"><span style="color: windowtext;">Braun used a fire extinguisher</span></a> to snuff out
the candles on a Hanukkah menorah erected in the Polish Parliament, the Sejm
(pronounced "Same<i>"</i>). Warsaw Rabbi Shalom Stambler and Deputy
Speaker of Parliament Piotr Zgorzelski had lighted the candles. The rabbi was
accompanied by two of his children, ages 7 and 11. Chabad Rabbi Stambler has
been lighting Hanukkah candles in the Sejm for the past seventeen years.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">A Jewish woman, Dr. Magdalena
Gudzinska-Adamczyk, physically confronted Braun and attempted to stop him. He
sprayed her in her face and she required medical attention. She displayed
courage in spite of being a petite woman, smaller than Braun (photo <a href="https://bieganski-the-blog.blogspot.com/2023/12/we-salute-courage-of-dr-magdalena.html"><span style="color: windowtext;">here</span></a>). She <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/12/europe/poland-lawmaker-extinguishes-hanukkah-candles-parliament-intl/index.html"><span style="color: windowtext;">later said</span></a>, "I have stopped feeling
safe in this country." Dr. Gudzinska-Adamczyk also <a href="https://www.oursundayvisitor.com/cardinal-ashamed-after-lawmaker-puts-out-hanukkah-candles-in-polands-parliament/"><span style="color: windowtext;">said</span></a>, "This is my religious symbol, I
have the right to defend it, because we live in a free, democratic country. And
no one has the right to direct a powder extinguisher in my face because I am
defending my religious symbol." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Attempting to justify his crime
immediately afterward, Braun <a href="https://tvpworld.com/74763431/grzegorz-braun-a-useful-idiot-of-the-kremlin-or-just-an-idiot"><span style="color: windowtext;">said</span></a>, "Those who take part in acts of
satanic worship should be ashamed … There can be no place for the acts of this
racist, tribal, wild Talmudic cult on the premises of the Sejm … You are not
aware of the message of this act innocently called Hanukkah … I am restoring a
state of normality by putting an end to acts of satanic, racist triumphalism
because that is the message of these holidays." His statement was booed by
other parliamentarians. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Braun's antisemitic vandalism was
immediately and widely condemned, including by members of his own party. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"All decent people think exactly
the same thing, this is an unacceptable thing, this must never happen again.
This is a disgrace," said Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who assumed office
on December 13, 2023. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Poland's Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich
told <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/far-right-polish-lawmaker-uses-fire-extinguisher-hanukkah-candles-parliament-2023-12-12/"><span style="color: windowtext;">Reuters</span></a> by telephone that Braun's actions
were not representative of Poland and that he was "embarrassed" by
them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"I declare that I am ashamed and
apologize to the entire Jewish community in Poland," said Cardinal
Grzegorz Rys. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Mariusz Blaszczak is chairman of the <i>Prawo
i Sprawiedliwosc</i>, or Law and Justice Party Parliamentary club. Law and
Justice is a right-wing party; it recently lost its parliamentary majority.
Blaszczak <a href="https://www.pap.pl/en/news/deputy-speaker-should-quit-if-mp-not-expelled-menorah-attack-says-pis-mp"><span style="color: windowtext;">said</span></a> that "Braun should be expelled
from Confederation," that is, Braun's own party should expel him. "If
he is not expelled, it will mean Krzysztof Bosak [the head of Braun's party]
stands by him, and he [Bosak] should step down as deputy speaker of the Sejm …
There is no justification for the attack because it was an attack on Poland …
It is an attack conducted by a man who is either completely irresponsible or
someone who acts to the detriment of our country."<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a> <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Piotr Glinski, former Deputy Prime
Minister and current Sejm member also <a href="https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/przekraczamy-straszne-granice-glinski-komentuje-skandaliczne-zachowania-brauna-6973021211380352a"><span style="color: windowtext;">spoke</span></a> on behalf of Law and Justice. "I
am turning to the Confederation community," he said, addressing Braun's
party. "We are crossing a terrible line in politics … This is aggression
not only on religious grounds, but also on interpersonal grounds. There were
little children there. This is not to be defended and not to be spun."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The New Left Party filed a motion for Krzysztof
Bosak to be dismissed from his deputy speaker post because he allowed Braun to
speak after the vandalism. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><a href="https://twitter.com/SlawomirMentzen/status/1734920552177967247"><span style="color: windowtext;">Slawomir Mentzen</span></a>, co-leader of
Confederation, suspended Braun from the party and from speaking in the Sejm. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Szymon Holownia, the Speaker of the
Sejm, called Braun's act "absolutely scandalous … Poland is home to all
religions." Holownia banned Braun from Tuesday's Sejm session and reported
his act to prosecutors. Holownia penalized Braun to the maximum extent that he
could by withholding half of his parliamentary salary for three months and his
full parliamentary allowance for six months. "The entire parliament
leadership supported the decision, except the Confederation party
representative, Krzysztof Bosak, who abstained from the vote," reports <a href="https://www.jns.org/woman-hospitalized-after-far-right-polish-member-of-parliament-extinguishes-chanukah-menorah/"><span style="color: windowtext;">JNS</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">A popular fundraising site blocked
collections for Braun. They released the following statement. "At <a href="https://twitter.com/zrzutkapl/status/1734939601955848364/photo/1"><span style="color: windowtext;">Zrzutka</span></a> we want to be a place that promotes
positive initiatives and social values. Therefore, we encourage you to support
the collection '<a href="https://zrzutka.pl/chanuka"><span style="color: windowtext;">Let's
Ignite New Hanukkah Candles</span></a>' established in agreement with POLIN
Museum, one of the aims of which will be implementation of general
anti-discrimination workshops.'"<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">On December 14, The Jewish Community
Center in Krakow <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jcckrakow/posts/772595348244844"><span style="color: windowtext;">posted on its Facebook page</span></a>, "An
incredible ceremony of lighting the last Hanukkah candle took place in the
Sejm, attended by the President, the Speakers of the Sejm and Senate along with
the Chief Rabbi of Poland. We are extremely pleased with the presence of
approximately 200 people who came to the Sejm for this ceremony, to show solidarity
with the Jewish community and oppose antisemitism. The shameful act of a
radically right MP two days ago was a sign of hatred by one man. Today's large
number of participants is a reaction of support from many different sides.
Thank you to everyone for being there and taking a stand against
antisemitism." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Telewizja Polska asked if Grzegorz Braun
was a useful idiot of the Kremlin, or just an idiot. "Be it one
individual's psychotic break or a sponsored and deliberate act of hybrid
warfare against Poland, Grzegorz Braun does a huge disservice to Poland and its
image abroad," they wrote. They suspected that social media support for
Braun was astroturf. "Russians are known for using bots to create an
impression of support for whatever dubious cause they happen to be championing
at the moment. We could see it on YouTube, with people applauding Braun in the
comments sections, mostly from anonymous, likely fake, accounts. It doesn't
mean there aren't some Poles who admire Grzegorz Braun's actions but they are a
fringe group with little to no impact on Polish politics and society." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">TVP added that Braun's act can and will
be used against Poland. "Russian propagandists will undoubtedly try to
paint Poland as a country full of Nazis. This is concerning as it may point to
Russian preparations for aggression, hybrid or open, against Poland. By first
weakening and humiliating Poland on the world stage, Russian propagandists are
making the West less sympathetic to the Polish cause." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Michael Rubenfeld is a Canadian Jew. His
YouTube channel records his life in Poland. He <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHYifRb94Q8"><span style="color: windowtext;">said</span></a>
that Braun is "a psycho. He's always been a psycho." He said that "We
in Poland know that this isn't Poland." Rubenfeld is "proud" of
how Poland's leaders responded to Braun's vandalism. He acknowledged, though,
that "This is not a good look for Poland" and "This is going to
serve as ammunition for people who have got it out for Poland. Jews are going
to say, 'See? I was right all along. Everybody is an antisemite in Poland. I
knew it. I told you. Look at the fire extinguisher!'"<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Of course some praised Braun's
vandalism. "Grzegorz Braun is a hero of Islamists in Turkey. They pray
that God will make him a Muslim," reported <i>Gazeta Wyborcza.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Grzegorz Braun's <i>Konfederacja Wolnosc
i Niepodleglosc </i>or Confederation Liberty and Independence party received less
than ten percent of the votes in 2019, the year Braun first won his seat; see <a href="https://sejmsenat2019.pkw.gov.pl/sejmsenat2019/pl/wyniki/kandydat/1300018/sejm/okr/23"><span style="color: windowtext;">here</span></a> and <a href="https://wybory.gov.pl/sejmsenat2023/pl/sejm/kandydat/29615/23/2743500?obszar=181600"><span style="color: windowtext;">here</span></a> for recent numbers. Braun has a
history of extreme behavior. In May, 2023, Holocaust scholar Jan Grabowski was
delivering a lecture in Warsaw when Braun approached, grabbed Grabowski's
microphone, and began to smash it against the podium, saying, "<i>Dosyc
tego</i>," or "Enough of that." Braun also vandalized the loudspeakers.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In 2020, <a href="https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/polityka/artykuly/7823966,grzegorz-braun-konfederacja-usa-umowa-wspolpraca-polska-wojsko-armia.html"><span style="color: windowtext;">Braun accused</span></a> the US of a "colonization-plus
or maybe even occupation-plus" approach to Poland. Braun opposes what he
calls the "Ukrainization of Poland," or "Ukropolin" – a
paranoid vision of "Poland where Ukrainians have more rights than Poles."
An <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=835527156644329&t=0"><span style="color: windowtext;">online video</span></a> shows Braun debating with a
nun at a Catholic book fair. Braun is horrified that books by
"heretical" Protestant publishers are allowed. The nun says she was
not aware of being filmed and asks that the film be deleted which, of course,
it was not. In January, 2023, Braun was accused of <a href="https://tvn24.pl/krakow/grzegorz-braun-zniszczyl-choinke-przewrocil-glosnik-prokuratura-o-uchyleniu-immunitetu-i-zarzutach-7542768"><span style="color: windowtext;">illegally removing a Christmas tree</span></a> from
Krakow's district court and placing it in the trash because its decorations
honored Ukraine and the European Union. In 2021, <a href="https://www.wprost.pl/polityka/10491364/awantura-w-sejmie-grzegorz-braun-do-adama-niedzielskiego-bedziesz-pan-wisial.html"><span style="color: windowtext;">Braun threatened</span></a> Poland's health minister
with hanging. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In 2017, Braun directed <i>Luter i
rewolucja protestancka</i>, <i>Luther and the Protestant Revolution. </i>This
documentary presents an unflattering depiction of Martin Luther. It also
presents a Utopian image of Catholic Europe before the Protestant Reformation. The
<a href="https://wydawnictwowam.pl/prod.luter-i-rewolucja-protestancka.12401.htm?sku=79789"><span style="color: windowtext;">documentary's publicity poster</span></a> uses a
sixteenth-century image of Martin Luther as "the devil's bagpipe,"
see <a href="https://wydawnictwowam.pl/prod.luter-i-rewolucja-protestancka.12401.htm?sku=79789"><span style="color: windowtext;">here</span></a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Braun's ties to Russia have raised
suspicions. "Tomasz Piatek, a Polish investigative journalist who has
researched Braun, documented him making a trip to Russia to meet with Leonid
Sviridov, a Russian propagandist for the Kremlin who was expelled from Poland
and the Czech Republic on suspicions of espionage," <a href="https://apnews.com/article/poland-hanukkah-menorah-lawmaker-antisemitism-ee59331c34e51d949fde794b3453886b"><span style="color: windowtext;">reports the AP</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Braun's thuggish behavior cannot be
attributed to a rough-and-tumble background. Braun's father, <a href="https://arts-sciences.buffalo.edu/theatre-dance/faculty/emeritus-faculty.host.html/content/shared/arts-sciences/theatre-dance/faculty-staff/emeritus-profiles/braun-kazimierz.html"><span style="color: windowtext;">Kazimierz Braun</span></a>, is a director and
university professor who has taught in the US. Braun's grandfather, <a href="https://czestochowa.wyborcza.pl/czestochowa/7,48725,30066898,juliusz-braun-niezwykly-zyciorys-rektora-pierwszej-wyzszej.html"><span style="color: windowtext;">Juliusz Braun</span></a> was a lawyer, professor,
underground fighter, and political prisoner of the post-war Communist occupiers
of Poland. Other members of his family are similarly persons of advanced education
and accomplishment. As my Polish friend Piotr Sitarek said, Braun "is
certainly a member of the intelligentsia. He speaks in a highly sophisticated,
archaic manner which you could even see as charming, if you discounted what was
the actual content of his speeches."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Here in New Jersey, I learned of Braun's
Warsaw vandalism shortly after it occurred. A friend who knows of my interest
in Polish matters sent me, via social media, the breaking news. I watched the
online video and felt heartsick. If my friend had sent me video of Grzegorz
Braun, in the Sejm, during a holiday celebration, defecating on a Polish flag,
or urinating on a statue of Saint John Paul II, I would have felt similar disgust,
rage, and grief. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">I felt my own pain. I felt others' pain. I felt the
pain of Jews around the world for whom life has been newly challenging since
October 7. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">I felt pain for Poles. I felt pain for Cyprian Kamil
Norwid (1821-1883), author of "<i><a href="https://wolnelektury.pl/katalog/lektura/norwid-zydowie-polscy.html"><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Zydowie polscy</span></a></i>,"
a groundbreaking poem that honors and embraces Poland's Jews. I felt pain for
Eliza Orzeszkowa (1841-1910), whose novels were considered for a Nobel Prize.
She focused on Poland's Jews. Of her oeuvre, one scholar <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Polin_Studies_in_Polish_Jewry_Volume_4/rG1vEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22No+justice+can+be+done+to+these+works+without+mentioning+the+genuine+human+warmth+permeating+many+of+these+images,+and+their+well-documented+ability+to+move+both+the+Polish+and+Polish-Jewish+readers+for+whom+they+were+intended.%22&pg=PA78&printsec=frontcover">writes</a>,
"Orzeszkowa brings together on old Polish nobleman and a Jewish watchmaker
and makes them discover the amazing similarity of their respective human
experiences … No justice can be done to these works without mentioning the
genuine human warmth permeating many of these images, and their well-documented
ability to move both the Polish and Polish-Jewish readers for whom they were
intended." </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Ze'ev Jabotinsky, the Odessa-born Zionist and
eventual commander of the Irgun, made a pilgrimage in 1905 to Orzeszkowa's home
to meet with this "famous Polish author," this "white-haired
lady." His praise for her is high. In his autobiography, Jabotinsky calls
Orzeszkowa "a friend of the Jews … a noble personality … a humanist …
generous … her manners full of that ancient courtoisie … a noble soul." </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">When they met, Poland was still partitioned by
Russia, Austria, and Prussia. Polish nationalists like Orzeszkowa wanted a
Poland where schoolchildren could study in Polish, where the Polish flag that
adorned her salon would be the national flag, where Polish people could advance
beyond a semi-feudal economy. The prominent Polish politician on the world
stage pushing this agenda was Roman Dmowski. Dmowski worked very hard for
Polish statehood. Dmowski was an antisemite. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Nationalism was also on the rise among Jews, and some
Jews felt more connected to Jewish identity than Polish. Some wanted schools to
use the Yiddish language; others wanted school instruction in Hebrew. Ukrainians
also lived within borders claimed by Polish nationalists; they had their
demands, too. Jabotinsky and Orzeszkowa discussed the clashing demands of
Poland's splintering groups. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Orzeszkowa observed "with quiet sadness,"
"All my life I tried to promote mutual understanding and neighborly peace
between your people and mine Apparently I worked in vain." </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Watching Braun's thuggery, I felt sad for
the over seven thousand "Righteous" Poles who rescued Jews while
under Nazi occupation, the worst occupation for rescuers in all of Europe. Most
of their stories of heroism and sacrifice will never be known, especially while
haters like Grzegorz Braun hog the spotlight with their lunatic stunts. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I felt sad for the entire human race. We
have to view so much ugliness, and Braun's stunt was just more ugliness in a
world that is already saturated. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I am the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bieganski-Stereotype-Polish-Jewish-Relations-American/dp/1936235153"><i><span style="color: windowtext;">Bieganski: The Brute Polak Stereotype, Its Role in
Polish-Jewish Relations and American Popular Culture</span></i></a><i>. </i>Given
that, as the book's title suggests, I am concerned with negative stereotyping
of Poles as brutes, one might conclude that my reaction to Braun's vandalism
would be to do everything I could to shore up Poland's international image.
That assumption would be wrong. There is more important work to be done here.
Work that must always be done when a member of a stereotyped group seems to
prove every negative stereotype true.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Polish-Jewish relations are complex, and
my book is correspondingly complex. My goal is very much not to "defend
Poland's good name." Rather, my goal is to talk about how distorted images
of Poles are exploited to distort history, morality, and decision-making
regarding crises. This distortion matters very much outside of Poland. The
Brute Polak is cousin to "White Trash" here in the US. Whenever poor
people lacking formal education are scapegoated by elites as the sole cause of
a pressing problem, you encounter the brute. For those who would like to get a
sense of what the book is about but who don't want to read it, there are a
couple of YouTube videos, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46-KBlvS8r4"><span style="color: windowtext;">here</span></a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr_ls_PJumQ"><span style="color: windowtext;">here</span></a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">On October 7, 2023, Muslim terrorists invaded
Israel and committed unspeakable atrocities against hundreds of innocent and
defenseless Jewish civilians and others, including Thais and Nepalis. That
event is still echoing in the minds of aware people around the world. We feel
for the victims and we fear wider cataclysm. After October 7, antisemites
seemed to crawl out from under every rock, from the streets of London to
congressional hearing rooms where Ivy League presidents gave answers that
chilled the blood. Israel is at war. Arabs and Jews are dying and we all worry
that those deaths might lead to more, and more, and more deaths. We worry about
our own lives. We know that terrorist tentacles reach very far and in terrorists'
eyes, and in their ideology, we are all nothing more than their chosen prey.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Poland is the country in which the Nazis
carried out much of their "Final Solution." Auschwitz, Birkenau,
Sobibor, Treblinka, Chelmno, Majdanek, the Warsaw Ghetto, the Lodz Ghetto, were
all in Nazi-occupied Poland. Pogroms, such as in Kielce, took place after the
war. In 1968, the Soviet-Communist-dominated government of Poland pressured
Poland's remaining Jews to leave. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">All of these factors, from decades ago
and from today's headlines, make Braun's vandalism particularly sickening. This
isn't just about extinguishing candles. Braun's act is a reflection of a
profoundly evil mind and a sick soul. If the Brauns of this world had more
power, Heaven knows what the world would look like. Perhaps fires for
"heretic" Protestants would fill the air with ash, just as Braun
filled the air with choking debris during his vile stunt. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Jews have been in Poland for a thousand
years. By the late seventeenth century, nearly seventy-five percent of all the
Jews in the world lived in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Jews were ten
percent of the population. That ten percent was culturally distinct and significant.
