First They Came For The Hijab

France's Religious Freedom Failures

When the last wave of fascism spread across Europe the socialists who spread their banner of intolerance across the nations of Western Europe wasted no time targeting religious freedoms. Conservative Judaism suffered immediate harassment as the French brown shirts took up the German jackboots' cause. Beards were publicly desecrated as the peyos locks were sheered off. To add insult to injury these same Jews were then forced to adorn their clothing with a yellow star to identify themselves ironically in much the same way their religious customs had. However this time their sense of religious identity was upon the terms of the fascist and not in accordance to their religious customs.

For the Muslims of France the first step in reestablishing these very sins committed under, and often blamed upon, the Nazis. Yet in modern France there are no foreign fascist to blame these modern denials of religious freedoms upon. Today the French have only themselves and their own bigotry to blame for the denials of religious practices to a distinct religious group.

Once again the French strip away one of the most precious practices of their victims in an attempt to humiliate their victims. It is no more an attempt to preserve "French values" than it is an attempt to impose higher values upon the targeted portion of their society. For if religious intolerance is a French value than the victimized community should not be expected to practice religious tolerance anywhere on the planet. Once shown that their faith is given less value than that of their oppressors', how can France expect a social standard be shown toward them that they deny to others?

The idea of forcing a new set of standards upon a small portion of society is not only counterproductive but also goes completely against the ideals of liberty and equality. In a free and open society there can be no room made for intolerance of our basic G-d given rights. Let alone when it is the government applying such double standards upon society at large. For if any portion of our society is not allowed to practice their basic human rights; none of us are truly free.

The main excuse for the "burqa ban" has been the blatantly false concern for public safety. When politicians run out of things to blame their biases upon these days they turn to the mind-numb masses and screams danger. And in a modern world where the masses are just about gullible enough to drink the kool-aid these scare tactics somehow still have an affect.

But what are we really risking by allowing our Muslim sisters to be abused by the legislators of Europe?

Small Steps Toward Tyranny

When Germany began it's march toward totalitarianism in the late 1920's the German public was not well aware of what was awaiting them over the next two decades. Their flirtation with a national sense of pride and the promises of a politicians was a poison that would rot their sense of self worth. Their own identities would have to be sold to the state if they wished to obtain the prizes that their new leaders dangled just out of reach. And sure enough, the Germans took the bait. 

In France Europe watched as deviant leaders dangled lofty promises of "restoring French pride" in a society that never really had any. Slowly the seed took root and the people of France began to sell off their own self worth for the promise of a new and better France. Their own identities as liberal and free thinking individuals has slowly decayed as France inches it's way toward fascist socialism. The lie of what a person must be to be truly "French" has already be swallowed by the masses. The cookie cutter image of what a "good French citizen" should look like has already been supplanted in place of their own self image. No longer is the model citizen allowed to freely and openly practice their faith, but rather is expected to pay homage to a godless state. 

With the removal of publicly displayed Christian symbols the French were expected to show that they were cutting ties to their Christian past and moving toward a free and open society. However, once the public accepted that the church and state were separate the state began to cross the boundary and play the role of church. Where the idea of limiting the role of religion in politics had been so keenly imposed the rationalization of limiting the state's role in religion was not. 

This is where the hijab battle in Europe is best displayed. 

In a public that was willing to limit and even oppress the rights of it's Christian "bitter clingers" the society cannot expect the state to practice limits. This is why the overreaching of the state in it's relationship with the mosque is not surprising. Had the state been pushed back when it was dabbling in the church it would have been less likely to have reached it's hands into the mosque right afterward. Yet the public said nothing, so now they can do little to stop it. 

The pace at which a state moves toward tyranny is determined by the reaction of those who it governs. If the public remains silent as the state oversteps it's bounds with one group than all the rest have no ability to rely upon the others when the state comes stepping on their toes as well. The old poem "First They Came" is in this sense a warning to all portions of community when dealing with a government that attempts to grow at their expense. 

As for France, the Roma have long been the canary in the coalmine. 

