Using the Holocaust to Smear Obama

I never thought I'd see the day when the Holocaust would be used as a tool for "gotcha" politics. But over the last two days, we have seen John McCain's supporters at the Republican National Committee and at Fox News launch tasteless attacks on Barack Obama. In their attempt to score a few political points, they have diminished the experience of those who suffered and died at Buchenwald, and disrespected the service of the heroic American troops who liberated them.

It started yesterday when the RNC put out a statement slamming Obama for referring to Auschwitz as he related a family story on Memorial Day. Instead of merely asking for clarification, the RNC smeared Obama's "dubious claim," and suggested -- tongue in cheek -- that perhaps Obama's uncle "was serving in the Red Army." They went on to say that the story raised questions "about his judgment and his readiness to lead as commander in chief."

It turns out that Obama's great uncle -- the brother of the grandmother who largely raised him -- served in the 89th Infantry Division of the United States Army, which liberated Ohrdruf, part of Buchenwald. But astonishingly, that only served to fan the flames for those on the right who saw an attempt to use the heroic service of Obama's uncle against him. In their breathless attempt to damage Obama, Fox News has stooped to a level that is truly depressing.

This morning on the program Fox and Friends, one of the hosts said: "It wasn't Auschwitz. It was a labor camp called Buchenwald." Just in case the point was missed, she repeated. "It wasn't Auschwitz, it was a labor camp. You would think you would want to be as specific as possible if you are telling one of these anecdotes." Meanwhile, a news "crawl" at the bottom of the screen reinforced, in bold letters, that this was "a work camp, rather than an extermination camp."

Here are some facts about Buchenwald, which is one of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps. At this "work camp," prisoners were often worked, starved, tortured, or beaten to death. Sometimes they were simply murdered. Roughly 250,000 people were imprisoned there between 1937 and 1945, many of them Jews. Over 50,000 people lost their lives.

At Nuremberg, the world was shocked to learn that some of Buchenwald's victims were skinned, and the human skin was then used to make lampshades, book covers, and other keepsakes. Buchenwald was also a site for the infamous Nazi "medical experiments" on prisoners, which were often nothing more than crude and horrific forms of torture.

To take just one anecdote about the "work" done at Buchenwald, prisoners had to build the camp road, and camp guards used to shoot those who were not carrying stones that were heavy enough. In the final days before liberation, some 10,000 prisoners from Auschwitz and Gross-Rossen were marched to Buchenwald, adding to the horrific scene that awaited American troops.

On April 4, 1945, Ohrdruf became the first Nazi concentration camp to be liberated by American forces. U.S. troops -- including the 89th Infantry Division -- found a scene that was vividly described by the Eisenhower Memorial Commission: "The scene was an indescribable horror even to the combat-hardened troops who captured the camp. Bodies were piled throughout the camp. There was evidence everywhere of systematic butchery. Many of the mounds of dead bodies were still smoldering from failed attempts by the departing SS guards to burn them."

Dwight Eisenhower and Omar Bradley would tour the camp in the days ahead. Eisenhower was so moved by the atrocities at this "work camp," that he wrote to his wife Mamie that it was "beyond the American mind of comprehend." He made both his own men and all of the citizens of the German town of Gotha tour the camp. He wanted the Americans to know the evil that they were fighting. He wanted German citizens to see what had been done in their name. After this tour, the Mayor of Gotha and his wife hanged themselves.

Many of the terrible photographs and videos that we have seen of the Holocaust come from these days. Eisenhower said that he wanted, "to give first-hand evidence if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to 'propaganda.'" The carefully documents attrocities at Buchenwald are thus part of the record that we use to confront anyone who would deny the horror of the Holocaust.

The men who liberated Buchenwald were heroes, plain and simple. That includes Barack Obama's great uncle. In their march across Europe, the 89th Infantry Division suffered over 1,000 casualties, with over 300 men killed. In their liberation of Buchenwald, they put an end to one of the most horrible concentration camps of the 20th century. We must honor them, just as we must remember each and every victim of the criminal Nazi regime.

To those who continue to use this story to damage Barack Obama, I have a simple question: have you no shame? You attempts to diminish his uncle's service for your own political gain says a lot more about you than it does about Barack Obama.

Comments

[HippyGourmet]

This is an amazing speech that Arianna Huffington gave at the Harmony Festival last summer, on becoming fearless:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twxPm7HolC4

Seems that this political season is no different than others, with conservatives doing their part to try to create fear and doubt, rather than provide hope and solutions.

If you like this segment, please consider subscribing for free to our: www.YouTube.com/HippyGourmet channel, or visit us at www.HippyGourmet.com

[UncensoredReports]

IF she's so "fearless" why doesn't she allow FACTS about obama's pro-war voting records, LIES, votes for attacks on our rights & freedoms, etc. to be posted without being erased?

[MsLiz]

Because your facts are lies?

[Ajita]

I cant watch Fox without throwing up but I'm glad we have some who keep tabs on those liars.

