From the Editor

It seems like a lifetime away now, but I will never forget having crossed the Adriatic from Brindisi, Italy to arrive in Greece, before the sun arose.  Getting on a train bound for Athens, I found a window seat and settled in for a long ride.  As miles passed along the tracks, and the sun began to rise, I remember looking out the window to see a sign with Greek lettering, which I could not read, under which was written the word Corinth.  It took me all of two seconds to realize that we were about to enter the Biblical city of Corinth, addressed in both First and Second Corinthians.  For some reason, it was one of those moments which sent my head spinning with wonderment.  The thought of approaching a place mentioned in the Bible was all but overwhelming.  I so wanted the streets to be able to speak, to tell me what they had bore witness to.

It is quite marvelous to walk historic streets and visit historic sites.  To know that you are staring at the desk where the Declaration of Independence was signed, or strolling on the beaches where the allies landed, on D-Day, or walking the walls of Jerusalem where King David too strolled.  I do not think the feeling of awe ever goes away.  There is something which causes one to pause when you encounter a direct connection with history. 

I am grateful to my father for instilling in me the importance of pulling over to investigate historical landmarks, even if you must drive out of your way or extend your trip.  Over the years Kate and I have taken many such detours and our lives have been enriched by stopping to see the Alamo, or John Steinbeck’s house, or even standing on the steps of the Reichstag.  However, I did not need to visit the Reichstag to understand the evil that was begat from that place.  

 It was in the Reichstag, on March 23, 1933, that the German Parliament convened, and without a single shot being fired, willing surrendered its power to the Nazi government, by passing the Enabling Act, providing the Nazi’s a legal avenue to seize power; and the rest, as they say is history – or at least it should be.   

I read the following story, to at the very least, much surprise:   http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/16/american-muslim-leaders-visit-concentration-camps-learn-holocaust-pay-respects/

This article addresses a recent visit to Dachau and Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camps, by a group of eight leaders of the American Muslim community.  The trip was organized, and it appears paid for by a group of prominent individuals, including Marshall Breger and groups who believed that the Muslim leaders needed to see in order to believe – apparently, they were right.

Mr. Breger said: “There is a view that there is growing anti-Semitism in the Muslim world, reinforced by people like President Ahmadinejad, that there is growing Holocaust denial in the Muslim world.  In light of that, the idea was to offer education to those who might not have the kind of knowledge that we’ve had about World War II and the Jewish community, and to do this in a public way.”

After his trip, Mohamed Magid, imam and executive director of the Washington D. C. area mega-mosque All Dulles said: “No Muslim in his right mind, female or male, should deny the Holocaust.  When you walk the walk of the people who have been taken to be gassed, to be killed, how can a person deny physical evidence, something that’s beyond doubt?”

While Yasir Qadhi, the dean of academics at Al Maghrib Institute in New Haven, who previously denied the Holocaust, said: “Anybody who is a Holocaust denier should deserve a free ticket to see Auschwitz and Birkenau, because seeing is just not the same as reading about it.”

I keep thinking really?  Mr. Magid lives in Washington, though originally from the Sudan.  Did he really need to be taken to Dachau and Auschwitz to believe that the Holocaust actually happened?  The Holocaust is one of the most documented events in human history, and anyone living in Washington would certainly have access to such information – they could start by touring the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C., visit the library, or turn on the television!   http://www.archive.org/details/nazi_concentration_camps http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/auschwitz/ http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=4270802583485738558#  http://www.scrapbookpages.com/poland/majdanek/Liberation.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/camp/faqs.html I saw this film when it was first shown on PBS, if nothing else was available this would be enough. 

There are things, which despite knowing them to be true, I will never understand – this includes the Holocaust and those who deny that it happened.  The above quoted Fox article, called this trip an “excursion.”  I cringed when I read the word.  I suppose the word is accurate, but somehow an excursion seems to me like a day on the lake or a trip to the zoo, not a walk through a concentration camp where millions of people were tortured, executed, gassed, and cremated. 

I am glad that these eight Muslim leaders were able to take this journey, and I hope that the impact of walking through these camps really did sufficiently enlighten them that they have come home with a new message of tolerance and understanding.  But I am deeply disturbed by the claim that prior to seeing these camps in person; they were unable to believe that the Holocaust truly happened.  That is all for now.

Tags: Afghanistan, General Douglas MacArthur, General Stanley McChrystal, Rolling Stone Magazine

This entry was posted on August 18, 2010 at 3:27 pm and is filed under From the Editor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.