The Huron Expositor, 1978-05-11, Page 35LC.B.O, TICKETS $8.00
7 Days a Week
• Sponsored by
Blyth Centre for Arts
3
• the Nazi regirne.
While historians, theologians- and .philosophers are still
tbating"how the atrocities could have been allowed to happen,
there are some indisputable facts:- -'
' Unemployed....
In 1933,.•ene in three Germans Was unemployed and the
economy was in ruins. Adolf Hitler knew he needed scapegoat& if
he was to, stay' in, power and he chose .'quickrY-Corrirounists,
liberal politicians, Jews, and certain religious leaders were his
targets. Later, he would expand the •circle to include anyone who
was "non-aryan" and anyone who dared to oppose National
Socialism. •
Book Bumings
One of the first acts of his party was to hold publicc, book
turnings; the most point blank kind of censorship possible, of
works considered dangerous to the state, Only a few people
dared to repeat the warning of Heinrich Heine, a German
philosopher who warned rn 1820, "When books are burnt,
Ivinans will be burnt in the end."
Within two months of taking power, the Nazis issued a curt *
press release announcing a former' Munhions- factory near the
town of Dachau•would be opened as a detention camp for
rolitical dissidents.
Heine's prophecy, soon proved true and trade unionists,•
journalists, politicians, Communist sympathizers, and eventually •
Jews, gypsies, religious leaderS and Prisoners' of war were
whisked away into "protective custody" and the heavy iron
gates of Dachau closed behind them, often forever:
Some of the political prisoners who.- were relased in the
days of Dachau tried to warn the' rest of the world about ,the
camps, but the Allied countries ignored the warnings. Later,
same of the same countries refused entry to Jewish refugees,
turning- them back to Europe and sentencing their' to either
death or iinprisonment.;- ---- • • • • - - • •
'today, the major exhibits in the Dachau museum are huge black
and white photographs and decuments which catalogue Hitler's ,•,••
tisele power, the spread of anti-Semitism, day-to-day life in the
'ramps and the final liberation. : , . •
Showcase
Some of the photographs are likely the same one interspersed
Serendipity
By Alice Gibb
Coming ome, a film about two veterans of the Vietnam War,
and the woman who is caught between them is a film about
corning to,terms with the insanity, disillusionment and some of
the pain of the American involvement in the southeast Asia war.
The film is both moving and haunting and is one of the first
American films which tries to deal with one of the,: most
• important episodes in the country's recent history--a war they
involved themselves in with the intention of stopping the spread
of Communism and a war they finally backed out of too many
lives too late--leaving behind a devastated country and bringing
home veterans equally 'devastated by what they did and• saw in
Vietnam. „
Coming Rome deals. with some of the psychologiCal scars of
• the American servicemen who survived. Vietnam and it's an
important first step. But the real story of the war won't be told
until the Vietnamese people themselves can deal with the
holocaust that enveloped their country for so many years.
• In a sense, Holocaust, the controversial made-for-television
movie about one Jewish fAftl*Caught in Hitler's, madness, is
another attempt to come.to terms with an episode in our history
which some say is best forgotten--the extermination of millions
of "non-aryan" peoples and prisoners of war in the
concentration Camps of World War 11.
Last October, on a cold, wet, foggy day, I made a visit to one
reminder of the second holocausts--Dachau concentration camp,
just outside Munich, Germany.
Since visiting Dachau, I've wondered what draWs tourists to the
camp. Do some visit the site as a memorial where members of
their owh family lost their lives; do some have to confirm that the
atrocities actually took-place' or do some visit the campras,_oits_.--.
mere of the must see sights outside Munich? Whatever their
mason few leave the camp unmoved.
When we reached the camp, on the outskirts of the town of
Dachau, a-thick white fog wrapped itself around the grounds.
Then suddenly, the barbed wire fence was etched black against_
the mist,-visitors huggedllieniseives for warmth and the first of
the stark white guard towers-loomed overhead. The towers were
the first definite confrontation with the fact Dachatr was not an
ordinary camp--it was a prison where any attempt to escape
meant death.
Dachau concentration camp, the Nazis' first camp, is
preserved by survivors of the camp and the state of Bavaria as a
reminder of some of man's 4ruellest hours: In a Europe where
mast reminder& of the two 'reat wars have been erased, tachau
survives as a symbol of man's inhumanity. to his fellow man. • 30,000 Prim:4161P
On May 1, 1945, the Allied forces liberated.. Dachau and
discovered Over 30,000 prisoners inside the barbed wire
enclostre; men, women and even children who had survived
backbreaking labour, incredible psychological and physical
abuse and near starvation,' living only for the faint hope that
someday they ,would be free again. Even after liberation, the
Allied medical teams could not save the lives of 2,000 of the
prisoners who succumbe o starvation, typhus and the results of
physical abuse.
