I happened upon a movie recently. It displayed a spectacular scene in which soldiers wore ornamental clothing with glistening metal shields. They were surrounded by glamorously dressed bejeweled women, all staged in a huge open-air amphitheater. The crowds were cheering in the stands and all was set before their crowned king, seated on his throne.
The “entertainment” was provided by lions tearing away human flesh as music played in the background. Needless to say, I couldn’t turn the channel soon enough. Most shocking to me was that this movie was advertised as being based on true events! Could this have really happened?
With the recent passing of the Honorable Benjamin Ferencz at the age of 103, I am reminded of the atrocities that took place during World War II. Judge Ferencz leaves a prominent legacy of a lifetime fighting for justice. He was the youngest prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials and, preceding his trial work, he had been assigned by General Patton’s 3rd Army Headquarters to investigate evidence of war crimes at the newly liberated concentration camps.
Ferencz said, “What I witnessed was seared into my memory. At Buchenwald, I saw a crematorium still going. There were bodies starved, lying and dying on the ground. I saw the horrors of war, more than can be adequately described.”
According to his book, Prosecuting Evil – the World of Ben Ferencz, “The Eisentzgruppen case he investigated was notorious as the largest murder case of all time. Twenty-two Nazis, along with six generals, joined the SS extermination squads of approximately 3,000 killers, aided by local police, rounded up and slaughtered specifically targeted people from Nazi-occupied territories.” The targeted people were the intelligentsia: political and cultural leaders, members of the nobility, clergy, teachers, Jews, Gypsies, and other so-called “undesirables.” Some were shot; others were gassed in mobile vans; and 33,771 men, women, and children were buried alive in a ravine near Kvyin (called “Babi Yar”). During this two-day liquidation, approximately 25,000 Latvian Jews were also slaughtered. The horrific event of a “barbarian killing Jews with a crowbar” occurred while crowds cheered and an accordion played anthems and marches.
The mass murders were documented in detail by the Nazis themselves. According to the book, “The killings were executed by men in the field who actively superintended, controlled, and directed the bloody harvest.” All defendants were convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
April 17 marked the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day. Would that we reflect, every day, on the inhumanity mankind perpetrates and be cognizant of man’s continued inhumanity to man today. At present, Russia and its aggression against Ukraine is an example of modern-day brutality. Perhaps one would argue that this is not to be compared to the Holocaust, but they both are examples of vicious behavior based in power-madness, cruelty and hate.
We can certainly see evidence of the ruthlessness wreaked on our nation under Trump’s influence. How inhumane and cruel to take children from their parents as a measure to discourage immigrants coming here from South and Central America. Additionally, the outrageousness of book bans, library closings, and the re-writing of history are all out of Hitler’s early playbook.
The plunder of our Capitol and incitement of people to riot and overthrow our democracy is further evidence of actions resulting from power-madness, cruelty and hate.
Let us interrupt the pattern of “history repeating itself.” Rather, let’s find a new path, one motivated by peace and love.
All information and quotations are from Benjamin Ferencz’s book, “Prosecuting Evil – the World of Ben Ferencz,” and from his obituary published in the New York Times, April 9, 2023.