Voice of the People
Chicago Tribune
Dear editor
You are indulging in overkill by publishing two articles on one day
regarding Jewish suffering in World War II. ("The Stories that no one
could kill" by Ron Grossman and "Is the Meaning Lost in court?" by Natfali
Bendavid, Chicago Tribune, August 12.)
During the last few years,just about every major media outlet in
America has published stories about Jewish suffering in the war. So it is not
very accurate of Mr. Grossman to claim that the books of Jewish
survivors have not received enough attention.
It's time to be more universalistic in our compassion. We should not
forget that many innocent Germans, including millions of children,
suffered at the hands of the victorious allied armies. We need books which
would begin: "I was five when Dresden was bombed by the British ...." or
"I was ten when my entire family was wiped out in the firebombing of
Hamburg" or "My mother was raped in front of me by Russian soldiers" or
"I was starving in Nuremburg when an American GI took pity on me and
gave me a chocolate bar in exchange for sex with him."
There are millions of such stories of innocent German victims. No one
has the monopoly of suffering.
Mr. Bendavid reaches new depths of special pleading in his claim that
even after the billions of dollars paid by Germany and Switzerland to
survivors, the book on Jewish suffering is not closed. Research is
needed to disclose Germany's funding and arming of the Israeli war machine
which has been involved in the genocide of the Palestinian people in the
last 50 years and more.
A prestigious paper like the Tribune should not become a forum for one
community especially when the suffering of the Jews is nothing more
than painful history. When will we begin to pay reparations to the African
people who endured 400 years of slavery?
Sincerely
Kaukab Siddique, Ph.D
410-638-5965
2001-08-23 Thu 17:47ct