Sunday, November 02, 2008
Hitler Led Kristallnacht
NEWS
Hitler Led Kristallnacht
by Yated Ne'eman Staff
http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com/akrstlnchtnch69.htm
1 Cheshvan 5769 - October 31, 2008
A German historian researching the diaries of Josef Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister, has revealed that Hitler himself led the Kristallnacht pogrom in Munich on November 9, 1938 as head of a Nazi group that razed Ohel Yaakov, the central synagogue of Munich, capital of Bavaria. Angela Hermann, a researcher at the Institute for Contemporary History in Munich, managed to decode a mysterious passage that has stumped scholars ever since this section of Goebbels diaries was retrieved from Moscow in 1992.
"We have real evidence now that Hitler pulled the strings, that he personally directed Kristallnacht," she said.
In his diary entry for November 9, the Nazi propaganda minister recounts a rally at the Munich Town Hall in which Hitler told him the police should let people vent their anger over the vom Rath assassination. "Hitler's Stosstrupp [Storm Troopers company] goes out immediately to clean up Munich...and a synagogue is smashed," he wrote.
This had historians puzzled, as there was no force known as ''Hitler's Stosstrupp'' in 1938, but Dr. Hermann found letters and documents showing that the term referred to the veterans of Hitler's failed attempt to seize power in 1923, known as the Beer Hall Putsch. She uncovered invitations to Hitler's former comrades to attend a demonstration held on November 9th — the same 39 people who later razed the beis knesses under his command.
In a parallel development Israeli reporter and researcher Yaron Svoray recently found a massive dump north of Berlin that he claims was used as a dumpsite for Jewish property stolen and destroyed by the Nazis. Citing reliable sources he says most of the findings at the site arrived there following the looting of botei knesses and Jewish stores during Kristallnacht. Among the items found were mezuzas, wine bottles stamped with a Star of David and parts of windows and engraved chairs from a shul. Now the Holocaust Remembrance Museum at Kibbutz Lochamei HaGeta'ot is planning to send a youth delegation to the site to continue the digging.
Less than two weeks away is the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, which marked a new low point in the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany. The massive countrywide pogrom broke out after a Jewish teenager named Herschel Grynszpan walked into the German embassy in Paris and shot dead diplomat Ernst vom Rath. By November 10th at least 92 Jews had been killed, over 200 botei knesses had been desecrated and thousands of Jewish businesses across the country had been looted."
Hitler Led Kristallnacht
by Yated Ne'eman Staff
http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com/akrstlnchtnch69.htm
1 Cheshvan 5769 - October 31, 2008
A German historian researching the diaries of Josef Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister, has revealed that Hitler himself led the Kristallnacht pogrom in Munich on November 9, 1938 as head of a Nazi group that razed Ohel Yaakov, the central synagogue of Munich, capital of Bavaria. Angela Hermann, a researcher at the Institute for Contemporary History in Munich, managed to decode a mysterious passage that has stumped scholars ever since this section of Goebbels diaries was retrieved from Moscow in 1992.
"We have real evidence now that Hitler pulled the strings, that he personally directed Kristallnacht," she said.
In his diary entry for November 9, the Nazi propaganda minister recounts a rally at the Munich Town Hall in which Hitler told him the police should let people vent their anger over the vom Rath assassination. "Hitler's Stosstrupp [Storm Troopers company] goes out immediately to clean up Munich...and a synagogue is smashed," he wrote.
This had historians puzzled, as there was no force known as ''Hitler's Stosstrupp'' in 1938, but Dr. Hermann found letters and documents showing that the term referred to the veterans of Hitler's failed attempt to seize power in 1923, known as the Beer Hall Putsch. She uncovered invitations to Hitler's former comrades to attend a demonstration held on November 9th — the same 39 people who later razed the beis knesses under his command.
In a parallel development Israeli reporter and researcher Yaron Svoray recently found a massive dump north of Berlin that he claims was used as a dumpsite for Jewish property stolen and destroyed by the Nazis. Citing reliable sources he says most of the findings at the site arrived there following the looting of botei knesses and Jewish stores during Kristallnacht. Among the items found were mezuzas, wine bottles stamped with a Star of David and parts of windows and engraved chairs from a shul. Now the Holocaust Remembrance Museum at Kibbutz Lochamei HaGeta'ot is planning to send a youth delegation to the site to continue the digging.
Less than two weeks away is the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, which marked a new low point in the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany. The massive countrywide pogrom broke out after a Jewish teenager named Herschel Grynszpan walked into the German embassy in Paris and shot dead diplomat Ernst vom Rath. By November 10th at least 92 Jews had been killed, over 200 botei knesses had been desecrated and thousands of Jewish businesses across the country had been looted."
