Incredible that an advanced civilisation with minimal contact with actual Jews decided to believe that the world is controlled by the international Jewish conspiracy simply because someone else told them it was true.
And yet, there are people out there who insist that antisemitism is just a form of other types of prejudice and not a unique, and uniquely virulent, entity. And that Jews who talk about "eternal antisemitism" (to use Hannah Arendt's dismissive phrase) are alarmist and lacking nuance.
Japanese tourists, at least until a generation ago, wanted to come to Portsmouth, NH to see where the Treaty was signed in 1905. When they first started coming around 1970 the residents of Portsmouth basically had no idea what they were talking about, and had to ask the Modern History professors at UNH what this was all about. In true Yankee fashion, they adapted quickly and put up some plaques and good spots for photographs. They also force-fed the high schoolers on the Seacoast the info so they would look sharp. The first girls at Phillips Exeter Academy arrived in 1970 and seniors had a crash course in modern Japanese history that shocked the hell out of their preppy parents. I knew two of them - one of whom went on to become famous for an affair with JD Salinger - who did not put the pieces together for twenty years, but you can't fool that group forever.
Oddly, the Japanese tourists also liked going to PEI to see the Anne of Green Gables history. Apparently it was beloved of Japanese schoolgirls in the 60s and 70s who tried to make their daughters read it. I imagine it worked 50% of the time, as such things always do.
It is interesting that we focus on Europe so much when it comes to the Holocaust it never dawns on us that anyone in Asia or the Pacific Theater could have played any part at all, including being able to save lives.
Incredible that an advanced civilisation with minimal contact with actual Jews decided to believe that the world is controlled by the international Jewish conspiracy simply because someone else told them it was true.
And yet, there are people out there who insist that antisemitism is just a form of other types of prejudice and not a unique, and uniquely virulent, entity. And that Jews who talk about "eternal antisemitism" (to use Hannah Arendt's dismissive phrase) are alarmist and lacking nuance.
This was just so interesting. I am sorry I missed it when you first published. You write beautifully,
Oh, thank you so much!
Also, from when I was still often visiting Romania (Beius) because of my children and the mission there.
https://assistantvillageidiot.blogspot.com/2005/11/different-holocaust-up-close_4.html
A fresh perspective on a tragic situation.
Japanese tourists, at least until a generation ago, wanted to come to Portsmouth, NH to see where the Treaty was signed in 1905. When they first started coming around 1970 the residents of Portsmouth basically had no idea what they were talking about, and had to ask the Modern History professors at UNH what this was all about. In true Yankee fashion, they adapted quickly and put up some plaques and good spots for photographs. They also force-fed the high schoolers on the Seacoast the info so they would look sharp. The first girls at Phillips Exeter Academy arrived in 1970 and seniors had a crash course in modern Japanese history that shocked the hell out of their preppy parents. I knew two of them - one of whom went on to become famous for an affair with JD Salinger - who did not put the pieces together for twenty years, but you can't fool that group forever.
Oddly, the Japanese tourists also liked going to PEI to see the Anne of Green Gables history. Apparently it was beloved of Japanese schoolgirls in the 60s and 70s who tried to make their daughters read it. I imagine it worked 50% of the time, as such things always do.
Fascinating that something historical has a major role in the history of one nation but here where the actual place is, it’s unknown.
It is interesting that we focus on Europe so much when it comes to the Holocaust it never dawns on us that anyone in Asia or the Pacific Theater could have played any part at all, including being able to save lives.
Sugihara I had heard of, but I think he signed 20,000 visas. Something like that. Incredible.
The Joint was sending money to support the Jewish refugees in Japan. Got difficult after Pearl Harbor to send money.
Greece is another place people don’t think of the Holocaust and the Nazis definitely reached there.
Actually the Greek Jewish community was decimated during the Holocaust. Thesselonika which had one of the largest Jewish communities was obliterated.
I had heard of Sugihara too. Just not the rest of it
I started reading, forgetting that it was about the Holocaust and got blindsided. I have heard the stories, but I didn’t see it coming.
Its amazing right. How the Holocaust pops up in the most unusual places.
Yes.