Comments on: Emil, Is It You?

By: Hellmut

Hellmut — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:47:11 +0000

And thank you, Ben!
Yes, it was a tragedy on so many levels, Tim.

By: Ben Pratt

Ben Pratt — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:26:44 +0000

Thank you, Hellmut.

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:37:22 +0000

Your story reminded me of the sacrifice of so many good people in WW 2, literally millions. God Bless tim b

By: Hellmut

Hellmut — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:39:16 +0000

Thank you, Ronan and Jon. Ordinary people get involved in evil causes. They were not monsters but they were involved in a monstrous cause.

Since so many ordinary people were involved in the holocaust, it could have been you and me. Scary, isn’t it?

The other day, I heard a well respected academic defend the poor reputation of his community that opposed civil rights with the remark that his parents were good people. That is why his ivy league professors criticism of his community was invalid.

Unfortunately, in some ways a good person can contribute more to an authoritarian cause than a bad person. Hannah Arendt was quite right when she spoke of the banality of evil.

I feel that this logic applies to cases as different as the current ACORN scandal to the abuses during the so called war on terror.

I may be wrong but I would like to believe that it helps if you can be tough on yourself and your loved ones without being judgmental.

By: JonW

JonW — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:51:02 +0000

A wonderful tribute. So often it is easy to forget that both sides had people just trying to do their best in a bad situation.

Thanks for the post.

By: Ronan

Ronan — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:07:28 +0000

This is a moving story well told.