Hashoah
by shalimar
You might have heard of the holocaust that occurred during the Second World War. You probably heard of the six million members of my family that died in places like Babi Yar and Auschwitz. That number is fairly accurate. What you may not know about is the other five million. That five million include two groups that were decimated on a per person basis worse than us. The second worse decimated group was the Jehovah’s Witnesses. A higher rate of death occurred with another group that I also belong to, the GLBT community.
You might notice that all three groups involve action. But it was the action against us, as well as the inaction of those around us, which caused our deaths. The same is true today. It is because of the tolerance of violence, including that against us, that we are gathered here today to mourn these individuals. They had names. They had faces. They were someone’s children.
But there is more. Every time a person is discriminated for reasons other than he or she cannot do the job or because the poison in their soul that hate continues. Every time a politician votes against equal protection of the law hatred becomes the norm. Every time a politician votes for a potential judge because of they don’t want expansion of human rights we all suffer. These politicians believe it is their way or no way. They, in reality, align themselves with bin Laden who said that men must have beards and women can’t have an education. They align themselves with Hitler who insisted on enforcing Prussian law 175. It is time to eliminate the Jim Crow actions against us.
It is my hope that the violence will stop and we here and around the world would never again need to do this memorial. It is also my hope that other memorials for and by others for similar reasons of violence would also not be necessary. It is time to say, “Never again” to the violence. It is time to start using love instead of hate. It is time to take action against the hate including that within ourselves. It is time to believe it can be done. It is time to believe it will be done.
For Transgender Day of Remembrance, 20 November 2007.
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Comments
Inshallah
Says it all,
Joanne
I fear..
... that as long as there are people there will be violence. It is part of nature, but only humans make it something else. A part of that group, the persecuted... were the gypsys a wandering motley group originally from India. My mothers side of the family is from India, though distressingly I got the anglo genes. That skin...damn. Anyway, being of mixed blood they knew well discrimination and it's varied manifestations. My Aunt whom I now share with is of that blood and yes she does to a degree have the sight. Fiery and tough in her 70's she can work most 20 year olds into the ground. She jokes of doing Tarot and card readings to make her fortune... I don't laugh, she probably could.
Sorry, raving on... violence is a part of life, cruelty and the subtle extremes of it are solely human. We have a long way to go before we deserve grace.
Kristina
I weep
...but not because millions of people died because of their religion or their 'race' or their sexual identity. That does not make it a horrendous crime.
That one person died for any of those reasons is infinitely horrible. Don't let the number dilute our grief for each human lost.
That deaths continue, that there are those that do not recognize how they feed the hate, are two more horrors.
Jan
I simply have to
comment. I am deeply sorry for the loss of the nearly 6 million of your family, I don't want to diminish the loss, or mean disrespect in any way. But I simply have to react to the figure of 5 million others.
The second world war has cost the lives of more than 72,5 million people. Worldwide.
The majority of these losses were in Europe, about 40 million including the, near to, 6 million of your family.
Europe lost more than 15 million military. Occupational hazard you might say, but nevertheless they're dead. Europe also lost close to 20 million civilian citizens. Maybe more, the mind boggles at these numbers. Among these 20 million were your family. Me, as an European I like to think they were my family too in a way, but maybe that's somehow or someway presumptuous, because I so often hear the distinction. From the remaining 14 million civilian victims, the majority died of gruesome famine, but mostly Nazi genocide and/or reprisal.
Europe, which is as close to me as my family, suffered very very hard, under Nazi rule. Your family and mine have paid an awful toll. As much as I acknowledge war is suffering casualties, a loss of 15 million -mostly young- men is in my opinion tearing a great big hole in the fabric of any civilization which is not easily mended.
On top of that 20 million innocent were killed, mostly under the utmost horrific horrendous circumstances. And you'd think that would be something to remember. But we don't!
We remember the 6 million of your family, because you keep reminding us, and I personally think that's a good thing, because it SHOULD be remembered. And honored. But we forget the others. Nobody is mentioning them. And there's an awful lot to remember. A REAL AWFUL lot.
Face it: Well Over S e v e n t y T w o MILLION men, women, and child fell victim to man made horror.
I would very much like it if remembrance of victims of world war II in the future would include all these losses. Mention the 14 million other Nazi victims too. Mention the military, for most of them were just grunts.
And I don't care whether they were catholic, baptist, jewish, black, white, homosexual, intersexual, capitalist, communist, rich, poor, filthy, scrubbed, chink, round-eyed, greek, u.s., british, or whatever. All are included.
Except maybe the dutch.
Oh what the hell, even the dutch.
But remember all. Please.
Jo-Anne
Soviet Union sacrifices
It's often forgotten the debt the UK, who stood alone in the dark period of the Battle of Britain in 1940, owes to the so-called 'Evil Empire' so denigrated by Reagan. Over 23 million of them died in WW2 divided roughly equally between civilians and military. For comparison, both the UK and the USA lost fewer than 500,000 each in total.
