Auschwitz survivor accused of being “anti-Semite”

[RgrF]

Dr Hajo Meyer, 86, who survived 10 months in the Nazi death camp, spoke out as his 10-day tour of the UK and Ireland – taking in three Scottish venues – got under way. His comments sparked a furious reaction from hardline Jewish lobby groups, with Dr Meyer branded an “anti-Semite” and accused of abusing his position as a Holocaust survivor. wrote:

from the Isles

[Pops]

Senility strikes us all eventually. To compare Israel's treatment of the Palestinians to WW II Germany's treatment of the Jews just makes one wish the poor soul some peaceful final years.

[cbelt3]

Pops-

You missed the text in the middle of the hoopla. His commentary (which was quite reasoned) on the treatment of the Palestinian people by the Israeli government related to their dehumanization and treatment as second class or no class citizenry. Such a tactic has been used by occupying powers and dictatorships of all stripes throughout history.

While Israel is not conducting a campaign of genocide, their treatment of the Palestinians DOES parallel the treatment of Jews by the National Socialist Party prior to the implementation of the 'final solution'. Confiscation of property and possessions. Denial of full citizenship. Denial of rights. Economic repression. Segregation into 'ghettos'.

It's important to study the whole evolution of Nazi policy towards Jews (and homosexuals, gypsies, certain Catholics, etc..). The repression did not start with the death camps.

[Spock]

Dr Meyer also insisted the definition of “anti-Semitic” had now changed, saying: “Formerly an anti-Semite was somebody who hated Jews because they were Jews and had a Jewish soul. But nowadays an anti-Semite is somebody who is hated by Jews.”

Regretfully there is more than a grain of truth in his observation.

[OWC Jamie]

If you want to see where his comparison has it's roots you have to sneak into the parts of Israel along the fences where Westerners are not allowed.
Most Westerners think only jews were in the death camps.
Even anti-semites got serial numbers tattooed on thier forearms if they were unfortunate enough to be branded a non-person.
You could end up in a camp for stealing a piece of bread.

[Doc]

billb wrote:
You could end up in a camp for stealing a piece of bread.

'Got any authority to back that up?

Jews, Gypsies, Catholics, homosexuals, the mentally disabled? Yes. Petty thieves? No. 'Never heard of that and I'm pretty well-read on the subject.

There are some rational comparisons that can be fairly made between the treatment of Palestinian settlers and Jews in Germany during the rise to power of the Nazis and before the concentration camps. The anti-Zionists mentioned in the article do not make rational or fair comparisons. They spin news and spew hate-speech to pursue an agenda of disenfranchisement and ultimately of annihilation... Much like the Germans during the lead-up to World War II.

[OWC Jamie]

Doc wrote:
[quote=billb]
You could end up in a camp for stealing a piece of bread.

'Got any authority to back that up?

Jews, Gypsies, Catholics, homosexuals, the mentally disabled? Yes. Petty thieves? No. 'Never heard of that and I'm pretty well-read on the subject.
Got a list of Stutthof guests from Bergen ?

My grandmother made her own soap till the day she died 11 years ago so she'd know what was in it.


F you.

[Doc]

billb wrote:
Got a list of Stutthof guests from Bergen?

It's plausible that a thief might have ended up with the POWs and the Poles rounded up for Stutthof before it became a concentration camp and they started slaughtering Jews for soap and buttons. But I don't think that sending a petty thief there was something that would be done in the ordinarily course of business.

[Acer]

Thread highjack in progress...

Wikipedia specifically mentions "common criminals" in the list of detainees, to wit : "in most camps, prisoners were forced to wear identifying overalls with colored badges according to their categorization: red triangles for Communists and other political prisoners, green triangles for common criminals, pink for homosexual men, purple for Jehovah's Witnesses, black for Gypsies and asocials, and yellow for Jews"

I don't know if stealing bread was enough, but if they needed to incarcerate a criminal, the local concentration camp was where they were doing that sort of thing at the time.

[$tevie]

How did we get from a Jew in Auschwitz to a petty thief in Stutthof?

There's no accounting for who could have ended up in a camp so it's a pretty much a waste of time arguing about it. Not all camps were extermination camps so I've no reason to think that a guy who stole bread couldn't end up in a camp. Then if he got sick and/or couldn't work he would end up being sent to a death camp.