When the government of France began deporting legal Romani citizens alongside newly immigrated Roma from Eastern Europe their countrymen remained silent. The deportations of Roma were looked at as an attempt to bring law and order back to the ghettos of France's cities. The scapegoat, the Roma, were just the objects upon which the French attached their collective sins. And in step with their history with France, the Roma took another one on the chin while Europe covered it's eyes. 

The canary's calls were ignored. And even when the canary fell to the bottom of it's dirty cage... nobody said a word. 

Now the fascist have moved on to another target that they had been eyeballing for years now. 

Prison Or Piety?

"O children of Adam, We have bestowed upon you clothing to conceal your private parts and as adornment. But the clothing of righteousness - that is best. That is from the signs of All-h that perhaps they will remember." ~ Qur'an 7:26

The hijab is to Islam what the kippa is to Judaism. It is yet another way for the observant to show their faith and devotion to All-h. Not publicly, contrary to what the outside world might think, but in a very personal manner that professes their dedication to the path G-d has directed for them. It is only coincidence that this portion of their faith is visible to a world that does not fully understand or appreciate it. 

Contrary to what a non-Muslim might think, the burqa is not mentioned in the Qur'an. However, the word "hijab" is mentioned in the Qur'an seven times (five times as hijab and twice as hijaban). In every occurrence the word hijab is used to mean "a barrier or veil between G-d and the human being". It is at no time mentioned as an article of clothing or a garment with which a female should adorn herself in the presence of a man. 

In this light one should understand that if a woman, especially one in a secular society, chooses to adorn the article of clothing we refer to as a hijab they are doing so under their own will. It is not a compulsory portion of Islam and has not been commanded of them by the mosque or their imam. Thus the decision to wear the headscarf is one born out of their own religious ideals and is not a "prison" with which Islam "enslaves" them (as Western feminists and conservatives have often said). 

This decision on behalf of the hijab wearing Muslim is much the same as the decision of orthodox Jews to wear the kippa (often refereed to in Yiddish as a yarmulke). Not once in the Torah does G-d command Jewish men to wear a a kippa. This is evident by the lack of a blessing associated with putting on the kippa since there is no commandment for Jews to recite (as is custom when putting on articles such as the tallit). Therefore the two garments are a rather personal decision, and though not born out of religious mandate, that should be respected due to the individual's personal relationship not with their religion but with their G-d. 

For me, a conservative Jew who does wear a kippa daily, the decision to wear the kippa is one that reminds me of G-d's will for my life. It is a sentiment that is just as sacred as keeping my beard. And even though it is just a small circle piece of clothing, the kippa is a part of my daily routine that keeps my love, my passion, and my desire to serve G-d at the front of my mind. I can only imagine that for Muslim women wearing the hijab this article of their clothing holds just as much sentiment and significance for them as well.

Who Is Next?

The main reason that the hijab battles spreading across Europe should be worrisome even to those who are not religious is rather simple. In a society where we are willing to deny the rights of a few there is no sense of security for the many. If a government is able to restrict the practices of a portion of society they are more than capable of stripping the rights of every other citizen as well. And where a portion of society is capable of being isolated and set aside for devious intent the risk of crimes against all humanity remain a very real possibility. 

When the first Germans were sent off to be reeducated the rest of Germany remained silent. That silence was a weapon in the hands of the government. It was the ammunition they needed to take the next step toward absolute control. With that silence the governments of man can strip away the identities of every individual and replace it with a soulless, heartless, and numb collective. The very essence of what we are as a society is denied to us as the image of what a faceless regime wants us to be replaces it. With our silence we not only lose our voice but also the very liberties we should be using our voices to defend.

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Myanmar's Schutzstaffel

969 - Making Buddhism Militant
(The Darkness Visible series)

(969 Monks in Myanmar - photo via Foreign Policy)

What began as the "Saal-Schutz" quickly grew out of control as Heinrich Himmler took the band of paramilitary fascist to the next level. True to the Nazi fashion, Himmler decided that it was vital for the socialist movement to have a military force of their own that could parallel that of Germany's standing army. This bold move on the part of a political party quickly brought strife to the organization as they attempted to take the place of the SA (Sturmabteilung). Through exploiting emotions, religion, and personal favors; Himmler killed those in the party he couldn't defeat with intellect. By the end of the 1920's the SS (Schutzstaffel) achieved everything that Himmler had imagined it would be. The SA were absorbed into the ranks and those who defied the command to fall in line were dead. The SS was a standing army in it's own right. 

