To Atone, Grandchildren and Great-grandchildren of Nazis Do Volunteer Work in Israel

You are here:

Home
HOLOCAUST
To Atone, Grandchildren and Great-grandchildren…

GRANDCHILDREN 10

Even though the Second World War ended nearly eight decades ago, the legacy of the Holocaust haunts many young Germans whose ancestors supported the Nazi regime and the annihilation of the Jews. Many of these Germans have learned about the full extent of their grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ roles only recently; it was a subject rarely spoken about in their families. To help atone for the sins of their ancestors, some of them do important volunteer work in Israel.

Quote: “By volunteering in Israel with the most vulnerable members of our society,” [Major General (Res.) Doron] Along said, “they are breaking the silence and making the exact opposite statement made by their grandparents just a few decades ago — that they consider Jews to be their brothers, that all people are equal, and that as humans, we are mutually responsible for one another.”

Sources: Forward.com, YouTube.com

Read “Descendants of Holocaust perpetrators seek atonement in Israel” ►

Watch “Grandchildren of Nazis Volunteer in Israel to Atone for Crimes of Ancestors” [4:40]. ►

Read “Nazi legacy: The troubled descendants” ►

Photo: JNS.org

We welcome your comments. Click here.

Notable &
Quotable

“If anti-Semitism is a variety of racism, it is a most peculiar variety, with many unique characteristics. In my view as a historian, it is so peculiar that it deserves to be placed in a quite different category. I would call it an intellectual disease, a disease of the mind, extremely infectious and massively destructive.”

— Paul Johnson, author of A History of the Jews

▪

“I went through kindergarten through 12th grade, college, law school and four years of active duty in the U.S. Army and I never once experienced anti-Semitism — until I came to the U.S. House of Representatives.”

— Lee Zeldin, Republican Congressman from New York, currently running for governor of the state

▪

“In the ’80s, we were living in the U.S.S.R., where anti-Semitism was a deeply ingrained part of the culture. Being a Jewish person in the Soviet Union was not easy. Not that I remember any of that — I was barely old enough to chew back then — but for my parents, both Uzbekistan-born Jews, life was a struggle.”

— Milana Vayntrub, actress, comedian, and activist born in the Soviet Union.

▪

“I think that the roots of racism have always been economic, and I think people are desperate and scared. And when you’re desperate and scared you scapegoat people. It exacerbates latent tendencies toward — well, toward racism or homophobia or anti-Semitism.”

— Henry Louis Gates, African-American literary critic, professor, historian, and filmmaker

▪

“In the past, we saw European leaders speaking against the Jews. Now, we see them speaking against Israel. It is the same anti-Semitism of blood libels, spreading lies, distorting reality and brainwashing people into hating Israel and the Jews.”

— Ayelet Shaked, Israeli politician and minister of Interior

Note: All the above quotations are from BrainyQuote.com.