When the survivors of Dachau returned for anniversary
services at the camp ten years later, they-.were determined the
rest of the world couldn'tbe allowed to-forget the atrocities of life
inside so they formed the International Committee of Dachau,
with headquarters' in Belgium, and started a campaign to
re-open the gates of Dachau.
• Nightmares
Today, when you step tbroughthe entrance to the camp, a sign
warns, "Not recommended for visitors, below the age of '13
years" but children file through the museum anyway, perhaps
least aware of the horror they see, and least likely to be troubled
by future. nightmares.
Only a few of the camp's building remain' standing today,
• but the foundations of row upon row of barracks are still visible.
One barrack has been transformed into a museum and archives,
another is furnished as it was in the dayg when the camp was
overflowing with prisoners of war.
Other landmarks which have been preserved are the guard
towers, -once manned by the SS troops; the crematorium"' where ,
the guards-destroyed evidence of their crimes;• and the gas
chambers, which were completed only days before the camp was
liberated. , . • - . -
The grounds also contain Catholic and Protestant chapels and
a memorial huilt by members of the Jewish faith, as' well as an
international memorial erected in metnery of all the victims Of
fi
THE HURON EXPQSI OR MAY 118 11
to ,torg
through the'recent Holocaust film. Many of these were originally
taken by S'S guards, who considered Dachau a showcase.
Although the museum and memorials are stripped of much of
the horror of the Auschwitz camp in Poland, where clothes, other
belongings and reminders of the ,victims are still on display,
Dachau is Still a haunting sight.
Visitors move through Dachau silently and both men and
women\ Ncry softly when confronted with- unforgettable
photographs of the suicides who threw themselvses against the
electric. fence rather than endure further torture; of the mother
and her two bewildered toddlers making their final walk to the
gas chamber and of the prisoners used in the grotesque medical
experiments led by Dr. Sigmund Rascher, the Nazi doctor who
Was himself eventually exterminated in the camp.
Scratched Out
And despite signs requesting• visitors not to deface the
exhibits, the face of Adolf Hitler has been scratched out each time
it appears in a photograph.
After visitors wander through the grounds of Dachau, many
stand silently in ft-chit of one of the memorials or light a candle in'
the chapel.
Later on my trip, while' wandering through Pere Lachaise
cemetery in the heart of Paris, I was reminded of Dachau again.
Ahead of me loomed the-thin, skeletal figures of men in agony
teaching for the sky, men sculpted in 'bronze.
This was a memorial to Jewish victims of Dachau, Auschwitz
and the other . camps.. But more painful than the artist's
interpretation of death, were the pictures of smiling children on
the grey gravestones--children who died. almost 30 years ago for
the crime of being'tborn to parents who weren4 Aryans.
Coming to' terms with the other side of our nature-the side
which allows us to be far crueller than any member of the animal
.kingdom"-is as important as coming to,Ierms. with ouriutrnanity,..
Remembering -Dachau and ,the napalminR In _Vietnam- isn't
enough, even if it makes us uncomfortable or causes sleepless
nights. We still have to guard that history :doesn't repeat itself,
.here in Canada, 'in the 'refugee camps of Lebanon or on the • streets *of •Rome.
As the philospher said, those who do not remember history are
condemned to relive it.
ti
histor we-can'tHoffo
SUNDAY MAY 21
Don't throw away
GOOD
JUNK
Donate it to Us.
VAN EGMOND
Owners of Cresswell
paintings are sought
VANASTRA, 'CIN1RE
6 Hard- ToP .
TENNIS COURTS
Brodhagen Brewerfest '78
vGood Brother's
DANCE
• 12 Noon to 5 P.M.
For pick up contact - --
TERRY HUSSEY
527.1574
or
DOROTHY WILLIAMS
482-3326
Londesboro
'United - Church
ANNUAL
HAM SUPPER.
May 24th
Take Out Orders
5:00-7:30 pm
Adults - $3:50
Children 12 & Under
$1.50
Pre Schoolers Free
Sponsored by U.C.W.
The family of
- Mary & Jim
O'CONNOR
would like to invite, family,
friends and neighbours
to celebrate their
40th
Wedding •
Anniversary
at Brodhagen Community
Centre
May 27, 1978
9.1
No gifts please.