Eighty percent of Polish Catholics were peasants, often serfs. They were rural,
they lacked formal education, and they rarely handled money or engaged in
business. Jews were more likely to be urban, literate, and involved in
business. Jews were associated with books, for example, not just as readers,
but as book merchants. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Jewish characters like Mickiewicz's Jankiel
and Wyspianski's Rachel star as heroes in Polish literature. The late Columbia University
professor of Slavic and comparative literature, Harold B. Segel, wrote that
"'Judeophilic' or 'philo-Semitic' traditions of Polish literature … were
impressive and have no parallels elsewhere in Europe … Polish literature is a
literature of Jewish experience; indeed, it is the greatest European literature
of Jewish experience … Poland has the richest Jewish history of any country in
Europe, and one of the richest in the world … dry statistics can scarcely do
justice to the impact of the Jewish presence on the Polish consciousness."
Polish and Jewish culture intertwined. Potato pancakes and borscht, the words
"<i>shmata</i>" and "<i>kishka</i>," sarcastic humor, a
dark worldview, and a stubborn insistence on carrying on in spite of all
obstacles are all shared by Poles and Jews. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">It has been said and said truly, there
is no Poland without Jews, and there is no Jewish history without Poland. I
close <i>Bieganski </i>with these lines. "There is a legend, perhaps true,
perhaps only necessary, that the fourteenth-century King Kazimierz the Great,
who proverbially found a Poland of wood and left a Poland of stone, had a
Jewish companion, Esterka, who, in spite his four other wives, was the love of
his life, and the mother of his children. In Aaron Zeitlin's 1932 play,
Kazimierz voices to Esterka the ineluctable bonds between Poles and Jews. 'We
shall die. But so long as your race and mine inhabit this earth, it is not
ended.'"<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In 1981, Polish poet Jerzy Ficowski
alluded to another reason why Poles and Jews will always share important
physical, ethical, and spiritual territory. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"I
did not manage to save<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">a
single life<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I
did not know how to stop<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">a
single bullet <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">and
I wander around cemeteries<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">which
are not there<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I
look for words<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">which
are not there<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I
run<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">to
help where no one called<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">to
rescue after the event<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I
want to be on time<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">even
if I am too late."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">We all want to be on time, even if we
are too late. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Polish-Jewish relations will never be
ended for Poles and Jews, but also for the rest of humanity. Eva Hoffman wrote
that the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was an experiment in multiculturalism
before the word "multiculturalism" was invented. When Szymon Holownia
said that "Poland is home to all religions," he might have sounded,
to some, very Woke and twenty-first century. In fact that's not the case.
Catholic Poland united with a significantly still Pagan Lithuania in 1386. The
1264 Statute of Kalisz granted Jews remarkable rights and freedoms. Muslims
have lived in Poland continuously since the 1300s. While the rest of Europe was
fighting the wars of religion, Poland was a "state without stakes."
In 1573, the Warsaw Confederation guaranteed religious freedom. Poland was
never perfect. But at its best, Poland was an example of co-existence. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Everyone on the planet could root for
that concept – for the idea of a country where diverse people tried to figure
out how to get along, and sometimes managed to work it out. There's a <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-04/st-john-paul-ii-rome-synagogue-visit-jewish-catholic-anniversary.html"><span style="color: windowtext;">famous photo</span></a> of Pope John Paul II, in his white
papal vestments, and Rabbi Elio Toaff, a white-and-black-striped tallit, or
Jewish prayer shawl, draped around his shoulders. The pope and the rabbi are
holding each other's hand and beaming smiles at each other. Any good person's
heart might be warmed by such an image of peaceful and mutually appreciative comity.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Yes, many times people did not manage to
work out being different, and yet living side by side. People tend to know the
tragic side of the story. The part they don't know about is the co-existence,
or the love. In 1987, I was listening in on an impassioned debate about
Polish-Jewish relations in the foyer of the Piast dormitory in Krakow, Poland.
Young scholars were head to head; in previous debates, they had come to blows. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">An elderly woman spoke up, cutting
through the tension, the theory, the macho posturing, and the citations. She
was an eyewitness in April, 1919, when Polish troops, commanded by the
legendary Jozef Pilsudski, retook Wilno from the Red Army. She spoke of how
much she admired Pilsudski, who is a Polish national hero. He was her hero, her
hero as a young Jewish girl. She then began to describe the beauty of the apple
tree that was outside her window in her childhood home in Wilno. "I loved
that apple tree, my apple tree, my Polish apple tree, my Polish-Jewish apple
tree!" she insisted, as she broke down in tears. None of the scholars
present could formulate an argument in support or in refutation of this woman's
love. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I can't limn the full complexity of
Polish-Jewish relations here. No matter what is said, someone on one side or
the other will respond with, "Yeah, well, what about … " or "You
didn't mention … " and, therefore, "You are clearly biased!"
I've been accused of being both secretly Jewish and a representative of a
reactionary Catholic cult. I can, though, say the following. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I've written pieces for <i>Front Page
Magazine </i>that are critical of aspects of black American culture. Those
aspects include a rationalization of criminality, out-of-wedlock births, and
victim mentality. I've also been critical of Islam. When I write these pieces,
I wonder how my black and Muslim neighbors and former students would respond to
my words. I can imagine them being hurt. I don't want to hurt them. I want to
invite them to a more positive culture. The first step in that journey is to
recognize the failings of one's own group, to publicly acknowledge those
failings, to renounce them, and to speak up for the better way. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">It isn't helpful to say "Well
blacks have suffered so we cannot hold them to the same standard we hold
others." It isn't helpful to say, "Well, we aren't Muslims so we
can't criticize their beliefs." It isn't helpful to say "Criminals"
or "terrorists" "are just a small minority. The majority of
Muslims are good people." It really, really isn't helpful to say,
"White people" or "Christians" "have done bad
things" so they somehow deserve to be victims of black criminals or Muslim
terrorists. Whataboutism, a Communist propaganda technique, also doesn't help.
"Oh, a member of my group did a bad thing. But what about when a member of
your group did a bad thing? Huh?" <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I reject all the above mentioned methods
of deflection when it comes to antisemitism in Poland. Yes, Poles have
suffered. Polish suffering is no excuse for Braun's act. No, I don't live in
Poland. Yes, I can still speak up about Polish antisemitism. Yes, Braun's party
is small. We know all too well that minority parties and minority populations
can wreak havoc. The Nazis were a tiny, fringe party that many laughed at.
President Obama dismissed ISIS, the Islamic State, as the "JV team." Some
say, "Well what about when Jews do negative things?" I will not be
thrown off track by whataboutism. Braun's act needs to be addressed, no matter
what anyone else has done or said. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I don't know if the social media posts
I've seen supporting Braun, on Facebook and YouTube are astroturf or bots. On
Braun's Facebook page, there are posts calling for Poland to develop nuclear
weapons and to retake its former territory, which would require Poland to
invade and conquer Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, and Ukraine, from the Baltic
almost to the Black Sea. Clearly, this is delusional. The fact is, though, that
no matter how fringe Braun is, no matter how delusional his supporters are, the
posts supportive of him reflect a significant trend in Polish culture. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Antisemitism is a trend in Poland. It
has risen and fallen, along with Poland's larger fate in the international
arena. There are reasons antisemitism reached its height in the inter-war era;
for a detailed explanation, read my book. Today, Poland is widely recognized as
one of the safest countries in Europe for Jews; again, there are geopolitical and
historical reasons for that. All that being said, antisemitism exists in Poland
today, and it exists among Poles abroad. I am wary of any attempt to assign percentages
to this antisemitism; methods strike me as flawed. The Poles and Polish
Americans I associate with are not antisemites. But I witness antisemitism on
social media. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">This antisemitism involves a great deal
of denial and of unhealthy fantasy. Antisemites like Braun imagine into
existence a Poland that literally never existed. Poland was never
"purely" Polish or "purely" Catholic. The Catholic church,
my church, was never perfect. The Catholic church sex abuse crisis made
headlines in Poland as elsewhere. See, for example, the 2019 documentary, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrUvQ3W3nV4"><i>Tylko nie mów nikomu</i></a>,
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrUvQ3W3nV4"><i>Tell No One</i></a>.
Church leaders in Poland responded to this heartbreaking documentary by
expressing regret and vowing to make necessary changes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Roman Dmowski (1864-1939) was an antisemite;
he is a hero to contemporary Polish antisemites. He insisted that Catholicism
was an essential part of Polish identity. The falsehood of Dmowski's position
is demonstrated by Dmowski himself. Dmowski was not religious and was possibly
an atheist. He was a student of biology. He was inspired by Social Darwinism. As
scholar Joanna Kulska <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/4/525"><span style="color: windowtext;">writes</span></a>, "Roman Dmowski, who himself
was not a religious person, considered Catholicism not as an addition to
Polishness but as an element which constitutes its essence. He was the one who
created the concept of 'The Pole–The Catholic' as part of political discourse."
Dmowski described Jewishness in biological terms. "A Jewish woman will
always be a Jew, a Jewish man: a Jew. They have another skin, they smell
differently, they carry the evil among the nations." Dmowski also said
that "Every Pole will be an enemy of every German he meets." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">It's more than a bit ironic that
Grzegorz Braun has a German surname. It's possible that he, through some
ancestor, is related to Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress. There are many prominent
Poles with German surnames. Oskar Kolberg, a world class folklorist, was the
son of a German father and a French mother. August Emil Fieldorf a World War II
hero, commanded the unit that assassinated Nazi SS and Police Leader Franz
Kutschera. Saint Maximilian Kolbe gave his life for another in Auschwitz. Jozef
and Wiktoria Ulma and their seven children were martyred by the Nazis for
helping Jews. As is evident from their German surnames, all these great Poles
had German ancestry. We do not reject them for that. And, of course, our
national composer, Frederic Chopin, had a French father and he spent much of
his life in France. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Conversely, there are famous Germans
with Polish last names or of Polish ancestry, including Friedrich Nietzsche,
Klaus Kinski, and Charles Bukowski. Our national poem, <i>Pan Tadeusz, </i>opens
in praise of Lithuania. A Polish <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PolandPresents/photos/a.772667576102767/1719402571429258/"><span style="color: windowtext;">national style of dress</span></a> <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110635942-007/html"><span style="color: windowtext;">associated with the nobility</span></a> was inspired
by Turkish dress. Hasidic Jews, in turn, fashioned their traditional garb after
this Polish style of dress. And of course having pure and noble Polish blood,
and undergoing a rigorous Catholic upbringing, is no guarantee of virtue. One
of the most evil men who ever lived, the author of incalculable human
suffering, was a Polish nobleman, who was raised and educated as a good
Catholic boy. Felix Dzerzhinsky founded the Soviet secret police.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Polish antisemites imagine that Jews are
conspiring to take over Poland, to reduce Polish people to second class
citizens, and to strut about dominating others with their supernatural Jewish
power. It's difficult to know how to address delusions that bizarre. Delusional
grandiosity is accompanied by protestations of weakness. Polish antisemites
repeat how helpless, how weak, how ineffectual Poles are. I have been running a
Polish-themed blog for thirteen years. I focus on false and negative images of
Poles in popular media and education. A frequently repeated post is one that
says, paraphrase, "We can't do anything to change this. We have no power.
The Jews have all the power." Antisemitism isn't just bad for Jews. It is
bad for antisemites. Insisting that you are nothing but a helpless little
loser, while you simultaneously insist that Jews run the world, is a
self-destructive worldview. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Braun's vandalism disgusted me, yes,
because it occurred so soon after October 7, when the world is still wounded
from what has been called the deadliest and cruelest day for Jews since the
Holocaust. There was another aspect of his crime that troubled me. In videos of
the event, Braun has hunched posture; he appears neckless. His face is blank.
It doesn't look as if he is incapable of cognition; he looks as if he has flipped
a switch to turn off any cognition that might take place. He looks as if he is
assuming a self-administered stupidity. He moves as if he has chosen to regress
down the evolutionary ladder towards the cave dweller. "Oh my God," I
thought. "This demented fool is a living representative of the Brute Polak
stereotype." His ugliness, as Michael Rubenfeld pointed out, will erase
the best of Poland. That's Braun's other crime. The world needs beauty. It
needs heroes and faith and hope and light. Braun didn't just extinguish candle
flame. He tried to extinguish Orzeszkowa, the Ulma family, John Paul II. I want
to do whatever I can to resist that. My resistance is not to make excuses, or
pretend that this is not part of my fellow Poles' and Polonians' culture, or to
play the whataboutism game. No. I want to do what I ask black friends and
Muslims friends to do. Admit the problem. And renounce what I have admitted is
there, and needs to change. And to carry the light forward. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Danusha Goska is the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/God-Through-Binoculars-Hitchhiker-Monastery/dp/1947067613">God
Through Binoculars: A Hitchhiker at a Monastery</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-70957357896266780912023-12-21T14:19:00.001-05:002023-12-21T14:19:05.867-05:00American College Students Donate Money to Kill Jews <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Gu8bSaGJeS8" width="320" youtube-src-id="Gu8bSaGJeS8"></iframe></div><br /> <p></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-26118169102304344422023-12-20T15:13:00.004-05:002023-12-20T15:13:53.577-05:00"But there's no cross in the Sejm!" <p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6Khy08Lr1u2AkLNIBTkbzp8lATy4-BMiktqnMTO1BdJY7dPQG2qdLhQ5tqqI8gg4HnQSenDvYKQ5iIftzmlOwoR_txwnAucWJPEhq6bUEYqlxsUQ4YO8hVRPKNxikDdCwLO4eAS5oDXUTWyU5r1EFBKr1aKCH-gMtUjGcABBqNv_MTFhU2vlCpxVi18x/s1094/Sejm_cross.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1094" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6Khy08Lr1u2AkLNIBTkbzp8lATy4-BMiktqnMTO1BdJY7dPQG2qdLhQ5tqqI8gg4HnQSenDvYKQ5iIftzmlOwoR_txwnAucWJPEhq6bUEYqlxsUQ4YO8hVRPKNxikDdCwLO4eAS5oDXUTWyU5r1EFBKr1aKCH-gMtUjGcABBqNv_MTFhU2vlCpxVi18x/w468-h640/Sejm_cross.JPG" width="468" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="By Adrian Grycuk - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19612224" target="_blank">Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-38469022346827991372023-12-19T22:14:00.000-05:002023-12-19T22:14:14.735-05:00"But there's no Christmas in the Sejm!" falsely claim Polish antisemites<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLDWzD2aamhaBwTI7WV3I3mR-6L-ytK7T58NU9FulnFhF4GWLLAhKLvLFErpTxte1LQsZOwS6IzCxMPWWyOk_PjP1LhalNkcBuknPg1nZwacg9uY0Zn_Pur0Ylbo2kXsVcO2PSMqBu6xAqKXRZIvZMboJfMcHP2CQRN9HtcRw7V4HASiPqmGi2mcLs2zQo/s701/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="701" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLDWzD2aamhaBwTI7WV3I3mR-6L-ytK7T58NU9FulnFhF4GWLLAhKLvLFErpTxte1LQsZOwS6IzCxMPWWyOk_PjP1LhalNkcBuknPg1nZwacg9uY0Zn_Pur0Ylbo2kXsVcO2PSMqBu6xAqKXRZIvZMboJfMcHP2CQRN9HtcRw7V4HASiPqmGi2mcLs2zQo/w640-h356/Capture.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"> Krzysztof Bosak is chairman of the party of antisemite and criminal Grzegorz Braun, who recently created a scandal by attacking a Hanukkah menorah in the Sejm, or Polish parliament. Bosak recently complained that there are no Christmas symbols in the Sejm. See screencap above, taken from a video of Braun's demented attack. There is plainly a Christmas tree in the Sejm, very close to the Menorah. </span><p></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-51688356427538816992023-12-19T17:08:00.000-05:002023-12-19T17:08:23.059-05:00Polish Antisemites. Braun Copycats and Fans <p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNpkR6Fesh5PtrYo7DaVgHoYMW0cU1Kr_Wa2xjqCqymDSudNSjN3zxCxXgZKwKdhum_QzMb0Io1nXqDcStH0K76g8y-t2SocgtFI0rDvYI-MOI2INJrJKZEpI2i-3rMsTJHawtZfAQ6inOnug1DAdRYUDughj7kpiA7KgRxx1prt2x-63AxOeRMxXJzdP/s637/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="637" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNpkR6Fesh5PtrYo7DaVgHoYMW0cU1Kr_Wa2xjqCqymDSudNSjN3zxCxXgZKwKdhum_QzMb0Io1nXqDcStH0K76g8y-t2SocgtFI0rDvYI-MOI2INJrJKZEpI2i-3rMsTJHawtZfAQ6inOnug1DAdRYUDughj7kpiA7KgRxx1prt2x-63AxOeRMxXJzdP/s320/Capture.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vice reports on Pro-Braun antisemitic merch being sold online. See <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7e5ew/grzegorz-braun-polish-mp-menorah-merch-tshirt-mug" target="_blank">here</a>. