
On Becoming the Enemy - rbanffy
http://bostonreview.net/politics/jason-stanley-becoming-enemy
======
tpush
One of the greatest privileges I had while I was in school in Germany was
listening to Holocaust survivors, live on stage, speak about their and their
parents experiences.

When learning about the Nazi time in history class I always had some amount of
emotional distance between me and the subject.

Hearing survivors' accounts made away with that. That was when I, as a
German(who had a grand-grandfather who fought for the Nazis), felt deep
genuine regret and sorrow for the actions(or inaction) of my ancestors.

I worry what will happen when the last survivor dies.

~~~
wordupmaking
In kindergarten I asked a friend why "Hitler didn't like Jews". He said his
grandmother was Jewish and he didn't like her, which made sense to us. When I
was 9, my Jewish best friend and I had friendship armbands in neon colors,
which I loved to bits, exclaiming that "I'm a Neon-Nazi". Still totally
clueless, it was still all just words to me. The deeply appalled reaction of
his mother was like a gut punch, probably like my innocent but horrid
statement was to her.

When I was 11 and alone, I randomly changed channels (we only had the 3) and
was faced with a bunch of corpses being shoved into a grave by a caterpillar.
I remember that as if it was yesterday, and with everything I learned since
then, that was the horrible anchor. But like you probably too, I wouldn't want
to unsee it either. And I still sometimes can't help but wonder about the
streets I walk through. Did some of those houses see people get dragged out
and carried to their murder? How would the dead judge our too common
unwillingness to speak out against injustice, even though we're very free to
do so in comparison to them? There's so much, but I fear it less than I fear
looking away.

While I also think testimonies, big and small, by real people (e.g.
[https://www.youtube.com/user/YadVashem/videos](https://www.youtube.com/user/YadVashem/videos)
) are important and need to be preserved, I can honestly say that for me, they
were not really necessary, that is they came long after this had already
become and integral part of me. Even "just" what can be read in books
sufficed, but that's because I went looking for it, because I needed to learn.
Similarly, I think it's perfectly possible for people to be so jaded to even
shrug off a testimony given in person. So that's both good and bad news, I
guess?

~~~
Sorreah
>How would the dead judge our too common unwillingness to speak out against
injustice, even though we're very free to do so in comparison to them? There's
so much, but I fear it less than I fear looking away.

The dead were people too, not saints. They share the burden of creating an
unjust society.

------
AlexandrB
I worry what happens when the last of those that actually remember any of this
die and all we're left with is the stories and the grainy footage. Humanity's
track record for repeating mistakes is not encouraging.

~~~
zitterbewegung
There have been acts of genocide since World War 2 so it's not really a memory
problem. To have countries not repeat mistakes like this would need a new
approach?

~~~
michaelkeenan
The trend looks good:
[https://ourworldindata.org/genocides/](https://ourworldindata.org/genocides/)

According to that source, in 2012, for the first time in at least a hundred
years, there were no ongoing genocides.

~~~
zitterbewegung
Not aware of that. Thanks for pointing it out!

~~~
ktRolster
Worth also mentioning that war itself is kind of petering out:
[http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/articles/news_and_pol...](http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2014/12/141209_Charts-
armedconflicts.jpg.CROP.promovar-mediumlarge.jpg)

------
malandrew
I'm genuinely curious to read more accounts of those very early days when
Jewish people were first being treated like the enemy by a very small but
vocal minority wielding righteous indignation as their weapon of choice.

"The surest way to work up a crusade in favor of some good cause is to promise
people they will have a chance of maltreating someone. To be able to destroy
with good conscience, to be able to behave badly and call your bad behavior
'righteous indignation' — this is the height of psychological luxury, the most
delicious of moral treats." Aldous Huxley, Crome Yellow

------
lapsock
I should buy a gun.

~~~
olewhalehunter
Depending on where you live, if you pay taxes you probably already have,
millions of them, for atrocities on a scale that make Kristallnacht look tame.

~~~
wu-ikkyu
Millions is a exaggerating

~~~
hueving
[https://www.quora.com/How-many-guns-does-the-US-military-
own](https://www.quora.com/How-many-guns-does-the-US-military-own) says around
3 per military member (this is just handheld firearms). That puts it at well
over 3 million with more than a million military members.

~~~
wu-ikkyu
olewhalehunter said "millions" in the context of a singular "you", which is
the exaggeration. Of course, _collectively_ , all the US tax payers have paid
for millions of weapons.

