Some thoughts

[Blue Bird]

I have pondered for a while and would like to share some thoughts without drawing any conclusions. Many people feel encouraged, now when Israel is in need, to express their anti-Semitism and want that the Jews go away. I am in the third generation after this happened in an area where in many villages the Jewish population was 10% or more. It is as if this significant part of the population was stolen and these families that once lived here can still be clearly heard and felt.

In Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, where I think there were fewer Jews, there was a close connection between Christians and Jews, they helped each other with the music in their services and shared their social life with each other - like a body of people. Every now and then I walk through the cemetery. A gravestone belongs to a young man who fought and died in the First World War. There are actually two of them, facing each other. The cemetery remained untouched during the war and is still used from time to time by immigrants from eastern nations. Those who had to flee or worse won't come back; the survivers speak other languages now and are rooted elsewhere. The land here and many people I know miss them very much.





Willy Poos, born 1894, died 1917.


More pictures (text in German)

https://www.alemannia-judaica.de/neustadt_friedhof.htm
https://www.neustadt.eu/media/custom/263...1660729238

[searchinmyroots]

Thanks for sharing Blue Bird, it's always interesting to hear stories from different parts of the world, especially from those who live there.

Most Jews have gotten along with all types of people from all religions all over the world.

I cannot explain how the others feel on either side.

To me, it has to be related to upbringing somehow.

If you put 10 different children in a room from 10 different countries and 10 different religions, they would probably just act like children and not have any racist thoughts.

To me, it is something that is learned and observed.

[Blue Bird]

Thank you, SMR. I like the idea of children getting along well without considering possible differences. Excuse me if I give this example, I like dogs and had one. What always amazes me is how much fun they have with each other, no matter how old, how big or small they are, as long as they stay peaceful.

In gereral, we Germans have a strong feeling of Heimat, a belonging to the ground we live on. What I wanted to say is stronger than that Jews and Germans (of course the Jews were Germans) got along well. As long as violence, no matter from which side, does not break the social contract of trust, the people belong to the land and to each other, even more so if they have lived here for centuries and speak the local dialect. It doesn't matter how nice people are or whether they get along with everyone. Taking many people away from such a society is extremely violent for those who are the target and, differently but no less powerful, for the other side.

This may seem like a foolish perspective, and I understand the suffering and consequences of those who have faced deadly hatred. But I think it's worth considering that those who like to drive the Jews out of their country are also hurting themselves and their descendants.