Labels: Adolf Hitler, German Jews, Germany, Hitler, Holocaust, Kristallnacht, Nazi Germany, Nazis, Nazism, The Holocaust
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Modern German youth hate Jews
Holocaust scholar: 'Jew' has become curse word among German youth
By Ofer Aderet, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/943953.html
Sun., January 13, 2008 Shvat 6, 5768
German schools are failing in educating students about the Holocaust, a new study by a political education center has found, as German youth, who one historian said use the word "Jew" as a common curse in daily discourse, are increasingly distant from the suffering of the victims of Nazism.
According to a study commissioned by the Federal Agency for Civic Education, a political education center known by its German acronym BPB, history courses no longer manage to teach Germany's younger generation of the horrors of the Nazis.
In the report, which appeared in the German educational magazine Focus-Shula, teachers are quoted as saying that they are having trouble impressing upon school children the horrors of the Holocaust, and have stated that their tools for teaching about the Shoah are not effective.
"The entire time we stood before the crematoriums of Auschwitz, the students took more interest in the types of pipes used to pump in the lethal Zyklon B gas, and not the fate of the Nazis victims," a teacher was quoted as saying.
In their words, this generation's students are less sensitive to the horrors of the Holocaust than any before.
The research also examines the role that immigrants have played in the changing attitudes towards the Shoah. Experts are quoted in the study as saying that there is a marked rise in the number of Muslims in Germany, many of whom see the teaching of the Holocaust as a veiled endorsement of the policies of the state of Israel.
"Out of fear of the students' reactions, many of the teachers avoid teaching this chapter of history in order to not be viewed by some students as supporters of Israel."
"The word 'Jew' has turned into one of the most common curse words among students in both east and west Germany," said Gottfried Cosler, a Frankfurt-based Holocaust scholar.
Robert Sigel, a historian who contributed to the study, is of the opinion that students are taking a great interest in the Holocaust, but that the methods in which the subject is taught today are in need of improvement.
"Often time the teachers, especially the more devoted ones, get carried away, and demand way too much of themselves," Sigel told Focus magazine. "They want to teach the facts and at the same time get across a moral message, call for education and tolerance, deal with the extreme right and prevent anti-Semitism. They put all this material into the subject, and it's too much."
Susan Orban, a historian at Yad Vashem, says that the Holocaust should be taught using methods that have proved successful in the past.
"Today's kids live in different times than that of Anne Frank," Orban said. In order to bridge the generational gap, she submits a different approach, "for example, asking them to imagine that they have to abruptly leave their homes and start a new life elsewhere." Such a method, according to Orban, would speak more directly to the children's hearts and minds than descriptions of the horrors of the concentration camp.
Sigel expressed similar sentiments, adding that the children of immigrants have shown particular interest to the victims of Nazism given that many of them suffered from racial persecution, religious intolerance, and even genocide in their native lands.
By Ofer Aderet, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/943953.html
Sun., January 13, 2008 Shvat 6, 5768
German schools are failing in educating students about the Holocaust, a new study by a political education center has found, as German youth, who one historian said use the word "Jew" as a common curse in daily discourse, are increasingly distant from the suffering of the victims of Nazism.
According to a study commissioned by the Federal Agency for Civic Education, a political education center known by its German acronym BPB, history courses no longer manage to teach Germany's younger generation of the horrors of the Nazis.
In the report, which appeared in the German educational magazine Focus-Shula, teachers are quoted as saying that they are having trouble impressing upon school children the horrors of the Holocaust, and have stated that their tools for teaching about the Shoah are not effective.
"The entire time we stood before the crematoriums of Auschwitz, the students took more interest in the types of pipes used to pump in the lethal Zyklon B gas, and not the fate of the Nazis victims," a teacher was quoted as saying.
In their words, this generation's students are less sensitive to the horrors of the Holocaust than any before.
The research also examines the role that immigrants have played in the changing attitudes towards the Shoah. Experts are quoted in the study as saying that there is a marked rise in the number of Muslims in Germany, many of whom see the teaching of the Holocaust as a veiled endorsement of the policies of the state of Israel.
"Out of fear of the students' reactions, many of the teachers avoid teaching this chapter of history in order to not be viewed by some students as supporters of Israel."
"The word 'Jew' has turned into one of the most common curse words among students in both east and west Germany," said Gottfried Cosler, a Frankfurt-based Holocaust scholar.
