Re: [Cz-L] Resilience

Serah,

many list members already spoke out what they think about the subject so I will not repeat arguments.

Concerning the works at the Jewish cemetery in Czernowitz, there are three organisations: The Czernowitz Jewish Cemetery Restoration Organisation, founded by Mimi Taylor, Action Reconciliation Service for Peace from Germany and SVIT Ukraine, the Ukrainian branch of Service Civil International.

Christian

-------- Original-Nachricht --------
> Datum: Thu, 31 Jan 2013 19:59:59 +1100
> Von: "Jacob Greenberg" <grs_software_at_bigpond.com>
> An: "Christian Herrmann" <cyberorange_at_gmx.de>
> CC: Czernowitz-L_at_cornell.edu
> Betreff: Re: [Cz-L] Resilience

> Christian,
>
> I am not condemning personally anyone, but some nations are more at fault
> than others. And you were right to mention the silence and denial.
>
> It is very painful for a nation to acknowledge national guilt.But
> something
> happened in Germany, at least on the surface. When I started a new job as
> a
> social worker in Sydney, my colleague, a young girl from Germany, came to
> me
> and apologised for the crimes her people committed against my people.She
> was
> not guilty in anything but she felt the need to say what she said.
>
> My mother is receiving (at last!) German restitution pension. She does not
> need the money but she feels that her ghetto past was, finally,
> acknowledged.
> Russia is constantly mourning the tragedy of Gulag (in words only)
> Even the Soviets made a keen attempt to compensate my family for the
> deportation to Siberia,.
> We say: "an eye for an eye", meaning restitution and acknowledgment for
> the
> wrong doing.
> Nothing, of this kind had happened in Ukraine or in Lithuania. I don't
> know
> who restored the cemetry in Cz but I am eager to find out.
> By the way, no one here is blaming Romanians in mass atrocities, even
> though
> they were Germany's allies. I am wondering why....
>
> Serah Greenberg (Kraft)
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Christian Herrmann" <cyberorange_at_gmx.de>
> To: "Jacob Greenberg" <grs_software_at_bigpond.com>;
> <cornel.fleming_at_virgin.net>
> Cc: <Czernowitz-L_at_cornell.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2013 9:57 AM
> Subject: Re: [Cz-L] Resilience
>
>
> > 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 2013-01-31 08:15:31