[seawolf77]

If he got his facts straight there wouldn't be a problem.

[letuckerchicago]

There's no way you believe what you just said - as long as Obama is infalliable, there'll be no problem, right??!!

[tedbear]

Fox stoops to anything to discredit Obama, and basically all Democrats with the exception of Hillary Clinton. I tune in to Fox to check out the "extreme sport of outright lying," and have yet to hear in all these months one negative thing about Clinton. That is disturbing about Clinton, especially now that there is talk of her being VP. I can barely even say that, Hillary as VP. Please, Obama, say it isn't so! I want to vote for you, but not if you are going to desecrate the White House with the likes of the Clintons.

[AdamX]

My father survived 3 1/2 years in Buchenwald. Thank god the folks at Fox will never know what that means.

[lisakaz2]

I don't know whether to say "I'm sorry" or "Congratulations" or what? You have to be thankful but what a burden, too (even for descendants; I have taught from Primo Levi's account of Auschwitz, so have some idea of the mixed feelings).

Actually I wish the ppl at Fox knew what it means (if you know what I mean).

[MsLiz]

Your father must have been a remarkable man. Three and a half years is a very long time, and he survived and lived and had a family. Bless you.

[UncensoredReports]

OMG,
Real nice sentiment while at the same time supporting an escalation of the illegal war of aggression based on lies & greed in Afghanistan & a new one in Pakistan & the possibility of ANOTHER one in Iran.

Or don't you research obama's ACTUAL stands?

Enlisted yet?

[tinybuddha]

This party and this government has been insisting -- sometimes successfully -- on the premise that everyone ignore history except their version of it.

[coolkraft]

FOX is a crap network...always was always will be and this is why people dont watch cable or read news print much any more...they only look to sensationalize trivia and do not tackle the real issues important to americans....more and more of us (and I am an old white granny) rely on the internet for real news...great column

[fungeezer]

There was a time when news reporters had to have at least a cursory knowledge of history, so they could convey reports in an intelligent fashion. Not so anymore, they simply repeat talking points handed down to them by whomever and repeated as propaganda for the masses. Problem is, the masses seem to have more historical knowledge than the people passing out the propaganda.

These attacks were disgraceful. How those reporting were allowed to repeat such things is disgusting.
There should be accountability for such statements.

[LonghornDem]

Thank you for putting up this clarification. The fact that some seem to be completely ignorant of the events at Buchenwald is disturbing to me. They say work camp like the Jews there were pulling vegetables. This was a vile attack.

[CanuckforObama]

Auschwitz was 5 star evil whereas Buchenwald was 4 star evil. So what is the difference really other than an attempt by Fox to slander Obama? What does Fox think the Nazis did at the work camps? Fox is the liar, not Obama

I give this example: Bergen Belsen was not an extermination camp, but the infamous film footage of bulldozers pushing bodies into mass graves shortly after it was liberated by British soldiers was filmed there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergen-Belsen_concentration_camp

Can you imagine the traumatic impact that such a sight might have has on a young soldier. That was Obama's whole point.

Fox is playing with words. Mass murder took place at almost all Nazi concentration camps regardless of the label affixed to them (work camp, extermination camp etc.). This is truly appalling and they should be called on it. Repugnant beyond words.

If Obama brings these things up it is because he is desperate to fend off the xenophobic attacks of the Republican party who constantly portray him as Anti-Israel, anti-American etc. Myself I would be downright proud if I had a great uncle who helped bring freedom to those who were suffering in Hitler's death camps.

[wutzhappn]

I never thought I'd see the day when RFK's assassination would be used to smear Hillary Clinton.

[lisakaz2]

How what it a smear? DId she not strongly suggest she was staying in the race in case Obama was bumped off?

[AdamX]

You want to compare evils? My father had to carry the dead bodies and stack them up in Buchenwald. He was beaten and starved. He saw atrocities and death every day. His Father, Mother and Sister, along with many other relatives, were exterminated in Auschwitz. 4 star? 5 star?

He begged for death. The rest of his relatives got it.

[CanuckforObama]

I am sorry if I offended anybody with the "stars" comment. What I meant to point out was how meaningless Fox New's emphasis was on the fact that Buchenwald, technically speaking, was not an extermination camp. For the individuals who experienced the nightmare of these camps or who have a relative who did, obviously my comment reeks of ignorance. By the way, I visited Dachau when I was traveling in Munich. It was a very moving experience. I have nothing but the most profound respect and admiration for Holocaust survivors. May we never forget what they went through.

[lisakaz2]

I've used the scenes at Bergen-Belsen for class; the tangled bodies are in some ways a worse experioence that liberating a camp where the bodies (most if not all) are cremated. I might transpose the 5 star vs 4 star but this is quibbling. It is appalling, mind altering and devistating in either case. (That's why I show it.)

[RichLiberal]

Auschwitz is much more famous than Buchenwald, which is why Obama used it to exaggerate his family background in the hopes of gaining votes by a cheap political trick.