Robert Sigel, a historian who contributed to the study, is of the opinion that students are taking a great interest in the Holocaust, but that the methods in which the subject is taught today are in need of improvement.
"Often time the teachers, especially the more devoted ones, get carried away, and demand way too much of themselves," Sigel told Focus magazine. "They want to teach the facts and at the same time get across a moral message, call for education and tolerance, deal with the extreme right and prevent anti-Semitism. They put all this material into the subject, and it's too much."
Susan Orban, a historian at Yad Vashem, says that the Holocaust should be taught using methods that have proved successful in the past.
"Today's kids live in different times than that of Anne Frank," Orban said. In order to bridge the generational gap, she submits a different approach, "for example, asking them to imagine that they have to abruptly leave their homes and start a new life elsewhere." Such a method, according to Orban, would speak more directly to the children's hearts and minds than descriptions of the horrors of the concentration camp.
Sigel expressed similar sentiments, adding that the children of immigrants have shown particular interest to the victims of Nazism given that many of them suffered from racial persecution, religious intolerance, and even genocide in their native lands.
Labels: European Anti-Semitism, Germany, Jew-hate, Nazis, Nazism
Monday, April 23, 2007
Whitewashing the Nazi past
They won't allow history to be rewritten
By Leonie Schultens
Haaretz
Mon., April 23, 2007 Iyyar 5, 5767
How do you turn a former Nazi prosecutor into an opponent of Hitler's regime? It seems that Gunther Oettinger, the minister president of the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, thought the death of former German politician Hans Filbinger at age 93 justified such historical revisionism. In a eulogy honoring Filbinger's life, Oettinger said: "Hans Filbinger was no National Socialist. On the contrary, he was an opponent of the Nazi regime. However, he was unable to evade the regime's tight control, as were millions of others."
Hans Filbinger, it should be recalled, enjoyed a very prosperous postwar career in the ranks of Germany's Christian Democratic Party (CDU) of current Chancellor Angela Merkel. Filbinger led Baden-Wuerttemberg from 1966 until he was forced to resign in 1978 after the media uncovered his activity as a naval judge in Hitler's Germany.
In his graveside speech, Oettinger claimed that contrary to popular belief, no verdict issued by Filbinger ever led to the death of German soldiers. As it happened, many Germans, and especially the German media, disagreed with his evaluation, especially in light of the fact that the sister of one of Filbinger's victims expressed her outrage at the eulogy. In 1945 Filbinger oversaw the execution of 22-year-old Walter Groeger for intending to desert to Scandinavia.
The amount of pressure German politicians and the media exerted on Oettinger after his speech was remarkable. The "Filbinger Affair" remained front-page news a whole week, prompting calls for Oettingers resignation and even the establishment of a fact-finding committee to investigate Filbinger's role in Nazi Germanys naval courts.
The head of the opposition Social Democrats in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Ute Vogt, called for Oettinger's resignation. "It is one thing that Filbinger was unable to recognize his injustice, quite another that Oettinger is also unable to differentiate," she said. Chancellor Merkel also publicly criticized her fellow party member, saying that while Filbinger's achievements should be honored, his eulogy should have raised several critical questions with regard to Germanys Nazi past.
The German historian Hans Mommsen accused Oettinger of "national blasphemy," a fitting description for the minister president's eulogy which turned Filbinger from a spineless Nazi follower - and implementer, as the judgment against Groeger shows all too clearly - into someone who was opposed to the Nazi regime.
While Oettinger could have very distastefully claimed that during the Nazi era Filbinger was forced to act in certain ways - and even this would have been a poor argument - it is impossible to turn the former marine judge into an opponent of the Nazi era. Because the war was nearly over, Filbinger did not need to issue a death sentence on Groeger, and he certainly did not have to be present to witness the execution.
It is encouraging to see Germans of all political convictions rally together to oppose the rewriting of history. Oettinger tried to justify his speech by saying that cultural norms hold that when eulogizing someone, the positive aspects of the person's life should be highlighted. While this may be true for people outside the public limelight, it is not applicable to public figures, and it is certainly not permissible for politicians to whitewash or even erase the dark spots in a person's biography - even more so if these are marked by swastikas.
While it is regrettable that ministers of Oettinger's standing consider it "permissible" to make such statements today, viewing the past as water under the bridge, what should be remembered about this episode is not the view of one individual, but the great extent of public pressure brought to bear on him.
