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| Murdered cyclist in Bucha, Ukraine (Breaking latest news) |
She explained that she felt that way because her parents were victims of the vicious antisemitism perpetrated by Ukrainians during the Holocaust. She believes that Ukrainians are now paying the price for the sins of their fathers. And are now suffering in precisely the same way her parents did during the Holocaust. Mida K’Neged Mida - measure for measure.
What about the fact that the vast majority of the current victims were not even alive during the Holocaust? It didn’t matter to her. She believes that in their hearts Ukrainians are just as antisemitic as their grandparents were - having had it transmitted to them generationally. Given the opportunity they would do it all over again. And that their long overdue justice is finally being served.
It’s hard to convince people whose parents were tortured at the hands of a population filled with hatred and rage over 70 years ago - are being unfair to the current generation of Ukrainians. No matter what I said to give her a different perspective, she remained unconvinced and was glad it was happening. Ukrainians were finally getting what they deserved. There was not the slightest doubt in her mind about that.
Truth is - as a child of the Holocaust I used to feel the same way. But I no longer do. While I can’t vouch for what is in the heart of every Ukrainian, it is hard for me to imagine that the vast majority of younger Ukrainians are antisemitic. They voted for a President that did not hide his Judaism. When Zelensky was elected, it made headlines that a Jew won an election as President of the Ukraine. And by a landslide no less.
l suppose it’s possible that not every Ukrainian voter knew Zelensky was Jewish. But in our day of easy and instant access to information it is highly unlikely that he would have won in a landslide by voters that were antisemitic. There is also the fact that there is a resurgence of Jewish life in the Ukraine. And not a single ‘pogrom’ has happened there in decades
I am also pretty sure my friend is not alone in feeling this way. It is the subtext of a lot of commentary by individuals that say they are appalled at what Putin is doing and yet quietly feel a sense of poetic justice about it.
But is it really poetic justice we are seeing? The truth is that if there were to be real poetic justice it should have happened to the actual people that committed those atrocities – the grandparents of the current Ukrainians. Another thing my friend failed to consider is that some of the Ukrainian victims may be descendants of the righteous gentiles who risked their lives to save us.
We are not witnessing poetic justice. We are witnessing atrocities committed daily against innocent people by a brutal war criminal named Putin.
Every day the horrors of this war are on full display on the nightly news. The sight of more than one victim shot next the bike they were riding is particularly hard for me since I am an avid bike rider. It is still hard to believe what I see everyday on the evening news. The dead bodies; entire cities being destroyed; survivors pouring out their heart and soul after discovering it was a loved one buried beneath the rubble left behind by a retreating Russia army. I just don’t see any poetic justice here.
And yet as child of the Holocaust, it’s hard to blame others in this category for feeling this way knowing what our parents lived through. But we must not allow our feelings to cloud our judgment.. The facts are not always as we presume them to be.
There is also a danger to the kind of thinking that lends credence to Putin’s claim that he is denazifying the Ukraine. And that he is thereby doing us a favor in executing the well deserved consequences of past Ukrainian sins.
I cannot stress enough how wrong that kind of thinking is. Even if we do not intend to justify what Putin is doing - that is not necessarily how the world will see it. By sticking to the belief that all Ukrainians are antisemites it appears that we are supporting the atrocities. All the denial in the world will not change that perception.
I think those who feel that the Ukrianians are finally getting their just deserts ought to think a bit harder about that. And realize that a lot of innocent people are being killed on the alter of unwarranted revenge. And as noted some of them may actually be the grandchildren of the righteous gentiles who risked their lives to save people like my father and father-in-law.
What kind of justice is that?!
I would ask those who might understandably feel this way my friend does to re-consider their feelings; to think about whether their feelings match the reality; and to consider the consequences of the world seeing the Jewish people as vengeful supporters of a butcher and war criminal like Putin.