This article explores the enduring relevance of the Holocaust as commemorated on the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz's liberation. It connects historical events with contemporary political discourse, highlighting the dangers of extremism and the importance of remembering past atrocities to prevent future ones.
Your coverage of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz should be compulsory reading. In 2014, I visited the Auschwitz -Birkenau Memorial and Museum. It was almost incomprehensible that more than a million people were murdered right where I was standing. I wondered how the world could ever have come to this. The answers have been given, in part, by the warning by the Auschwitz -Birkenau museum director that “extremism can turn ordinary people into monsters”.
In a similar vein, Rob Harris relayed the caution from Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, that we must be watchful of “the progression from words and slogans to dehumanisation of communities and then to violent acts”. Finally, your editorial stressed the need to remember that “the evil represented by Auschwitz exists for us all”. Such sentiments, if expressed today in different contexts, would very likely be derided by many as “woke”, and leading the charge would be the president of the United States. The more things change, the more they stay the same, as the saying goes.At the Auschwitz memorial, survivor Leon Weintraub, now 99, said: “Be sensitive to all expressions of intolerance or resentment of those who are different, with regards to their skin colour, religion or sexual orientation … We, the survivors, understand that the consequence of being considered different is active persecution”. Here we go again. On the day of the Auschwitz memorial, Peter Dutton says it’s crucial to “extend the knowledge of history to younger generations so that the mistakes of the past can’t be repeated”. What a shame he can’t extend the same principle to the First Nation people of his own homeland. Oh well, it’s just all “good” politics, straight from the Trump playbook, and it goes like this. First, create a problem. Second, blame the other side for the mess that you make of the country. Job done.Why did we send politicians to Poland when we should have sent Governor-General Sam Mostyn? She is, after all, Australia’s executive head of state and, as such, should be representing Australia at such an important gathering. Politicians only represent their parties, whereas the governor-general represents all Australians. If the government did not wish this governor-general to represent Australia at such a significant occasion, then why did they nominate her for the office? Donald Trump was a notable absentee from the Auschwitz ceremony. He was too busy removing those he has deemed as undesirable from the United States. While not yet at the shocking scale of those past events, the sentiment is alarmingly familiar.Moves by the two major political parties in NSW to sit down and try to simplify the current planning legislation and process is encouraging, provided that local government also gets a “seat at the table” to ensure the best outcomes. A planning system that simply ignores the reality of a city’s regional differences and local geographic diversity runs the real risk of producing inferior outcomes. Certainly, free up local town planners to become creative problem solvers, rather than incumbents saddled with overly complicated legislative framework, and Sydney will continue to be a world-class city with an expanding population
Politics Social Commentary Auschwitz Holocaust Extremism Tolerance First Nations Politics Planning History Remembrance Social Justice
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