For the nationalistic socialist in Myanmar there is a growing wing of religious zealots that are attempting to recreate the "glory" of the SS in Hitler's Germany. The radicalized organization calling itself Buddhist marches into areas just as the SA did in the 1920's. Like stormtroopers, these so called monks force their brand upon anyone who wants the protection of their saffron robes. This fascist approach to manipulating faith and patriotism brings these monks in line with the Nazi philosophies on governance and population control. All the group needed was a figure head... a vitriolic leader that could manipulate the message and make it palpable to the masses. 

Enter Myanmar's Himmler

  “If we are weak our land will become Muslim.”

Hitler fed the SS the hatred they needed to stay in the field and fight. Himmler gave them the directions on how to fight. In Burma the terrorist organization 969 is run from behind the scenes by cowards who dare not show their faces in the light of day. The man who feeds 969 with the hatred it needs to fuel the attacks (several occurring right now) that the group carries out is the less than honorable, Wirathu. This man willingly calls himself the "bin-Laden of Burma". And at no point has Wirathu backed away from the chance to spread this hate speech. 

From the moment that Wirathu was released from jail in 2010 (falsely labeled as a "political prisoner") he quickly reintegrated into the movement he helped give birth to. From that point on Wirathu's "sermons" became nonstop hate. With each rally (reminiscent of Nuremberg) Wirathu's hatred for Islam and the Rohingya has grown more pronounced. In his recent Time Magazine interview Wirathu didn't even bother to hide his hatred for Muslims even in the presence a foreign audience. 

This hate filled rhetoric was the fuel that created the Rohingya pogroms of 2012 and the current ones still taking place. It is through the constant stream of hatred from Wirathu's speeches that the 969 stormtroopers are capable of sustaining their campaigns across western Burma. Without the motivation the simplistic views of Wirathu would have died out long ago. For though an idea cannot be killed, every idea has a given lifespan based upon it's own merit. 

Meiktila

A Burmese Kristallnacht 

From the very beginning of Himmler's involvement in the SS the plan for a boycott against the Jewish population of Germany had took center stage. Himmler took the idea of a forced boycott to the next level. Encouraging violence against the Jews, Himmler organized SS units to join in the displays of antisemitism. And just as anyone could have guessed, the paramilitary organization brought all their hate and rage in one fiery night of total terror.

969 has been organizing boycotts of Muslim owned businesses and merchants all across western Myanmar. For the past three years these boycotts have been spreading as the hate group forces it's way into village after village. And just as anyone could have guessed, where ever Wirathu orders his paramilitary style fascist violence and total terror soon follows. 

November 9th, 1938 was the start of a nationwide pogrom. It was an attempt by the Nazis to internalize their hatred for the Jews and the Roma in the hearts of German people. The violence was immense and the hostile takeover of Jewish shops and Roma camps was almost absolute. Nearly all Himmler's intentions were carried out to completion. 

Wirathu's boycotts were planned to spread hatred. In villages where Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims had lived in peace for years the 969 extremists plant the seeds of hatred. Tearing apart the fabric of society in the Arakan, Wirathu creates a divide that cannot be passed as long as the 969 boycotts remain in place. For Meiktila this divide would be a fiery recreation of Himmler's intentions for the Jews of Germany. 

Targeting all Muslim minorities (not just Rohingya) the 969 boycott in Meiktila turned to violence as an argument in a gold shop spiraled out of control. By the time it was over the Muslim neighborhoods were torched and the number of Muslim IDPs increased. And yet Wirathu claimed immediately afterward that 969 is peaceful. 

The Final Solution

“You can be full of kindness and love, but you cannot sleep next to a mad dog."

~ Wirathu in Time Magazine

In many of Wirathu's sermons he has expressed a desire to create a religiously pure Myanmar. He has expressed the desire to push all Muslims out of Western Burma while also reducing the presence of other religious minorities (including Christians). The hate group has shown full compliance with his radical visions of Burma's future. And with the backing of politicians such as Thein Sein this vision of Burma has every opportunity for success. 

