Holocaust
The reaction to former Speaker of the West German Parliament Phillip Jenninger’s speech made clear that we have not yet learned the most important lesson of the Holocaust (Part I, Nov. 12). I am a Jew, but I will not demand that the Germans apologize forever; in a few years all who played an active role, or who stood by and watched, will be dead. What we need to develop is an understanding of how and why it happened. How a man like Hitler came to power. Why a people, no more inherently evil than any other people, followed him.
It is imperative that we try to understand this now. Because next time, wherever such evil spreads, we won’t be able to identify them by their Nazi uniforms. Next time, given modern technology, they may succeed in genocide. And, lest you think I am paranoid, next time it might not be Jews.
BOBBIE SPELLMAN
Los Angeles
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