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZYg91nl1fH8h5xwujgSrAMxjBkCDWLbWvhbzNdGRKTHrHVXg2pwjcoc-K0LijtbtNmS1XiRLGY7cvxGZ9ei-agIjBomqa306IegaUnn9J77WVOpv3ApeY5pvdcB1z9NZdwXLNaepAGEa87kMk_YLNh6JH6wOB_wYm8vfZc4uTK2Glu7ftOwmy4c9-yMqQ/s675/Capture2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="670" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZYg91nl1fH8h5xwujgSrAMxjBkCDWLbWvhbzNdGRKTHrHVXg2pwjcoc-K0LijtbtNmS1XiRLGY7cvxGZ9ei-agIjBomqa306IegaUnn9J77WVOpv3ApeY5pvdcB1z9NZdwXLNaepAGEa87kMk_YLNh6JH6wOB_wYm8vfZc4uTK2Glu7ftOwmy4c9-yMqQ/s320/Capture2.PNG" width="318" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Antisemites in Wroclaw vandalize a menorah and burn an Israeli flag. </td></tr></tbody></table><br />D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-67706273634546973482023-12-19T14:16:00.001-05:002023-12-19T14:16:16.443-05:00"Zone of Interest" 2023 New Holocaust Film by Jonathan Glazer <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8pHbtO0smb4fiBvOc_Pi6SWMSbof4u1hhzDe_CSNT4uWmzTEhm77QbBUO40-RT3X1t84E4Mc_rMOsyExA2YcKYc0O1yYemEg8EN1VjvYNYwc-tFj4U6m8iFZgSrgMyxp4kW6W-R9bssJ7YmeRdN-PXomiET0xkqc3eYdmX4bDF1rnmkvej7XT6e-pBpj/s1800/The+Zone+of+Interest+4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8pHbtO0smb4fiBvOc_Pi6SWMSbof4u1hhzDe_CSNT4uWmzTEhm77QbBUO40-RT3X1t84E4Mc_rMOsyExA2YcKYc0O1yYemEg8EN1VjvYNYwc-tFj4U6m8iFZgSrgMyxp4kW6W-R9bssJ7YmeRdN-PXomiET0xkqc3eYdmX4bDF1rnmkvej7XT6e-pBpj/w426-h640/The+Zone+of+Interest+4.jpeg" width="426" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /> "Zone of Interest" is a new Holocaust film by Jonathan Glazer. It focuses on Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Hoess, his family, and their lives as they lived next door to Auschwitz. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Manohla Dargis wrote a critical review for the New York Times, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/14/movies/the-zone-of-interest-review.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">From that review: </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;">"What is the point of “The Zone of Interest”? I’ve seen Jonathan Glazer’s movie twice, and each time I’ve returned to this question, something that I rarely feel compelled to ask. Movies exist because someone needs or wants to make art, tell a story, drive home a point, defend a cause, expose a wrong or simply make money. All that is clear from what’s onscreen is Glazer has made a hollow, self-aggrandizing art-film exercise set in Auschwitz during the Holocaust."</span></blockquote><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Another Times article, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/19/magazine/movies-holocaust-zone-of-interest.html" target="_blank">here</a>, discusses "Zone of Interest" in the context of other Holocaust films. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The Fish Jelly review <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBgIZ8GDDGA" target="_blank">here</a> gives a good sense of the film. </span></p><p><br /></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-38927795875002526462023-12-14T10:45:00.000-05:002023-12-14T10:45:16.734-05:00We Salute the Courage of Dr. Magdalena Gudzinska-Adamczyk<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbT-PWvOpdkfpJ72PiWUhw0i76kqhhOSOQuktPNUjKkJ4DbXkMdLODwpblk0FwVo1S_BCAtK5K_lprbh2NnvYpMrqbet_LJTM28d180GcULJSo5xasDJqM5lgHodx9mfDAnnzAwcvxlXzJlXH4PPKZllSI1iFJn8JZkwbHXOQdswWwKGxR-DWE0zZmOTLz/s807/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="807" data-original-width="501" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbT-PWvOpdkfpJ72PiWUhw0i76kqhhOSOQuktPNUjKkJ4DbXkMdLODwpblk0FwVo1S_BCAtK5K_lprbh2NnvYpMrqbet_LJTM28d180GcULJSo5xasDJqM5lgHodx9mfDAnnzAwcvxlXzJlXH4PPKZllSI1iFJn8JZkwbHXOQdswWwKGxR-DWE0zZmOTLz/s16000/Capture.PNG" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I love this woman's courage. </p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-8678456076881652892023-12-12T17:28:00.002-05:002023-12-12T17:28:35.995-05:00Polish Parliamentarian Uses Fire Extinguisher on Hanukah Candles <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxFsDdaK0LIErUN39DtuJLVRw5djDWLNT2MxmPvy11FJ4MU5Z1zGPnwMY2fsFhDLp0I-P2oS59eXkAoxLsTrr3dzP0XE0zAtCYj_KMOKlLhkCXgfxVy17ARwnzqQ8GQhj9_oiysgQ2Ii1m5Fzqb5uxncnBeEoDI0pl7828iFBAqEu-fdSY1J8SE9RIAFWP/s982/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="982" height="554" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxFsDdaK0LIErUN39DtuJLVRw5djDWLNT2MxmPvy11FJ4MU5Z1zGPnwMY2fsFhDLp0I-P2oS59eXkAoxLsTrr3dzP0XE0zAtCYj_KMOKlLhkCXgfxVy17ARwnzqQ8GQhj9_oiysgQ2Ii1m5Fzqb5uxncnBeEoDI0pl7828iFBAqEu-fdSY1J8SE9RIAFWP/w640-h554/Capture.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><blockquote><p>Warsaw</p><p>Reuters</p><p>A far-right Polish lawmaker used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the country’s parliament on Tuesday during an event with members of the Jewish community ...</p><p>Members of the Jewish community, including children, had gone to parliament at speaker Szymon Holownia’s invitation for its annual Hanukkah celebrations.</p></blockquote><p><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/12/europe/poland-lawmaker-extinguishes-hanukkah-candles-parliament-intl/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0e73nTYnXNpV_9LPZkMs9RNRY_POPzIzppHwc8Baa7ABdeeld9zeOxJYw" target="_blank">source</a> </p><p>Grzegorz Braun is a disgrace and all decent Poles are ashamed and condemn this vile act. </p><p></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-75230846173415597562023-11-29T17:22:00.005-05:002023-11-29T17:56:39.972-05:00Hillcrest High School Students in NYC Stage Mini Pogrom; Anti-Semitism Rampant in NYC Schools <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWBW8Pp2IZajz48QAaDfNsBuNGBwNZ9P_Pekf_tJkoEzUHVu_pDn9dguaALKP7M2rren2o6WDV06_UvHWNKIeaAAnQHAgj_OKoWpx3wHTbXDluvLG9CRjMZ1ZKmpiDrysArLl8e0PT9dYS07-SouVxIQAZ2nzrOm9rCkurMsO3idDAzCwewAmeT0EtHxTj/s1280/hillcrest.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWBW8Pp2IZajz48QAaDfNsBuNGBwNZ9P_Pekf_tJkoEzUHVu_pDn9dguaALKP7M2rren2o6WDV06_UvHWNKIeaAAnQHAgj_OKoWpx3wHTbXDluvLG9CRjMZ1ZKmpiDrysArLl8e0PT9dYS07-SouVxIQAZ2nzrOm9rCkurMsO3idDAzCwewAmeT0EtHxTj/w640-h360/hillcrest.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmeJnT9WmhYcaDIoaZ5caNAqXYuRr9kYkbzwpvgaFZ5aV0ENSzhAMA8JJ1V5UFdhob8OBvg1SxacOqV01f6iDsPiZ5zj5nmGpaYu0rruvdRw1QmDLfl8EVBb0vLOLNGxBSpfjKxk3QlzvTuxUZ5yIyAhzx4-BIAMiHFvj6MEsmylc6npQvNfULgZ7BC9Ew/s829/Screenshot%202023-11-29%20171728.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="658" data-original-width="829" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmeJnT9WmhYcaDIoaZ5caNAqXYuRr9kYkbzwpvgaFZ5aV0ENSzhAMA8JJ1V5UFdhob8OBvg1SxacOqV01f6iDsPiZ5zj5nmGpaYu0rruvdRw1QmDLfl8EVBb0vLOLNGxBSpfjKxk3QlzvTuxUZ5yIyAhzx4-BIAMiHFvj6MEsmylc6npQvNfULgZ7BC9Ew/w640-h508/Screenshot%202023-11-29%20171728.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://nypost.com/2023/11/28/metro/jewish-teachers-slam-nyc-schools-chiefs-handling-of-antisemitic-unrest-at-radicalized-school/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Source</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> A Jewish teacher from a NYC high school attended a pro-Israel rally and held up a sign saying "I Stand with Israel." Students saw photo of this teacher and staged a mini pogrom in Hillcrest high school, rioting through the halls, seeking the teacher, aiming to harm her. They memorialized their threats in social media. The teacher took refuge in a locked room. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Students posted videos online of their mini pogrom. The rioters appear to be majority non-white. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In response, schools chancellor David Banks soft pedaled the mini pogrom. It is important to "listen" to the teen pogromists, he insisted. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">From the <i><a href="https://nypost.com/2023/11/28/metro/jewish-teachers-slam-nyc-schools-chiefs-handling-of-antisemitic-unrest-at-radicalized-school/" target="_blank">New York Post</a>: </i></span></p><p></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">“Over 400 students threatened the life of a teacher, solely because she is Jewish,” ...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Banks "failed to recognize the deep-seated Jewish hate present in our school ,,.</span></p></blockquote><p></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">“We have heard from employees and parents who have shared experiences and evidence of Jewish hate across the school system,”...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Graffiti “depicting Jewish hate” in the bathroom of her school went untouched for more than a month ,,,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">“I can’t imagine how these students must feel in New York City, 2023, knowing that so many people in school are wishing them harm solely because they are Jewish,” she said. </span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">From a subsequent <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/11/28/opinion/nyc-chancellor-banks-is-in-danger-of-flunking-his-schools-exam/" target="_blank"><i>Post </i>article</a> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;">Banks faulted TikTok and other social media for exposing students to daily depictions of “children and young people in Palestine being blown up”: The students “feel a kindred spirit with the folks of the Palestinian community. This is a very visceral and emotional issue for them,” said Banks, noting that 30% of the Hillcrest student body is Arab. </span></blockquote><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-65150249182541942652023-11-25T09:53:00.000-05:002023-11-25T09:53:23.924-05:00Relativism: A New French Novel Sanitizes Holocaust History <p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihPReAQ3FHeixemubFSkQ06tVQ7O8lglIpHyQADtrK3ZZ-AKMIC3IzO4O6bw4nPdtLyjEQdSqslfar6JCK1_T3kmoispabAWPJ11H9HF0WyFeOXfu_5K24Xa_FHNqavtDYuBPcLANBY4ovxVXEjszQXzU5mUbDV1z_4Um7pZuTOwr2rbHt7Danf3UmBZwO/s1294/Capture1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1294" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihPReAQ3FHeixemubFSkQ06tVQ7O8lglIpHyQADtrK3ZZ-AKMIC3IzO4O6bw4nPdtLyjEQdSqslfar6JCK1_T3kmoispabAWPJ11H9HF0WyFeOXfu_5K24Xa_FHNqavtDYuBPcLANBY4ovxVXEjszQXzU5mUbDV1z_4Um7pZuTOwr2rbHt7Danf3UmBZwO/w640-h458/Capture1.PNG" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib7Zu0_rQ0KGnG6-K3cegwZgSGzUHCrJ3tBTcI37QLk-uyxkOUhvsFoYgbTLIiJjrqz84Y7YhdMgQmwncsTIHg3_IAwasV4Y4udwtJe78IW6mm0evt8mgELaoII8WtHSSbaPxbsyyqTkTYEFIh15MHPbHvDy1pklNYylaHv-zKqQM49XovZn9jrZonfGC_/s825/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="781" data-original-width="825" height="606" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib7Zu0_rQ0KGnG6-K3cegwZgSGzUHCrJ3tBTcI37QLk-uyxkOUhvsFoYgbTLIiJjrqz84Y7YhdMgQmwncsTIHg3_IAwasV4Y4udwtJe78IW6mm0evt8mgELaoII8WtHSSbaPxbsyyqTkTYEFIh15MHPbHvDy1pklNYylaHv-zKqQM49XovZn9jrZonfGC_/w640-h606/Capture.PNG" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The New York Times reports that a new French novel uses relativism to sanitize France's role in the Holocaust. The novel fictionalizes the life of the woman in the Robert Capa photo "Shaved Woman of Chartres." The woman, Simone Touseau, was a pro Nazi collaborator. In the novel, she is presented sympathetically, because, as the author says in the above quote, there are no saints or bastards. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">That's a relativist stance. In fact there are saints and there are bastards. <br /><br />See the full Times article <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/25/opinion/simone-touseau-france-occupation.html" target="_blank">here</a></span></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-47210018012814832142023-11-20T08:53:00.005-05:002023-11-20T08:53:37.182-05:00Pro Israel March in Warsaw<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBtPn509JxilxcXK_KG68uBph4qYmRIehguI0SQIbIaZPYjQcQn7JTlVXLo79EwHGKe5hreoIsBUBCFJl_xD1CclztP8i8n05f5udjI1EciyXVAK4hYAQEVO816GgQmKvcwZoYC3_UNXWG9MzGByEZcz-uQl2GesAdtaC0P2f8blE_uk4eQmLxk17JTwca/s1852/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="912" data-original-width="1852" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBtPn509JxilxcXK_KG68uBph4qYmRIehguI0SQIbIaZPYjQcQn7JTlVXLo79EwHGKe5hreoIsBUBCFJl_xD1CclztP8i8n05f5udjI1EciyXVAK4hYAQEVO816GgQmKvcwZoYC3_UNXWG9MzGByEZcz-uQl2GesAdtaC0P2f8blE_uk4eQmLxk17JTwca/w640-h316/Capture.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Watch the video <a href=" https://tvpworld.com/74206229/free-the-hostages-pro-israel-demonstration-takes-place-in-warsaw?fbclid=IwAR1-U8sKwl2Clj0mXDziVQDI9nuDRJhaG38Bkgmvb0JYXDhva8B77WakPQU" target="_blank">here</a></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-71858570974423655322023-11-20T08:44:00.002-05:002023-11-20T08:44:11.800-05:00"The Volunteer" Witold Pilecki; Book Review by Filip Mazurczak<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB6_oSfNAIwKvSsU8qiuz6fde7pI2hYi3yCv24PF545CQY7oj7nJVtMk3skKEDW5BrPAvuvAfWckKywOzFE8AC5t2UtGFGqQL2Oc1sbSXK7JBQxDfQD-UlNM7aIrDkOW1q12pCIUZmS39dihKoHJReCBxMNu5Y73LL3S0ho5di3wOXQgS0OTgCMePUvnIe/s500/9780062561411-us.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="331" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB6_oSfNAIwKvSsU8qiuz6fde7pI2hYi3yCv24PF545CQY7oj7nJVtMk3skKEDW5BrPAvuvAfWckKywOzFE8AC5t2UtGFGqQL2Oc1sbSXK7JBQxDfQD-UlNM7aIrDkOW1q12pCIUZmS39dihKoHJReCBxMNu5Y73LL3S0ho5di3wOXQgS0OTgCMePUvnIe/w424-h640/9780062561411-us.jpg" width="424" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Jack
Fairweather's 2019 book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/The-Volunteer-Jack-Fairweather-audiobook/dp/B07NYZMCWP/ref=sr_1_16?crid=19SU7V0OOJPUJ&keywords=witold+pilecki&qid=1700477864&s=books&sprefix=witold+pilecki%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C186&sr=1-16"><i>The
Volunteer: One Man, an Underground Army, and the Secret Mission to Destroy
Auschwitz</i></a> sheds light on one of World War II's great unsung heroes:
Witold Pilecki, a leader of the Polish resistance who willingly became an
Auschwitz prisoner, only to be executed by the communist regime. While the book's
potential educational value, especially outside Poland, is immense, it offers a
very limited perspective on its subject.</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Witold Pilecki
is the only known person to volunteer to be imprisoned at Auschwitz. Wiesław
Kielar, a Polish inmate of the notorious death factory, aptly titled his memoir
of the camp <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Anus-Mundi-Auschwitz-Birkenau-English/dp/0812909216/ref=sr_1_1?crid=C0O4LT0P3QQ0&keywords=anus+mundi&qid=1700476521&s=books&sprefix=anus+mund%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C243&sr=1-1"><i>Anus
Mundi</i></a>, the "anus of the world" in Latin. No one in their
right mind would <i>volunteer </i>to go to such a horrible place; as one of Pilecki's
earliest collaborators told him upon learning of his mission: "You must be
nuts! […] If what you say is true, you're either the greatest hero or the
biggest fool" (Fairweather, p. 88).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Pilecki
volunteered to go to Auschwitz to gain intel about the camp to inform the
Western Allies about atrocities and to create a resistance group there. Why
wasn't I taught about Pilecki in high school history class? you might be
asking. Why hasn't a $100 million Hollywood blockbuster starring Russell Crowe or
Mark Wahlberg been made about Pilecki? The reason is tragically simple: because
Pilecki was a member of the Polish Home Army, a simultaneously anti-Nazi and
anti-Soviet resistance group in occupied Poland, he was executed by the
Stalinist government in 1948.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The communist
regime not only physically annihilated Pilecki: it was largely successful in
writing him out of history books and the national consciousness. For many
years, he was only mentioned in publications by Polish émigré writers, like
Józef Garliński, one of Pilecki's collaborators in Auschwitz, and the author of
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Auschwitz-Resistance-Movement-Concentration-ebook/dp/B08NFJYWPZ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2HWRHBCYBRK45&keywords=fighting+auschwitz+the+resistance+movement+in+the+concentration+camp&qid=1700477642&s=books&sprefix=fighting+auschwitz%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C229&sr=1-1"><i>Fighting
Auschwitz</i></a>. It was only around the 2000s that many Poles began to
discover Pilecki, who has since become the protagonist of many Polish books,
films, and museum exhibits, while a growing number of streets and schools
across Poland are named after him, including the Cavalry Captain Witold Pilecki
State University of Małopolska in Oświęcim, the Polish town that during the war
would be forcibly Germanized and renamed Auschwitz.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Poland's
communist regime, in fact, falsely ascribed Pilecki's heroism to the premier
Józef Cyrankiewicz (1947-1952), also a prisoner of Auschwitz who was active in
the Auschwitz resistance but did not play a leadership role. As head of the
communist government, Cyrankiewicz refused to pardon his fellow inmate who had
been sentenced to death. Thus, today we have the bizarre situation in which more
people outside Poland know of German resisters to Nazism like Dietrich
Bonhoeffer than heroes like Witold Pilecki from Poland, the first nation to
resist Hitler.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">(To me, the
most perfect example of this absurd fate of many Polish war heroes is that of
Kazimierz Moczarski, a member of the Home Army sentenced to death who shared a
cell with the German war criminal Jürgen Stroop, responsible for the liquidation
of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in which 50,000 Polish Jews were murdered;
following the Khrushchev-era thaw in 1956, Moczarski was released from prison,
and he turned recollections of his death row talks with Stroop into <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Conversations-Executioner-Kazimierz-Moczarski/dp/0131719181/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3P1JTY321DESF&keywords=conversations+with+an+executioner&qid=1700477414&s=books&sprefix=conversations+with+an+execution%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C220&sr=1-1"><i>Conversations
with an Executioner</i></a>, one of the best World War II books I have read.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Jack
Fairweather is a well-known war reporter for the <i>Washington Post </i>and <i>Daily
Telegraph</i>, and <i>The Volunteer </i>is the first major book on Pilecki published
in English by a mainstream publisher (Custom House, an imprint of
HarperCollins). The very fact that Fairweather endeavored to write this
deserves praise, and I hope that the upcoming <a href="https://www.warhistoryonline.com/news/enemy-of-my-enemy.html">Polish-British
film</a> about Pilecki will make him better known, if not a household name.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>The
Volunteer </i>is a riveting
read. Apart from a fine overview of Pilecki's wartime heroism, Fairweather presents
an intriguing cast of characters. Most interesting is the case of Dr. Władysław
Dering, a Polish physician interned at Auschwitz. Dering is famous for having
participated in medical experiments on the reproductive organs of Auschwitz
inmates, mostly Jews (although, as Fairweather writes, he also castrated a
German homosexual prisoner). After World War II, Dering immigrated to Britain,
and Poland's communist regime sought his extradition to try him for war crimes.
Because Dering is briefly mentioned in Leon Uris' <i>Exodus</i>, a huge success
with the American reading public (but not with literary critics as well as a
growing number of scholars who deplore Uris' racist depiction of Arabs), the
doctor sued the author for libel and was awarded a half-penny in damages; the <i>Dering
v. Uris</i> trial received extensive press coverage in the 1960s and was the
subject of a made-for-television movie starring Anthony Hopkins (which I haven't
seen but apparently is no <i>Silence of the Lambs</i>, just a historically
inaccurate mess).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Fairweather introduces
a very balanced and novel perspective on Dering, who seems to be neither the
monster Uris made him out to be nor the hero Dering claimed he was in court. We
learn from Fairweather's account that Dering was a major participant in Pilecki's
Auschwitz resistance cell and that he refused to kill inmates by injecting them
with phenol. However, Fairweather cites another physician inmate working in the
medical block who claims the SS let her refrain from participating in
experiments, thus contradicting Dering's court room claims of compulsion.
