| Yom
Kippur 2006
Isaac
Bashevis Singer once wrote: "We Jews have many faults, but amnesia is not one
of them." The point is emphasized
later in today's service when we recite the Yizkor prayers. On that occasion, we remember our own
loved whose lives touched ours and whom we miss. We might also remember friends and members of the
congregation who were not our relatives, but who also profoundly impacted on
our lives. And there are still
others, both known to us and unknown to us, who deserve to be remembered by us,
because the lives they led could inspire us to act with responsibility.
Simon
Wiesenthal, the famous and well known Nazi Hunter, died just a little over a
year ago on September 20, 2005 at the age of 96. He was an extraordinary man who took on an extraordinary
task. Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and
founder of the Wiesenthal Center, said of him. "Simon Wiesenthal was the conscience of the Holocaust. When the Holocaust ended in 1945 and
the whole world went home to forget, he alone remained behind to remember. He did not forget.
He
became the permanent representative of the victims, determined to bring the
perpetrators of history's greatest crime to justice. There was no press conference, and no president, prime
minister, or world leader who announced his appointment. He just took the job. It was a job no one else wanted. The task was overwhelming. The cause had few friends. The Allies were already focused on the
Cold War, the survivors were rebuilding their shattered lives and Simon Wiesenthal
was all alone, combining the role of both prosecutor and detective at the same
time. Overcoming the world's
indifference and apathy, Simon Wiesenthal helped bring over 1,100 Nazi War
Criminals before the bar of Justice."
Simon
Wiesenthal made many memorable statements and I want to share two of them with
you. The first is quoted in an
interview in The Jerusalem Post International Edition, from February 5,
1994: "The only value of nearly five decades of my work is a warning to the
murderers of tomorrow, that they will never rest." The second came from a meeting with President Jimmy Carter
and was reported in The Washington Post, on August 6, 1980: "There is no
denying that Hitler and Stalin are alive today ... they are waiting for us to
forget, because this is what makes possible the resurrection of these two
monsters."
And
we Jews had better not have amnesia about the Holocaust, because there are
people in this world, even leaders in this world, who continue to deny the
Holocaust ever took place. In
December of 2005, less than a year ago, the President of Iran, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, speaking to thousands of people in the southeastern city of
Zahedan, called the Holocaust a "myth."
"Today, they have created a myth in the name of the Holocaust and consider
it to be above God, religion and the prophets." Such statements feed the delusional thinking of other
Holocaust deniers around the world and doubtless fuel new believers that a
tragedy of such vast proportions was nothing more than a fictional pretext to
create the state of Israel.
As
if such painful manipulation were not enough, a doddering, old newsman like
Mike Wallace comes out of retirement at age 88 this past August to lend
credence and stature to Ahmadinejad by interviewing him for "60 minutes." Here is a man who suppresses his own
people, who supports and exports terrorism and is engaged in a nuclear program
that most of the world fears, and finds exceedingly dangerous, and what does
Mike Wallace say about him? "He's
actually, in a strange way, he's a rather attractive man, very smart, savvy,
self-assured, good looking in a strange way," Wallace said. "He's very, very short but he's
comfortable in his own skin," concluded Wallace. Well, Ahmadinejad certainly was smart enough and savvy enough
to make a fool of Mike Wallace.
Here is a man who has said not only that the Holocaust is a myth, but
also that Israel should be wiped off the map. Ahmadinejad is "very, very short," – so were
Stalin and Hitler. What exactly
did Mike Wallace find so attractive?
By
coincidence, for better or worse, last month I saw some of Anderson Cooper's
interview of Ahmadinejad. Cooper
tried to press him on the Holocaust denial, but Ahmadinejad was well prepared
for Cooper and his audience.
Ahmadinejad declined to address the issue, saying, "Since I've talked
about this subject, I don't want to repeat myself." When Simon Wiesenthal said in 1980, "There is no
denying that Hitler and Stalin are alive today ... they are waiting for us to
forget, because this is what makes possible the resurrection of these two
monsters," he was prophetic. Let
us not develop amnesia and let us not be naive, because too many in our world
already are.
At
the same time, let us not be ignorant of others, much less well known than Simon
Wiesenthal, who deserve to be remembered because they were individuals who
understood the concept of responsibility and did not stand idly by the blood of
our people as they were being murdered during the Holocaust.
At
the end of May, the United States Post Office issued a series of stamps of
"Distinguished American Diplomats."
Among those honored was Hiram "Harry" Bingham IV, a man probably not
familiar to most of us.
While
still Secretary of State, "Colin Powell gave a posthumous award for 'Constructive
Dissent' to Hiram "Harry" Bingham IV on June 27, 2002. For over fifty years, the State
Department resisted any attempt to honor Bingham. For them, he was an insubordinate, ... a dangerous maverick,
who was eventually demoted.
Not
until after his death in January of 1988 has Bingham, been officially
recognized as a hero. Bingham came
from an illustrious family. His
father, on whom the fictional character Indiana Jones was based was the
archeologist who unearthed the Inca City of Machu Picchu, Peru in 1911.
