Re: [Cz-L] Poetry on the Herrengasse

 Have you read Arthur Rindners story ?
  Tell him about tolerance and compassion and forgiveness,
 Hardy
----- Original Message -----
From: Sylvia de Swaan
To: cornel fleming
Cc: fred love ; Miriam Taylor ; HARDY BREIER ; Irene Silverblatt ;
Czernowitz-L_at_cornell.edu
Sent: Thursday, October 07, 2010 3:14 PM
Subject: Re: [Cz-L] Poetry on the Herrengasse

prejudice and ethnic hatred is always a latent possibility in any society -
it lurks beneath the surface. In good times and with good laws people can
get along, enjoy each others differences, drink tea and even love each
other - but then suddenly there is a shift in power, the economic/political
climate and the voice from the podium shouts "die juden sind unser umglick"
..."the tutsi's are like cockroaches..."...."the moslems (talking about
Bosnia) are...blah blah...and you have tension and you have a mandate and
justification to hate - and neighbors going around with hatchets to kill
that nice neighbor they used to drink tea with...

I always like the quote from the Chilean writer, Isabel Allende... ".. one
wondered how all those fascists materialized from one day to the next,
because in the long democratic history of the country they'd been considered
crackpots who sometimes paraded around during the war in black shirts with
their arms raised in Hitler salutes...to the laughter and the hissing of
bystanders - without having ever played a significant role in the life of
the nation."...and then came the military coup!

I can relate to the pain expressed by Hardy, by Fred, by any of us.. we've
all suffered losses....and this is the right venue to be able to express
such things...but we all co-exist on this planet and it's up to all of us to
contribute to an atmosphere that allows all to relate like human being
across ethnic lines..to show tolerance and compassion and forgiveness.
Chernivtsi not perfect - wouldn't surprise me if an anti-semitic feeling
lurked in the heart of one or another inhabitant - but progress is being
made through the efforts of Mimi and others and the volunteers and anybody
else who shows good will and creates conversations and dialogue...

And as for me...I think that plaque that marks the perimeter of the Ghetto -
whoever put it up - is more beautiful and poignant than many of the
overblown monuments that that I've seen around - but that gets into monument
art and is another subjects

peace and love to all

Sylvia

-snip-
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Received on 2010-10-07 15:28:44