Willow Glen Resident
Letters & Opinions
April 25 marks Holocaust remembrance
By Moryt Milo
The cover story in this week's issue of the Willow Glen Resident focuses on the lives of two remarkable women, Alicia Appleman-Jurman and Chaja Ash, both Holocaust survivors. They are among the lucky ones. Six million Jews and five million non-Jews throughout Europe were killed during World War II, as Adolf Hilter's armies and his allies plowed their way across the continent.
Our newspaper has chosen to tell their stories so the community may better understand the purpose of Holocaust Remembrance Day, which in Hebrew is known as Yom HaShoah. The day will be commemorated on April 25 at Santa Clara County Offices, 70 N. Hedding St. from 3:45-5 p.m. Apple-Jurman will speak at the event.
As our staff began discussing story ideas to coincide with this countywide event, I began, coincidentally, reading The Haj by Leon Uris. It has been sitting in my home library for years.
The story was written in 1984 and recounts the conflict in the Middle East among the Jews, Arabs, British and Germans. It is told through the eyes of a young Arab boy, the son of a muktar, an Arab ruler who lives in an ancient village that borders an Israeli kibbutz. Although the story is fictitious, the historical events are real. The reader is offered a window into Arab belief system, and how its leaders relentlessly proselytize hatred toward the Jews. It shows why Arab children in the Middle East grow up with a hatred that has been burned into their hearts. The story also points out the British government's lack of compassion toward the Jews fleeing Europe into Palestine after the Holocaust. (Palestine became the country of Israel in 1948.)
The British government's behavior after World War II was astounding. The government barred Jewish families from entering Palestine, fearing such an influx would jeopardize Britain's relationship with the Arab countries that controlled the flow of oil. All this is fact, not fiction, as Uris weaves this history through a relationship between Haj Ibrahim, the muktar, and Gideon Ash, a Jewish fighter and Zionist who lives in a neighboring kibbutz.
What I found poignant about the story is how little has changed in our world even into the 21st century. Arabs and Jews are still fighting each other; anti-Semitism--the basis of the Holocaust--is on the rise, and countries continue to turn a deaf ear to what could once again become an explosive situation in the Middle East. With the president of Iran spewing frightening decrees about creating nuclear weapons and the destruction of Israel, perhaps this is a linchpin to global warfare.
In addition, we appear to have become less compassionate in our own country toward non-Americans, fueling a showdown on the current immigration issue.
There is a passage in The Haj where the muktar's son says, "I am a devote Moslem, but sometimes some things are hard to understand. If Allah is merciful and compassionate why is He so consumed with horrible punishments, and why must Moslems be committed to a holy war to destroy other people who are nonbelievers? Why can't Islam share the word with other people?"
Why indeed?
This April 25 as people gather for Holocaust Remembrance Day, it would be an opportune time to look not only to the past but also to the future. And in doing so, to emphasize to our children the importance of tolerance, compassion and how to live side by side no matter what our differences may be. This way we can hope that peace, not war, will prevail.
Moryt Milo is the editor of the Willow Glen Resident. She can be reached at 408.200.1051 or via email at mmilo@community-newspapers.com.
