Copyright (c) 1997 - Ingrid A. Rimland
"A group of 14-year-olds imagined themselves in the shoes of a young Holocaust victim in Nazi Germany last week when Eddie Wynschenk, a survivor, recalled stark memories of the massacre he escaped . . .Wynschenk said his reason for speaking to students was not only to make them aware of the tragedy that occurred more than two generations ago, but also to eliminate hate from the mentality of today's youth.
'Don't hate anyone,' Wynschenk admonished students. 'Hate today means mass murder tomorrow.' . . . 'The Germans showed their ugly faces,' he said, and forced every Jew to display a yellow star of David on their clothing every day. . . 'It's sad that something like that could have happened,' he said. 'It wakes you up.'"
The copy of the article was given to a parent as part of a content documentation
of what is called a "Diary of Anne Frank unit," taught to very
young teenagers at the William Crocker Middle School in Hillsborough, California,
USA, 94010, telephone 415-342-6331. The teacher's name is Arlene Holt. The
principal's name is Larry Raffo, and the Superintendent's name is Marilyn
Miller.
What follows is rape of the mind of America's children, for which we pay
our taxes. This educational unit is vile. I am quoting part of it verbatim
from the documentation given to me - first instructions from the teacher's
manual, followed by an "essay" read to fourteen-year-olds at an
age when they are most impressionable:
"Videotape: "The 'Final Solution' and Its Perpetrators" (15 minutes)
Show the videotape.
Reading: Student booklet, Reading 10A, "Arrival in Auschwitz," Instructor's Manual, p. 147 (25 minutes)
Slowly read the essay "Arrival in Auschwitz" aloud to students. Tell the students you are speaking directly to each one of them. Instruct students not to ask questions during the reading.
Discussion:
After seeing the videotape and reading the essay, 'Arrival in Auschwitz,' pose the questions which follow the reading."
Then comes the actual intellectual, emotional and spiritual rape of the
mind titled "Arrival in Auschwitz" as the teacher reads to the
children:
"You have 15 minutes. Pack one suitcase and report in front of the house."
You and your family join a procession marching to the railroad station. You are guarded by SS men and local police. The train arrives - cattle cars. You hold your father's hand as you are forced into a car with 80 to 100 other people. The door slams and you hear the lock. About one-half hour later, the train begins to move.
After two hours, people grow thirsty; there is no room even to sit down; one small opening in a corner of the car is the sole source of air. There are no windows. It is almost impossible to see because of the darkness. You gasp for breath. There is no toilet, only a bucket somewhere in the middle of the car. The heat grows unbearable. Your father's hand has slipped from yours and you cannot see your family members. People begin to groan and scream, babies cry. The train stops - but nothing happens. Other trains pass by in a different direction.
The smell of sweat, excrement and urine permeates the car. People grow panicky, irritable, frantic. After eight hours, about 25 of the people have passed out or died. After 20 more hours, the train stops again. People cry out for water as they hear voices outside. A machine gun sprays the car and four people fall with blood flowing from the bodies. Your sister is one of them. Silence.
The doors open - air rushes in. "Raus! Raus! Out! Out!" There are dogs, men with guns. Prisoners in striped uniforms take suitcases, old people and the dead out of the car. You watch as they throw your sister's body onto a wagon. You move almost in a daze and get off the car onto the platform with crowds of others. Thousands of people have stumbled, fallen from the long line of cattle cars. The noises are deafening, frightening.
"Line up by fives! No talking!" Shots are heard. The air is filled with foul smelling smoke. A chimney is visible; flames and smoke billow from it. You are made to move in an endless line - shots in German or other languages route people in different directions. Your father is again next to you. Someone whispers that you should lie about your age, "Tell them you're sixteen." A handsome SS man with a whip in his hand and his coat draped over his shoulders asks your age. "Sixteen," you lie. He points his whip to the left, and you and your father follow his direction. You see your mother and old people and children going to the right. Unknown to you, you will never see them again. All those under 16 and over 40 are sent to die. Your mother, younger brothers and grandparents have disappeared.
There are lines, yelling, crying, dogs, orders, shots. Men and women have been separated from one another. You are made to strip and stand naked. Next, a bathhouse. You are sprayed with delousing solution - it burns. Still naked, you are marched to a long room where all body hair is shaved; your arm is tattooed with a number, and you are given an ill-fitting uniform and shoes. Finally, you are herded into a barracks with about 200 others.
What has happened? Where are we, you wonder. What has happened to your mother and brothers? Your father is silent; he seems to be hypnotized, stiff, not responding to anything around him. Where did they take your poor sister's body? You ask someone with a striped uniform, another prisoner, when you will see your mother and brothers again. Where are they? He roughly drags you to a window and points: "Do you see that chimney? Do you see the smoke? There are your mother and your brothers. This is not a summer camp - this is Auschwitz."
It takes only a rudimentary exposure to Revisionism to know that this uncouth
description of a deportation of Jews to concentration camps like Auschwitz
is untrue in almost every single respect. It is lie piled on lie piled on
lie. I'll take it one step further. It is, in my opinion, criminal and,
hence, litigable - in that public money is used to terrorize and emotionally
damage impressionable minors.
I do not say this lightly. I say this from a point of view of a trained
child psychologist with extensive experience in public and private schools.
All it would take would be a parent brave enough to take the perpetrators
of this abomination to task - in front of the public and media. A test case
is begging to be made.
Ingrid
Thought for the Day:
"Men can live without air for a few minutes, without water for about two weeks, without food for about two months - and without a new thought for years on end."
(Kent Ruth)