September 20, 2005, Nothing comes closer to home
There are reminders out there that there is evil... and then, there is evil. One of those reminders reminded us that time marches on, as famed Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal died at 96. Wiesenthal devoted his life to the pursuit of justice against those responsible for the Holocaust... the standard-setters for evil for all time. He was most famous for his role in hunting down the architect of the Holocaust, Adolph Eichmann (who was duly captured by the State of Israel, kidnapped from Argentina, tried, and to this day, the only prisoner ever formally executed by Israel.)
The fact of the matter is that it has been sixty years since the conclusion of World War II; those who have lived to tell the tale are, sadly, dying off around us.
This is most unfortunate. Most of us in our comfortable imaginary little worlds somehow think that the challenges we face are uniquely special and daunting, be they high gasoline prices, or the remote possibility of some terrorist attack. But they're not. Not even close. Not even a little. The Holocaust didn't happen on live t.v., I'm afraid, so the fact that it killed over 6 million Jews, and that same number of non-Jews, or roughly twice as many people as killed on 9-11 every day for six years doesn't mean anything to most of us anymore because, hey, if it was that important, we would have seen it on live t.v., right?
There are people still alive today who saw the ultimate face of evil, and who tried to make damned sure the rest of us knew it was out there, and what it looked like. Sadly, we now have one fewer of them. And it's all of our loss.
Rest in peace, Mr. Wiesenthal.
Comments
Fascinating issue, TD. Quality of evil in Holocaust vs. that in 9/11. Sadly, today, we live in an era where something is taken seriously only if it can get some corporate sponsorship.
Actually, another question begging. Where is the Simon Wiesenthal for 9/11? It's been 4 years.
Posted by Just Thinking at September 21, 2005 4:48 PM