By Marty Richman
Occasionally, something really important jumps up and hits you
right between the eyes. That’s how it was with Kelly Savio’s first
installment of her two-part series,
”
Conversation with a Nazi
”
that appeared in Friday’s Free Lance. I was primed for it
because I’d recently been in an Internet debate about whether it
was better to publicize and confront the twisted ideas of such
groups or to ignore them. I won’t keep you in suspense; I’m firmly
in the
”
publicize and confront
”
camp.
Occasionally, something really important jumps up and hits you right between the eyes. That’s how it was with Kelly Savio’s first installment of her two-part series, “Conversation with a Nazi” that appeared in Friday’s Free Lance. I was primed for it because I’d recently been in an Internet debate about whether it was better to publicize and confront the twisted ideas of such groups or to ignore them. I won’t keep you in suspense; I’m firmly in the “publicize and confront” camp.
No, I do not have to wait to read Part Two to comment; the tone was set in part one and there will be few, if any, surprises in part two. Nazism, and all its predecessors, offspring, siblings and cousins ,have been with us under various names long before there was a Hitler, and they will be with us forever. The underlying message is always the same: Hate the other person for their color, their religion, their nationality, or their social status. They are “the others,” not us.
Nazis are not the only ones who send that venomous message, although they always qualify as the ultimate bad example. Regrettably, some people of every race, color, creed, national origin and social class also send the same message directed against others of a different race, color, creed, national origin or social class. It’s always “the others” who are the problem.
For many decades, various forms of Nazism and Communism served as the poster children for hate powered by the state, a truly frightening prospect. Now the Jihadists appear determined to leave their bloodstained mark on the pages of history as hate powered by social and religious fanaticism. It’s all the same under the covers.
America has not been immune to the purveyors of hate. We have had our full share – some would say more than our full share – of hate groups: the Nazis, the KKK, the Nation of Islam, the Black Panthers and the Jewish Defense League, just to name a few of hundreds.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m hardly a bleeding-heart – a chorus of “We are the World,” just makes me sick, and PC speech drives me crazy – but there is a huge difference between those queasy feelings, harsh criticism or even some dislike, and blind hatred. We only cheapen the real issues when we accuse those we merely disagree with of being Nazis or Commies for political points. I have been guilty, but not locally; at least that’s my excuse. I think I’ll have to do better.
While you’re reading all about the Nazis’ new image and populist ideas on the environment, health care, jobs, housing and government, it would do you well to remember that, historically, Nazism and Communism both used the promise of social reform to gain power. Once they had that power, they refined the definitions – the benefits were available only to the correct people and the correct-thinking people.
Yes, the images of the Holocaust are unforgettable as is the concept of genocide on an industrial scale. Tattooed children, numbered and cataloged, then gassed and cremated like so many dolls thrown into the garbage furnace, but we should not forget the tens of millions of non-Jews murdered by the Nazis and the tens of millions of political enemies murdered by the Communists – teenagers, young adults, and the elderly – anyone they classified as “others.” That was another era before we were all so enlightened, or was it?
In 1994, Hutu militia using clubs and machetes killed 800,000 Tutsis. While that genocide progressed, the majority of Americans shook their heads, pursed their lips and said, “It’s none of our business.” That’s exactly what hate groups, totalitarian societies, and fanatics count on: our reluctance to speak up and lack of action to combat their evil intentions.
Today, Americans are slowly retreating from the world, unwilling to suffer the pain that is required to face up to evil. I wonder how long it will be before they feel the same way about the evil at home, before “what’s in it for me” becomes the overriding consideration of every decision.
When you deal with those who do not believe in basic freedoms or even common humanity, you deal with the devil. You trade the promise of easy solutions for everything that really matters. Remember that when you consider taking a swig of Nazi-Lite, it’s just the same old rotgut all gussied up in a new bottle.
Marty Richman is a Hollister resident. He can be reached at [email protected].
