Judenplatz
Oct. 28th, 2018 09:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cjlasky7Once, a lifetime ago, when I was visiting a friend in Vienna, we walked through what is pitifully referred to as the Jewish district--a tiny, scarred remnant of what was once a thriving Jewish community in Austria. We looked at the entrance to the only remaining synagogue. There was a guard at the door. My friend told me that a guard was stationed there 24 hours a day to prevent attacks on the synagogue. How sad, I thought. But then, I reminded myself that this was Austria, Hitler's birthplace, and maybe that kind of precaution was just necessary.
You all heard about the attack on the synagogue in Pittsburgh yesterday. It brought up a lot of unpleasant memories and hidden fears. To some extent, I thought I was isolated from the effects of the hatred that destroyed my father's family, that destroy him in a way. I thought that America had its extremists, its neo-Nazis, but they were buried in their ratholes.
They're not.
For every Jewish family in America, there is the belief that "it can't happen here": the belief that America, founded on the concept of religious and social tolerance, could never fall into the black days of Europe during World War Two (or many, many other points in European history).
I still believe it. But in the back of my mind, there is always this fear that says "Why not?" It's happened so many times before, in places that were supposedly just as enlightened.
Trump says that synagogues need a guard on the door, just like the synagogue in Judenplatz. What he doesn't seem to realize is that even saying this is necessary is an enormous defeat for the principles America was built upon. It's saying to Jews (and to the rest of the country), "Nope. We're really not any better than Austria."
What if he's right?
That's really hard for me to take.
You all heard about the attack on the synagogue in Pittsburgh yesterday. It brought up a lot of unpleasant memories and hidden fears. To some extent, I thought I was isolated from the effects of the hatred that destroyed my father's family, that destroy him in a way. I thought that America had its extremists, its neo-Nazis, but they were buried in their ratholes.
They're not.
For every Jewish family in America, there is the belief that "it can't happen here": the belief that America, founded on the concept of religious and social tolerance, could never fall into the black days of Europe during World War Two (or many, many other points in European history).
I still believe it. But in the back of my mind, there is always this fear that says "Why not?" It's happened so many times before, in places that were supposedly just as enlightened.
Trump says that synagogues need a guard on the door, just like the synagogue in Judenplatz. What he doesn't seem to realize is that even saying this is necessary is an enormous defeat for the principles America was built upon. It's saying to Jews (and to the rest of the country), "Nope. We're really not any better than Austria."
What if he's right?
That's really hard for me to take.
no subject
Date: 2018-11-01 06:52 am (UTC)And they were, pretty much-- until about 2 years ago. Now they see people-- one person in particular-- who they see as supporting their beliefs, and out they scurry. And as the just-broadcast PBS Frontline eps this week detailed, Facebook (and of course other social media) have added the ability to easily link up with others with similar leanings. It's a perfect storm.
I try to console myself with the thought that one cannot defeat an enemy if you don't know it's there, and I doubt many people did until very recently. Most people, for example, think human slavery was all-but vanquished in the USA after the painful social tumult of the 60's, but I would observe that it's mutated into more complex, more readily disguised forms.
We can beat this current plague too, I'm certain. How long will it take? As to that, I have no idea.