Anyone interested in
participating in a
JUNIOR
TALENT
SHOW
at
Nensall Spring •
Fair
June 20
Please Contact
John Baker
262-3123
01'
9Gitictil McGregor
262.8839
before June 1
Flower, Plant '8 Art
StiOW AND SALE
St. mamas Anglican Church
WEDNESDAY; May , 31
Adtinfssion7S1:00
Refresliments
•At the
Flea, Mprket.
on. the-groUnds• of.the
Van tgmorid House
Egmondville
:tear Seathrth
unday, May 21st
- Continuing activities throughout
the afternoon
TWO
BIG
DI4YS
SUNDAY & MONDAY
MAY 21 & 22
tatimititimmiumiumumminitimuniummumninatimitimmu= •
El 'Sun. -.Yakarama Spring Ba th Senior and Expert . =
= Category - .. r. = •
Mon. - Second Round of the Spring Series for
F-: Juniors and School Boys =
• r.-
OVER 500 COMPETITORS 1 m ainiiiiimit.................mimimmiliffimimp.. ....,....i....,
RACING BEGINS APPROX. NOON
ADMISSIQN $3.00, CHILDREN •
taw (12 8,uniier) $1
so to
VARNA, ONT.
itt*, 'A, NORTH Or HENSALL, LOOK fO SHE SIGNS!)
042
4:30-panr---
- 9 p.m.
Anyone owning a William
Cresswell painting, who would
consider lending it to the London
Regional Art Gallery this fall for a
special exhibit on Ontario artists,
is asked to call Alice Gibb at the
"Huron Expositor. .07-0240. ,
Barry Fair, of the • London
Regional Art Gallery, would like
to visit the area to view any
Cressvvell works, and perhaps
borrow some to rise in the
upcoming exhibition.
Open for play daWn till
- dusk
01..xiEftyERs
BLUE GRASS ND:
Blythe Centre For The Arts 1V1EMBERSHIP ONLY
Single $12.00
$30.00 -
Call 482-3544
Seaforth Community Centre
Tickets available at:
[Age of Majority,Card required]
Bob & Betty's or any member of Brodhagen Softball
Team
Proceeds to Brodhagen Softball
Blyth *Memorial Hall
8 p.m
Admission $3.00
at door
Wednesday,
May .2 4 78
Seaforth Opfiniists
and
10th Anniversary
LAST NIGHT THURS., MAY 18th
ONE SHOWING 5:00 P.M. Satutday, June 3
MAY 19-23 FRI. & SAT, 7:00 & 9:00
SUN. - THURS. 5:00
nL • Seaforth -Optimists-Park
12 pm-noon PARADE, ASSEMBLY
1 Pm• ANNIVERSARY PARADE
Entries required now - Call DAve DeVries 527.1440 or Alf Ross 345-2547
2, pm BONG SHOW and AFTERN000N MATINEE (Lincoln Green)
3 pm PRINCESS PAGEANT - Mrs. Lloyd Eisler, 527-0691 527-0443
Arena
"ONE' OF,THE BEST
PICTURES OF THE /TAW
TIME MAGAZINE
"The Goodbye Girl'
is a joyous comedy
just what the doctor ordered.
- 'Neil Simon Makes
feeling good legal.
GENE SHALIT, NEC-TV
ACADEMY AWARD WINNER
BEST ACTOR &
ACTRESS
3 pm HORSE SHOW SEAFORTH SADDLE CLUB Agricultural Grounds
— Mrs. Norma Riley 527-1059
6 pm -P-c)RK BEEF BARBEQUE '- Ciirdiff & Campbell
9 pm MARDIGRAS BALL - Star Trek
BUY YOUR TICKETS .NOW
Optimist,10th Anniversary Party -- .78 Mardigras
ONE
FREE TICKET
with each
Mardigras ticket
purchase
1 p.m.—Annlversary Parade 6 'p.m. Costume Preliminary
2 p.M.—Bong Show . 6 p.m.—Barbeque
3 p.m.--Princess Contest 8 p.m.—Princess Finals
4 p.m.,—Dance Matinee 9 p.m.—Mardlgras Ball,
—LINCOLN GREEN STAR /*REX—
' SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 1978
SEAFORTH COMMUNITY CENTRE
•1•110101•'
See the 1917 Tin Lizzie in the "FORGE" Window
TickRts S 1 .Q,Q each
GODEttitti
A RAY STARK PRODUCTION OF A HERRF.RT ROSS FILM
NE11. SIMON'S
"THE GOODBYE GIRL!
RICHARD DREYFUSS MARSHA MASON
80 THE SQUARE
PHONE ,54.7811
AIRCONDITIONED
N a-m e
Address
7
Age Type Of Act
Detach and return to K. CardnO, Box 328, Seaforth
BONG SHOW ENTRY
t)
de'. MOM ei.• ad.w. a•si. Nom- ...66
•