Furthermore, Fairweather notes that Dering (whose surname was originally
spelled Dehring) had German ancestry and took advantage of that fact to be
released from Auschwitz, which Pilecki's group viewed as treason.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The author's approach
reminds us that while amidst the horrors of the Nazi concentration camp system
there were a handful of heroes like Pilecki, Maximilian Kolbe, or Janusz
Korczak on the one hand and some sadistic guards and kapos on the other, most
inmates, like Dering, were in what Primo Levi famously called the "grey
zone" of morality.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>The
Volunteer </i>also presents
the history of Auschwitz completely and accurately. Most of Fairweather's
American and British readers associate Auschwitz-Birkenau with the Holocaust;
given that 90 percent of the camp's victims were Jews, that is only reasonable.
However, to understand Pilecki's mission, the beginnings of the camp must also
be understood. Auschwitz was initially formed in 1940 to terrorize Poles; if
Jewish inmates were imprisoned there before 1942, they ended up there not on
account of their ethnicity but because they were affiliated with the Polish
resistance, belonged to the nation's elites, or were the victims of street
roundups (Pilecki himself used an assumed identity and let himself get caught
in a Warsaw roundup).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Fairweather's
tracing the history of the camp is crucial not only to understanding how<i> </i>Pilecki
ended up in the camp but, more important, how his understanding of the camp's
purpose evolved. Once the first gassings of Jews in Auschwitz began, it took
Pilecki a while to understand that the German's intentions towards the Jews
were more macabre than that of Polish Gentiles: complete annihilation rather
than enslavement and partial extermination. Fairweather cites Pilecki and
General Stefan Grot-Rowecki, the main commander of the Home Army, as thinking
that the first gassings were "just" another pogrom, one of many throughout
European history.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">While claiming
that Rowecki was skeptical of Pilecki's pleas for the Polish underground to
attack Auschwitz, Fairweather does not explain why. Antisemitism cannot be a
reason, as 150,000 non-Jewish Poles were at various points interned there. I
would assume Rowecki's hesitance resulted from the Polish resistance's limited
arsenal or fear of repressions, but unfortunately Fairweather does not explore
this issue.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The United
States and Allies were also informed of what was happening to Europe's Jews.
While they had the military capabilities to, for example, attack German cities
in retaliation or bomb the railways leading to Auschwitz or the camp's
crematoria, they refused to do so. Polish and Jewish resistance groups authored
some of the first reports of the Holocaust, and the Polish government-in-exile
in London appealed to London and Washington for action. This fact is well-known
from classic works of history like Walter Laqueur's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Terrible-Secret-Suppression-Hitlers-Solution/dp/1138539031/ref=sr_1_1?crid=15NKXFAM13XEI&keywords=the+terrible+secret&qid=1700479882&s=books&sprefix=the+terrible+secre%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C264&sr=1-1"><i>The
Terrible Secret</i></a><i> </i>or David S. Wyman's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Abandonment-Jews-David-Wyman/dp/0394428137/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1700482967&sr=1-1"><i>The
Abandonment of the Jews</i></a>. Yet Fairweather's book shows the perspective
of one idealist who wanted to inform the world of genocide. Pilecki seems
almost naïve as he smuggles reports on Auschwitz out of the camp through
couriers, thinking that Roosevelt and Churchill would care about the tragic
fate of millions destined to become ash.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">While I
recommend <i>The Volunteer</i> to English-speaking readers (I personally
preferred Italian historian Marco Patricelli's biography, also titled <i>The
Volunteer</i>, but it is available only in Italian and Polish), the book has
several major flaws.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">First, the book
features surprisingly little context. Fairweather's readers in Anglophone
countries are taught little about the invasion of Poland in September 1939
(and, likely, are taught myths, such as that the Polish cavalry bravely but
stupidly charged at German tanks). Yet the invasion of Poland is the subject of
just one short chapter (less than twenty pages) which deals less with the
military, diplomatic, and humanitarian contexts and more with Pilecki's
experience.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Nonetheless,
the reader learns very little about Pilecki's background. The fact that he had
a wife and two children is occasionally alluded to, while his participation in
the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1919-1921 is also barely mentioned. <i>The
Volunteer </i>almost exclusively focuses on Pilecki's mission in Auschwitz,
with a little bit about his escape from Auschwitz, participation in the 1944
Warsaw Uprising (which resulted in the city's complete destruction and loss of
150,000 to 200,000 mostly civilian lives), and postwar trial.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Most annoyingly,
Fairweather completely omits the fact that Pilecki was a devout Catholic with a
strong devotion to the rosary and attachment to Thomas a Kempis' spiritual
classic <i>The Imitation of Christ</i> (which influenced many other noble
figures, such as the Swedish humanitarian Dag Hammarskjöld – after his death in
an airplane crash, a copy was found in his suitcase). Fairweather begins his
book with a quote from Thomas a Kempis, but never again alludes to the book. In
fact, in 2008 and 2013 groups of Poles sent letters to Popes Benedict XVI and
Francis, respectively, asking them to open a cause for Pilecki's canonization.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">At one point,
Fairweather refers to Adam Sapieha as "Poland's archbishop" (p. 102).
No such function exists; Sapieha was archbishop of Krakow. I suppose that one
could explain this by the fact that Fairweather is ignorant about Catholicism
because he is from Britain, a very secular, traditionally Protestant society
where Catholics make up less than a tenth of the population. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Yet although I
may not be an expert on Hinduism, if I were commissioned to write a biography
of Gandhi I would study the religion, as it is crucial to understanding the
Indian leader's approach to non-violence, the sanctity of all life (human and
animal alike), and vegetarianism.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Fairweather
also asserts that Pilecki "likely held a paternal view toward the local
Polish and Belarusian peasants and shared in some of the prevailing
anti-Semitic views" (p. 9). I do not deny that there was plenty of endemic
antisemitism in twentieth-century Poland. However, Fairweather offers no
evidence to support these claims. Such a guilty-by-association approach is
contradicted by the author himself at least twice. First, in the very same endnote
to this risky assertion on page 9 Fairweather writes that although Pilecki did
evict a Jewish tenant from his estate, "[t]here is no evidence to suggest
racial animus behind the incident" (p. 412). Elsewhere, Fairweather quotes
one of Pilecki's reports from after the war in which the latter comments on the
Kielce pogrom in which Poles murdered 38 to 42 Jews (not 37, as Fairweather
writes), calling it "a tragedy" (pp. 377-378).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">While such flaws
make <i>The Volunteer </i>a somewhat frustrating read, Jack Fairweather deserves
praise for helping to undo the injustices to the Polish communist regime's egregious
history policy and reminding readers that not even the murderous depravity of
Auschwitz could quench the Polish fighting spirit.<br /><br />***<br />You can find more of Filip Mazurczak's articles <a href="https://www.catholicworldreport.com/author/mazurczak-filip/" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://theimaginativeconservative.org/author/filip-mazurczak" target="_blank">here</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p></div>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-5356817514851828242023-11-15T16:29:00.002-05:002023-11-15T16:29:22.869-05:00Hamas Atrocities? Blame Poland <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUH_wDdC5MODMkNLiU-cT5WkN1xIRQG_AQM7_dWrgz0c2K2GkKwA231oOCJBWcUxsFzcP56dWgSOsO5r__2CmgB7oHaIz14NxD9F64MqjXfw_l-QWGjXZF4EKXG3xg08LIV42du_oXLrXNs3LhNYTs3qzK7xX0qPzSBAWufYJwqYcOFP0QCQJphjUyZPY/s1280/p07ly4fx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUH_wDdC5MODMkNLiU-cT5WkN1xIRQG_AQM7_dWrgz0c2K2GkKwA231oOCJBWcUxsFzcP56dWgSOsO5r__2CmgB7oHaIz14NxD9F64MqjXfw_l-QWGjXZF4EKXG3xg08LIV42du_oXLrXNs3LhNYTs3qzK7xX0qPzSBAWufYJwqYcOFP0QCQJphjUyZPY/w640-h360/p07ly4fx.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I've been
paying a lot of attention to the Muslim Arab atrocities against Jews committed
on October 7, 2023. I'm horrified. Decent people everywhere are horrified.<br /> </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">On social media, I saw a photo of
audience members watching video taken by the Muslim Arabs as they raped,
tortured, and murdered, as they violated corpses, and carried the decapitated
heads of Jews around as war trophies. The audience members looked horrified. You
can see some photos of audiences watching the vile Hamas footage <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12665359/Some-audience-whispered-make-stop-leaned-against-wall-cried-Journalists-watched-Israeli-compilation-Hamas-terror-footage-including-young-girl-shot-dead-hid-desk-reveal-left-horrified.html">here</a>.</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">After the Hamas attacks, anti-Semitism
flared up worldwide. This is disgusting and terrifying. Anti-Semitism has a
very bad record. This insane hatred causes calamity. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Watching American and European youth,
who have every reason to know better, chanting genocidal, anti-Semitic slogans
about making "Palestine" judenrein "from the river to the
sea" is nauseating and infuriating. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The world is in a very precarious place.
Unlike during the rise of Nazism, we now live in a nuclear world. Humanity's
stupid hatreds could render the planet unlivable. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I've donated to the <a href="https://www.ifcj.org/">International Fellowship of Christians and Jews</a>.
Please consider donating to this or some other worthy organization. I've
published a few articles about October 7 and subsequent events. I have very
little power but I wanted to use what little power I have to contribute to
light at a dark time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I support Israel. I oppose anti-Semitism.
I oppose jihad. I don't like Jews more than other people. I don't dislike Arabs
or Muslims. I support peace. I support the international order. I think torture
and murder and rape and the desecration of corpses are really bad things. I don't
want to see a wider war. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In my pieces, I've pointed out that the
Muslim Arabs committing atrocities against Jews on October 7 could cite Koran verses,
hadith, and examples from the biography of Muhammad to support their behavior. I've
also cited atrocities and discrimination against Jews in the Muslim world going
back centuries. These facts are not often mentioned by others. People fail to
mention these facts because they are ignorant, or they are cowards. Massacres
of Jews in Morocco, Baghdad, Libya, and Algeria. Read more <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-treatment-of-jews-in-arab-islamic-countries">here</a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Until we address religiously-supported
anti-Semitism in Islam, we won't make progress. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">On November 9, Ridvan Aydemir, a YouTube
content creator, read from <i>Documents on German Foreign Policy. </i>The
particular document he read from was a Nazi document detailing Muslim Arab support
for Hitler, Nazism, and the Holocaust. You can watch that video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clLJw9Hrrbk&t=3438s">here</a>. The
documents are online <a href="https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupid?key=ha007054745">here</a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I've been reading / watching / listening
to much media devoted to the conflict. I listened to a podcast called "Is
Anti-Zionism the New Anti-Semitism?" It was produced by "Open to
Debate," a program that used to be called "Intelligence
Squared." It's broadcast via National Public Radio. The mission of the
organization is to "address the extreme polarization of our nation and our
politics" and "restore critical thinking, facts, reason, and civility
to American public discourse."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Their website is <a href="https://opentodebate.org/">here</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Host John Donvan said that "Open to
Debate" actually rejected the idea of holding a new debate after October 7
because the staff couldn't handle it. Why couldn't the staff handle it? Presumably
the staff of such a prestige program are intelligent and highly educated. They
are in touch with thought leaders. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Donvan doesn't say why the staff couldn't
handle a debate devoted to the October 7 atrocities and subsequent events, but
just look at any newspaper's front page since October 7. American's
universities and media are full of anti-Semites who viciously attack the right
of Jews to exist. And they think they are the righteous ones. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Instead of exhibiting the courage of
their own convictions, "Open to Debate" re-broadcast a show from
2020, "Is Anti-Zionism the New Anti-Semitism?" Arguing yes, it is,
were Bret Stephens, a <i>New York Times </i>columnist, and Einat Wilf, a former
member of the Israeli Parliament. Arguing against the motion were Peter Beinart,
author of <i>The Crisis of Zionism, </i>and Yousef Munayyer, Executive Director
of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Munayyer depicted Arabs as a tiny group
of people oppressed by hateful and powerful Jews. He argued that Jews in Israel
should just stand down and hand power over to Arabs. Arabs would grant Jews all
rights and everyone would live in peace. Clearly, Munayyer's insistence that
Muslim Arabs are a tiny, helpless group was absurd. His insistence that Jews had
nothing to fear from living in a Muslim, Arab dominated state was also absurd. Hamas
has openly stated its religiously-supported goal of genocide. See <a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">During the "Open to Debate"
debate, none of the debaters took on Munayyer's folly. His fellow debaters
treated him and his transparently absurd promises with kid gloves. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Rather, the real problem was Poland.
Poland was mentioned four times in the debate, a debate that lasted less than
one hour. Poland was depicted as a country that is unsafe for Jews. Poland
expels Jews because it is so anti-Semitic. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In fact, the event to which Wilf
referred was a Soviet, Communist anti-Semitic action. Poland is now a country
of "no Jews." Her statement is false; there is a small but vibrant Jewish
community in Poland. Peter Beinart invoked Poland as a terrible place for Jews;
in contrast, the Muslim world, like Morocco or Iraq, is preferable. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">So there you have it. Intelligent,
educated people, speaking on a network funded by taxpayer dollars, were afraid
to state the simple fact that the Koran, the hadith, and the biography of
Muhammad contain verses that inspire and justify anti-Semitic atrocities like
October 7. They were afraid to say that the Muslim world has a history of
anti-Semitic violence, violence condoned by explicit religious teachings. They
were afraid to say that Muslim Arabs have a history of collaboration with
Nazism. No one had the courage to peak any of these pertinent truths. But they
could condemn Poland. <o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-27520531815198878902023-11-13T09:47:00.000-05:002023-11-13T09:47:54.388-05:00Bieganski Lives: "Poland is Safe for Jews. How Ironic." "You support Israel; What's the Catch?" <p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Nd0FARV33QHepQauOxDauY7hynNQqAaOX0pmfHIMycyxb7oS1SPPyMc8rN8e1JlUJ2W29PuVCeD3tL6Uy0hMmD_hEOeAi9z-WEsUEf1liPZgNDBBNDpb5b1dz4BfphS2O9_r_udbZ7nObwNEQU0Yc6F9s7Rkale0RHSquVo1VRQ63T9qF_SeD3ZtyOfl/s1519/Screenshot%202023-11-13%20092934.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="885" data-original-width="1519" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Nd0FARV33QHepQauOxDauY7hynNQqAaOX0pmfHIMycyxb7oS1SPPyMc8rN8e1JlUJ2W29PuVCeD3tL6Uy0hMmD_hEOeAi9z-WEsUEf1liPZgNDBBNDpb5b1dz4BfphS2O9_r_udbZ7nObwNEQU0Yc6F9s7Rkale0RHSquVo1VRQ63T9qF_SeD3ZtyOfl/w640-h372/Screenshot%202023-11-13%20092934.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Michael Rubenfeld is a Canadian-Polish-Jewish actor, writer, festival producer, and YouTube content creator. He recently published a video in which he says it is "ironic" that as a Jew he feels safe in Poland, safer than he would feel in Canada or the US. You can view that video at the link below. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The assumption that Poland should be unsafe for Jews could be attributed to a couple of different factors. The Nazis invaded Poland in 1939. Poland had Europe's largest Jewish population. The Holocaust occurred largely in Poland, in notorious death camps like Auschwitz, Birkenau, Treblinka, etc. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">There's another factor that might indicate to Rubenfeld that Poland is supposed to be unsafe for Jews. that is the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bieganski-Stereotype-Polish-Jewish-Relations-American/dp/1936235153" target="_blank">Bieganski Brute Polak stereotype</a>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I've encountered what seems to me to be the Bieganski, Brute Polak stereotype in responses to recent articles I've published. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I support Israel. My support for Israel is clear from my articles. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In a recent article, posted here, I argued that </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">* When Christians commit anti-Semitic crimes, they are acting against the example of their founder, their scripture, and their highest teachings over the course of centuries. And yet, mass media and academia, when addressing Christian anti-Semitism, pay more attention to religion than historical context re: Christian anti-Semitism. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">* When Muslims commit anti-Semitic crimes, they are acting in accord with the example of their founder, their scripture, and their most authoritative teachings over the course of centuries. And yet, mass media and academia, when addressing Muslim anti-Semitism, pay more attention to historical context than to religion re: Muslim anti-Semitism. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I recommended a reversal of this approach. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Most online comments were positive, but a couple reflected, it seemed to me, the domination of the Bieganski stereotype in the mindset of the person making the comment. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">One person said, "You didn't mention the Polish numerus clausus!" Another person said, "You didn't mention John Chrysostom!" </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The implication of these complaints is that I was hiding something or lying or just plain stupid. In short, that I am Bieganski. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This is unfortunate. I want to be an ally. And two readers could see only an enemy. <br /><br /><br /><br />View Michael Rubenfeld's vlog <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/esK7XXOdjGk" target="_blank">here</a></span></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-89613281538526715232023-11-09T20:50:00.003-05:002023-11-09T20:50:17.650-05:00How We Understand Anti-Semitism <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlN-Y4QUT6nsqczQSpTeS1W2m0ldYbsWTHDoNpqRtYAQ8UE7yQpLsgaPxyEQbhm88-5TiQ0InDmLNt3BcRMlYACmY9G_z_rUwPZg4o0ooIBcZKSvuFDLrzhfS2dl2M_oeUmzc4QQlMlmo1L63a2BB-pvcTezxPG5B8tVXnCc8yXUim0NT3UD61Twq41Jv7/s658/Alfred_Dehodencq_-_Execution_of_a_Jewess_in_Tangiers_c1861.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="658" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlN-Y4QUT6nsqczQSpTeS1W2m0ldYbsWTHDoNpqRtYAQ8UE7yQpLsgaPxyEQbhm88-5TiQ0InDmLNt3BcRMlYACmY9G_z_rUwPZg4o0ooIBcZKSvuFDLrzhfS2dl2M_oeUmzc4QQlMlmo1L63a2BB-pvcTezxPG5B8tVXnCc8yXUim0NT3UD61Twq41Jv7/w640-h448/Alfred_Dehodencq_-_Execution_of_a_Jewess_in_Tangiers_c1861.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">How We
Understand Anti-Semitism, Christianity, and Islam<br /> </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Let's avoid popular misconceptions </span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The atrocities Hamas committed on
October 7, 2023, and subsequent worldwide support for the genocidal "judenrein-from-the-river-to-the-sea"
ideology revealed the prevalence of widespread anti-Semitism. Terrorism has a
worldwide reach. The Israel-Hamas war affects international markets and
geopolitics. Anyone on the planet, Jewish or not, might suffer from
anti-Semitism. It is important, therefore, to understand anti-Semitism.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">This essay rejects supernatural or
genetic explanations for anti-Semitism. Jews are not a different species of
human being. Humans are more alike than different. Children born black or
white, Muslim or Jewish, offer the same potential. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Both anti-Semites and philo-Semites
repeat the same formulaic phrases: "Jews are the most persecuted minority,"
and "Anti-Semitism is the world's oldest hatred." Anti-Semites like
these phrases. There must be something wrong with Jews, they insist, since Jews
are hated everywhere. My friend Alex, a philo-Semite, repeats these phrases as
well. He sees them as proof of a unique and romantic quality to Jewishness. The
pharaohs of ancient Egypt, the seventeenth-century Ukrainian leader Bogdan
Chmielnicki, and Hamas are all identical because they all killed Jews. I
disagree. The pharaohs, seventeenth-century Ukrainians, and Hamas are not magical
reincarnations of each other. They had different motivations, methods, and
goals. No supernatural thread connects them. To understand them, one must
understand their particular historical context, not presumed supernatural
curses. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Anti-Semitism isn't the world's oldest
hatred, nor is it the hatred with the highest body count. Misogyny has a longer
history and has claimed more victims. The <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/06/29/attitudes-about-caste/#:~:text=The%20caste%20system%20has%20existed,including%20whom%20they%20can%20marry."><span style="color: windowtext;">caste system</span></a> in India "has existed in
some form for at least 3000 years." Recent estimates are that there are
200 million Dalits, aka untouchables. The suffering Dalits have endured is
unspeakable. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Westerners, living in a world strongly
affected by Christendom, associate anti-Semitism with Christianity. The
standard approach is to blame Christianity, the religion, and to ignore
historical context. If discussing anti-Semitism among Muslims, the standard
position is to argue that historical context, rather than religion, caused the
anti-Semitism. This essay argues for a reverse of these approaches. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">These approaches distort reality. When
Christianity is understood as inherently anti-Semitic, Christians, even those
who support Israel, are assessed as inescapably anti-Semitic. Anthony Weiner is
a former congressman who currently broadcasts via WABC. In October, 2023, he
made a comment that shocked me. I requested clarification. Did he really say
that "Christians support Israel because they want all the Jews to be in
one spot so that God can kill them all more easily"? Weiner did not
respond with a yes or a no, but with a link to a <i>Washington Post</i> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/05/14/half-of-evangelicals-support-israel-because-they-believe-it-is-important-for-fulfilling-end-times-prophecy/"><span style="color: windowtext;">article</span></a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In the "Christianity is
anti-Semitic" worldview, Christians who are not anti-Semitic are
understood to be "modernized." In this view, the more Christian you
are, the more anti-Semitic you are, and the more "modern" or
"secular" you are, the less anti-Semitic you are. Data does not
support this assumption. In Russell Middleton's peer-reviewed publication,
"Do Christian Beliefs Cause anti-Semitism?" Middleton concluded that
"Religious orthodoxy was uncorrelated with anti-Semitism" and that
"the well-springs of anti-Semitism today" may be "largely
secular." A 2019 <a href="https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/247937/americans-views-israel-remain-tied-religious-beliefs.aspx"><span style="color: windowtext;">Gallup poll</span></a> suggested that those who attend
church regularly are more likely to be sympathetic to Israel. "Highly
religious Americans continue to be much more sympathetic toward Israel than
those who are less religious." Worldwide anti-Semitic protests in autumn,
2023, are not populated by visibly Christian protestors. Rather, these
protesters appear to be more Woke than Christian. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">This distortion of Christians and
Christianity matters. Some start from this false assumption and go on to apply
a distorted lens to Islam. That distorted conclusion goes like this,
"Christians were anti-Semitic when they were devout, but as they
modernized they became less anti-Semitic." We can't assume that anything
like this process will change the hearts and minds of Muslims.