If 969's goals are to be achieved the violent expulsion of Rohingya and Kaman must be completed. This was expressed by the acting president Thein Sein last year and backed by Wirathu immediately. So one can only imagine what the government of Burma would have done had a "third country" had been willing to take Myanmar's "undesirables". 

Then when you look at the next targets on 969's laundry list of "undesirables" you only have to look at Thein Sein's record on dealing with them. Looking east into the Kachin region and the Karen state you can see how trustworthy the "civilian" government (Thein Sein being ex-military) is when dealing with the ethnic minorities. 

This version of national socialism is a replay of Germany's trip down the same road. With Thein Sein in charge one can only imagine what the future of Burma will be like. This is only more complicated by the relationship between government and hate groups like 969. If the incestuous relationship between hate mongers and politicians is not broken in Myanmar the Nazi final solution is not beyond the realm of reality.

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Source Documents

(not all sources listed)

Foreign Policy 

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/04/23/weren_t_buddhists_supposed_to_be_pacifists

New York Post

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/radical_killed_islamic_buddhist_uyZ3kWgomlxZz3g05KqbqJ

PBS News Hour

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/jan-june13/myanmar_06-18.html

French Roma Face New Porajmos

Socialism Helping Reconstruct Romani Holocaust

Over the last decade the European Union has been going through a stage of reconstruction. With new member states coming and some flirting with the idea of leaving the trade block has been under incredible stress. For the Roma of Europe this stress has helped increase the hate crimes targeted at them and their children. Yet surprisingly in the land of tolerance and multiculturalism, European authorities have been slow (if responding at all) in helping stem the tide of hate.

Over the years the socialist movement within Europe has often targeted the Roma since most members of society do not emphasize with the Romani. The most notable case would be the Porajmos under the Nazis. However in recent years the socialist have been just as capable of reconstructing the great devouring.

In 2012 France alone was able to deport at least 11,803 Romani. Rounding down, around 80 percent of these were forcibly removed according to the European Association of the Defense of Human Rights (AEDH). Most of these had their possessions burnt or destroyed by local authorities as their homes were bulldozed. President Francois Hollande was the man who pulled the trigger on each and everyone of these deportations... the socialist leader of France. 


"This is incredibly worrying and very disappointing given that Francois Hollande made a pre-election pledge to change the way the Roma were being dealt with in France," Victoria Vasey from European Roma Rights Center. "But it just looks like business as usual."

During August of 2012 the UN warned France that its deportations of Roma were in direct violation of the international human rights convention. However since the fall of 2012 the French leadership has ramped up their attempts to deport Romani. They continue to claim that these Roma are illegal immigrants from places either outside the EU or from member states right at the border of the trade block. Most are being sent to Romania and Bulgaria (members of the EU) since the citizens of these two countries are not legally allowed to travel within the EU without proper papers and passports. And since Romania and Bulgaria openly discriminate against the Roma, it is unlikely that the Roma will be given access to passports by local authorities.

To further complicate things the leadership under Hollande has joined with the Netherlands in an attempt to further regulate the terms of membership that Romania and Bulgaria currently enjoy. The long term goal appears to be the permanent ban on customs-free travel for Roma from Eastern Europe. This would allow the socialist in Western Europe to continue shipping off their own Roma to foreign countries from which they could not readily return.

For Roma in Eastern Europe the flood of deportees has only further exacerbated tensions between their community and their neighbors. In places like the Czech Republic these new arrivals have also helped fuel more and more hate crimes against all Romani within the country. These have included rapes, murders, and the burning and looting of Roma homes. Many of the crimes have been linked to the ever growing right wing movement in Eastern Europe.

But discrimination against the Roma does not stop in Europe when it comes to deportations. In recent months the Canadian government has begun its own attempts to deport Roma who arrived in North America due to violent oppression back in Europe. The first step in starting the Canadian deportations has already begun as Canada has openly told Hungarian and Czech Roma to stop applying for asylum. This move was meant to make it clear that Canada will no longer accept Roma who are fleeing violence and possible pogroms within Eastern Europe.

