Auschwitz

Scary

As I am writing this I am in The Netherlands and see information about the liberation of Auschwitz, now 80 years ago. I was able to visit Auschwitz in 2008 and I paid my respect to the many victims of the Holocaust. I took  the to Oswiecim and was thinking about the many people that made this train ride and never came back.

On television I saw many documentaries about the prosecution of Jews in Nazi Germany, the false accusations, the fear, the deportations, the disruptions, the merciless attitude of the Nazi’s and their collaborators. One would hope that this would never happen again.

How wrong can you be? We see at this moment the same happening in the United States with immigrants. I see false accusations, fear, deportations, disruptions and merciless attitude. The US reverend Mariann Budde spoke about this directly to President Trump at a recent service. She asked for mercy.

This is the first time that I insert politics into my column. Is it real politics? No, it is not. This is not an attempt to speak in favor of any political party. This is an attempt to speak up for those who are unable to speak for themselves in fear of being deported. The same fear that Jews had while occupied by Nazi Germany.

I respect leaders that show a moral compass that is the guiding principle for their actions. Nelson Mandela was a good example.

In the United States, approximately 1,500 people were pardoned after attacking the US Capitol, destructing property, injuring people (some with fatal consequences). Something is wrong with this picture.

The situation is scary and does not get better. I will keep this in mind when I write about other things. You will hear more from me.