Leaving a gut wrenching exhibit on the treatment of Jews during World War II, I saw this sign.
The notion that what happened to the Jews of Ozeran, Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe can happen anywhere seems implausible.
Yet in our own country, we are now witnessing some of the the prescursors to those events in the denigration of minorities, lack of civil discourse, and assault on truth.
Undoubtedly, there are too many Americans of good will alive today to permit a slide into dictatorship any time soon; but perhaps in an era of great economic or climate upheaval, who knows what the future may hold? from the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education.
My companion that day was a young Jewish man who was blissfully unaware of the Holocaust. It was interesting and painful to experience his reaction to the exhibits.
I remember a Jewish man who was warning of these trends about ten years ago. I dismissed him as paranoid.
Never in this country I thought.
I hope I am right.
Yet, hope alone is not enough.
It’s not that simple.
I can’t stand by and watch evil triump in my country or my world.
Lori Greer in Portland 
So true!! Well said!
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Thank you, Lori, for this article and for showing the sign from the Oregon Jewish Museum. The times are terrifying as what seemed incredulous ten years ago looms now like an evil djinn too close to be ignored.
As horrified as I am about the state of our country with its rising hatreds in all areas, it’s equally horrifying that a young Jewish man knew nothing about the Holocaust. There is no bliss in that but sheer alarm. It’s in the vacancy of knowledge that evil spawns and grows.
I hope things are well with you though your life has been on a difficult path the last two years. Wishing you and your family the best possible.
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You are right to think and speak of the evil in our world. The notion that it can’t happen here” has been so comprehensively demolished in so many places. And as Santayana said, “those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
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I’m not Jewish but several of my friends are. I tell them that their people are my people.
I echo Sharons’ horror that a young Jewish man knew nothing about the holocaust. No matter your heritage or faith…everyone needs to know of the atrocities that were levied against not only Jews but 5 million other ethnic people.
Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. The hatred in this world, based on race, religion, sexual orientation and any behavior (such as mental illness) is growing exponentially. We tend to stand and rally for the sake of one. We should stand and rally for all.
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We have to stand absolutely for people all of whom are loved by God. This is ALL PEOPLE. But, we can never in this pursuit of honour and equality for ALL overlook that societal attitudes and changes must never be allowed to dominate what is RIGHT for the well-being of future generations. Hatred should not be ever identified as genuine and rational concern by senior citizens who do remember past evils very clearly. In today’s world it is often sadly the minority (screaming for societal changes who appear to have swung (in many instances…family values, sanctity of life and values of morality etc in the favour of the ‘New and more rational line of thinking’. This to me has the potential to be as damaging on the minds of young children, as the politics that allowed the evil upon the Jewish people to be perpetuated.
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