Date: Thu, 5 Feb 1998 16:42:42 -0800 (PST) From: Alexander MayerSource: Emigrarea Populatiei Evreiesti din Romania in Anii 1940-1944: Culegere de Documente din Arhiva Ministerului Afacerilor Externe al Romaniei ("The Emigration of the Jewish Population from Romania during the Years 1940-1944: collection of Documents from the Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania"), edited by Dr. Ion Calafeteanu et al., (Bucuresti; Silex, 1993), p. 127. The entire document, (no. 37) is published and annotated on p. 127-129. It is summarized in English on p. 38. The book has not been for sale, and has been distributed by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs mainly outside Romania. The introduction and summaries of the documents have also appeared in Romanian, English and French. Report no. 288 from December 17, 1943 of the Consular Direction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs In one of his speeches [approximate translation] spoken more than a year ago, Hitler said about these words [i.e., translation might have slightly altered the meaning]: "If we would lose the war, I can guarantee [you] that not a single Jew would remain alive in Central Europe." The policy follwed by the Germans is today on the way to implementing the second part of this threat of Hitler... A summary of the document, written in 1943 by Constantin Karadja, the director of the Consular Direction, which calls for the need for Romania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to establish specific guidelines for the bringing to Romania of Jews of Romanian citizenship dealing in foreign countries who were in danger of deportation to what we now call the Nazi death camps. This policy had been decided a few months earlier. It should not be forgotten that Romania had deported almost all the Jews of Bessarabia and Bucovina to Transnistria, a Romanian-German condominium administered by, but not annexed to Romania, the area between the Dniester and Bug rivers, and that more than 60,000 of these people died in that area, overwhelmingly because of typhus, which, however, was so widespread because of poor nutrition, poor housing and poor health care. Some met a violent death because they were shot, etc. The Romanian armed forces also committed a number of atrocities in Bessarabia, Northern Bucovina, the cities of Iasi and Odessa, etc., in which 100,000-200,000 other Jews died. However, the Romanian government had decided against any kinds of deportations, to Poland or to Transnistria, even before Stalingrad, and not because of it, as it is often falsely claimed. This happened for reasons which Holocaust scholars have not ellucidated because they have not looked at the interaction between the "tougher" military and the more "benign" civilians, who were often former member of the reactionary anti-Semitic National Christian Party of Octavian Goga and A.C. Cuza, in the Antonescu government, at the civilianization of the regime over time, and at Marshal Ion Antonescu's orders and statements. It was precisely the National Christian Party people, and the dictator Ion Antonescu, who, however, was also guilty of war crimes against Jews, who produced the policy change. In other words, the Holocaust scholars have not studied the subject in a scientific, careful manner, and have been guided to some extent by their philosophies, rather than just by the existing empirical data, much of which they do not know, because if they do not like a book, such as the one from which I have cited Hitler's order, they do not read it, but criticize it. Their defective scholarship therefore sometimes insults the memory of, and indicates these authors' lack of genuine, as opposed to rhetorical, respect toward not only scientific enquiry, but also the victims of the Holocaust, such as some of my distant relatives, who deserve an adequate investigation into why and how they died. If they would have done their reading, the above-mentioned document would have already been published in English. But it would be too much to expect them to be genuinely constructive in the fight against Holocaust Revisionism, and for a more accurate history. For examples of not always fair criticisms of the book, as well as of other works by Romanian scholars, who are falsely characterized as "Holocaust Revisionists", see The Tragedy of Romanian Jewry, edited by Randolph L. Braham, (New York: Columbian University Press, 1994). One wonders how these scholars read the papers of their students, and how many of their students found the comments and criticisms of professors such as these, oppressive. How many of these students, or of their classmates, became sympathizers of Holocaust revisionism as a reaction against oppressive professors ? I know of at least three cases. It it painful to write this, but I should also note that at some time in the future, "Holocaust Revisionism" (i.e., denial) might become genuinely popular, as well as attract the youth, because it would present itself as fighting against "academic oppression", the oppression of the mass media, Hollywood, and against what what might be called "the party line of the Holocaust Museum" or something like that. When cases of academic oppression will be reported in college newspapers, when it will become known how many books have been rejected by libraries because, although not revisionistic, are not liked by some Holocaust scholars or survivors, the issue might become not one between truth and falsehood, as it is now, but people will be forced to choose between truth on the one hand, and justice, freedom, and the end of abuses in colleges on the other. And then, "Holocaust Revisionism" might be perceived to pave the way to a better world, like Clinton, the Monster of Lying, is currently perceived by too many people. At that time, everyone would be asked to choose between the lesser of two evils, and who knows what the future would be. People might ask themselves, "Who is more like Hitler, in terms of oppressiveness and hysteria". Moreover, groups would make such strange alliances that the Holocaust "revisionists" would become part of a broader coalition, and therefore, one would not literally choose between them and truth. If even I, the son of a person who was in an Axis labor camp just because of his ethnic origin, will not know whom I would support, how will society react? Let us hope that we will not have to face such a choice. In order to avoid it, we should demand an improvement in the quality of scholarship and teaching about Nazism, the Holocaust, Communism and the Cold War, history in general, as well as everything else. Otherwise, on the grave of America as we know it, the following epitaph might be written, "America believed in its educational system". The fight against Holocaust Revisionism is important and useful, but insufficient. We should all remember that the book of Proverbs says that he who likes instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid. Moreover, falsehood should be fought, regardless of whether it comes from the White House or the Holocaust "revisionists", whose techniques were "borrowed", consciously or unconsciously, by the White House in the sex scandal (i.e., "conspiracy", "the appearances are deceiving", "how many times", "no documents which prove it", apologists, "the falsehood of past accusations (against Clinton, or against Germany in World War I) proves the falsehood of the present ones", "withchhunt", "political agenda", lying on tapes (whether by Himmler or Monica Lewinsky). If shameless lying becomes entrenched among the ruling elites of the country with more Clintons, then many might find the Holocaust "Revisionsists" as better than him because they did not make money through some new Whitewater. Now I will return to the story about the Romanian Jews. In 1943-1944, Romania repatriated Jews both from Transnistria and from foreign countries, and most Jews in the areas under Romanian rule, more than 355,000, and perhaps as many as 400,000, survived World War II. I will inform the Nizkor Project about more documents concerning the orders for the final solution. Thank you. Sincerely, Alexander Mayer _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
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