"Modern" Muslims might turn out to be just as anti-Semitic as
"old-fashioned" Muslims. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">This essay will argue that to understand
anti-Semitism among Christians, one must factor in historical context. To
understand anti-Semitism among Muslims, more attention must be paid to
religion.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a> <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Anti-Semitism is one of many tribal
prejudices found around the world and throughout history. Humans form tribes in
order to increase our ability to gain resources, both material and immaterial. Membership
in a successful human tribe means not just that individual members will be
better fed, but also that they will benefit from immaterial goods like peace
and security, and a sense of meaning and purpose. Successful tribal membership may
offer the balm to cope with life's greatest challenge: the inevitability of
death. One's group identity, if not an individual identity, can be understood
to be immortal. Even a shiftless or lazy American can live better than a hard
working striver in a poor African country. The shiftless American benefits not
because of his own effort. He rides on the accomplishments of the Founding Fathers,
capitalism, a cultural matrix, and American servicemen and women. Immaterial,
as well as material resources can be shared. Even a low-achieving Jewish person
can feel pride given his connection to Einstein. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In forming tribes, we are like our
closest living relatives, chimpanzees. Chimpanzee troops have been observed,
for example in the Gombe Chimpanzee War, massacring another troop. To increase
access to resources, chimpanzees may beat to death every member of an opposing
tribe. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Tribe members emphasize their tribal
loyalty and adherence to tribal values. Politicians wear navy blue suits, white
shirts, red ties, and an American flag lapel pin. Young people struggling to
find a place to fit in, generation after generation, invent uniforms and
rituals signaling tribe membership. Poodle skirts, bell bottom jeans, grunge, neologisms
like "cis" and "trans" etc, have signaled successive
generations' membership in their tribe of choice. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Tribal membership is fluid. Individuals
decide that membership in group Y offers more benefits than membership in group
X and move over to group X. A black man enslaved in the American South could
not suddenly change to a white identity, but those who could pass for white
often chose to do so. Today there are benefits to be gained for a white person
passing for black, and numerous whites, especially in academia, have been
exposed as white people passing as non-white in order to gain benefits.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Tribal membership can be ephemeral. Few
adults cling to any idea of themselves as girl scouts or members of a given
little league team, even though that membership meant a great deal at one point
in their lives. History is littered with abandoned identities. I identify as
"Polish" but my ancestors might have identified as "<i>tutejszy</i>,"
that is, "from here." The Paleo-Eskimo people vanished so thoroughly
that they didn't even leave a name for themselves. Rather they are called
"Paleo-Eskimo," after the group that completely replaced them. There
are no thriving communities of the Hittite, Harappan, Anasazi, or Moriori tribes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Jews are not unusual in that they are
members of a distinct group. We all are. Jews are also not unusual in that they
have been subjected to atrocities from members of competing groups. There are
features, though, that set Jews apart. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Jews are unusual in that an idea of
Jewish identity has existed since ancient times. The patriarch Abraham is dated
to 1800 BC. Abraham's historicity is debated. If one accepts Abraham's actual
existence and traditional dates, one can argue that Jews can trace their
identity back almost 4,000 years. Abraham aside, there is concrete evidence of
the ancientness of Jewish identity. The 3,200 year old Merneptah Stele mentions
Jews. The ancient book of Leviticus outlines behaviors we associate with Jews
today. In 1997, Karl Skorecki argued for Y-chromosomal Aaron, a genetic marker
going back to the brother of Moses, over 3,000 years ago. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Leviticus 19:27 says "you shall not
round the corners of your head," and the Hasidic men I pass regularly at
the Paterson Falls, over 2,000 years after this rule was written down, have
distinctive haircuts that mark them. Numbers 15:37-39 says, "You are to
make tassels on the corners of your garments … You will see these tassels and you
will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not
prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and
eyes." A fragment from the book of Numbers goes back 2,600 years. Hasidic
men I see in present day Paterson display these fringes described in the book
of Numbers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">When I pass Hasidic Jews in Paterson, I
feel their vulnerability. Why do Hasids publicly identify as an often hated
minority even in a high-crime environment? Their choices strengthen their
connection to God and to their fellow Jews. Their choices are visible
advertisements for Judaism, a belief system that blesses all, Jews and non-Jews
alike. See <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2067&version=NIV"><span style="color: windowtext;">Psalm 67</span></a>; <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2012%3A2-3&version=NIV"><span style="color: windowtext;">Genesis 12: 2-3</span></a>; <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2042%3A6&version=NIV"><span style="color: windowtext;">Isaiah 42:6</span></a>; <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Zechariah%208%3A23&version=NIV"><span style="color: windowtext;">Zechariah 8:23</span></a>; <a href="https://www.biblestudytools.com/isaiah/passage/?q=isaiah+2:2-3#:~:text=2%20In%20the%20last%20days,of%20the%20God%20of%20Jacob."><span style="color: windowtext;">Isaiah 2:2-3</span></a>. These Jews defy the
Holocaust. Nazism attempted to erase Jews; these Jews are not just alive, they
keep alive Yiddish, a language the Holocaust attempted to silence. In short,
Hasids, in their choice of dress, a choice of dress that all too often results
in anti-Semitic assaults, exhibit exceptional courage and dedication to their
peaceful spiritual goals. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">On Thursday, November 5, I was walking
on a garbage-strewn Paterson street. I was near a makeshift memorial,
consisting of empty liquor bottles and prayer candles, commemorating a young
man who was recently shot to death. I have walked this street hundreds of
times. I had never before seen another white person on this street. On
Thursday, I did. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Imagine the fault lines. Residents' cars,
if residents had cars, might cost a few thousand dollars. This brand-new SUV
cost ten times that. I was in New Jersey; the license plate read "New
York." The two Hasids standing beside the expensive car were white. Other
than me, every passer-by was non-white. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I was so curious, I approached and
asked, "What are you doing in Paterson?" The men explained to me that
they were here on business. One man said that he likes Paterson because he can
make money here. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">There are multiple fault lines in this
encounter. Blacks in Paterson are poor. When they see Jewish businessmen, they
may feel their exclusion from resources Hasids share with other Jews. One might
conclude that these blacks would best respond to that sense of exclusion by
improving their own affiliations with others and their own access to resources.
There are, though, cultural barriers militating against their success. Black
men in this neighborhood do not emerge till past noon. They spend nights
hanging out, smoking marijuana, playing loud rap from car stereos, and dealing
drugs. In this, they are "keeping it real." Ambitious young blacks
who follow the law, avoid drugs, excel at school, and are go-getters at the
workplace are condemned by their peers for "acting white." "The
ghetto mentality is … like quicksand, once you are in it; it’s hard to get out,"
observes black journalist <a href="https://archive.jsonline.com/blogs/news/116611828.html"><span style="color: windowtext;">James E. Causey</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext;">.</span></span> Keeping it real, Causey explains, is
the opposite of acting white. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In addition to these fault lines, there
is another immaterial one. Many blacks feel a sense of competition with Jews
over commodified suffering. They resent attention the Holocaust receives, and they
insist that slavery was worse. This resentment over an alleged
"stolen" suffering championship reinforces a conspiracy theory. Jews,
this conspiracy theory insists, stole Jewish identity from Blacks, who are the
real main characters of the Bible. In 2019, a black man who believed in this
conspiracy theory murdered Jews in a terror attack in Jersey City. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Jews, observant or not, will always be
distinct because their ancestors were the authors of one of the most
influential books ever written, the Bible. Both the Old and New Testaments were
written by Jews, with the possible, but not certain, exception of Luke, who may
or may not have been Jewish. (Scientists have <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC60893/"><span style="color: windowtext;">genetically analyzed the DNA of a corpse</span></a>
thought to be Luke's. The Bible says that Luke was born in Syria; available DNA
evidence supports that origin for the purported Luke skeleton.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Bible's unique status is immediately
apparent to anyone reading any other ancient culture's scripture. The Ancient
Greeks produced peerless plays and tales. Ancient India produced probing
explorations of life's big questions. Neither of these exceptionally articulate
civilizations even begins to approach the Bible for depth, breadth, and
worldwide influence. Had I never received any religious training at all, the
comparison between the Bible and any other culture's spiritual literature would
be enough for me to consider the existence of God and God's choice of the Jews
as his people. A tiny group of scrappy and beleaguered desert herders produced
the Psalms; the commandments; archetypal characters and struggles; minimalist
sketches – like that of the contest between Cain and Abel – that confound and
inspire for thousands of years; the soaring rhetoric of the disquisition between
Job and God himself, as they debate the nature of suffering; and a salvation
narrative powerful enough to reach international hearts, hurts, and hopes. When
you compare these to what other cultures at the same level were producing, you
cannot help but notice a vast gulf in quality, coherence, and meaning. The mere
existence of the Bible is something close to a miracle. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Exactly because the Bible is so
influential, people have been warring against it for thousands of years.
There's a reason that people in communist and Muslim countries have been
imprisoned, tortured, and even killed for mere ownership of a Bible. Ideas can
be as powerful as military hardware. The ideas in the Bible threaten the tyrant,
the bully, and the egotist and changed the world. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Pagan gods like Mars, Dionysus, and
Venus sanctified human appetites for war, domination, drunkenness, and lust.
Pagan values championed the rich, powerful, young, healthy, and beautiful, and
okayed sacrifice of the weak, poor, and the foreign. Roman Pagans could invoke
their deities at the orgy or at grisly gladiatorial spectacles. Spartans habitually
murdered helots and their own children; Spartan gods approved. The Jewish God,
in contrast, was the advocate of the outcast, of the poor, of widows and
orphans. The Jewish God reminded believers to discipline their appetites. To
many, the Jewish God was a buzz kill. Humanity was happy until the Jews came
along and ruined everything with all that talk about one God, sin, and guilt,
according to the neo-Pagan worldview. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Tribes depend on numbers for strength. Other
tribes have devoted energy to recruiting. Ancient Rome arrived, conquered, and
assimilated foreign peoples. The <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/warwickclassicsnetwork/romancoventry/resources/diversity/army/"><span style="color: windowtext;">Roman army</span></a> came to be only about 20% from
the Italian peninsula. Other soldiers were from previously conquered territory.
Islam is even more ruthless than ancient Rome in its voracious quest for flesh,
territory, and power. Previously conquered peoples became slaves, and then
invaders. Muslim Arabs conquered the Berbers of North Africa. Tariq ibn Ziyad
was a Berber and possibly a slave. He lead the Muslim Conquest into Spain. Islam
relied heavily on slave armies, gobbling up conquered peoples and turning their
sons into shock troops to claim more territory, and more bodies, for Islam.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Jews are about 0.2 of world population. Jewish
identity is traditionally understood as descendent from Abraham, and being born
of a Jewish mother. This understanding of Jewish identity is reflected in
Jewish genes. Jews today remain related. Ashkenazi Jews, according to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms5835"><span style="color: windowtext;">one
study</span></a>, are thirtieth cousins or closer. Not just Ashkenazi Jews are
related. "Jews worldwide share genetic ties," Alla Katsnelson
reported in a 2010 <i>Nature </i>publication. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">We can see factors that make Jewish
identity perilous: Jews are identifiable, Jews are associated with a powerful
but contested book, the Bible, and Jews are small in number. There are more
factors that contribute to the perilous nature of Jewish identity. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem used
to be an essential part of Jewish identity. That changed in 70 AD when Rome
destroyed the temple and Jerusalem. Romans killed, enslaved, dispossessed and
exiled Jews. In 2012, Zvi Eckstein and Maristella Botticini published <i>The
Chosen Few: How Education Shaped Jewish History, 70-1492</i>. Previously, the
authors argue, Jews had been like most people throughout most of history. They
made their living from the land in agriculture and animal husbandry. After 70
AD, Jews could no longer sacrifice at the temple. Jews had to find a new way to
keep Judaism alive. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In this new paradigm, Jews would remain Jews
by funding the writing of Torah scrolls, and by teaching sons to read, write,
and study Torah. Most people through most of history have not been able to read
and write. Jews, therefore, came to have an almost magical skill. Jews were
employed for their newly cultivated skills in literacy and numeracy. Only a
small number of literate men were needed in any given location in the ancient
world, and usually only better-off people could afford to hire a literate and numerate
employee. For these reasons, Jews began to disperse and Jews began to be
associated with their wealthier, more powerful employers. Given that Jews in
various locales shared their own languages – from Aramaic to Yiddish – Jews
could keep in touch with other Jews throughout their diaspora. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3874909"><span style="color: windowtext;">Botticini
and Eckstein write</span></a>, "Almost all Jews entered urban occupations
despite no restrictions prohibiting them from remaining in agriculture. This
occupational selection remained their distinctive mark thereafter."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Jews' new role was a mixed blessing.
Jews were, again, a distinct identity, and a relatively small group, now
associated with the powerful, but not themselves as powerful as their patrons,
and they were also associated with professions that most people did not
practice. Most people in the ancient and medieval world were farmers and
herders. Jews were urban, educated, working in markets, banking, medicine,
management, and minting money. There are fault lines between farmers and
merchants, between the formally educated and those lacking formal education,
between the rulers and the ruled, between rural areas and urban ones, and
between people practicing agriculture and a barter economy and people using
money. All those tensions arose between non-Jews and Jews. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In 1973, Edna Bonacich, the daughter of
a rabbi, offered an outline of middleman minority theory. Middleman minority
theory isn't the complete explanation for anti-Semitism, but it is helpful in
many settings. Middleman minority populations are concentrated in urban,
skilled, and mercantile professions. They are not constrained by the
surrounding culture's taboos that impede business progress for those rooted in
their communities. Rooted peasants, like my black neighbors who "keep it
real," often do not strive to excel; rather, they aim for equal status
with others in their community. Think of the "tall poppy syndrome." Working
hard would not advance the status of many such people; they were trapped by
serfdom, slavery, sharecropping, or other conditions that relegated them to
dying at the same status they were born into. Middleman minorities have at
least a ritual tie to another territory, and, if only in a mythic sense,
experience themselves as "sojourners." The sojourner mindset impedes
the forming of intimate bonds with members of what Bonacich calls the
"host" society. Bonds are formed with other members of the middleman
group, even those geographically distant. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Groups other than Jews have performed
middleman minority functions. Chinese have been middleman minorities in Asia; Koreans
have been middleman minorities in American inner cities – think of the
"Rooftop Koreans" meme. Armenians were middleman minorities in the
Ottoman Empire; Indians and Lebanese in Africa; Japanese in Peru; Tamils in Sri
Lanka. As Thomas Sowell, Amy Chua, and others have pointed out, where a
distinct ethnic group has played the role of the middleman minority, tensions
have arisen, and atrocities often follow. Muslim Turks committed a genocide
against Christian Armenians. Muslim Indonesians committed hideous rapes of
Chinese women in 1998. Indians were expelled from Uganda in Africa. In 1983,
during "Black July," Sinhalese pogromists tortured, raped, and
murdered thousands of Tamils, and triggered a civil war. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Humans kill and commit atrocities
against their neighbors. Jews, for the reasons mentioned above, have a long
history, and have lived in diaspora since the destruction of the temple in 70
AD. Jews, over millennia, have had many neighbors, and therefore, there was a
chance for tension between Jews and members of other groups. Jews have faced
prejudice in many different countries because Jews' unique job skills, after
the literacy revolution, sent them to many different countries, and located
them in the middle – that is, in fault lines between demographics. Jews are not
uniquely evil; Jews are not supernaturally destined to be persecuted. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Instead of citing historical contexts
that can help elucidate otherwise incomprehensible violence and hate, the
knee-jerk position has been to blame Christianity. On November 3, 2023,
influential journalist Fareed Zakaria appeared on <i>Real Time with Bill Maher</i>.
