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Humanity in Doubt

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HUMANITY IN DOUBT REFLECTIONS AND ESSAYS Philip Weiss HUMANITY IN DOUBT HUMANITY IN DOUBT: REFLECTIONS AND ESSAYS Collection copyright © 2007 by Philip Weiss All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information and retrieval system know known or to be invented, without the permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in review. National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Weiss, Philip Humanity in DoubtlPhilip Weiss. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-9784713-0-9 1. 2. I. Title. Printed and bound in Canada First Edition To the vibrant Jewish community ofDrohobycz, Poland, that was, but is no more To my loved parents Solomon David and Cilia Weiss To my beloved wife Gertrude Weiss To my precious daughters Francie Winograd, Shelley Weiss and Beverly Schwartz To my dearest brother, Leo Weiss, and sister, Erna Kimmel, my soulmates and witnesses to the world gone mad To my most cherished gran children, Abby, Jill, and Richard Winograd; Evan and Erin Laroque, Michael and Lainie Schwartz, With Hope for a Peacefol and Tolerant Future CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ............................................................... 11 ACKNOWLEDGMENT ............................................ , ............. 13 I. PERSONAL ODYSSEY My SPIRITUAL JoURNEY ................................. '" ................ 17 INTERVIEW ..................................................................... 51 II. EVIL TAKES ROOT THE VANISHED WORLD: THE GLORY AND DESTRUCTION OF POLISH JEWRy ..........................................................................71 THE VANISHED WORLD PART II: POLES AND JEWS, THEN AND Now .. 85 THE TRAVAILS, TRIUMPHS AND TRAGEDY OF GERMAN JEWRY ....... 99 THE CONDEMNED MASTERS OF THE GHETTOS ... '" ................... 125 POETRY OUT OF THE AsHES SMOKE ........................................................................ 140 How? ......................................................................... 141 III. RECONCILING THE PAST WITH THE FUTURE MYTHOLOGY THE MY1H OF JEWISH PASSIVITY .................................. 147 MY1HS AS TIlE CAUSE OF EVIL AND MURDER .................... 159 RELIGION THE SILENT PEWS: TIlE CHURCH AND TIlE HOLOCAUST ........ 167 WHERE IS GOD Now? ................................................ 181 JUSTICE AMERICAN JEWS AND THE HOLOCAUST: IGNORANCE OR TIMIDITY (YEARS 1930 - 1945) .................................................. 203 KANADAANDCANADA: DIFFERENT, YET TIlE SAME ............ 217 JUSTICE AND NAZI WAR CRIMINALs: WHAT EVERY CONCERNED CANADIAN SHOULD KNOW .......................................... 221 THE CURRENT ANTI-SEMmsM: ILLUSIONORREALITY? .......235 EDUCATION THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN ENCOURAGING TOLERANCE ADDRESS TO TIlE GRADUANDS ......................................257 FAMILY PHOTOS .......................................................263 QUOTE- RABBI DRATCH ............................................... 271 WE DON'T RECEIVE WISDOM: WEMUST DISCOVER IT FOR OURSELVES AFTER A JOURNEY THAT NO ONE CAN TAKE FOR US OR SPARE US. MARCEL PROUST INTRODUCTION orn in Drohobycz, Poland, Philip, along with his parents, his B brother, and his sister, was fIrst placed in a ghetto, and then separated from his family; during the war, he was imprisoned in a succession of three labour camps and two concentration camps, and finally liberated by the Americans from Matthausen in 1945. Philip Weiss has made it his life's work to testify to history by bearing personal witness to the devastation of the Holocaust. In all of this work, he has promoted the values of tolerance and respect for all other groups. In recognition of his outstanding contribution in the field of Holocaust education in Manitoba, Philip Weiss was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws, by the University of Winnipeg, in 2003 , and many other accolades over in years including, in 1991, the Prix Manitoba by the provincial government for distinguished service in cross-cultural awareness, and the 2006 Canada Peace prize medal from the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Association of Winnipeg (Manitoba) in 2006. The Holocaust profoundly shaped every facet of Philip's being and left him not only physically devastated, but in many ways emotionally scarred. It took many years, and much soul searching, to rebuild his own humanity, from the ground up. In his words, returning to normality was a laborious journey that he took along with other survivors and family members. As part of this journey, Philip has chosen to try to put meaning and context to his experiences, by devoting considerable time to