All of this makes it ever more difficult to understand just how France, Germany, and the UK expect Roma to live in countries like Romania and Bulgaria after being deported? The Roma of Eastern Europe have made it very clear that they need somewhere to turn to get away from Nazi style attacks on their homes and community. The wave of immigrants that France claims has occurred should be seen as a call for help rather than another reason to accept the idea of passing the "Roma problem" onto the next country in line.

This situation also leaves us asking why long term members of the European Union in Western Europe are not being pressured to stop deportations? Looking at the numbers of Roma immigrating from Eastern Europe compared to the numbers being sent back it should be obvious that France is deporting Roma who have lived in France for generations. The numbers simply point to the fact that the socialist government of France is deporting French Roma alongside immigrant Romani in an attempt to ethnically cleanse France of its native Romani population.

So where is the outrage amongst the supposedly bighearted Europeans? Or is the issue of human rights only a topic of discussion in Europe as long as it applies to Syrians or Congolese refugees?

SS Reborn In Hungary

"You Will Die Here..."

As Western Europe continues to embrace the dead religion of Nazism those in Eastern Europe perfect its jackboot past. It was a dark chapter in Hungarian history that the "white" locals readily backed the invading Nazis. Designing their four point flag, the Hungarian Nazis were just as vicious and rabid as their German counterparts. These Hungarian fascist were ruthless in their attacks on the "undesirables"... the Roma being one of their favorite targets.

Today the Jobbik party has taken back up the cause of the fascist who came before them. Winning 16% of the vote in their last election the party has doubled its presence in the Hungarian government. But none of that matters to the foot soldiers the party puts out on the streets. These are the hired guns the modern Nazi movement relies upon to do its dirty work.

In Hungary these black uniformed scum organize marches through Romani neighborhoods and in front of Jewish houses of worship. The two targets are treated with equal vitriolic hatred. But it is the Roma who are readily attacked when the Hungarian racist get the opportunity to do so. For these animals the front door to a Romani family's home is not much of a barrier to be overcome.

In a recent march through Devecser, Hungary the Jobbik supporters were heard shouting in unison "You will die here..." while tossing stones and bottles at the Romani homes. The small town is barely 5,000 strong so it was blatantly obvious that the 1,000 plus mob was mostly bussed in. Yet this display of blazon racism has received absolutely no condemnation from the European Union or even Hungarian politicians alike.

The Romani community in Devecser were fortunately left without any deaths or reported injuries when the Jobbik thugs left. Damages to their impoverished homes were all that remained when the mob got back on their buses and left town. Damages that the poor Romani community don't have money to repair.

All the while we here at Alder's Ledge remember that Hungary is one of the places that France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Holland, England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, and Austria want to send their Romani populations to. France being the leader as of late in their harsh stances on deportation and expulsions of French born Roma and recent immigrants.

Hungary is a place where the socialist refer to themselves as "the real Hungarians" and the Roma as "invaders". It is a place where Roma have had their homes torched and their children shot while trying to flee attacks. It is a place where Roma women can not trust doctors to give them proper medical attention without the threat of forced sterilization. Yet once again... this is where President Francois Hollande wishes to expel France's Romani population.

May G-d have mercy on the Rom, for it is clear Hungary will not.

Why Did God Even Create Us?

French Roma Going Into Hiding
(Part of the Screamers post)

Hollande has once again began to cleanse France of its "Gypsy question". Like the Vichy who came before, this socialist has plans to purify his country and rid it of the "undesirables". And oddly enough... he hasn't had to hide those evil intentions while running for office. And why should he? Sarkozy was allowed to drive the Roma out and even kill some without reprisal.

The simple fact is that there just isn't anywhere left for the Roma to go. France, Germany, Britain, and the rest of Western Europe have no tolerance for the Roma anymore (as if they ever have). The Roma who have lived amongst the Western Europeans for generations are being deported to Romania and Eastern Europe without a second thought. The Roma who have recently moved to the West have no intention of going back east. After all, times are tough back east and only going to get worst as global dept grows deeper.

But that hasn't stopped the socialist in Western Europe from grabbing their pitchforks and torches. Instead the French have shown that they are more than ready to take back up their 33rd SS mentality when the "Gypsy question" is brought up. Instead of tanks the new French socialist use bulldozers to wipe the Roma camps from the map of France. And once again the Romani take to the woods to hide until the coast is clear.

