> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of > Gautam Mukunda
... > Actually, I don't think it did. France's record was > better than I thought it was, without question. > _But_, the article certainly didn't say that France > protected its Jews. As Erik pointed out, most of the > 80,000 Jews handed in were handed over by the French > police. That is a pretty damning statistic, to put it > mildly. It is, to be sure, but *who* is it damning? To me, it speaks to the existence of a dangerous minority in that nation, because if they were the majority, far more would have died, don't you think? The overall record of France in comparison to the rest of Europe speaks well of the nation as a whole, especially considering that there were *local* authorities who clearly were trying to remove as many Jews as possible. It seems to me that you and I are finally converging on some facts that put all this into perspective. I have a greater appreciation (accompanied by dismay and revulsion) of the crimes of the Vichys and their sympathizers. And the statistics of the Holocaust have sunk in even deeper than ever before. As I've grown older, I am more and more astonished that the Holocaust happened in my own father's lifetime. I often find myself thinking that humanity hasn't evolved much in the 50 years that have passed, at least in the biological sense of evolution. Perhaps our memes have made more progress than our genes, though. I am resigned to supporting the present war partly because I can't set aside a war my father fought in as an event in distant history that could not be repeated today. I sure don't know if this is the right time to attack Iraq or if some other approach would be best, but it's not as though we ever will know those things. This not being heaven, we have to make rotten choices sometimes. > The articles also seem to argue that aiding > the escape of Jews wasn't pursured very harshly. > Finally, they also mention the (considerable) freedom > of action given the Vichy regime from 1940 to 1942. > I'm not saying that France would have done the killing > without the defeat - of course not. Eliminationist > anti-semitism is a fairly unique German creation that > stretches back to Martin Luther. Have Protestants redeemed themselves (oh, how theologically incorrect) through their protection of Jews in WWII? ;-) I'm Lutheran, but I don't worship Luther... despite his picture on my wall. Nick _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
