Newsgroups: alt.revisionism,soc.history,talk.politics.misc Subject: LEST WE FORGET: The Chain of Victimization Followup-To: alt.revisionism Organization: The Old Frog's Almanac, Vancouver Island, CANADA Keywords: stripping I could not help but consider, while reading the following selection from Helen Fein's "Accounting for Genocide", of how vociferously folks using Dan Gannon's hate machine deny the existence of any cohesive Nazi plan to exterminate the Jews. I recommend Fein's work to anyone with a serious interest in the topic. "THE CHAIN OF JEWISH VICTIMIZATION AND THE GERMAN STRATEGY OF ENTRAPMENT" In previous attempts to understand the extensiveness of Jewish victimization, much attention has been paid to what happened to Jews who became victims rather than to _how_ they became victims. Hilberg analyzed the process first: from `definition' (including registration) to `expropriation' to `concentration' (usually equated with ghettoization) prior to deportation. <8> I believe it is useful to label the second stage `stripping' to denote its function: this included stripping Jews of social roles, rights, and claims for respect within society as well as stripping them of material goods and legal rights. Hilberg failed to observe that concentration included two functions that inherently coincided with ghettoization but might preface it: segregation and isolation. Segregation ordinances banning Jews from mingling with non-Jews, communicating with them, and moving outside a prescribed radius were enforceable only if the stigmata of the yellow star could be successfully enforced. Therefore, states are classified [in Fein's research. knm] as unsegregated when the star was not introduced or its use was not extended, with the order withdrawn or widespread nonobservance reported. Although the star insignia was designed both to enable the police to catch Jews and to induce others to shun them, responses to wearers of the yellow star varied widely. ... The responses to, and the ultimate consequences of, stigmatization were not anticipated by many Jews when these orders were first promulgated. In some states, the star marked the victims whom many citizens had already shown they were eager to exploit; in others, it aroused awe of and detachment from the wearers; and in other states, it prompted ridicule. The generality of nonobservance was corroborated by German reports of officials' refusal to enforce star wearing and to punish Jews' nonconformity. In virtually all cases, only if segregation succeeded could isolation be introduced by requiring Jews to reside in designated dwellings, whether clustered or scattered." Adolf Eichmann commented on the yellow stars ("Life" 28 Nov. 1960), making the Nazi plan quite clear: "It may have been the Propaganda Ministry that first thought up the idea of forcing all Jews to wear a yellow star on their clothing... The marking was intended to hinder any ... assistance to Jews who were being harassed. We wanted Germans to feel embarrassed, to feel afraid of having any contact with Jews." <8> Raul Holberg, "The Destruction of the European Jews" (Chicago: Quadrangle, 1967), 31-39 Excerpted from------------------------------------------------------- "Accounting for Genocide: Victims - and Survivors - of the Holocaust" Helen Fein, Ph.D. (New York: Free Press, 1979) --------------------------------------------------------------------- For an extensive bibliography dealing with the Holocaust, and containing over 1000 citations, contact kmcvay@oneb.almanac.bc.ca - it will be sent to you by return email. Additions to this bibliography are actively solicited.