Remembering Auschwitz, 60 Years Too Late

When allied forces liberated Auschwitz, 60 years ago today, they had arrived too late. Today, as world leaders converged to commemorate this day, fateful to the few who survived, their unanimous recognition of the Holocaust and the unspeakable atrocities perpetratedprovided little comfort for a people whose legitimacy, one again, has been called into question. It is foolish to compare contemporary European anti-semitism to the anti-semitism that was a precursor to the slaughter of 6 million Jews. But it is similarly foolish to dismiss serious concerns about the rising tide of anti-semitic sentiment in Europe and on American campuses nationwide (not to mention throughout the Middle East). CNN's feature on Auschwitz http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/01/27/auschwitz.anniversary/index.html includes photographs of camp survivors attending the memorial, some of them wearing the white and grey striped hats that have by now become trademarks of the Holocaust and the Nazi obsession with humiliation and extermination. And in just about all the feature articles and essays on CNN and other news media, there is a certain urgency that accompanies these poignant photographs. Now, 60 years after the Holocaust, its survivors are dying out, and without living memory, there is a very real fear that the Holocaust will be forgotten. This is not a fear inspired by the worry that the murdered will have died for nothing, because to argue otherwise is senseless. No moral lessons, no UN, or European Union can ever give meaning to the deaths of the millions of men, women and children, many of whom left no family or friends behind to grieve and remember them. The Nazi killings, and the Jewish (and other) deaths, were cruel and senseless and to assign them an ultimate meaning, or value, as though they were sacrifices offered on the altar of a future world peace is callous. The problem with forgetting the Holocaust is not that then the dead will have died in vain, they did die in vain and the world watched undisturbed. The danger in forgetting the Holocaust is that the survivors will have shared their story with us in vain, they will have broken their silence, clearly a difficult and dangerous step for many of them, pointlessy. Having joined civilization and participated in its development, becoming fully integrated members of society despite the immeasurable distance they felt from those who had not lived through the horrors of the Holocaust, their decision to tell, to expose, to dig up horrific memories and the intense emotional upheaval it must have caused will have been wasted on people who have eyes but cannot see, who have ears but cannot hear, who can feel pain but do not feel another's pain. This is why we must remember, to honor the courage of the survivors who despite the urge to remain silent, to close the door behind them and move on, dared to speak up, to open their wounds and let them bleed, if only so that their memories will not die with them.

Recently read another I.B. Singerl--Enemies, A Love Story. Although the read didn't leave me feeling shook up as some of Singer's other books, it is a gem--a genuine tale of human endurance, of pain, bitterness, need, and futility. I have just begun Nabokov's Mary, I think one of his less-known works. It is a little book, and his first novel, and I picked it up because few writers are as exhilirating as Nabokov--his incredible use of language and a wonderfully sinister sense of humor make his books truly delightful, to me. I also managed to convince a friend to read Andrew Sean Greer's recently published novel Confessions of Max Tivoli, a splendidly imaginative work of fiction that, despite evidence of an amateurish pen, won me over.

On the Hoax of Human Freedom

Recently wrote a paper on the Determinism/Freedom paradox from the pov's of the Jewish medieval philosopher and religious authority Maimonides and the later Jewish heretic/philosopher Spinoza. The readings I went through for my research were eye-openers. I also discovered a whole genre of philosophical writings I had no idea existed like the Journal of the History of Philosophy, etc. My thesis? Too convoluted to get into here. I'll say only that it confirmed what I had long suspected: that freedom is that necessary illusion, similar to the necessary if untrue beliefs Maimonides espouses in his Guide.

Mourning the American Jewish intellectuals who died in 2004.

I don't know if there's something peculiar aobut this year's deaths or whether it's just my own awareness this time. Still I can't escape the feeling that there is something odd about the deaths of Sontag and Derrida following so closely on each other's heels. I can't say I followed Derrida very much or at all except perhaps for reading snippets here and there and attending a university where he is an idol among others. For no good reason I've followed Sontag more closely, or perhaps her readings have just been more readily accessible (in fact, I'm quite sure that is the case). In any even there have been an outpouring of obits, not surprisingly, about the two, and more recently, a comparative obit, if such a genre exists, on these two "luminary figures" oh, for the sarcasm point Slate's Josh Greeman wisely suggested http://www.slate.com/id/2111172. And here is for Sontag/Derrida comparative obit, you will need a username and password to get in but it is free so sign up http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-smackdown9jan09,1,4731644.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions&ctrack=3&cset=true. One thing the obit failed to take note of: both these luminaries were Jews, and both clearly were of the apologetic sort (uncomfortable with the ancestry, nation, religion they were born into). Why are American Jewish intellectuals so poisoned against their own kind is a fascinating phenomenon worth examining though I doubt any real insight can come of it beyond some unlikely-to-surprise revelations about self-doubt and insecurities--the kind that was essentially responsible for the birth of the American Jewish intellectual in the first place.

I.J. Singer

Recently read I.J. Singer's The Brothers Ashkenazi. A family saga, of the Dostoyevsky/Tolstoy genre, albeit a rather easy read. Interesting to note that in literary circles I.J., the older brother who inspired the more famous I.B., is actually considered to have been the more gifted writer of the two. Apparently he managed to pull off what is considered to be a difficult feat-that of the long and intricate novel, where I.B., as critics will have it, fell short. I.B. is better noted for his novellas and short stories. At any rate while I.J.'s novel was an excellent read I must confess I still favor the younger brother. I've started reading The Nation online lately. I don't know if that's a capital offense. It certainly espouses political beliefs I find personally offensive for various reasons. However, it makes for very good, often entertaining reading. I think it is an altogether common phenomenon, and a sad one at that, that essays printed in liberal publications are generally more cleverly written and often more thoughtful and less predictable than the stuff being put out by moderate to right wing America. Which is why I am less and less inclined to read Commentary magazine, the journal that was perhaps most influential in shaping and informing my political opinions.