Zakaria attended Yale and Harvard. He has worked for CNN, <i>TIME</i>, <i>Newsweek</i>,
and <i>Foreign Affairs. </i>Zakaria is an influential man. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Maher asked, "What do you make of
this gut-wrenching level of anti-Semitism? It was like a volcano that blew. I
don't know where this comes from … among young people who hated Trump because
he [<a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/trump-campaign-press-release-fact-check-after-charlottesville-president-trump-2"><span style="color: windowtext;">allegedly</span></a>] wouldn't condemn the people with
the tiki torches. You are the ones with the tiki torches now!" <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Zakaria responded, "It comes out of
Christian ideas about Jews." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Zakaria is the son of an Islamic
theologian. He knows that he is lying. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In 2019, Bari Weiss published <i>How to
Fight Anti-Semitism. </i>Weiss hits Christianity hard, and inaccurately. And
she is very careful not to be too hard on Islam. See my review of this book <a href="https://www.frontpagemag.com/how-fight-anti-semitism-danusha-v-goska/"><span style="color: windowtext;">here</span></a>. A Facebook friend, a prize-winning
poet, was asked how to understand Hamas atrocities. He blamed priests and nuns.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Nazism is a separate topic. Nazism was
its own ideology, hostile to Christianity, and springing from very different
roots. I make that argument <a href="https://save-send-delete.blogspot.com/2021/02/against-identifying-nazism-with.html"><span style="color: windowtext;">here</span></a>. But what about the Rhineland
massacres, the Spanish Inquisition, Bogdan Chmielnicki, pogroms? These
atrocities were committed by Christians. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Christians who committed atrocities
against Jews acted directly against their founder, their scripture, and their
most authoritative teachers. Jesus was a Jew, living in Israel, citing Jewish
scripture, speaking a Jewish language, participating in Jewish ritual life, tracing
his lineage back to King David. Jesus' apostles were Jews. New Testament
authors, possibly, but not certainly excluding Luke, were Jews. Jesus never
tortured or killed anyone. He endured torture and death without resistance, out
of love for humanity. Jesus taught love. Jesus identified <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2015%3A21-28%2CMark%207%3A24-30&version=NIV"><span style="color: windowtext;">Jews as God's chosen</span></a> and the people who
would produce the Messiah. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%204%3A22&version=NIV"><span style="color: windowtext;">Jesus said</span></a>, "Salvation is from the
Jews." Paul taught that God's promises to the Jews are irrevocable. Christians
of all denominations accept the full authority of the Old Testament; rejection
of the Old Testament is heretical. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The New Testament contains a minority of
lines that are harshly critical of Jews. These hair-raising words were written
by Jews writing as part of a Jewish tradition. Matthew and John, both certainly
Jewish authors, contain the most problematic verses. Luke, whose identity is in
debate, is not a source of anti-Jewish material. The Old Testament contains
similar verses of equal ferocity criticizing Jews. Conversely, as mentioned
above, the New Testament contains verses extolling Jews. In any case, there is
no command for Christians to commit violence against Jews. It's undeniable,
though, that anti-Semitic Christians have exploited New Testament verses to
foment hatred of Jews. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">On the other hand, popes and other
officials repeatedly condemned mistreatment of Jews. See <i>Sicut Judaeis </i>and
other similar preceding and subsequent papal decrees. See also "<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25024201"><span style="color: windowtext;">Bishops
and Jews in the Middle Ages</span></a>" by Norman Roth. Roth describes
philo- and anti-Semitic clergy and disproves an image of uniformly negative
interactions. The mid-sixteenth century Council of Trent denounced the popular concept
of deicide, that is, the idea that Jews were responsible for the death of
Jesus. We, the council insisted, are responsible. "We" includes all
Christians, and all people. Pope Pius XI said that, spiritually, Christians are
all Semites. Pope John Paul II said "The Jewish religion is not extrinsic
to us, but in a certain way is intrinsic to our own religion. With Judaism,
therefore, we have a relationship which we do not have with any other religion
… you are our elder brothers." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Exactly because there is no command or
precedent in the New Testament for Christians to persecute Jews, understanding
the position of Jews living among Christians requires reference to historical
context. In some places, at some times, persecution was intense. In other
places, at other times, relations were non-violent, conducive to Jewish
flourishing, or even mutually affectionate. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">By some estimates 80% of American Jews
have ancestry in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which, at its largest,
extended from Estonia to Romania, and into today's Russia. Author Paul Berman depicted
life for Jews in "darkest Poland" as comparable to life for blacks in
the American South. Berman's image, of Polish Jews as comparable to black
slaves, is both widespread and false. Salo Baron, "the greatest Jewish
historian of the 20th century," criticized such views as the "lachrymose
conception of Jewish history." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Rafael Scharf was born and grew up in
interwar Poland. He asked, "If it was so bad, then why was it so
good?" What Scharf meant by "so good" is encapsulated in a quote
from historian Joseph Adler. In interwar Poland, "Jews who formed ten
percent of the population constituted thirty percent of the country's
university students, forty-nine percent of all lawyers, forty-six percent of
the physicians, as well as fifty-nine percent of the nation's population
engaged in commerce, and twenty-one percent in industry ... Judaic studies
would flourish ... in 1937 alone the Jewish community of Poland published some
two hundred fifty periodicals and over seven hundred books." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In contrast, in the early twentieth
century, the majority of Poles were poor farmers whose ancestors, in the
previous century, had been serfs. In eastern Poland, literacy rates were as low
as forty percent. When Booker T. Washington visited Poland, he observed,
"Wherever in Poland money changes hands a Jew is always there to take
charge of it. In fact, it seemed to me that the Jew in Poland was almost like
the money he handled, a sort of medium of exchange." One can see numerous
fault lines between Polish Jews and Polish Catholics. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Christians and Jews have interacted for
2,000 years. One can't, in a brief article, fully describe 2,000 years of
interaction in several different cultures, countries, and political systems. One
theory – the middleman minority theory – no matter how useful that theory may
be, can't explain every fault line between Jews and Christians. This much is
clear. Some, not all Christians, including church officials and lay Christians,
have, at times and in places, disseminated anti-Semitic hatred, and falsely
insisted that that hatred was Christian. Christians have oppressed, persecuted and
murdered Jews. At other times and in other places, other Christians, clergy and
lay, have had mutually beneficial interactions with Jews. Throughout history
there have been Christians who, at the risk of their own lives, have championed
and protected Jews against deadly violence. They cited genuine Christian
beliefs in that work. Every member of the Ulma family was murdered by Nazis for
the help they offered Jews. The Ulmas offered that help because of the
authentic Christian teaching found in the parable of the Good Samaritan (see <a href="https://aleteia.org/2023/09/06/the-ulma-family-bible-had-3-verses-underlined/"><span style="color: windowtext;">here</span></a>). In spite of the worst conditions in
Nazi-occupied Europe, Catholic Poland produced more "righteous" saviors
of Jews than any other country. Those righteous included priests and nuns. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">When the world conflates Christianity
with anti-Semitism, it doesn't do so out of love for Jews. It does so out of
hatred for Christianity. Anti-Semitism and Christophobia walk hand in hand
along the same demonic path. Reference to historical context would not excuse
atrocities committed by Christians against Jews; there is no excuse. But
reference to historical context would deepen understanding of anti-Semitism,
and all hatred, and clarify understandings of Christianity per se. This essay
strongly recommends reference to historical context when discussing Christian
anti-Semitism. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">When we discuss events like October 7,
and the wider phenomenon of Muslim anti-Semitism, it is conventional to reverse
the approach taken in reference to Christian anti-Semitism. Christianity itself
is made to be responsible for hate. Historical context is ignored. Regarding
Islam, historical context is to blame for anti-Semitism. Islam itself is
white-washed as a "tolerant" "religion of peace." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The white-washing of Islam has a
history. In <i>Islam in History, </i>Bernard Lewis <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Islam_in_History/h5tjQSU4Ex0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Even%20at%20its%20best,%20medieval%20Islam%20was%20rather%20different%20from%20the%20picture%20provided%20by%20Disraeli%20and%20other%20romantic%20writers."><span style="color: windowtext;">wrote</span></a> that even when Islam was at its most
tolerant "the golden age of equal rights was a myth … invented by Jews in
19th-century Europe as a reproach to Christians – and taken up by Muslims in
our own time as a reproach to Jews … if tolerance means the absence of
discrimination, then Islam never was or claimed to be tolerant, but on the
contrary insisted on the privileged superiority of the true believer in this
world as well as the next." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">People familiar with the Rhineland
Massacres are not generally familiar with the 1033 Fez Massacre, when Muslims
massacred an estimated 6,000 Jews, took Jewish women as sex slaves, and stole
Jewish property. Jews were again massacred in Fez in 1438 and 1465. In 1066,
Muslims crucified a Jew in Granada, and massacred the city's Jewish population.
In 1941, Muslims in Baghdad massacred Jews. In 1817 in Morocco, Sol Hachuel, a
17-year-old Jewish girl and a renowned beauty, was beheaded for refusing to
convert to Islam. In nineteenth century Morocco, Jews were required to walk
barefoot when outside the ghetto. In the ninth century, Muslims forced Jews and
Christians to wear identifying badges – donkeys for Jews, pigs for Christians. Periodic
decrees, stretching across centuries, in Muslim North Africa and the Middle
East ordered the destruction of synagogues. Also periodically Jews were ordered
to convert to Islam or be killed. In 1909, a British observer <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-treatment-of-jews-in-arab-islamic-countries"><span style="color: windowtext;">wrote</span></a>, "The attitude of the Muslims
toward the Christians and the Jews is that of a master towards slaves, whom he
treats with a certain lordly tolerance so long as they keep their place. Any
sign of pretension to equality is promptly repressed." These facts are not
adduced to prove that it was all bad all the time for Jews under Islam. I
mention them because they complicate powerful propaganda whitewashing Islam as
"tolerant" and "peaceful." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">This essay cannot provide, and is not
trying to provide, an exhaustive history of life for Jews in the Muslim world.
Rather, this essay is meant to address those who have succumbed to popular
romanticization of Islam as "tolerant" and "peaceful," and
who emphasize historical context of Muslim anti-Semitism, and ignore the
Islamic substrate of that anti-Semitism. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Many factors thoroughly differentiate
Islam from Christianity. The Quran is not comparable to the Bible. The Bible
has roughly 800,000 words, written by perhaps forty authors over the course of
over a thousand years. The genre of Biblical books changes from allegory to
poetry to erotica to reportage. The Quran is about 80,000 words. The Quran is a
tenth of the size of the Bible. It is replete with repeated material; if all
those repetitions were removed, it would be 40% of its current size. The
Quran's brevity offers many fewer opportunities for varying interpretations of
previous statements. The Quran states in its first chapter that Jews earn God's
anger and Christians have gone astray from God. Nothing elsewhere in the Quran
softens or disagrees with that pronouncement, one that pious Muslims are
required to repeat seventeen times daily. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Jews and Christians have been debating
the Bible for thousands of years. These debates are a necessary part of
community and are ongoing. Debate is modeled by Biblical characters like <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2018&version=NIV"><span style="color: windowtext;">Abraham</span></a>, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2032%3A22-31&version=NIV"><span style="color: windowtext;">Jacob</span></a>, and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%202&version=NIV"><span style="color: windowtext;">Mary</span></a>. The Bible is regularly translated
anew, as language changes. The Quran, in contrast, is perfect and eternal. Translations
are not allowed. To say that anyone created the Quran is <a href="https://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/eternal_quran.htm"><span style="color: windowtext;">punishable by death</span></a>. Muslims insist that no
changes have ever been made to the Quran, though this claim is patently false. The
Muslim's job is not to question the Quran. The Muslim's job is to submit,
unquestioningly, to the Quran. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Quran forbids Muslims from taking
Jews and Christians as friends (5:51). Jews and Christians are the worst of
creatures (98:6). Jews are the worst enemies of Muslims (5:82). Allah turned
Jews into apes and pigs (5:60). Allah cursed the Jews with humiliation and
poverty (2:61). The Quran orders that those non-Muslims who are allowed to live
– so that they can enrich Muslims with their tax dollars – must be
ritualistically and perpetually "humiliated." This humiliation
applies to Christians and Jews. And of course the Quran quite clearly
recommends eternal warfare, torture and death for non-Muslims (5:33). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Muhammad, whose historicity is disputed,
is the putative founder of Islam. Muslims understand Muhammad to be <i>al-Insan
al-Kamil,</i> the perfect human, worthy of emulation. Muhammad declared himself
a prophet of the same line as Jewish and Christian figures. He declared this
though he was an Arab Pagan, and not Jewish, he lived in the Arabian peninsula,
not in Israel, he did not know the Bible, and he did not descend from David.
Muhammad, according to his legendary biography, craved affirmation from Jews,
but Jews saw through him. Whereas Christians accept the Jewish Bible as
authoritative and from God, Muslims reject and indeed calumniate the Bible. Ownership
of a Bible in a Muslim country can lead to imprisonment, torture, and death. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Muhammad committed a genocide of a
Jewish tribe, the Banu Qurayzah. Muhammad ordered the torture with fire of a
captured Jew, Kenana al-Rabi. Muhammad took as his sex slave this tortured and
murdered Jew's wife. Muhammad had also killed the father and brother of Safiyah
bint Huyayy. Muhammad ordered the expulsion of Christians and Jews from the
Arabian peninsula. Zaynab bint al-Harith, a Jewish woman, poisoned Muhammad.
When asked why, she replied, "You killed my father, my uncle and my
husband. There is nothing left you have not done to my people." In some
versions, Muhammad eventually died of this poisoning. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Hadiths are the collected sayings of
Muhammad. Hadiths reaffirm Islam's eternal warfare against non-Muslims. Muhammad
declares, "I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people
until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah."
Hadiths also report that Allah will take sins from Muslims and use them to
torture Christians and Jews in order to relieve Muslims. <a href="https://www.answering-islam.org/authors/shamoun/saved_in_hadith.html"><span style="color: windowtext;">Muslims will be saved from Hell</span></a> when Allah
places a Jew or Christian in the place of the Muslim. According to another
hadith, "The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight
against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide
themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or
the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree
gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews." <a href="https://www.c4israel.org/_teachings/gharqad-the-tree-of-the-jews/"><span style="color: windowtext;">Muslims take this hadith so literally</span></a> that
they think that Israelis are planting gharqad trees for self-protection. In
another hadith (<a href="https://sunnah.com/muslim:2997a"><span style="color: windowtext;">Muslim 2997a 7496</span></a>) Muhammad said that some
mice or rats are actually human Jews in mouse form. One can differentiate
between real mice and Jewish mice by inviting them to drink camel's milk. The
Jewish mice will decline. Next, the Muslim must invite the Jewish mice to drink
sheep's or goat's milk. That, they will drink. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Hamas describes itself, not as a
political entity, but as a religious one. Hamas speaks of Israel in Islamic
terms, as a "waqf," that is territory once inhabited by Muslims and
that, therefore, according to Islam, must never again be allowed to be anything
but part of Dar al-Islam. "Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for
future Moslem generations until Judgement Day" reads the Hamas covenant. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Islam, not historic context, creates and
perpetuates violent hostility between Muslims and non-Muslims, especially Jews.
Focus on any increase or decrease in settlements or any other political question
will not end conflict. Applying distorted paradigms and wrong assumptions about
Christians or Christianity to Muslims and Islam is a deadly mistake. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Danusha Goska is the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/God-Through-Binoculars-Hitchhiker-Monastery/dp/1947067613"><span style="color: windowtext;">God Through Binoculars: A Hitchhiker at a Monastery</span></a><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></u></p><br /><p></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-65235796571341807782023-11-02T20:09:00.006-04:002023-11-02T20:09:38.562-04:00Splinters from a Broken Heart: Israel, Hamas and Social Media <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeNXDNhaKXk3K4Zckk6__f6_8pEWXa5Lb97FS9IJSsI_mwz1WOPi2is1x_kndVES6jsfxYOl4xDKoZzWHfY0Jn1YRNRFFExMAGr_hQtGDlAhZKATql-rat51jnqDT6JP11UBgNGXb4eu-XEMPIaSGNl4qM-yt2ryfei1jtZwoDWD0_So1Pa0tLtBA8ZtbA/s930/shutterstock_2250989357-930x520-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="930" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeNXDNhaKXk3K4Zckk6__f6_8pEWXa5Lb97FS9IJSsI_mwz1WOPi2is1x_kndVES6jsfxYOl4xDKoZzWHfY0Jn1YRNRFFExMAGr_hQtGDlAhZKATql-rat51jnqDT6JP11UBgNGXb4eu-XEMPIaSGNl4qM-yt2ryfei1jtZwoDWD0_So1Pa0tLtBA8ZtbA/w640-h358/shutterstock_2250989357-930x520-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Splinters from
a Broken Heart<br /> </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Israel, Hamas,
and social media </span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Pieter Bruegel
the Elder was a sixteenth-century star in the Dutch and Flemish Renaissance.
He's most often associated with paintings of peasants and other common people
doing everyday things: hunting in the snow, ice-skating, dancing at a wedding,
eating, sleeping, and playing children's games. In one painting, a peasant is
doing what peasants have been doing for over ten thousand years. He is plowing.
The earth rises up in furrows. The horse trudges forward. The plowman keeps his
gaze directed at the ground beneath his feet. On a terrace beneath the plowman,
a blank-faced shepherd, surrounded by sheep, leans on his staff and directs his
gaze toward the sky. Further down, a fisherman casts out his line. In the
distance, the wind puffs the sails of a galleon. Only after learning the name
of the painting does the viewer search the scene beyond these prominent
features. And there the viewer finds them: two pale, naked legs are plunging
into the water. This is "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus." Icarus
was a character in Greek mythology. His father manufactured wings so his son
could fly. The wings gave way and Icarus fell to earth. Many other artists have
depicted Icarus' fall. They usually place him in the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Design-Toscano-Lament-Replica-Painting/dp/B007KDCKGM?th=1">center</a>.
Bruegel did not. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In 1938, almost
four hundred years after "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus," poet
W.H. Auden visited Belgium's Royal Museums of Fine Arts. He wrote a poem about
the paintings he saw there. Auden observes that the Old Masters were never
wrong in their artistic depictions of human suffering. In Nativity scenes,
there are some children who don't much care about the birth of the Messiah;
they are off ice-skating. In scenes of martyrdom, "the dogs go on with
their doggy life and the torturer's horse scratches its innocent behind on a
tree." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">And then there
is that boy falling out of the sky. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.35pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"the
ploughman may<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.35pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">have
heard the splash, the forsaken cry,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.35pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">but
for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.35pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">as
it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.35pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">water,
and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.35pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">something
amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 28.35pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">had
somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The human
ability to ignore shocking data and to carry on with the business of every day
life is an important survival skill. Perhaps nothing is as shocking to an
individual as losing a loved one to death, and yet we get up the next morning,
make breakfast, clock in at work, and march dully forward into a future void
where our departed loved one will never again play any part. The problem is, of
course, that evil people count on this human ability to stroll past atrocity.
The internet seemed, at first, to promise that that most precious of
commodities, human attention, would be focused on wrongdoing. Evil people, thus
exposed, would hesitate to commit crimes, or would stop committing crimes once
those crimes were filmed and witnessed by others.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a> <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">On October 7,
2023, Hamas jihadis attacked Israeli civilians. The jihadis carried out an orgy
of atrocities against defenseless people who were at a music festival, or
sleeping in their beds, or even just relieving themselves in a port-a-potty.
