Reagan’s Visit to Europe
Once again Ronald Reagan delivers an unabashedly false, decidedly stupid, incredibly insensitive response in his excuse for not visiting the infamous death camps during his trip to Germany this summer.
Bad memories must not be reawakened, he urges blandly, very few Germans are alive who even remember the war, he continues unbelievably, (is he kidding?) so why should a guilt feeling be imposed, etc., ad nauseam?
Anyone who has viewed films of Hitler’s speeches in Munich or Berlin and watched the adoring masses with upraised fists shouting “Heil Hitler” during the war years, must be aware that a great number of Germans exist who not only remember the war but also participated with zeal in it, and perhaps in the atrocities as well.
Common decency alone ought to dictate the need for a U.S. President to present himself, reverently and humbly at the site of the world’s greatest human tragedy.
SHIRLEY WOLF
Los Angeles
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
