Complex Numbers

The First But Not the Last

I last linked an article from The Atlantic just a couple of days ago. This one, from the same source, is its polar opposite. I can't snark on it.

The Holocaust Started With My Great-Uncle’s Murder  
Arthur Kahn is believed to be the first Jewish person killed by the Nazis. I’ve known the story of his death as long as I can remember, but I wanted to learn the story of his life.

Perhaps you feel you've been hearing too much about this lately. Personally, I recently saw a bunch of articles about Anne Frank because the anniversary of her birth was on June 12, the same day I ragged on the happiness article. She'd be 93 now. Not an impossible age. Millions of deaths are a statistic; one is a tragedy.

But, considering that there are still people around who want to exterminate other people for being "other," I for one am not going to let it slide.

"Hey Waltz, what about all the other genocides in history? Why don't we talk about them in the same way?"

Good question. They all suck. The reasons we keep going back to 1930s Germany when we talk about genocides are 1) They were, arguably, the most advanced civilization on the planet at the time, and yet they still committed barbaric atrocities, and 2) there are still people around who want to exterminate other people for being "other," so we have to remember this shit so that history doesn't repeat itself. Which it looks like it's about to.

As for the article I just linked, well, I don't have anything I want to quote from it. You can read it. You might encounter a paywall, especially if you also read the one I linked on Sunday, but there's a way around that (I'll email it to you if you don't know). It's another story of an individual, not a statistic -- someone who, as the title suggests, might have been the first victim of Nazi genocide.

I've heard there were about 10,999,999 more after him. Oh, sure, you've heard the "six million" number quoted. Those were known Jews. The other five million shouldn't be forgotten, either: people of African origin, Romani, homosexuals, political prisoners, those who opposed the Third Reich, etc.

When I was in high school, I was the only Jewish kid in the class when we read the Frank diary, so most people walked on eggshells around me (those that didn't were going to bully me anyway, and took this opportunity to unleash their bigotry). No need for that, though. One time I pointed out the 11 million statistic, and I remember someone being amazed that I would care about the non-Jewish victims.

As if I should only care when I or someone in my subgroup is affected. Caring only about your own community is the problem.

That said, there's a big difference between hating someone for things they have no control over, such as race, and hating them for things they do, like being assholes (fascists, e.g.). There aren't "two sides" here; there's people who just want to live their lives; and then there's people who want to exterminate them for being "other." I don't care whether that "other" is Black, Jewish, Mexican, Muslim, Asian, Christian, atheist, gay, trans, or whatever. Of course, I could make the argument that you can't help being an asshole, because we don't really have free will. But assholes have been known to become non-assholes, whereas you don't stop being your race.

Anyway. Enough depressing shit. I'll write more comedy later. I just felt this was too important to not put in the blog rotation.