While I was trying to clean my office of stacks of old letters, pamphlets and floppies that belonged to the prehistoric computers of TX with 640 K, I was about to throw out a letter that I wrote to Dr. Kravetz. Dr. Kravetz was a publisher who was interested in one of my manuscripts at the time. Half way to the garbage can, I scanned the letter and my eyes caught the sentence ?What if Arafat is killed?? That sentence caught my attention.
After reading the letter, which I wrote in September 1993, I didn't know whether I should laugh or cry. As a Holocaust survivor, my mind always makes comparisons with the situations I encountered then and now. The arduous longing for peace blinded me, making me think that the days of the Messiah had arrived and that, no matter what, peace was inevitable.
It reminds me of the hopes we were fed by the Nazis, when they made selective actions in our ghetto of Kaunas, Lithuania. After the 'Big Action' on October 28, 1941, ten thousand Jewish men, women and children, most of them elderly or very young, were separated from the rest of us and sent to the 9th Fort. The 9th Fort was the killing grounds where Jews from our ghetto and from all over Europe were brought to be executed. It was situated about ten miles above the ghetto on a hill (that was before they had established the murder factories of Auschwitz, Sobibor and Chelmno, and even before the Wansee conference).
To make this action as smooth of possible, the Nazis spread the rumor that the people were going to be sent to camps in the conquered part of Russia. ?You don't really believe that we are going to kill ten thousand people?? they said. And, indeed, it seemed incredible that they would kill such a large number of people in one go. It wasn't until we heard the machine guns going day and night that we realized that they were indeed killing ten thousand of our people.
But the amazing thing is what happened after the Big Action. The Nazis once again waved the banner of hope before our eyes: "This is the last action that will ever take place in this ghetto. We need you all for Germany's war effort. If you work hard and follow orders, no harm will come to you." Once again, the desire to believe what they were saying was so strong that we closed our eyes to the truth and actually believed them.
Rereading my letter to Dr. Kravetz, written erev Rosh Hashana, on September 14, 1993, it brought me back to the Holocaust, when we closed our eyes to the naked truth. I actually believed that Arafat was our partner for peace and was worried about his safety. I find my following sentence ironic: "What if Arafat is killed? What if the army leaves the territories and Hamas defeats Arafat? These are only a few of the questions that haunt us. Whatever happens we shall never be the same as we were before the signing. Whatever happens peace is now inevitable. Thank God."
My euphoria and desire for peace with the Palestinians was so strong that I actually believed that peace was inevitable.
It was just another shattered dream.
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Solly Ganor, an Israeli author, is a Holocaust survivor who has lectured throughout Germany. He can be reached at solganor@netvision.net.il.
After reading the letter, which I wrote in September 1993, I didn't know whether I should laugh or cry. As a Holocaust survivor, my mind always makes comparisons with the situations I encountered then and now. The arduous longing for peace blinded me, making me think that the days of the Messiah had arrived and that, no matter what, peace was inevitable.
It reminds me of the hopes we were fed by the Nazis, when they made selective actions in our ghetto of Kaunas, Lithuania. After the 'Big Action' on October 28, 1941, ten thousand Jewish men, women and children, most of them elderly or very young, were separated from the rest of us and sent to the 9th Fort. The 9th Fort was the killing grounds where Jews from our ghetto and from all over Europe were brought to be executed. It was situated about ten miles above the ghetto on a hill (that was before they had established the murder factories of Auschwitz, Sobibor and Chelmno, and even before the Wansee conference).
To make this action as smooth of possible, the Nazis spread the rumor that the people were going to be sent to camps in the conquered part of Russia. ?You don't really believe that we are going to kill ten thousand people?? they said. And, indeed, it seemed incredible that they would kill such a large number of people in one go. It wasn't until we heard the machine guns going day and night that we realized that they were indeed killing ten thousand of our people.
But the amazing thing is what happened after the Big Action. The Nazis once again waved the banner of hope before our eyes: "This is the last action that will ever take place in this ghetto. We need you all for Germany's war effort. If you work hard and follow orders, no harm will come to you." Once again, the desire to believe what they were saying was so strong that we closed our eyes to the truth and actually believed them.
Rereading my letter to Dr. Kravetz, written erev Rosh Hashana, on September 14, 1993, it brought me back to the Holocaust, when we closed our eyes to the naked truth. I actually believed that Arafat was our partner for peace and was worried about his safety. I find my following sentence ironic: "What if Arafat is killed? What if the army leaves the territories and Hamas defeats Arafat? These are only a few of the questions that haunt us. Whatever happens we shall never be the same as we were before the signing. Whatever happens peace is now inevitable. Thank God."
My euphoria and desire for peace with the Palestinians was so strong that I actually believed that peace was inevitable.
It was just another shattered dream.
--------------------------------------------------------
Solly Ganor, an Israeli author, is a Holocaust survivor who has lectured throughout Germany. He can be reached at solganor@netvision.net.il.