Last week, I went to Symphony Hall and saw some excerpts from the documentary film The U.S. & The Holocaust which was produced by Ken Burns, Lynne Novick and Sarah Botstein. A short time ago, I finished watching the third and final installment of The U.S. & The Holocaust and would like to share my impressions of it.
First and foremost, human nature is unchanging. Most of us will go where the wind blows and we choose to block out the foul stench. A few of us will stick out our necks to help those in need even at the risk of their own lives, but some of those few will also resent others who try to do the same. Americans were OK with a few Jews, but not that many while many other Americans wished they were never here at all. Americans were aware of what was happening to Jews in Europe, but did not wish to believe it and even when they did come to believe it that didn't mean they were any more welcoming to Jews than before. We can look to the past and say never again, but too many among us do not think this could happen to us. With this in mind, the conclusion of tonight's installment showed images of the Mother Emmanuel Church killer, Trump bragging about building a big beautiful wall, Charlottesville, the Tree of Life Synagogue mass killing and the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th and how these seeds could be harbingers of things to come.
While it is important to keep a look out for the warning signs, there is a crucial piece of the discussion which the film misses - how Americans misappropriate the meaning of The Holocaust. A significant example which comes to mind are anti-vaxxers who wear a yellow Star of David in opposition to vaccine mandates. Unlike the anti-vaxxers in this country, no Jew in Europe willingly wore a yellow Star of David nor could they remove it of their own free will unless they wished to be shot on site. But when the Arizona chapter of the ADL objected to a Republican State Senator likening vaccine mandates to the Holocaust, the GOP State Senator told the ADL to "learn their history." This country is all too aware of the Holocaust, but a critical mass among us learn the wrong lessons.
The film is, of course, subject to reasonable criticism where it concerns Burns' favorable disposition towards the Roosevelts. Historian Rafael Medoff, who has written extensively both about the Roosevelts and the Holocaust, accuses Burns of limiting FDR's culpability by placing blame on the American public and also disputes Burns' statement that the U.S. took in more Jewish refugees than any other country in the world. At no point in the documentary does Burn mention how FDR told his Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr., “You know this is a Protestant country, and the Catholics and Jews are here under sufferance.” Nor does he mention how Eleanor Roosevelt stated after Kristallnacht, “I think it is important in this country that the Jews as Jews remain unaggressive and stress the fact they are Americans first and above everything else.”
No doubt Medoff would also cast a skeptical eye on Burns' sympathetic treatment of Rabbi Stephen Wise who in wanting to have FDR's ear wanted the American Jewish community to keep quiet about what was happening to their families in Europe as well as whether FDR should have bombed Auschwitz. In this regard, I do have some sympathy for FDR's dilemma. As with Harry Truman and Hiroshima, our Presidents aren't presented with good options and bad options but what will be the least of the bad options.
I don't wish to leave you with the impression this isn't an important film. It most certainly is as it brings us the personal stories of those who escaped Hitler's wrath and accounts from the descendants of those who did not survive. This is worthy of our undivided attention.
Unfortunately, I suspect most people who watched The U.S. and The Holocaust are those who are already interested in our history - good, bad and ugly. Somehow I doubt it will reach the people who need to see it the most and if they do see it then there's a very good chance they'll show up at a city council or school board meeting wearing a yellow Star of David because they oppose vaccine mandates or don't want their children reading The Diary of Anne Frank.
If there is any solace in all of this is that Ken Burns won't have the last word on The Holocaust. So long as The Holocaust and what led to it and how we can prevent another one remains in the public domain then there is hope for us however faint and fleeting.
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