"Respect for human dignity is a constant imperative of all public action, but the difficulties and local health risks posed by the unsanitary camps needed to be addressed," the French Interior Ministry assures us. In the next breath the French government goes on to state, "In no case did the removals take the form of collective expulsion, which is forbidden by law."

And it is in that last statement that the French government admits where its crimes lay. The very act of demolishing the homes and evicting a people based upon the ethnicity of the targeted population is in fact "collective expulsion". But for the French the redemption for their actions is found in the fact that this time around they did not "expel" or deport the targeted population. Instead Hollande's regime has simply demolished their homes and burned what was left.

In essence the socialist are just trying to make life unbearable in France so that the Roma will leave on their own. After all, the Roma are not allowed citizenship or even to immigrate to France. They are not legally allowed to work due to being banned from obtaining proper identification. And without access to schools, medical attention, or proper employment... well life in France is just about as meaningful for the Roma as it would be in Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia, or Croatia.

So why in hell would the Roma leave France and go clear across Europe just to suffer a little worse a life than they could have in Paris?

"Why did God even create us," a Romani man was quoted as the bulldozers moved into his camp on August 15Th, 2012. These few words epitomize the very essence of what it means to be a Romani in France today. When the government finds your home to be less than livable they don't just toss some money at it like they do with other French citizens... they bulldoze it. When the French government sees that there is no running water, electricity, or proper cooking areas in your living area they don't follow European Union laws stating that Roma and travelers must have access to camp sites with water and electrical hookups... they evict you and threaten deportation. When French authorities see that your elderly and children have no access to medical attention they don't let you go to free clinic or see a doctor for free like other French people... they tell you to leave and go back to where you came from (for many Roma France is where they came from).

In the past the French nearly solved their "Gypsy question". Under the socialist regimes of old France they sat up camps for the Roma. From these camps the Roma were treated with the same regard as was shown for the Jews, homosexuals, and mentally handicapped. Under old France the Roma had access to one form of medical treatment... euthanasia.

  

In the picture above these children that appear to be playing "Ring Around the Rosie" are Roma children playing in a French concentration camp called Jargeau. With the way the Europeans regard the Roma today it makes me wonder just how long it will be before images like this one reemerge in modern France. How long can the Western world tolerate the injustices we are seeing the Roma suffer under this new wave of socialism? How long can we stomach the inhumanity we have allowed the Roma to suffer in France and the rest of Europe? 

Some may say it is a far stretch to compare bulldozing flea infested camps to the likes of the Nazi Holocaust. In their minds it is to hard to imagine a civilized world being dragged into the darkness of socialist tyranny like that which Hitler unleashed. To these I say that you are only dreaming. With your eyes closed so tightly even the worst the world has to offer can feel as if it were just a dream. And in your sleep the nightmares socialism has to offer can be made a fantasy comparable to paradise itself if only in your dreams. 

For those of who are awake however... the familiar sounds of jackboots are tapping away the minutes. The familiar victims of socialist greed are already being offered to its flames. And the spread of a ever to conversant darkness has sprawled itself out before our eyes. We have seen this night for what it is once before. And seeing as how we did not learn from its mistakes it appears we are damned to repeat it again. 

