Re: [Cz-L] Resilience

I fully agree with Christian's opinion about how we should think of
and behave
to younger generations of Ukrainians, Germans and others whose parents
and grandparents participated in the murder of Jews during the
holocaust.
If nothing else, please consider the help we received in the last 4
years
from SVIT Ukraine and ASF Germany in restoring the Czernowitz Jewish
cemetery.

Mimi

On Jan 30, 2013, at 5:57 PM, Christian Herrmann wrote:

> Serah,
>
> you write "Germany took responsibility for their crimes
> and is still paying restitution". As a German - born in 1962 - I
> can ensure you, it was not always like that. Beyond financial
> reastitution it took decades untill there was a public awarness of
> the German crimes here in Germany.
>
> I grew up in an atmosphere of silence in the 70s and early 80s.
> My father served in the Wehrmacht. I could ask him as much as I
> wanted, he never lost a word about the war time. I had a Jewish
> class mate, whose parents were both prisoners in Auschwitz. They
> did not talk with him about it. A scary alliance of silence.
>
> My history teachers in school were bullied by parents when they
> wrote about the school's policy towards Jewish students in the
> early and mid 30s - and finaly left the school.
>
> I went into a serious conflict with teachers and the director of my
> school in 1980 when I and other students invited former resistance
> fighters to talk to the students. They were still seen as traitors
> by many. When I made my graduation some of the teachers took their
> chance to pay back. This was 35 years afterv the end of WWII.
>
> I'm not telling this because I think I'm so very special. I'm not;
> I guess I'm quite typical for my generation. I tell you because I
> experienced the deep inner conflicts of a post-war society - and
> the long after-life of dictatorship. Ukraine and Lithuania are
> young countries. You are right, many individuals from both nations
> were involved in the holocaust. And the way nationalists of both
> nations are still interpreting history is very different from the
> way you and I do. No doubt.
>
> Looking back at my personal experience in Germany and comparing it
> with today's situation of young people in NGO's in Ukraine - Jewish
> and non-Jewish - I feel a deep sympathy for this those kids. They
> try find out and to speak out the truth about the past. They
> struggle for the right of free speach. They ask for a free press.
> They bring volunteers to clear the Jewish cemetery in Czernowitz.
> They ask to have the holocaust in the school curriculum. They have
> something to say and they want people to listen. They ask for a
> future. They daily feel the limitations of state policies towards
> them. Are we going to condemn them because of the guilt of their
> fathers, grandfathers or great-grandfathers or are we going to
> support them? I decide for the last option. They are the future.
>
> Christian
>

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Received on 2013-01-30 20:31:03