True, the German political establishment cannot make an example of every individual who wishes to forget about or even glorify the Nazi past. To some, this may be a serious shortcoming, but one which, sadly, is difficult to rectify, especially considering that public discourse and education have for years condemned Nazi horrors. But by not allowing Oettinger to get away with his statements, the German government is showing that such attitudes are neither tolerated nor condoned.
Oettinger, in the end, had to issue a public apology for his remarks. He has not likely heard the last about his sympathetic speech honoring Filbinger's death. For one, the union for the victims of Nazi military justice has announced that it will file a petition against him for insulting and defaming Nazi victims. And when, one day, people will write Oettinger's eulogy, they will be sure to mention the short, but intense, debate that turned a conservative German politician into a historical revisionist.
By Leonie Schultens
Haaretz
Mon., April 23, 2007 Iyyar 5, 5767
How do you turn a former Nazi prosecutor into an opponent of Hitler's regime? It seems that Gunther Oettinger, the minister president of the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, thought the death of former German politician Hans Filbinger at age 93 justified such historical revisionism. In a eulogy honoring Filbinger's life, Oettinger said: "Hans Filbinger was no National Socialist. On the contrary, he was an opponent of the Nazi regime. However, he was unable to evade the regime's tight control, as were millions of others."
Hans Filbinger, it should be recalled, enjoyed a very prosperous postwar career in the ranks of Germany's Christian Democratic Party (CDU) of current Chancellor Angela Merkel. Filbinger led Baden-Wuerttemberg from 1966 until he was forced to resign in 1978 after the media uncovered his activity as a naval judge in Hitler's Germany.
In his graveside speech, Oettinger claimed that contrary to popular belief, no verdict issued by Filbinger ever led to the death of German soldiers. As it happened, many Germans, and especially the German media, disagreed with his evaluation, especially in light of the fact that the sister of one of Filbinger's victims expressed her outrage at the eulogy. In 1945 Filbinger oversaw the execution of 22-year-old Walter Groeger for intending to desert to Scandinavia.
The amount of pressure German politicians and the media exerted on Oettinger after his speech was remarkable. The "Filbinger Affair" remained front-page news a whole week, prompting calls for Oettingers resignation and even the establishment of a fact-finding committee to investigate Filbinger's role in Nazi Germanys naval courts.
The head of the opposition Social Democrats in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Ute Vogt, called for Oettinger's resignation. "It is one thing that Filbinger was unable to recognize his injustice, quite another that Oettinger is also unable to differentiate," she said. Chancellor Merkel also publicly criticized her fellow party member, saying that while Filbinger's achievements should be honored, his eulogy should have raised several critical questions with regard to Germanys Nazi past.
The German historian Hans Mommsen accused Oettinger of "national blasphemy," a fitting description for the minister president's eulogy which turned Filbinger from a spineless Nazi follower - and implementer, as the judgment against Groeger shows all too clearly - into someone who was opposed to the Nazi regime.
While Oettinger could have very distastefully claimed that during the Nazi era Filbinger was forced to act in certain ways - and even this would have been a poor argument - it is impossible to turn the former marine judge into an opponent of the Nazi era. Because the war was nearly over, Filbinger did not need to issue a death sentence on Groeger, and he certainly did not have to be present to witness the execution.
It is encouraging to see Germans of all political convictions rally together to oppose the rewriting of history. Oettinger tried to justify his speech by saying that cultural norms hold that when eulogizing someone, the positive aspects of the person's life should be highlighted. While this may be true for people outside the public limelight, it is not applicable to public figures, and it is certainly not permissible for politicians to whitewash or even erase the dark spots in a person's biography - even more so if these are marked by swastikas.
While it is regrettable that ministers of Oettinger's standing consider it "permissible" to make such statements today, viewing the past as water under the bridge, what should be remembered about this episode is not the view of one individual, but the great extent of public pressure brought to bear on him.
True, the German political establishment cannot make an example of every individual who wishes to forget about or even glorify the Nazi past. To some, this may be a serious shortcoming, but one which, sadly, is difficult to rectify, especially considering that public discourse and education have for years condemned Nazi horrors. But by not allowing Oettinger to get away with his statements, the German government is showing that such attitudes are neither tolerated nor condoned.
Oettinger, in the end, had to issue a public apology for his remarks. He has not likely heard the last about his sympathetic speech honoring Filbinger's death. For one, the union for the victims of Nazi military justice has announced that it will file a petition against him for insulting and defaming Nazi victims. And when, one day, people will write Oettinger's eulogy, they will be sure to mention the short, but intense, debate that turned a conservative German politician into a historical revisionist.
Labels: Germany, Holocaust, Nazis, Revisionism
