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

[N8Ma]

Fox News is filled with idiots, plain and simple. As a network it resembles the entire Bush administration, because competence is always trumped by ideology. If you're in that magical 26% of people who think Bush is "awesome," you get a job at Fox News. Pure, plain, and simple. You do not need any other credentials (but being blonde helps).

It's like the tension in the People's Republic of China in the 1960s between being "red" and "expert." Is it better to have a banker run your central bank, or someone who's memorized the entire Little Red Book?

And so you have countless gaffes on Fox News...peo­ple relying on anecdotes from their high school history classes to make historical analogies. Again, because you do not have to be brilliant to work there.

Oh and yes, THEY HAVE NO SHAME.

[Triciann]

The conditions in all these camps were awful as anyone who knows anything about the Holocaust knows. People starved, died, were killed, etc. etc. The Americans and their allies who liberated them should never be forgotten. Of course this attitude by Fox News is exactly the same as that in Germany in the 30's; it allowed people to pretend nothing too bad was going on!

[Johnjlws]

I used to be sort of shocked and/or appalled at this sort of stuff, but when the President of the United States stands up in a foreign country and links an opposition candidate to Adolf Hitler, a right wing slop machine of the mass media trying to discredit someone because he mis-remembered a story from his childhood about a relative isn’t much of a stretch.

We lost sight, sometime ago, of what’s important to you and me, Americans. We’ve joined the bandwagon of bushwhackers as they have stomped on war heroes in favor of draft dodgers. We’re all about “our candidate” winning rather than our philosophies and principles prevailing. Witness this year the hand-wringing glee of the right as they witness the growing percentage of primary voters who “won’t vote for Obama,” or the fewer who “won’t vote for her!” We’ve lost our minds when we can take the two relatively closely aligned philosophically candidates of Barack and Hillary and trade either for the likes of another term of Bush. But, we can stand at the gas pump and yell at the top of the lungs “see, we told you he couldn’t beat McCain!” while pumping the $7.67 gallon of gas as we take our daughter off to fight in Iran. We’ve simply lost our minds and I fear we are destined to continue this awful legacy.

[loria]

Well said.

[thisoldbroad]

Thank you

[rabrophy]

To answer your question:
NO, THEY HAVE NO SHAME!

[marymansour]

Thank you so much, Mr. Rosensaft, for pointing this out. It seems that the right wing has no shame on any subject and when they get a part African with a 'funny' name, they go bananas. George W. Bush also used the Holocaust in his speech to the Knesset in order to fan the flames regarding Obama. All of these politicians, it seems, will stop at nothing to see their ambitions fulfilled. Hitler's regime was not a joking matter nor should it be used lightly to discredit a sincere man like Barack Obama. By the same token, neither should Robert Kennedy's assassination. These are shameful days.

[roselaw]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post this. The smears that are already here, and surely on the way, are awful. I agree--have (they) no shame??

McCain doesn't know that Al Qaeda is sunni, rather than shiite, and its Obama who is unfit to be commander in chief?--my god man, give me a break!

[dapperd72]

Thank you sincerely for your expose of these atrocities, especially as a child of Holocaust survivors. Obama's mistake in identifying the wrong concentration camp is much ado about nothing, but Faux News predictably seized on it to exploit their own hypocritical agenda. I'm sure no one thinks Obama is a demigod by having his great-uncle as a liberator of Buchenwald, but he deserves credit for commemorating this momentous event in WW II that forever altered the course of human history. I've never heard any eloquent dialogue from George W. Bush, which isn't surprising given his grandfather & great-grandfather's large-scale financial support for the Nazi war effort via Union Banking Corp. Likewise to the Germans being compelled to tour Buchenwald & bear witness to these crimes, I believe the American people, at least those who support the Iraq War and all related detention centers should be federally required to take unvarnished tours of Guantanamo Bay, Abu Graib and other prisons where "enemy combatants," most of whom were never charged with any crime, are imprisoned indefinitely in the our names. The right-wing hacks at Faux News who slander progressive politicians are probably notJewish, Holocaust survivors, nor survivors of any other human rights abuses worldwide. Coulter jokes about bombing Muslim nations & killing all their people, O'Reilly verbally attacks World Trade Center victims' families and other pseudo-journalists make diabolical "jokes" about assassinating Obama. When will the yahoos at FCC hold these malcontents accountable for inciting violence?

[IndigoSue]

Powerful post. Thank you.

[Vibrani]

Obama's great uncle was no doubt traumatized by what he saw - that makes him a human being who cares. Obama got the facts wrong. His great uncle was in Buchenwald, not Auschwitz. Obama didn't talk about the horrors of the Holocaust because he'd rather sit down and talk with our enemies - like Iran, who wants to deny the Holocaust ever happened! What does Obama think? That by sucking up to the Jewish vote (a minority). and using his uncle in this way that by association, or relation, it makes HIM a better person? It doesn't.

