Syndication
Holocaust
Yom HaShoah
Here’s the view from Jerusalem on this somber day, courtesy of Jewlicious.
Here is a selection of Yom Hashoah-related news and commentary:
Tony Judt’s Particularism Problem
First, historian Tony Judt griped that the character of the Israeli state was too Jewish, labeling it the “an anachronism.”
Now, he’s complaining that the lens through which we view the Holocaust is too Jewish. He warns that we’re exaggerating the threat posed by contemporary antisemitism, and that in tying “the memory of the Holocaust so firmly to the defense of a single country — Israel — that we are in danger of provincializing its moral significance.”
Read Tony Judt’s latest New York Review of Books polemic against particularism (Jewish particularism in particular) here.
Sneak Peek: The Bielski Brothers on the Silver Screen
Have a look here at the trailer for “Defiance,” Ed Zwick’s take on the story of the Bielski brothers, who organized what is widely considered to have been the largest group of Jewish partisans during World War II. The movie stars Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber, among others, and is set for release in late 2008.
Hat tip: Ricky Bell-Peled, my long-lost friend from high school and a grand-niece of the Bielski brothers.
Yoko Ono’s Lens on the Holocaust
Yoko Ono has decided to donate a pair of eyeglasses to a Liverpool exhibit aimed at raising awareness of the Holocaust, and is also giving £10,000 to aid in the production of the event. According to the Liverpool Echo, several other celebrities, such as Stephen Fry, Ronnie Corbett and Jerry Springer, will be donating glasses for the RESPECtacles display at Liverpool’s Town Hall.
The idea behind the display is to mirror the pile of glasses from Holocaust victims at Auschwitz. Organizers of the RESPECtacles display have already collected more than 1,000 pairs of glasses. The glasses will eventually be donated to people who need glasses in the developing world.
“It is an honour to be part of such a symbolic piece of artwork which will help people to learn how important it is never to forget the horrors of the Holocaust and to challenge hatred and prejudice wherever it arises,” Ono said.
Reparations and the Couch
A group representing children of Holocaust survivors is demanding that Germany cover the costs of psychiatric treatment to alleviate cross-generational trauma they suffer. The group filed a class-action lawsuit in Tel Aviv calling for establishment of a fund to pay for regular therapy sessions for 15,000 to 20,000 people, Time magazine reports.
Commentary’s Gabriel Schoenfeld thinks the lawsuit is “preposterous.”
