From the Desk of Sondra Oster Baras
Monsters Dressed As Human Beings...
Exactly 50 years ago, a very important trial began in Israel. The State of Israel against Adolph Eichmann, the first and most important case against a Nazi War Criminal prosecuted by the State of Israel, began on April 11, 1961. The case represented the culmination of years of undercover activity to hunt down one of the most heinous of all Nazi criminals - the man who created, oversaw and was responsible for the "final solution of the Jewish people." Eichmann created the gas chambers and crematoria and had the Nazis not been defeated, he would have murdered every Jew on earth. He had written the plan to accomplish just that.
The trial was broadcast live on Israeli radio and segments were broadcast all over the world. It was the first time so many in Israel and around the world heard the truth about the horrors of the Holocaust. But when people filed into that courtroom and noticed the man sitting behind the glass booth, and when people saw him on television, they were shocked at how ordinary the man looked. They had expected to see a monster but instead saw a middle-aged, quite ordinary-looking bureaucrat.
This morning, I heard an interview on the radio with someone who had been part of the prosecutor's staff and had actually been present in the Ramle jail when Eichmann was finally hanged for his crimes. He remembered how amazed he was that even up to the moment of his death, Eichmann never expressed a single word of regret. And until the very end, Eichmann declared his belief in God and his conviction that he had done the right thing. The Israeli prosecutor exclaimed today, 50 years later: "What kind of God did he believe in?"
Indeed, his belief could not have been in the one and true G-d, the G-d of Israel.
But as I listened to the interview and remembered all I had read and seen and heard about Eichmann and the Holocaust, I couldn't help but connect to some of the issues that we deal with on a regular basis. We are surrounded by evil, by terrorists who murder children, who slash the throats of babies, and fire missiles at school buses. And yet so many of the terrorists' spokespersons get on television wearing suits and ties, and speak the language of ordinary human beings. They are monsters dressed as humans.
But these monsters are fooling people every day. They get on television and talk about human rights and accuse Israel of perpetrating war crimes. War crimes?? Eichmann committed war crimes as he loaded millions of Jews on cattle cars and drove them to a horrible death in the gas chambers.
Today, the Arab League called upon the UN to declare a no-fly zone over Gaza to protect Gazans from Israeli attacks. But it is Israel who needs the no-fly zone - to prevent the missile and rocket attacks which have been raining down upon Southern Israel for 10 days straight! Yes, Israel attacked Gaza and killed dozens of people. But only after Gaza Arabs had sent missiles against pre-schools and a school bus. It was a miracle that nearly all the school children had just been dropped off at their stop when the missile hit - just a few minutes earlier and dozens of kids would have been murdered.
In Iran, Ahmadenijad openly declares his intent to finish the job that Eichmann and his buddies could not complete. In the meantime, he provides the missiles and rockets to his allies - Hizbollah in Lebanon and various groups in Gaza. Iran is closely allied with Syria who is a major facilitator of the weapons shipments to Lebanon, and as the recent Israeli interception of a ship proved, to Gaza as well. Egypt's new government has declared its intention of moving closer to Iran, and radical groups all over the Middle East are becoming bolder in their declarations against Israel.
In 1925, Adolph Hitler published Mein Kampf, where he noted exactly what he planned to do to the Jews. In 1933, he became chancellor of Germany and within a short time, began implementing his program. But very few took his threats seriously and until actual reports of mass murder in the death camps found its way to the allies, no one believed Hitler would practice what he preached. By the time, people figured out he meant what he said, it was too late and 6 million Jews had been killed.
Just a few days ago, I watched a chilling clip on youtube put out by David Horowitz, a Jewish Zionist speaker who is confronting Islamic anti-Semitism on campuses and other public forums. On this clip, a woman dressed in traditional Muslim attire and speaking perfect English, part of a student audience at the University of California, stands up and addresses David Horowitz. A discussion ensues, at which point, David Horowitz says: "The Hamas has vowed never to rest until every Jew is killed. For or against? "And the student, without hesitation, says "for."
What sort of society tolerates the presence of such people in their midst? This is not a human being! This is a monster! Fifty years ago, the world was able to see a monster sitting behind a glass booth as an orderly trial played out what was probably the worst crime in human history, but certainly the worst crime of the 20th century. Today, monsters are on every television screen. They are on our streets and making speeches at the UN. But the question remains, are they recognized as monsters or will they continue to be perceived as ordinary human beings.
May G-d help those who are unable to recognize the monsters.
Shalom,
Sondra Oster Baras
Director, Israel Office
Christian Friends of Israeli Communities
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ing season, many are looking forward to getting outside
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