[quest44]

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer ! Obviously you never heard of that before ,lol.
I would rather have a diplomatic president who will engage in talks with our enemies tha one who shows no diplomacy and childishly refuses to talk to a countries leader they don't like or worse yet as in the case of Bush and Chavez tries to assinate leaders he can't control.

All politicians have to campaign everywhere in this country to all kinds of groups ,woman ,elderly,B­lack,Latin­o,Native ,Asian.and yes Jewish too .So what's new about that ?
So he got the name wrong .So What ! Do you remember all the stories told to you word for word from your parents aunts and uncles ? I doubt it !
People who look for the worst in people can always find it or invent it and you apparently like looking for the worst in Obama ,but your inventing it holds no water with me and millions of other people who see you for what you are .

[Hedonist]

I'm not sure Obama would appreciate his foriegn policy being compared to he Michael Corleone.

[Technician]

I agree with Vibrami. Since Hitler has been used to smear Bush, why is it suprising that the Holocaust would be used to smear Obama? After all, as the old saying has it," The old stream flows both ways."

[xenofile]

I'd say you have a VERY idiosyncratic notion of justice.

[loria]

Actually Bush used Hitler to smear Obama. So, I guess the Hitler smear flows one way. That would be from the right towards anyone who opposes them.

[lisakaz2]

Smear Bush? Huh? Bush used Hitler to try to smear Obama. Helllloooooo!

[AlexVonHussein]

I think Obama is just open about his family..an­d loves them dearly....­You have see that he embraces both his family in Africa as he does here and He has written a book about his father and he embraced his father Although with his reputation many people would want to keep it under wraps...Ju­st like his Black grand ma is not his real grand ma still he does not hide her cause she is poor....an­y reporter can visit her and interview her... the more he opens up the more people want to twist his intensions.
.

[jibeaux]

This veteran gentleman, who replied to the wingnuts attempting a countertop inspection on Obama's great-uncle, is far pithier and more elegant than I could be, so I will just quote his response in full.

Please crawl back under the rock you came out from.

Good day

Raymond Kitchell, veteran 89th Inf Div

[thismachinekillsfascists]

You're an idiot. It's called DIPLOMACY and if it weren't for sitting down with our "enemies", we'd be looking at a lot more war, or is that what you prefer?

[DC]

Tragically the Holocaust is invoked for political points and political reasons -- this is nothing new and remains a disgraceful slander to all victims of this event.

This entire issue of mistakenly naming a naming one camp instead of another is a diversion, a non-issue.

The American media spends much time on non-issues and created controversy. Meanwhile we sink deeper into the depths of ignorance and misinformation as the country weakens, social problems grow, US infrastructure collapses, homes are lost and the overall quality of life and security slips away.

We concern ourselves with the wrong things and the media and its population of "Journalists," editors and publishers are part of the reason why.

[yhgtup]

This is appalling! All this hupla over the wrong camp, is an irrational way for these right-wingers to cover-up the message Barack was speaking about, THIS REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION IS NOT PROVIDING THE MENTAL HEALTH CARE SO MANY OF OUR VETERANS NEED. The numbers are startling! These returning vets are suffering from depression, stress, anxiety disorder and many more mental health problems that are being "swept under the rug", in an attempt to keep this unnecessary war going. Hey, John McBush just said the other day, "We will never surrender"!! It 's really sad.

[oldwiseone]

I find it gleefully amazing that idiots actually believe that they can convince others that they are not idiots by acting even more idiotic. There has to be a word for this...

[JustMyWords]

Republicanism?

[Bdwyre]

The repukes and their hatchet men at FIX news are desperate. Another example of "gotcha" politics..­.

Perhaps we can get Keith O to start talking non-stop about Cindy McCain's drug problem and her thievery. A nice ticker across the bottom of the screen (running 24/7) reminding viewers of her wicked ways.

[essafaga]

If anyone thought that it was just possible that they might vote for McCain, I hope this absolute nonsense about "Obama lying about concentration camps" will put that thought to rest. There are stories that most children aren't taught about history, don't care about history - and then there's the uproar anytime it is decided that Holacaust studies be part of the curriculum. It's obvious thaT NOBODY on Fox TV knows anything - from A to Z - about history - American, European, Asian or African.

We all need to let FOX News know that it's OK if they want to showcase conservatives on their networks - after all, we all believe in free speech - but I don't think that network should allow such idiots to comment on things that are so wrong that it's pitiful. And they've been doing that for years.

Vote for a Democrat - for President, for Senator, for Representative, in November. We need to get those people out of power - maybe never to be heard from again.

[Tamalpais]

Remember according to some in the GOP Hitler was doing "gods work". Perhaps they see Obama's great uncle as hindering "gods will".