Behind the Headlines Can It Ever Happen Again?

The recent statement by Ashraf Ghorbal, the Egyptian Ambassador to the United States, in a right-wing weekly in Argentina that the Arabs have decided “to put an end to Judaism…which must disappear. Today, tomorrow, it will disappear,” placed alongside the memorialization of the 30th year of the liberation of Nazi extermination camps puts into bas relief the whole question again of anti-Semitism.

Ghorbal’s call for the destruction of a religion is new; it is not Zionism, it is not Israel he wants destroyed, but in effect the whole Jewish people. Hitler had the same idea in his final solution and while he did not succeed, he did dispose of six million Jews, among other nationals.

Thirty years ago, this writer was a Private in the Military Intelligence Service of the Army of the United States. And until the time he was shipped home in December 1945, he was assigned to two American internment camps for Nazi political prisoners. in that time, he “interviewed” an average of six a day, six days a week for a little more than 40 weeks. He had a glaring opportunity to look into the heart of German Nazism generally, and with respect to the Jewish question.

A parade of “human beings” crossed his path, men and women who had worked for Hitler and had advanced his plans and, while many lied about their redemption, others claimed they were “belogen und betrogen” (lied to and betrayed) by the Bonzen (officials). Others claimed “Ich bin kein Nazi” (I am not a Nazi).

In the light of this anniversary, it is perhaps well to recall that moment of history when Hitler’s empire came crumbling down under the onslaught of allied forces and the rottenness of his society was exposed in its corrupted human beings. They were many and varied; government officials, businessmen, professors and workers, both men and women. At this writing, one in particular comes to mind because of the oddity of his situation and its contradiction.

AN ODDITY OF HIS SITUATION

He was a “Gauredner” (State Speaker) and his job was to tour his area, make Nazi speeches and exhort the people to support Hitler. He had this title and function from 1933 to 1935 and he was arrested by U.S. forces for that reason. One day, he asked to see me. I had then, as did the other members of the team, a name other than my own but I was the only American on the team. The others were German and Austrian Jews who had migrated to the U.S. and had been drafted. His theory, I suspected then, was that as an American I was not personally touched, would be fair because I was an American and, as far as he knew, because of my official name, was not a Jew.

I gave him the interview because we were then very security minded (Goebbels had threatened the Army with werewolves) and sometimes we used the inmates to find out if anything of such nature was going on in the camp itself. The man was small, middle-aged and mustached in the style of the time. The rest of him was camp clothing and wooden shoes. He thanked me for the chance to talk and announced he was of Jewish origin. When I told him that he held a top job in the Nazi system and that, therefore, it was not possible, he said, yes, that is so but I was not known as a Jew and even in my own mind, I had forgotten it.

What reminded you, I asked, the fact that you are now in a prison? No, he said. As you can see, I left the post in 1935. And the Nazis permitted you to do it without reason? I said I was sick, he said. But the real reason was that I remembered my grandfather. I remembered that he would take me to the park. He was an old man and he wore a beard. And I remembered that the children in the neighborhood used to make fun of him and call him Saujude (Jew Pig). As a child, it made an impression on me but with time and events, it faded.

Until now? I asked. Yes, he said. And waited for me to exercise compassion. I thought then of all the speeches the man must have made, not only extolling Hitler, but attacking the Jews as well.

I find it strange, I said, that until you recalled that your old grandfather was a Jew, you accepted the Hitler philosophy, that you rose to a high position in the Nazi hierarchy and that you made speeches for Hitler and his program. That means to me that you were for everything Hitler meant, including the destruction of the Jews. And only to save your skin, you decided to separate yourself from Hitler. And now you come to me with this story and you expect me to believe it?

It’s true, he said. And you’d like me to recommend your release from camp? I asked. Yes, he said. I am a Jew. I reached for the button at the side of the desk to bring the German orderly (who was a character unto himself) and when he came, I said, take this man back to his barrack. At the door, the Gauredner turned and looked at me, beseechingly. Then they left and I could hear their wooden shoes on the corridor.

(Tomorrow: Part Two)