Jihadis tied a father and child together with wire and then burned them both to
death. Hamas jihadis paraded a dead woman's stripped corpse so that other
Muslims could spit on her remains. Hamas jihadis tied children together and
then set them all alight and burned them alive. Hamas jihadis sexually violated
copses. Hamas jihadis ate a family's lunch as they tortured and mutilated
parents and two young children. A Hamas jihadi used a garden hoe to attempt to
decapitate an injured but still living agricultural worker from Thailand. And
Hamas jihadis placed a Jewish baby in an oven and turned on the heat, murdering
the infant. Hamas jihadis filmed their atrocities, and shared them with pride.
Captured jihadis later described their atrocities in interrogations with Israeli
officials. One admitted that Hamas jihadis kidnapped women and children in
order to "dirty," that is to rape them. Another said, "We became
animals." He and his fellow jihadis, he confessed, did "things that
humans do not do." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The atrocities
Hamas jihadis committed are in accord with the standards established by Quran
verses, hadiths, and examples from the biography of Muhammad. These canonical
materials support endless war, torture, rape, including the rape of minors,
genocide, and dismemberment of non-Muslims. Muhammad committed a genocide of a
Jewish tribe, the Banu Qurayzah. Muhammad ordered the torture with fire of a
captured Jew, Kenana al-Rabi. Muhammad took as his sex slave this tortured and
murdered Jew's wife. Muhammad had also killed the father and brother of Safiyah
bint Huyayy. <a href="https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/muhammad/rape.aspx">Muhammad
ordered</a> his jihadis not just to rape women captives of war, but also to
rape them in front of their husbands, and to impregnate them. Muhammad
permitted the killing of women and children, saying, "<a href="https://www.answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/jihad.htm">They are of
them</a>," that is, they are members of a group we want to wipe out, so
killing them is permitted. Muhammad ordered the expulsion of Christians and
Jews from the Arabian peninsula. The Quran orders Muslims to subject Christians
and Jews to "humiliation." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Hamas
atrocities are related to atrocities committed by other jihadis elsewhere. ISIS
committed filmed atrocities for years. Their victims included Shiite Muslims,
Yazidis, and Christians. In 2015, jihadis attacked in Paris, murdering 137 and
injuring over 400. In the US there has been a string of jihad atrocities,
including the 9/11 attacks, the Boston Marathon bombing, the San Bernardino
attack, and many others. Jihadis attack their fellow Muslims, as well. See a
partial list <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Islamist_terrorist_attacks">here</a>
and <a href="https://thereligionofpeace.com/">here</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The current
estimate is that over 1,400 Israelis were killed. Given that Israel is much
smaller than the US, by some estimates, a proportional loss of life in the US
would have erased over 50,000 American lives. Here's another metric. On October
7, more Jewish civilians were murdered on any day since the end of the
Holocaust. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Many Muslims
and their supporters around the world reacted with glee and approval to October
7. There were the <i>de rigueur</i> ululations and distribution of celebratory
candy. Muslim journalist Latifa Abouchakra, a broad smile spreading across her
face, said, "Nothing will ever be able to take back this moment, this
moment of triumph … this moment of humiliation" of Jews. Professor<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Refaat Alareer, who had previously been
praised by and published in the <i>New York Times, </i>joked about killing a
Jewish baby in an oven. In Dagestan, Muslims mobbed an airport and climbed on
planes, attempting to break windows, in response to a rumor that Jews might be
on those planes. Other Muslims "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/29/mob-storms-dagestan-airport-in-search-of-jewish-passengers-from-israel">besieged</a>"
a hotel in search of Jewish guests. In Sydney, Australia, near the iconic opera
house, Muslims and their allies chanted "Gas the Jews." At <a href="https://forward.com/fast-forward/567456/antisemitic-threats-cornell-shutter-kosher-dining-hall-have-jewish-students-hiding-their-rooms/">Cornell</a>
in New York State, Jewish students have been receiving messages like,
"watch out pig jews. nowhere is safe. Your synagogues will become
graveyards. your women will be raped and your children will be beheaded. glory
to Allah" [sic]. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Mika Tosca, a
professor at the Art Institute of Chicago, and a man who identifies as a woman,
called Israelis pigs, savages, very bad people, irredeemable excrement, and
concluded, "May they all rot in hell." Support for Hamas atrocities
perhaps reached its absurdist nadir when British prostitutes joined in. Their
statement of support is <a href="https://twitter.com/swunion_uk/status/1717612611452162488">here</a>. Or,
as <a href="https://www.queermajority.com/essays-all/queers-for-palestine-and-the-death-of-irony">Armin
Navabi</a> points out, the cluelessness of Western leftists' support for Hamas
is best illustrated by "Queers for Palestine." Of course gay and
trans-identified people are regularly tortured and killed by Muslims in Gaza. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">It doesn't take
a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing. Aware citizens recognized
October 7 as a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, and as a day that
called for decent people to take a stand. There are selfish reasons as well as
humanitarian ones for concern. Israel is a tiny country, approximately the size
of New Jersey. It has fewer than ten million citizens. But Israel is a nuclear
power. Jews have become impatient with being targeted for genocide while the
world stands idly by. Desperation might cause fingers on buttons to twitch.
Israel's nukes do not render it omnipotent. There are almost two billion
Muslims in the world. Some of those allies have nukes. Israel is located in a
petroleum hub, and the world runs on petroleum. The World Bank warned on
October 30 that Hamas atrocities and subsequent Israeli response could trigger
an oil price shock and an increase in already troublesome inflation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Jihadis often
justify their atrocities with reference to previous events. Boston Marathon
bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev attempted to justify his murder of an eight-year-old
boy, Martin Richard. America had killed Muslims, Tsarnaev insisted, so it was
righteous to plant a pressure cooker bomb full of nails next to Martin
Richard's tiny, innocent body. Tsarnaev wrote, "The US Government is
killing our innocent civilians … I can't stand to see such evil go unpunished,
we Muslims are one body, you hurt one you hurt us all." On October 7,
thinking people knew: Israel will retaliate, and Muslims will, in turn, murder
Americans, and attempt to justify that murder just as Tsarnaev attempted to
justify the senseless murder of a little boy standing right next to him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Finally, there
is one more selfish reason for the whole world to shudder at October 7 and its
aftermath. Anti-Semites may start with Jews, but they don't finish with Jews.
Every act that emboldens jihadis makes everyone – even other Muslims – less
safe. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Moral people
feel as if we are reliving the days of Nazism's rise. When we learned about
Nazism in school, we were encouraged to ask ourselves, what would we do if we
witnessed anything similar? We were all sure that we'd be the heroes. The
heroes intelligent enough to recognize the threat. The heroes courageous enough
to speak up in spite of the mob. The heroes integral enough to take action. The
heroes compassionate enough to see in victimized Jews a fellow human being. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I looked for
that heroism on social media, even the minor heroism of adding a tiny Israeli
flag to a Facebook photo. I well remember January, 2019, when Facebook was
suddenly flooded with video of a teenage boy in front of the Lincoln Memorial face
to face with an elderly man banging a drum. The video came through my feed
multiple times from Judy, Terry, and other liberal, middle-aged white women.
They spoke in the panicked tones of the last passenger aboard the sinking
Titanic. The white boy was the embodiment of everything evil. We all had to
live our lives as if we were plugged into an electric outlet pumping our beings
with righteous, electrifying outrage until this white boy was, as one <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/film-producer-jack-morrissey-apologizes-021839296.html">social
media post</a> illustrated, fed into a wood chipper and reduced to squirting
blood and unrecognizable slices of viscera. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I also remember
the summer of 2020, when, again, liberal, middle-aged white women were on fire,
so much so that these nice ladies voted thumbs up when whites and blacks alike,
including black police officer David Dorn, were murdered in the streets as part
of a vast worldwide ritual of human sacrifice for the new deity, George Floyd.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Surely there
would be a similar series of Facebook posts expressing outrage at the rape of
corpses, the beheading of a Thai agriculture worker, the burning alive of
children tied together. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Of course that
never happened. Very few of my Facebook friends posted anything at all saying
anything at all about October 7. One posted an article questioning the truth
value of the atrocity reports. Maybe Jews were lying. Maybe these bad things
never happened. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">A few women
posted images of doves with olive branches in their beaks accompanied by
statements insisting, paraphrase, "Peace is better than war. We should
have peace." One Facebook friend posted a photo of a boy in a keffiyeh
hugging a boy in a yarmulke. The photo is fake and was staged; see <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/famous-coexistence-pic-outed-as-fake/">here</a>.
My friend didn't care. She wants the world to be soft and sweet and closes her
eyes when it is not. I am sad that she and so many others believe it is moral
to close one's eyes to others' inconvenient pain and to pure evil. One male
friend posted a "both sides" post. He also claimed that Israelis are
really German. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">After jihad
attacks on France, many Facebook friends, including liberals, added a French
flag to their profile photo. After October 7, just one friend, a
Polish-American Catholic, added an Israeli flag to her photo. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I posted a
photo of a horse. I snapped the photo in a local park. I admitted that I'm not
a big horse fan or cat fan, but I thought the horse looked attractive against
the bright blue autumn sky. Facebook friends who had been silent when I posted
support for Israel suddenly had something to say. Horses are nice, they
insisted. Cats are also nice. My Facebook friends who had nothing to say about
the massacre of Jews were ready to go to the mat for horses and cats. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Jews everywhere
should carry a kitten at all times. Then, if the Jew is attacked, the kitten
will be imperiled also, and suddenly the world will care. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">New Jersey is a
diverse state. New Jersey has both comparatively high Muslim and also Jewish
populations. On Monday, October 23, I had a doctor's appointment. A woman I
know to be Jewish was conversing with the receptionist. The receptionist asked,
"For your next appointment, would you like a date just before or just
after Christmas?" <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The woman
responded, "Makes no difference to me. I'm --" <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">She was about
to say, "I'm Jewish." But she didn't. Instead, she said, "I
don't celebrate Christmas." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I was chilled.
In my state. In my country. A woman is afraid to say, in the civilized setting
of a crowded doctor's waiting room, the words, "I'm Jewish." Her fear
is not exaggerated. In December, 2019, anti-Semites carried out a terror attack
in Jersey City, killing four. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">A Facebook
friend who lives in Bloomington, Indiana, reported that her husband attended a
pro-Israel event. He felt it necessary to wear body armor. His concern is not
exaggerated. When I lived in Bloomington as an IU graduate student, the local
Hillel was repeatedly subjected to threats of violence, and on July 4, 1999, an
IU student went on a shooting spree and shot Jews, Blacks, Christians, and
Asians. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I posted the
following on Facebook: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"After
Russia invaded Ukraine, I safety-pinned a Ukrainian flag to my backpack. I wear
the flag everyday, on the back of my backpack, as I walk. Ukrainians stop me
and thank me. I tell them I am praying for a just peace in their homeland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">After October
7, I searched for Israeli flags. And then I realized that if I wore an Israeli
flag on my backpack in the same way that I wear the Ukrainian flag, people
would hurt me. If I wore an Israeli flag, I would risk being pushed, hit, spat
on, having rocks thrown at me, and even killed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Friends,
imagine how many Jews feel now. In America. The land of the free and the home
of the brave. They see that Jews are targets for deadly and sadistic hate. They
see that too many stand by silently. Jews are less than one percent of the
world's population. Without allies, Jews are doomed. Looking the other way at a
moment like this sends the wrong message. Do something, please. Post a picture
of a menorah. Call the White House. Say, simply, 'This is horrible.'" <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">This post got a
few likes, mostly from Jewish friends. But no more than that. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">No, I do not
think that my friends who are remaining silent are anti-Semitic. But their
silence makes me rethink the definition of "anti-Semitism." Choosing
to look the other way when a vulnerable minority is targeted isn't the same as
seething hatred, but it can contribute to the same final outcome, the same
final solution. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I don't know if
the silent ones buy the narrative from National Public Radio and other powerful
media. In this narrative, jihadi atrocities on October 7 were sad, of course,
very sad. But, "both sides." But, "proportional." But, "1400
Jews" versus the death toll in Gaza, now put at 8,000 by the Gaza Health
Ministry. The ladies who posted peace doves are very upset by that number. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Here's what NPR
refuses to say. If Muslims recognized Israel, war would cease. The only ones
who rejoice at Muslim death tolls are Hamas and other anti-Semites. To Hamas
and other anti-Semites, dead Muslim Arabs have only one purpose: to inflame
more hatred against Jews. Israel would gladly fight Hamas by the rules of
conventional war, but Hamas fights an unconventional war because unconventional
war is to its advantage. NPR does not say that Hamas is a genocidal movement
whose stated goal is, ultimately, to kill every Jew in the world. Hamas insists
that this genocide is the duty of every Muslim, as outlined in sacred texts.
See <a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp">here</a>. I've
tried to speak these truths in comments to the <i>New York Times. </i>I am
civil. I quote canonical texts. The <i>New York Times, </i>though it posts
other comments by me, does not post these comments. As long as these basic
truths are unsayable in mainstream media, Israel must be depicted as the bad
guy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">NPR insists
that Gaza is a terrible place to live. NPR blames Israel for Gaza's poor living
conditions. Here's what NPR will not mention: Muslim countries in Africa,
including Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Somalia, Sudan, and Chad, and Muslim
countries in the Middle East, like Syria, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Yemen,
and Muslim countries in Central Asia, like Pakistan and Afghanistan, and in
South Asia, like Bangladesh – are terrible places to live. They all host terror
cells. Countries with Muslim minorities, including the US, and in Europe, in
the UK, France, Belgium and Holland, and the Philippines and Thailand in
South-east Asia, all host Muslim terror cells. The one thing they all have in
common is a shared belief system: Islam. There's a reason there are Muslims
protesting in Europe, America, and Australia. All those Muslims wanted to be
someplace other than their Islamic homelands, so they are now in Europe,
America, and Australia. The problem is not Israel. The solution is not two
states or even the eradication of Israel that Hamas demands. The solution is
telling people the truth about Islam and liberating Muslims from the ideology
that ruins their lives. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Worldwide
protesters don't care about dead Muslims. We know because worldwide protesters
remain silent about China's extreme oppression of Uighurs. Over a million
Uighurs have been detained in camps by China. There has been no significant
street protest against China. The Muslim Rohingya have been violently
persecuted in Myanmar (Burma) and are unwanted in countries to which they have
fled, including Bangladesh and Thailand. Thais have towed Rohingya out to sea.
There have been no significant street protests for the Rohingya, nor for
Iranian women, or Syrian victims of government torture, or for stateless Kurds,
or for the Circassian diaspora, forever exiled from their homeland by Russia. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The protesters
hate Jews. They are animated by that hatred. They are not shouting or texting
or writing signs about the great new Muslim homeland they will create. They are
fantasizing about gassing and raping and beheading Jews. We need leadership
that has the courage to articulate these truths. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Two of my
non-Jewish Facebook friends have been speaking up. Robert Guyton is a devout
Catholic and a man of integrity. He does not rejoice in his difference from the
silent ones. He said that exhibiting integrity merely allows him the ability to
look at himself in the mirror. He wrote,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"I have
had to take a stand several times in my life, and say what others will not,
about things I see that others ignore. I don't like doing it. I don't feel
noble. I usually feel angry that I was put in a position to act while others
stood about or hid. I don't like it because I feel like I could go 'OK Corral'
too easily, and may not know when to stop. My 'example' means nothing to
others, as far as I can tell. Maybe they are amused, and are glad some other
dumb sap got to put himself at risk. I don't know anything really, except that
it allows me to look at myself in the mirror."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Otto Gross'
parents were Nazis. He understands the danger of zealots seduced by hate and
ignored by silent bystanders. In Hamas' strategy, Otto sees a parallel to Nazi
strategy. In Gaza, he sees the Sudetenland – territory and people manipulated
to invite what two different nihilistic ideologies demand – cataclysmic war
that purges the earth, leaving it <i>Judenrein</i>. "Hamas used donations
for other purposes than setting up a sustainable society or functional
government. The 'downtrodden Palestinians' are analogous to 'downtrodden
Sudetenland Germans': pawns to increase extremists' power. Just create
conflict, claim that others cause your misery, and misdirect rage at the
Israelis. No one wants Gazans now, including Muslim countries, because they've
been militarized. They had a land they could have built on. Egypt could have
contributed. The only thing they created was a launch pad for terrorism. Same
deal, different dogma. If they wanted peace they had a chance and blew
it." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Otto is not
alone in analogizing Hamas to Nazism. Soliman Hijjy works at the <i>New York
Times. </i>He's on the record praising Hitler, as Bari Weiss points out, <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/10/31/media/bari-weiss-slams-ny-times-for-quoting-sultan-alamer/">here</a>.
More Muslim Arab Hitler fans with <i>New York Times </i>bylines are exposed <a href="https://honestreporting.com/honestreporting-forensic-work-exposes-more-new-york-times-freelancers-who-praised-hitler-palestinian-terror/">here</a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">My Jewish
friends have not been silent. I want to, with their permission, share some of
their words. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">My Facebook
friend Marc Brawer lives in Israel. He is a jolly fellow, usually posting songs
and humorous material to uplift the spirit of anyone who passes by his page.
His words were different after October 7. That day was a Jewish holiday.
Simchat Torah marks the end, and also the beginning, of a cycle of Torah
readings. Marc wrote, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"Following
a holiday dinner on Friday evening, October 7, my son drove down to southern
Israel, near the border with Gaza, together with two of his friends to attend
the Nova music festival.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">A barrage of
rockets fell on the festival. Total chaos ensued. People ran every which way to
try to escape the attack. My son entered a shelter together with about thirty
other young people including five of his friends.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">As soon as the
rocket attack stopped, dozens of heavily armed terrorists entered the venue
with the objective to kill as many people as possible, and take hostages.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">They sprayed
automatic rifle fire into the shelter that held thirty defenseless civilians,
threw in hand grenades, and set it on fire. Anybody that tried to escape was
shot. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">My son took off
his shoes and shirt as it got very hot, and it was very difficult to breathe.
He ran out of the burning shelter, managing to avoid being shot. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Nearby he found
a large thicket of bushes next to a corpse of a young woman who had been
murdered. He hid himself in the bushes. He pretended he was dead. He laid there
for about six hours. All that time he heard gunfire, explosions of hand
grenades, shouting in Arabic, and screaming in Hebrew. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">At one point he
identified friendly vehicles of the Israeli security forces. He ran towards
them. He was barefoot, and he wasn't wearing a shirt. He wore only blood-soaked
short pants. They picked him up and took him out of that hell.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">He miraculously
escaped with his life. Four of his five friends were slaughtered on that day.
His hearing has been impaired and he is now undergoing treatment at a local
hospital." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Facebook friend
Van Ze'ev Wallach wrote that, in his New York home, he began to hear of the
October 7 attacks and decided to do something he'd never done before: attend a
Simchat Torah service.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"I
decided," Van wrote, that "the time had come … on this terrible day,
to sing and dance with my fellow Jews and the Torah … The observance took on an
eerie feel when I arrived at the shul on a drizzly Saturday night. The interior
looked dark, although cars were in the parking lot. Through the windows I could
see flickering lights and shadowy outlines of some people. A security guard,
barely visible in the gloom, told me the power had gone out that afternoon,
during a day of pounding rain, and directed me to the side entrance. This was
my introduction to <i>Hakafot</i> in darkness." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"<i>Hakafot</i>"
here means singing and dancing with Torah scrolls. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"The rabbi
mesmerized us with a story about a celebration of Simchat Torah by yeshiva
students in a concentration camp and the bittersweet nature of laughter and
tears in this moment … I felt a connection to my fellow Jews at Chabad of
Bedford, to the embattled Jews of Israel and the generations going back to Mt.