Harry
entered the United States diplomatic service and in 1939 was posted to
Marseilles, France as the American vice-consul. The United States was neutral then and, not wishing to annoy
Marshal Petain's puppet Vichy regime, the ... government ordered its
representatives in Marseilles not to grant visas to any Jews.
Bingham
found this policy immoral and, risking his career, did all in his power to
undermine it. In defiance of his
superiors in Washington, he granted over 2,500 United States visas to Jewish
and other refugees, including artists Marc Chagall and Max Ernst and the family
of writer, Thomas Mann.
Bingham
also sheltered Jews in his Marseilles home and obtained forged identity papers
to help Jews in their dangerous journeys across Europe. Harry Bingham worked with the French
underground to smuggle Jews out of France into Franco's Spain or across the
Mediterranean – and even contributed to their expenses out of his own
pocket.
In
1941, Washington lost patience with Harry Bingham and sent him to Argentina
where he eventually annoyed his superiors by reporting on the movements of Nazi
war criminals. Eventually, Mr.
Bingham was forced out of the American diplomatic service completely.
As
I mentioned, Harry Bingham died in 1988; he was almost penniless. Little was known of his life saving
activities until his son found some letters in Harry's belongings after his
death." Posthumously, Harry
Bingham has been honored by the United States and by the state of Israel. We remember him on this day of Yizkor,
because his life – meant life – to thousands of strangers. Harry Bingham understood the concept of
response-ability.
James
Auer, an art critic for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper, wrote
an article in October 2002, that discusses another example of daring heroism
that is largely unknown. It
concerns the E. Leitz Incorporated company, the manufacturer of the Leica 35mm
camera and 35 mm movie camera ... that "created the 'candid camera' boom of the
1930s. Leica cameras were a
German product – precise, minimalist, utterly efficient and behind its
worldwide acceptance as a creative tool was a family-owned, socially oriented
firm. ... E. Leitz Incorporated,
designer and manufacturer of Germany's most famous photographic product –
saved its Jews. ...
Leitz
Incorporated, founded in Wetzler in 1869, had a tradition of enlightened
behavior toward its workers ... many of whom were Jewish. As soon as Adolph Hitler was named
Chancellor of Germany in 1933, Ernst Leitz II began receiving frantic phone
calls from Jewish associates, asking for his help in getting them and their
families out of the country. As
Christians, Leitz and his family were immune to Nazi Germany's Nuremberg laws.
To
help his Jewish workers and colleagues, Leitz quietly established what has
become known among historians as 'the Leica Freedom Train,' a covert means of
allowing Jews to leave Germany in the guise of Leitz employees being assigned
overseas. Employees, retailers,
family members, even friends of family members were 'assigned' to Leitz sales
offices in France, Britain, Hong Kong and the United States. ...
The
'Leica Freedom train' was at its height in 1938 and early 1939, delivering
groups of refugees to New York every few weeks. ... With the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, Germany
closed its borders and the Freedom Train had to stop its run....
How
did Ernst Leitz II and his staff get away with saving hundreds of endangered
Jews? ... In addition to cameras,
the company produced range-finders and other optical systems for the German
military. Also, the Nazi
government desperately needed hard currency from abroad and Leitz's single
biggest market was the United States.
Even
so, members of the Leitz family and firm suffered. ... A top executive, Alfred
Turk, was jailed for working to help Jews and freed only after the payment of
a
large bribe. Leitz's daughter,
Elsie Kuhn-Leitz, was imprisoned by the Gestapo after she was caught at the
border, helping Jewish women cross into Switzerland. She eventually was freed after enduring rough treatment.
Why
is this story largely unknown?
According to the late Norman Lipton, a freelance writer and editor, the
Leitz family wanted no publicity for its heroic efforts. Only after the last member of the Leitz
family was dead did the 'Leica Freedom Train' finally come to light."
I
think that we are at the end of an era.
Simon Wiesenthal is dead and most of those whom he sought are dead and
any remaining Nazi is obviously very old.
It is unlikely that there are many, if any, stories of saving Jews that
have not already been reported somewhere.
The Holocaust is not a reason to be Jewish, but it is far too soon for
us to have amnesia about such a significant event in the life of the Jewish
people. Asa Hilliard wrote: "An
individual who loses his or her memory is disabled. So it is with a people."
We
also need to try to learn what it is that makes some people monsters and others
so wonderfully compassionate. What
motivated Oscar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg, Harry Bingham and Ernst
Leitz? How do we nurture the
growth and development of caring for others in our children and future
generations? After all,
remembering the past is also about impacting the future. Fifty years from now, one hundred years
from now, whom will our descendants remember for standing up to the monsters of
this world? Who will be the
righteous ones who took responsibility to save the unprotected victims of
brutal leaders and their vicious followers? Let us pray that the Righteous Gentiles of the past have
spiritual descendants. Let us
never forget those who pursued justice, many of whom paid with their careers or
their lives. Soon we will recite
Yizkor. We remember loved ones who
impacted on our lives. Let us also
take a moment to remember those who should serve as models of behavior to all
us. May their memory, too, be a
blessing.
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