researching the political, social, and cultural underpinnings of the Holocaust. His research evolved into a series of lecturers that were delivered across schools, cultural and religious institutions in Manitoba. In essence, this book is both a personal odyssey and a collection of Philip Weiss's essays he has delivered on thematically organized topics, relating to the 11 Holocaust. What is unique about this book is that the reader is fIrst introduced to the man, in his own words, so that he or she can better connect with and understand the perspective he brings to his intellectual considerations of the hard questions on the Holocaust. In is essays, Philip Weiss is not afraid of controversy; he seeks to explore his "truth" and provokes the reader to consider the issues that are intimately tied to the Holocaust head-on. This book begins with his personal story, followed by an interview that seeks to elicit information that is absent in his accounting of his history - and in so doing allows a more personal and vulnerable man to be uncovered. It is Philip's greatest wish that the book will open the eyes of those who have little or no knowledge of the Holocaust. The personal odyssey and essays provide a baseline of knowledge on this most dark period of human history, a period where mans' humanity was truly in doubt. The book sends a warning to the young of this generation to be on guard against the symptoms of evil and the extreme danger to society of allowing the same conditions to take hold as these conditions allowed a society to become dehumanized. Editor 12 ACKNOWLEDGMENT olocaust, the most tragic event of the 20th century, the colossal Hdegradation, and destruction of my family, friends and European Jewry, shaped me and the world around me. It left me with the desire to speak, to tell, to repair the unspeakable, to reconstruct the events which I have witnessed, and which I researched. The following individuals are responsible for my writing Humanity in Doubt as they profoundly influenced my thinking on freedom, liberty and democracy. Without them, my book would not have come into existence. The first individual I wish to acknowledge is Renata Reinke, author of the book Antworte Mensch, which translated means "Answer Humanity!" I met Renata in 1967 in Bremen, Germany, at the trial proceedings against high-ranking SS Officer, from the Ghetto of Drohobycz, Heinrich Hildebrandt. Elie Wiesel, as my spiritual mentor, in his brilliant portrayal ofthe Holocaust, crystallized the importance of that event in my own life. Even though I differ with him on certain issues, he brings everything to one denomination - he questions God. He has the coumge to confront God's ways and actions during the Holocaust. This struggle is all the more powerful in the face of the orthodox religious image of the just God. And because of that, I consider him, to a certain degree, a soul mate. Simon Wiesenthal, the unceasing hunter of war criminals, was responsible for my decision that those crimes can not be forgotten and that those who survived must remember and imprint their memories on the next generation. I would like to acknowledge the Asper Foundation, and its founder Dr. Isadore Asper, for his love and dedication to the Jewish people and his outstanding work in Holocaust education. 13 Bryan P. Schwartz, encouraged me, most persuasively, to put my thoughts and essays into a book, and Darla L. Rettie, worked tirelessly to capture my ideas in a coherent, organized and evocative manner, hopefully to the readers' benefit. Finally, I would like to thank Michael Schwartz and all my family members, for their support with this project, which has taken many hands and many hours to complete. 14 I. PERSONAL ODYSSEY I. PERSONAL ODYSSEY My SPIRITUAL JOURNEY: PERSONAL REFLECTIONS FROM 1939 TO 2005 I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness. I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too. I can foel the suffering ofmillions and yet ifI look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again. -Anne Frank. July 15, 1944 he town of Drohobycz (Poland then, Ukraine now) where I was born, a T jewel hidden at the rim of the Carpathian mountains was inhabited by approximately 10,000 Poles, 10,000 Ukrainians and 15,000 Jews. Drohobycz did pride itself on its mix of Eastern and Western culture. Truskawiec, a world class mineral water retreat, was just 20 km away and frequented by tourists from all over Europe seeking benefit to their health and hopefully everlasting youth from the mineral waters. Drohobycz represented a mosaic of nationalities and cultures and it counted among its inhabitants members of the old Austria-Hungarian aristocracy, anti-Semitic and philo-Semitic Polish patriots, members of Polish Officer's
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