Socialism and Sterilization

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"Never shut-up, Never cease, Never Forget."
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And we are back... again.
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In past post I have pointed out how eugenics was used to castrate and sterilize the quote "undesirables" of society. In Indiana alone thousands of people were sterilized against their will. And yet it seems that many seem to forget that these were all acts committed by governments and government sponsored healthcare officials.
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In the United States we today are happy to forget the eugenics in our past. After all, 23 states practiced eugenics in their attempts to sterilize almost anyone they wanted control over. Many would even tiptoe into the realm of euthanasia as a result of eugenics.
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So why today are we comfortable with a government controlled healthcare?
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On May 17th of 1934 Germany banned all Jews from it's national socialist healthcare system. This form of healthcare was free to all other Germans. In fact it was illegal for any doctor to refuse treatment for a patient unless of course the patient was Jewish.
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By July of that same year it was issued by Germany that Jewish doctors could no longer legally practice medicine. In other words it was illegal for Jews to have access to any form of healthcare.
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For the "undesirables" left in the system sterilization was a very real threat. Roma and other gypsy groups were often sterilized without consent or knowledge about what was happening. This practice would continue in much of Europe till the 90s. And in Eastern Europe the practice still continues till this day.
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Under Hitler's Germany healthcare meant population control. It manipulated who could or would have children. Forced abortions became mandatory when the state had "reason" to fear the would be child.
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State run healthcare in 1934 Germany spent very little time in sterilization. Hitler's ultimate goal of euthanasia and mass slaughter had to be realized. And thus Germany ran toward the end results of socialist healthcare... the killing of the "undesirables".
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Recently Obama's White House tried to violate the United States Constitution and our freedom of religion by pushing "birth control" upon the Catholic Church. Muslims also opposed the issue but were ignored due to not being an identified "voting block" in the Democrat Party. Yet what was ignored even more than the Muslims was the fact that abortion was a form of the so called "birth control".
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And that is where socialist healthcare edges it's way into genocide. It's tendency to brush the borders of tyranny have remained constant throughout the years. Obama's healthcare cannot avoid the pitfalls of socialism (the greatest pitfall of all being genocide).
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Socialized medicine leaves all societies open to the possibilities of abuse. When a society allows a government branch take control of a life and death issue such as this one it leaves itself at the mercy of a future genocidal regimes. It is only a short walk down the road from the hospitals where Hitler euthanized mentally handicapped to Dachau where Jews were gassed.
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On June 26Th of 1935 Germany made it mandatory for women to have abortions if the doctor believes the child may be "defective".
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Obama's administration did not name for what reasons a child should be killed. And when called out upon it they took a step back. But the socialist side of his healthcare system has shown through.
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In Europe's healthcare systems there have been endless stories of Roma being sterilized against their will. Many Roma in recent years have also come forward with claims of forced abortions. All helping to prove the tendency of socialized healthcare... the trend to control who has children and from who the next generation comes.
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In the end we will have to wait to see just how the "Obamacare" system works out. The Roma in Europe have been, all be it against their will, our canaries in the coal mine. But let us remember, those who do not learn from history are damned to repeat it.

Destruction by Fire

All Consuming...



The term Holocaust refers directly to the destruction by fire. For those who went to the crematoriums in Auschwitz this name fit. For those who died in Jasenovac concentration camp in Croatia the means of "destruction" was often a machine gun. And their killers, unlike in Auschwitz, were not SS guards.

When Hitler's horde rushed over the border into the former Yugoslavia they brought with them the ideals of fascism and Nazism. The government in what is now Croatia would never again be totally free from this poisonous ideology. Instead they would embrace it with a rather bizarre level of enthusiasm.

Like many countries the Nazis took control of during World War Two Croatia fell under the rule of a puppet government. Under the Nazi backed (NDH) Independent State of Croatia the Croatian people would submit to Hitler's will. Their country was now set to implement the "Final Solution".

On July 21St of 1941 Hitler gave a speech to the Croatian "government" officials. In it he gave the marching orders that would lead to a fully operational Jasenovac camps.

"The Jews are the bane of mankind. If the Jews will be allowed to do as they will, like they are permitted in their Soviet heaven, then they will fulfill their most insane plans. And thus Russia became the center to the world's illness... if for any reason, one nation would endure the existence of a single Jewish family, that family would eventually become the center of a new plot. If there are no more Jews in Europe, nothing will hold the unification of the European nations... this sort of people cannot be integrated in the social order or into an organized nation. They are parasites on the body of a healthy society, that live off of expulsion of decent people. One cannot expect them to fit into a state that requires order and discipline. There is only one thing to be done with them: To exterminate them. The state holds this right since, while precious men die on the battlefront, it would be nothing less than criminal to spare these bastards. They must be expelled, or – if they pose no threat to the public – to be imprisoned inside concentration camps and never be released." - from Hitler's speech to Slavko Kvaternik.

In August of 1941 the Croatians began to build and operate the first two camps that would form the Jasenovac concentration camp complex. These two camps, Krapje and Brocica, would be closed by November but the next three would be open and running. The final three camps Ciglana, Kozara, and Stara Gradiska would be operational till the end of the war in Europe.