To characterize these as the difference between "5-star and 4-star" is an ignorant self-serving attempt to whitewash the Obama campaign's insensitivity to this issue.

The point of my comments is not so much to show anything particularly bad about Obama, but to show how the media has fanned trivialities that have been made big issues in Hillary's campaign, while at the same time taking comparitive much more explosive material from Obama and trivializing it to meaningless grammatical errors.

While the details are unpleasant, anyone who knows any history knows that the difference between these camps was pretty much the difference between life and death, hardly a 1-star difference to the victims.

Buchenwald: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchenwald_concentration_camp: "Although Buchenwald technically was not an extermination camp, it was a site of an extraordinary number of deaths."... "According to the same source, the total number of deaths at Buchenwald is estimated at 56,545.[6]"

Auschwitz: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp "Auschwitz II (Birkenau), an extermination camp " ... "The exact number of victims at Auschwitz is impossible to fix with certainty."
"In 1983 French scholar George Wellers was one of the first to use German data on deportations to estimate number killed at Auschwitz, arriving at 1.613 million dead."

[lisakaz2]

Sorry but you are woefully misinformed. Life and death? No. You watch the tape of Bergen-Belsen (supposedly a "work camp" and the place where Anne Frank died) and you tell me how to Disneyfy it. The famousness of Auschwitz is often why students I have assume Americans liberated it when they did not. It is a common error I see, even with the book right at their disposal.

Why don't you look at http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/50896.html and learn something.

BTW Wikipedia is not some unassailable source. Far from it.

[MsLiz]

Rich Liberal again. Your reputation precedes you.

You do not know the reason Obama used the wrong name. You can speculate, and you speculate in the light least favorable to him because you have prejudged him. It is your opinion that HRC has had her boo-boos blown out of proportion and Obama's miniturized, but at the same time you assert that Obama deliberately named the wrong camp to "exaggerate his family background in the hopes of gaining votes by a cheap political trick." It is you, Rich Liberal, who exaggerates.

My mother has told me stories of family lore. She may have told me the wrong details about places. It happens. BFD. At least she did not tell me that she was ducking sniper fire when she visited Yorktown, Virginia.

[Decipherer]

Sorry, your point(s), going back to nearly the beginning of this "discussion" is to slime Barack Obama by pointing out a trivial distinction without a difference.

You and a host of others are doing your best to somehow prove he is a liar or a person who cannot be trusted because they exaggerate certain facts. Then, you go ahead a weave a web using the horrors of the Holocaust to parse the fact that millions were killed at one camp, and only hundreds of thousands were killed at others.

Then, by contrast, you trivialize Hillary Clinton's gross exaggeration of a direct personal experience she claimed to have had with regard to her visit to Bosnia in the mid-1990s, when she claimed -- falsely -- to have come under sniper fire.

These are totally different events, times, and situations.

The plain facts are that at least one of Barack Obama's relatives on his mother's side were involved with the liberation of Nazi death camps at the end of World War II, and the effects of that have had a deep impact on him as the events were re-told to him.

He did not make that up -- Hillary Clinton's wartime "experience" was sheer fantasy.

Finally, please spare us all the Wikipedia references. If that's the best you can offer, it is a very sad statement about the depth of your knowledge about anything.

[dartagnan]

"To those who continue to use this story to damage Barack Obama, I have a simple question: have you no shame?"

That is a rhetorical question, right? After watching the Republican Slime Machine in action for the past 16 years, can you really believe the people who run it have any sense of shame? Or honor, or honesty, or basic human decency?

[butchie65]

This is just a way for the Repugs to get the attention away from the assasination story by Hillary. It won't work. This doesn't even come close to her story about RFK.

[DaveNoble]

“This is not about Barack Obama,” Mr. Dean said. “This is not about Hillary Clinton. This is about our country. This is about restoring America to its greatness, to restoring our moral authority and to healing America at home. That’s what this is about.”

Howard Dean on the Florida and Michigan delegate counts. But his remarks should be applied to the entire primary battle.

[Durango]

Trivial mistakes taken out of context.

This is how we decide who will be President of the United States.

George Washington must be spinning in his grave.

[donwan]

I doubt it. He probably disinterred himself and moved to England out of shame for what has become of the nation for which he and others sacrificed so much.

[MsLiz]

Did you know that he never actually chopped down a cherry tree? Take his face off the dollar bill this instant.

[Intelligentia]

What do expect from the heartless section of the Republican party. Some of them are probably closet Holocaust deniers.

[wolfgangmo]

There is nothing closeted about the RNC. They deny it publicly.

[Ericfromny]

Ask Ted Haggard, Larry Craig, Mark Foley and countless others what's closeted about the RNC.

They might disagree with your point, wolfgang...

[Aaror]

Hmm,
Are you referring to Prescott Bush, Father and Grandfather of US Presidents and supporter of Hitler? The guy who sold arms to Germany?
Yes, Prescott Bush's money was used to help his family get political offices-money from the Nazi's...