Sinai. I'll always remember October 7 as the night of the <i>Hakafot</i> in
darkness, as if we had blackout curtains hung for safety. We met in the
darkness of night, in the darkness of violence against Israel. Still, we defied
the physical and spiritual gloom when we lit candles and said prayers and
danced with the Torah."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Facebook friend
Alex Bensky predicted that Hamas would use images of Arab suffering to win the
propaganda war. He saw, in this, a parallel to Nazi strategy. Alex's local
library has a collection of <i>Signal, </i>a Nazi magazine. Alex wrote, "I
came across some articles about Allied bombing and of course there are pictures
of German women and children injured or dead, sad little faces looking at the
reader, stories about churches destroyed, schools hit by bombs, and so forth …
The death of children is of course terrible … and each and every one of these
carefully selected pictures shows someone who was the responsibility not of the
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_Bomber_Offensive">Combined Bomber
Offensive</a><span class="MsoHyperlink">,</span> but of Hitler and the Nazis … We
will be seeing lots of similar tragic pictures of Gazans and when I see them I
will bear in mind who is responsible for them."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In 1938,
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement, ceding
the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany. He said that Nazi
Germany's territorial demands on Czechoslovakia were "a quarrel in a far
away country between people of whom we know nothing." Ultimately, of
course, that "far away" "quarrel" would metastasize into a
British death toll of 384,000 soldiers killed in combat, and 70,000 dead British
civilians. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Are my Facebook
friends silent because they regard Israel as a far away country about which
they know nothing? If so, I would like to disabuse them of that belief. The
same ideology, the same canonical quotes from the same Quran and hadith that
Hamas cites in justification of its genocidal stance, that same package, took
the lives of approximately three thousand Americans on September 11, 2001. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">And there's
another reason that all of this is not far away. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">My friend Liron
posts laconic updates. Sample, "Heavy barrage. We are okay." I asked
for more details. She replied, "Hamas is firing rockets from Gaza, some
short range and others long range. There's no pattern to it, though they tend
to fire them at the center of the country in the afternoons and evenings.
Without the iron dome, we’d be f---ed."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Alex
elaborated. "Hamas is launching missiles from densely populated areas.
Here, as elsewhere, Hamas deliberately makes civilians targets and the rest of
the world, by and large, plays along."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">That's what my
Facebook friends who have been silent about Israel are scrolling past. One
friend posts cat photos; another friend posts updates informing us that she has
survived another missile barrage. All I ask is this. If you are going to
"like" the cat photos, please also "like" the update from
my friend surviving genocidal assaults.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I don't
understand how anyone can scroll past accounts like that from my friend, the
author Karen A. Wyle. Karen's mother, Bronislawa Zarkower, left Poland in 1938.
The Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, and built Auschwitz and other death camps
there. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Karen reports,
"My father Karl Weihrauch left Berlin a month before Kristallnacht. He and
his brother Bert went back into Europe and then Germany with the U.S. military.
He was in a rifle squad in the 42nd Division, in one of two units that were first
into Dachau. He saw at least one guard alive who was dead in the photos taken
that day. Some soldiers gave their weapons to prisoners, which may be how the
guard ended up dead."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">My friends
scrolling past reports of October 7 also scroll past Karen's and Liron's
history.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Liron writes,
"Yehuda Ber was my great grandfather. He spent the war years in the Lodz
ghetto. His daughter, my grandmother, and his son escaped to the USSR. His
other daughter, my grandmother's little sister, died in the ghetto. He and his
wife, my great grandmother, were deported to Auschwitz in the summer of 1944.
She was gassed there, and he was placed on a train from Auschwitz to Dachau. He
died on that train. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Teresa
Rosendahl is my mother-in-law. She was born in the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sosnowiec Ghetto in 1943. Her parents managed
to smuggle her out of the ghetto to a Polish family. That family, some days
later, brought her to a local convent, and that's where she stayed until the
war ended. Teresa Janina Kierocinska was the name of the nun who took care of
her. After the war ended, her mother, who survived Auschwitz, returned to
Sosnowiec and retrieved her."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Genocidal
anti-Semites would have a further impact on Liron's family. Liron mentioned her
aunt. I searched the web and found an obituary for Liron's aunt. I plugged it
in to Google translate and polished up the translation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"Miriam
Guetta was born on April 14, 1947 in Alexandria, Egypt … The family of nine
children immigrated to Israel in 1950." Note: in the twentieth century,
Muslim countries like Egypt expelled almost a million Jews. Many of those
Middle Eastern Jews went to Israel. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">"Miriam's
career choice, nurse, was natural for her. She loved people and desired to
help. Miriam worked at the hospital in Afula, in the children's department,
where she was called 'the angel in white.' When her sister became seriously
ill, Miriam did not leave her sister's bed for months, and took care of her
until her sister was out of danger and completely recovered. Miriam took care
of wounded soldiers in the Six-Day War. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">In 1972 she
moved to Kiryat Shmona as a community nurse. On her first day, she met her
future husband, Jacob Guetta, who worked as a guide for street gangs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Miriam became
pregnant shortly after her marriage, and her joy was boundless. The woman who
had been the mother of her many nieces and nephews had names already prepared
for her newborn. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">On Thursday
morning, April 11, 1974, during Passover, three terrorists infiltrated Israel
from Lebanon. Early in the morning, the terrorists arrived at Kiryat Shmona.
The squad members entered a school building, but when they saw that the
building was empty, they left it and moved to nearby residential buildings on
Yehuda Halevi Street. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">At first they
entered building number 13 and went up to the first floor, where they murdered
family members who were seated at breakfast. The terrorists then moved to the
next building, number 15. They went through the various apartments and shot
people to death. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Miriam was in
her apartment on the third floor. She was drinking coffee before she left for
work. Miriam heard shouts from the Stern apartment on the first floor. Miriam
and her husband could have gone down the three steps to leave the building and
save their lives. But Miriam did not hesitate. She and her husband ran toward
the shouts. Miriam entered the Stern apartment. The terrorists shot her with
many bullets in her chest and a bullet in her head, and her death was
immediate. Miriam's husband, Jacob, ran after her. He was hit by a grenade and
died for a long time before he died. Miriam was six months pregnant. She was
27. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Stern
family's grandchildren testified that they were saved thanks to Miriam's entry,
as the terrorists chased her and allowed the children to jump out of the window
and save their lives. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The terrorists
murdered eighteen people, half of them children."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">As I corrected
the Google translation of the original obituary, I did not "polish
up" the wording that Jacob Guetta "died for a long time before he
died." This phrase captures for me what terrorism does not only to
victims, but also to jihadis. Jihadis walk through the world soul dead, long
before their actual death. Men like Professor Refaat Alareer, who joke about
the torture murder of Jewish babies, are soul dead. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">My Facebook
friend Alex lives in the US. He doesn't know Liron; he "met" her on
my Facebook page. When Alex read Miriam's obituary, he remarked, "I was in
Kiryat Shmona the week before this happened … if I had decided to go to that
area during Passover, as I almost did, that might have been me."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Professor
Refaat Alareer justifies hatred and genocide thus: "You can't oppress us …
and not expect people to react." Refaat, my friends Liron, Karen, and Alex
are just a few of millions of Jews who have ancestry in Poland. Some Polish
Catholics, during the Holocaust and even after, committed atrocities against
Jews. Liron, Karen, and Alex offer love to me, and I am a Polish Catholic. After
the Holocaust, the Jews who survived and their descendants went to law school,
or grad school, or medical school. They established schools, charities, media
companies, and families. They won Nobel Prizes. Billy Wilder, Hollywood genius,
lost family members, including his own mother, in concentration camps and
ghettoes. Wilder "reacted" to oppression – to use your words, Refaat,
by making deep, funny, and human films. Jonas Salk's mother was from Minsk,
where the large, ancient and vibrant Jewish community was wiped out. Salk "reacted"
to oppression by developing the polio vaccine. Isaac Bashevis Singer, a Warsaw
Jew who left before the rise of Nazism, "reacted" to oppression by
writing Nobel-prize winning literature. These Jews' belief system, even in the
face of unspeakable atrocity, makes the world a better place. Your
hate-and-violence based belief system, even in the Garden of Eden – see <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reel/658143893129887">here</a> – makes the world
a worse place. Refaat, your people, too, could "make the desert
bloom." You don't. You turn it into hell on earth. Stop blaming Jews.
Start looking at your belief system. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">It's not just
the indifference of my Facebook friends who haven't commented on October 7 that
disturbs me. Comments like this, from an Israeli, break my heart. "Dear
Danusha, pardon this personal message on a public forum … Your support and
expressions of concern are very kind and strengthening. This is a very
difficult period to get through. Your posts are very comforting to read."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">It shouldn't be
that way. No one should have to "thank" me for a social media post
rejecting atrocity and speaking up for decency. This should be obvious. It
breaks my heart that it is not. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Danusha
Goska is the author of </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/God-Through-Binoculars-Hitchhiker-Monastery/dp/1947067613"><span style="color: black;">God Through Binoculars: A Hitchhiker at a Monastery</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-66540631813656604352023-11-01T15:23:00.003-04:002023-11-01T15:23:51.364-04:00Der Spiegel "Wir Haben Angst" Jews are Afraid <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRycIoBiXLIQF_sr708zU5MMCLPMjfW8x_ZHVHfyGW9xV7L87NjN2sXRAkzMNbwjgPm7_BPD1LEqtGWSm1rTBfGEZzGUVE2lzjRlRM9mK4IMShcIPvcPtDEoFMu-bKx3ukOOf9zO9adMmFFoPwxlfCebluUC8uTihXSGBHRv6OWBIYdcV2W_NxDaQbdD5k/s700/sp_2023_44_digitaltitel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRycIoBiXLIQF_sr708zU5MMCLPMjfW8x_ZHVHfyGW9xV7L87NjN2sXRAkzMNbwjgPm7_BPD1LEqtGWSm1rTBfGEZzGUVE2lzjRlRM9mK4IMShcIPvcPtDEoFMu-bKx3ukOOf9zO9adMmFFoPwxlfCebluUC8uTihXSGBHRv6OWBIYdcV2W_NxDaQbdD5k/w640-h640/sp_2023_44_digitaltitel.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> From the New York Times: <p></p><p>“Wir Haben Angst,” or “We Are Scared,” was the headline across this week’s cover of Der Spiegel, the leading German newsmagazine, over photographs of four German Jews, one of them a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor, Ivar Buterfas-Frankenthal, who said, “We Jews are once again easy targets.”<br /><br />Full article <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/31/world/europe/europe-antisemitism-israel-hamas.html" target="_blank">here</a></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-20137230746357657002023-10-26T14:13:00.002-04:002023-10-26T14:13:31.727-04:00American Anti-Semitism is Off the Scale; NYC Anti-Semites Carry "Keep World Clean" Sign <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGX_g6WwLcp2AHhMxOaPl52E8YMdtUbvZcwli_GVVKqD9E17FdSsLHia82uX_1V-KwrylxkJrSu-Na5etPf4sF1kOSNYe7lkflO-umzkIL83uCDeOPeVhoTQ5mxpEU3lsv2rUKPAqjsZXrgge6xd9qx_cT5X6Jl-fj2LQ1ce0HH52ykuO5WHNNRQC6BTUr/s838/Screenshot%202023-10-26%20140859.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="602" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGX_g6WwLcp2AHhMxOaPl52E8YMdtUbvZcwli_GVVKqD9E17FdSsLHia82uX_1V-KwrylxkJrSu-Na5etPf4sF1kOSNYe7lkflO-umzkIL83uCDeOPeVhoTQ5mxpEU3lsv2rUKPAqjsZXrgge6xd9qx_cT5X6Jl-fj2LQ1ce0HH52ykuO5WHNNRQC6BTUr/s320/Screenshot%202023-10-26%20140859.png" width="230" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioiZS8EI8R75mwty3WtIre5CS-DtJBo78PMmQIH4-Q-P-Vi3drcDjG9OZ_ehMU9bMPOKqDfurXARMQ-1v2fucYOY7p1LBUNv2dA6BYdVJlOeKe5XU8S2hPm3TEGJX1lYadbeY39PxaEWTk2WVy_YRxFhkYPARjBcO7GxZKM4Tg-9hKAf4TDtanDBpFxK28/s824/Screenshot%202023-10-26%20140828.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="824" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioiZS8EI8R75mwty3WtIre5CS-DtJBo78PMmQIH4-Q-P-Vi3drcDjG9OZ_ehMU9bMPOKqDfurXARMQ-1v2fucYOY7p1LBUNv2dA6BYdVJlOeKe5XU8S2hPm3TEGJX1lYadbeY39PxaEWTk2WVy_YRxFhkYPARjBcO7GxZKM4Tg-9hKAf4TDtanDBpFxK28/s320/Screenshot%202023-10-26%20140828.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVRvtuoTBpiy2idNpRs-x4VAuidqmRHXH0ghLxrgW5nbjQKvelDRSARl3R3LiE_cg6VMjw-uX4TmIlhyzB__tmSZivF-Y4FHJC_694uwTMLiWqhGJkB8ePLx0CaX7gHiDbuAJwlPIvvQKjaO6Wv7PKiGiZPKpeBT8Z2DW2KbYOXFiSLnW2V4eUpH_P10t7/s855/Screenshot%202023-10-26%20140804.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="829" data-original-width="855" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVRvtuoTBpiy2idNpRs-x4VAuidqmRHXH0ghLxrgW5nbjQKvelDRSARl3R3LiE_cg6VMjw-uX4TmIlhyzB__tmSZivF-Y4FHJC_694uwTMLiWqhGJkB8ePLx0CaX7gHiDbuAJwlPIvvQKjaO6Wv7PKiGiZPKpeBT8Z2DW2KbYOXFiSLnW2V4eUpH_P10t7/s320/Screenshot%202023-10-26%20140804.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12672281/NYU-investigating-repugnant-students-held-anti-Semitic-world-clean-signs-Washington-Square-Park-protest.html?fbclid=IwAR0dZtZpCCD-HLRWAHv4pN52awUv4xPknzvWq5gW6uFqJ1pvmbrBLkUlo3U" target="_blank">Source</a></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-44216755339609249752023-10-24T10:52:00.000-04:002023-10-24T10:52:04.584-04:00UC Davis African American Studies Professor Jemma Decristo Threatens Jews and Their Children <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UCz5o91yXEd7hpOPxHRV-Y9tFh9WZSsnPILE3pUXnAAWdHu_m4XUs8shm-HSvZWdgMNAjYDTY1vx9VssgkAwBn3g0Z6sunKH2klvxR9q2Y9327umHMhqWQcUQqi2-93OqpENhndslUJiFcBQ5-UJxE3CG4El9SLF_lOz9D7aBRD_CiO7iHjjJ1Am7JDH/s750/Screenshot%202023-10-24%20104102.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="750" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UCz5o91yXEd7hpOPxHRV-Y9tFh9WZSsnPILE3pUXnAAWdHu_m4XUs8shm-HSvZWdgMNAjYDTY1vx9VssgkAwBn3g0Z6sunKH2klvxR9q2Y9327umHMhqWQcUQqi2-93OqpENhndslUJiFcBQ5-UJxE3CG4El9SLF_lOz9D7aBRD_CiO7iHjjJ1Am7JDH/w640-h504/Screenshot%202023-10-24%20104102.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To folks (Jan) who will say, "What does this have to do with <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bieganski-Stereotype-Polish-Jewish-Relations-American/dp/1936235153" target="_blank">Bieganski the Brute Polak Stereotype</a>"? </i>I can only reply. Read the book. Thank you. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There are many subgroups in America. Religious, racial, ethnic. You can't talk about how Poles and other Bohunks are stereotyped in America without also talking about how other groups are talked about. African Americans are a major subgroup. Compare how anti-Semitism among blacks is talked about with how anti-Semitism among Poles or other Slavs is talked about. If a Polish Catholic posted this threat, it would make headlines around the world. I learned about African American studies professor Jemma Decristo's threat only by chance. It is not making headline news at all. </span></div><br /><p></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-4578728878098098912023-10-23T16:17:00.003-04:002023-10-23T16:17:40.519-04:00"The End of Jewish Life in Western Europe" <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5KQNvr7Hpbk" width="320" youtube-src-id="5KQNvr7Hpbk"></iframe></div><br /><p></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8471082069031980581.post-77750471853809125592023-10-23T11:21:00.002-04:002023-10-23T11:21:57.936-04:00What Is the Reaction in Poland to the October 7, 2023 Pogrom in Israel? A Norwegian Medical Student Misrepresents Poland (Allegedly) <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1bVQJPw-TshAOUzc6xbFmz_My-Iz4V7Of3ZdJakhAwv6R8kuCeezoVPAgvKK6VCZivGwWd3QxqERiqgHQcjlXvtmyoYEmIC7h9qMkVywEHUQw-mqkMn1LhQIa-Ux51fWGd23HS22K7OzQiV4EjSsky3r8SQvUmajGHzM30zJ9l3FutGCo6reomS-gyPfe/s871/Screenshot%202023-10-23%20111723.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="871" data-original-width="839" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1bVQJPw-TshAOUzc6xbFmz_My-Iz4V7Of3ZdJakhAwv6R8kuCeezoVPAgvKK6VCZivGwWd3QxqERiqgHQcjlXvtmyoYEmIC7h9qMkVywEHUQw-mqkMn1LhQIa-Ux51fWGd23HS22K7OzQiV4EjSsky3r8SQvUmajGHzM30zJ9l3FutGCo6reomS-gyPfe/s320/Screenshot%202023-10-23%20111723.png" width="308" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWJxbhoYjKQ5fMDgtBGc4WiNs_ZBogd5_fawYa-jN114dWK-piEVm8f6mdtS4-YMsy-bQ0Qw6sgjs8nZU5rGzYVVYzBLhQKEynk0_DSYBZCFjaJwFS5CcYVUc5D0XHMbr61MxIIDMZRrJlT16goR_sx1nRpnKOhj4546oNXuUpwSzGgqi3-hUgqog8D4uv/s549/Screenshot%202023-10-23%20111423.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="499" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWJxbhoYjKQ5fMDgtBGc4WiNs_ZBogd5_fawYa-jN114dWK-piEVm8f6mdtS4-YMsy-bQ0Qw6sgjs8nZU5rGzYVVYzBLhQKEynk0_DSYBZCFjaJwFS5CcYVUc5D0XHMbr61MxIIDMZRrJlT16goR_sx1nRpnKOhj4546oNXuUpwSzGgqi3-hUgqog8D4uv/s320/Screenshot%202023-10-23%20111423.png" width="291" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I've been wondering what the reaction is in Poland to the pogrom in Israel on October 7, 2023. Arab Muslims murdered and tortured more Jewish civilians in one day than anyone else since the Holocaust. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">How have Poles and Polish American responded? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I don't know. I have not seen polls. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The above photos appeared on the web. One site claims that the woman is a Norwegian medical student named Marie Andersen. </span></p>D Goskahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353495585591945881noreply@blogger.com5