If it hadn't been for the Soviet Union, we, in the UK, would now be speaking German and Europe would be a different place. As someone old enough to remember the war (just) I suppose I would have been amongst the first to have benefited from 'Natzification' .
We are continually being reminded of the Holocaust (quite rightly) but that should not allow us to forget the equally huge sacrifice made by others - sometimes others we were encouraged to hate after the conflict ended.
Geoff
Umm
Geoff, with Europe I meant including the Soviet Union, cause it's mainly Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine who contributed.
I also included the UK, for although it's an island, it's still Europe in my book.
And yes, you are quite right to pay homage to the S.U. But we owe a thanks to the U.K also, they went for it when it became real thight. Forgive me, if I seem flying a bit off the *whats-ya-call-it?* but it's grieving me so often, I can't shut up.
Sorry. Jo-Anne
No problem here.
I merely expanded on your post. It's just that the specific and huge contribution made by the Soviet Union often gets glossed over; partly because of their demonisation in the 'Cold War'.
Geoff
USSR
NO NO NO NO. NO thanks to the USSR. we often forget they were evil. Their troops looted and killed millions of german innocent civilians. there troops raped almost every woman they could find. THey are no heros. Russia is a shame. There is a shame they never admited for nor feel any resource for.
Government vs. People
Soldiers under orders are not the same as the people they represent. Atrocities were committed but the people of all countries suffered. Germans and Japanese, too. Forgiveness for crimes committed in the name of fascism, imperialism, socialism or even liberty can't be earned, but it can be given.
The peoples of the USSR, including Latvians, Lithuanians, Finns, Estonians and Ukrainians who had troops that fought on Germany's side, suffered hugely. Their suffering and deaths deserve to be remembered.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Getting Back to Basics
You are all correct. Yet, y'all missed the point.
Yes, Gypsies also died under the Nazi's concept of racial purity to a total of about 700,000.
Yes, millions more died during that time as "normal" victims of war. I also morn the 9,000,000 Germans that died that way.
Yes, the major difference between Hitler and Stalin was that Stalin was an "equal opportunity" serial killer.
Yes, I could have mentioned other atrocities such as "The Long March," "The Killing Fields," 9/11 and Tulsa. I could have also mentioned the York massacure in the 1100's or the program in 1903 that was responsible for my grandfather coming to the USA, but you probably wouldn't know what I was talking about.
Yes, I could have mentioned Gwen Arajo, who's mother was at the TDoR event that I attended.
But, more important, the point is that the holocost continues, as this Transgender Day of Rememberance (November 20) and other similar events remind us, not only to us that are transgendered, but also to others. Let us mourn our dead and work to end the killing wherever and however is rears its ugly head.
shalimar
kishinev
I looked it up because, no I did not specifically know that one. There are far too many examples in the last hundred years, let alone history. Animals reject the different for sound resons based on instinct and survival. We human beings are supposed to be better than that, having a mind to reason and soul the feel with. Do we miss the point? I don't think so. It's always personal and it's always universal. The comment at the end of mine about grace still applies as do the other facets applied by other commentors. It is not one or many, it is all.
Kristina
Oh I know
I was correct. And I know I 'missed y'er point'. It's not what my comment was about.
It was about your reference to 5 million other victims of the holocaust. Differentiating between 6 million of your family and 5 million others. 5 million _others_ who fell victim also to the Nazi holocaust. But it didn't stop there.
You _have_ to know that there was also a very large number of victims not caused by the holocaust, but those many millions, were also victims of genocide. Civilians and military. Estimates range from 6 to 8 million.
Not just your 'normal' victims of war, human beings. Shot and burried in mass graves, purposely famined, deprived of medicines and just about any human aid meant to die of very real and horrendous diseases, or worked to death in slavery.
6 million of your family. 5 million 'others'. 6 to 8 million due to other 'ingeneous ways' of genocide.
But I was never out to differentiate. Au contraire. I was referencing the enormity of the horror, which was set about just because then they differentiated. I fulminate against discriminating between them and us.
Going back to basics for me constitutes that we stop making distinctions between various groups, races, orientations, colors, believes, heritage, you name it. Because it keeps biting us in the ass.
Do to others what you'd like them to do to you, you don't have to have special days for that.
I don't care for a remembrance day for Transgenders.
Jo-Anne
Remembering
I remember the first Day of Remembrance in San Francisco. I remember the meetings we had when we were trying to come up with a plan on how to make people aware of the violence against transgendered people. I remember the poster board signs we made with the names of those who had died and trying to keep the rain off of them as we huddled together on that chilly night.
It was painful. It was beautiful. I will always remember that night.