The use of forced labor, starvation, exploitation of disease, daily beatings, and machine guns would drive the death toll up in Jasenovac. Their victims were always Serbs, Jews, and Roma. And the goal was always the same... extermination.

At times the camps would rely on the use of local police units, national military battalions, domobrani units, Muslim auxiliary units, and Hungarian or German Nazi support units. However it was most often, and they were always present, the Ustaška Narodna Služba (Ustaše People's Service) gestapo that served as camp guards. It was the UNS that participated in Nazi "competitions" that would encourage them to invent new methods of torture and maltreatment of the Jewish prisoners.

As with other Nazi operated camps Jasenovac guards greeted new arrivals with tattoos and Nazi camp badges. These colored clothing markers allowed camp guards to easily identify camp inmates by the shape and color of the badge. Serbs were given blue triangles, Communist were given red triangles (non-Serbian resistance fighters), Jews were given the yellow Star of David, while Roma were given no badge. By the end of the war however this practice was abandoned while tattoos remained till the end of the war.

Nearly all the prisoners who identified themselves, or were sent to Jasenovac for being identified as such, as Serbs were immediately sent to execution sites near the camps (Granik and Gradina were the most commonly used). Other prisoners however were often worked to death. Only prisoners who happened to be from valued professions were kept alive for an extended period of time (doctors, electricians, and shoemakers for example).

As far as the living conditions in Jasenovac... living was not the aim of the camps. Bodies were removed from the prisoners' living quarters at the leisure of the camp guards. Food consisted of what Nazis called "soup" but was simply hot water with a couple beans or a sliver of potato in it. A piece of bread may at times have been given to prisoners if the guards allowed it. But by the end of the war the prisoners were given what the guards called "turnip soup"... water the turnips were boiled in.

Sanitation was an issue that was once again designed to kill the prisoners. Toilets were holes that the prisoners were expected to "keep up" themselves. However the prisoners were not given tools to clean or even dig new holes. So often the "work" involved was designed to spread disease.

The water the prisoners were given was straight from the Sava river. This water was again given to the prisoners to kill them. The reason... it was contaminated with "ren" (a local horseradish). And thus the prisoners were once again drinking water that could spread disease amongst them.

Jasenovac however was a special camp in the Nazi program in one respect. In Jasenovac the camp guards helped introduce the practice of forcing its forced labor to work among the dead. This was achieved by hanging the corpses of the deceased from the rafters or along the walls of "workshops" in the camps. Then there was the lack of removing corpses from the barracks were prisoners had to sleep. All these methods helped to enforce the inherent fear of death amongst those not yet dead in the Jasenovac camps.

Jasenovac was also special to the Nazis for the simple fact that death was a reality from the first day a prisoner walked into the camp. The guards had already introduced the Nazi supervisors to the "Serb Cutter" or the srbosjek (a knife strapped to the guards wrist... used in mass beatings or new arrivals, mainly Serbs). The Croatian guards then implemented the use of gassing prisoners in "green Thomas" (vans with their exhaust being forced into the cargo compartment). The UNS would finally implement the stationary gas chambers in such a way as to rival Auschwitz.

By the end of the war these methods all combined would lead to Jasenovac being a leader in the Balkans camps. When liberated the camp had already killed 10% of all those who died in the Yugoslavia during World War Two. Nearly half of all the Serbs killed in the Balkans during World War Two died in Jasenovac. Nearly all the Jews that had lived in Yugoslavia at the beginning of the war were now dead at the hands of Jasenovac camp guards. And the entire Roma population of Yugoslavia were now deported or dead upon having been sent to Jasenovac.

As for the figures, Jasenovac led to the deaths of an estimated 52,000 to 70,000 Serbs, an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 Jews, an estimated 50,000 Roma, and an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 communist and other minority ethnic groups (Ukrainians, Romanians,Slovenes and Montenegrians).

But what makes this camp unique to me is the fact that at no time in its history was it run by the Nazi SS. It was a camp run by and operated by the Croatian people. Its goals and history cannot be ignored. And yet the history of this camp is not taught in most of our history books... let alone in the country that founded such a Hellish place of torment and death.

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