Should Holocaust Memorial Park Commemorate Non-Jews?

Photo of the memorial taken by wally g on flickr

A group of politicians and activists gathered at the city-owned Holocaust Memorial Park in Sheepshead Bay to protest the Parks Department's plans to make additions to the memorial to more prominently commemorate other groups killed under the Nazi regime on top of the Jewish victims currently being honored there now.

Barry Lituchy, vice president of the park's Holocaust Memorial Committee, says that there was an earlier understanding that the park—which was dedicated by former Mayor Ed Koch in 1985—would solely honor Jews.. Now the Parks Department has signed off on a plan to add five granite markers to recognize the 5 million Holocuast victims that included other groups the Nazis targeted such as homosexuals, the disabled, Jehovah's Witnesses and even Gypsies. Currently there are 234 granite markers that commemorate the 6 million Jews who were killed.

Liutchy called those pushing to make the changes as "nameless, faceless bureaucrats" who are attempting to "curry political favor" with the additions. He and the other protesters were calling on Mayor Bloomberg to block the plan. Bloomberg had no comment on the issue.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind, whose mother is a survivor of Auschwitz, spoke the strongest words in favor preserving the memorial in its current state. He said, "These people are not in the same category as Jewish people with regards to the Holocaust. It is so vastly different. You cannot compare political prisoners with Jewish victims...The Holocaust is a uniquely Jewish event." Hikind believes that if there is a memorial for the other victims, it should be at a different site.

The Advocate says that Hikind "has long been an outspoken opponent of gay rights" and "has equated the state's marriage equality bill with allowing incest."

Theresa Scavo, president of Community Board 15, who lobbied for the additional recognition, said, "The Holocaust memorial means you memorialize anyone who died in the Holocaust." A spokesperson for the Parks Department said that the decision to create the additional markers came from a desire "to reinforce its educational purpose to remind us of the historical circumstances of the Holocaust."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Billy Parker in News on June 8, 2009 2:11 PM

Comments [rss]

mt75

I recently visited Dachau and even the Germans highlight and acknowledge how the Nazis targeted Homosexuals, Gypsies, mentally handicapped, and other groups. The right of one group (although the largest minority), should not overshadow all other affected groups.

trafka

Yet once again 2.5 Polish Catholics aren't included. I don't even know what else is there to say to prove my point if the former mayor omits such a tragedy. Poland lost 1/5 (6mln)of its citizens. Just because war didn't last 20 years and Hitler didn't have enough time to kill all of Poles it doesn't mean it wasn't Holocaust.

edkoch

I never had a discussion with anyone that assured exclusivity to Jewish dead in the Holocaust Memorial Park. I believe that park, dedicated to the victims of the Nazis, should recognize the deaths of Gypsies, homosexuals, the disabled and Jehovah's Witnesses, who were marked for death simply because they were members of those groups. It is ridiculous to think their deaths do not have equal significance and should not be included as victims of the Holocaust.

Edward I. Koch

NannyState

Exactly, Mr Mayor.

JenChungsBaby

Does Gothamist have a new staff member that lives in Sheepshead Bay? Seems like a lot of stories about Sheepshead Bay lately.

inoyourider

F that.

If they died in the same Nazi effort to rid all those different then they deserve the same recognition. If not, then they don't.

jewish

It's a total misunderstanding. I was at this Holocaust Memorial Park and read all inscriptions there. I found words like "homosexuals" and "gypsies" on several existing stones (dedicated to the memory of victims at some concentration camps)as well as on the base of the main monument.

The question is whether should we emphasize/focus/distinguish the sufferings of non-Jewish victims of Holocaust? Should we install markers for Serbian priests and Byelorussian partisans? If the answer is yes, then let's call this park "World War II victims Memorial Park"

angry_pickle

If you call it "World War II Memorial Park", we'll need to include the 23 million Soviets and 20 million Chinese who died.

ticktick

This is deeply offensive to me, as a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors - a good number of my family were killed in camps or in various round-ups. Hikind's words disgust me.

And, "even Gypsies"? What kind of comment is that? Roma people died in huge numbers in the Holocaust, and continue to experience discrimination and persecution in Europe.

No one gets to be the Victim In Chief here. The Nazis persecuted many people. If they'd had their way and been able to reach more of the world, they would have had everyone else in their death factories eventually. Every life that was lost was a world destroyed, not just the Jewish ones. How utterly, unbelievably tasteless. Mr. Hikind, shame on you. Your ugly comments don't represent me and my family. Your comments make my stomach turn.

And, yes, sadly, the Holocaust has become an industry for some. It's a shame. It's now used as a dodge for all kinds of bad behavior in the Middle East, for example, and it's used to teach young Jewish children that everyone is out to get us, still. It is very sad to see. But those of us who know peoples' very personal stories of that time period, know better, and we know that holocausts continue to happen, all over the world.

GREGORYABUTLER

Thank you ticktick, for putting the "holocaust industry" into perspective - and RIP to your fam that died in the camps

felixthecat2

remarkable comment, peace.

and65re

6 million Jews.

5 million others.

The Holocaust is an industry and the Jews have a monopoly on it.

dadoc

Wait now, city property, taxpayers' dollars, etc. and it has to be kept exclusive to one particular division of fable-believers? How.....? Oh, never mind, they have their own tax-funded towns, schools, "community patrols" anything they want. There's only separation of church & state in a unidirectional manner, and only with one group. Never mind. What do I know? Since I don't adhere to their branch of (or any) fables, I'll never get anything from my tax dollars. Just like my unfortunate Y chromosome and melanin deficiency keeps me down.

resa

I'm really appalled. Yeah, ok. You don't like Jehovah's witnesses (I don't care for their religion). You don't like homosexuals.

Are there lives worth less than a Jewish life because you don't like them?

We do think of the holocaust as a uniquely Jewish experience because that's what we are taught not because it's true.

Tricksta

BTW, there was a nice story back in the mid '90s about a Jewish group joining forces with the Roma to get recognition for their suffering and persecution at the hands of the Nazis. Since the Roma (the less-pc term is "Gypsies") are traditionally a disenfranchised minority it was useful to have someone on their side who was a bit more established politically.

indy

interesting comparison to 9/11.

i think the fdny and nypd who died saving others deserve a unique distinction. some comments on here by ignorant folks like felix reflect the need to contemplate the old adage "walk a mile in someone else's shoes." Try to imagine the horror the victims suffered, then think about whether to post something hateful.

pissyrabbit

This story absolutely enraged me.

Im not Jewish nor did I have any family die in the Holocaust. But this is pure bullshit. That's like saying that only the people who died in 9/11 that matter are the ones that died in NYC.

I thought Diaz took the Douche of the Year award but I want to spit on this guy.

books

the holocaust is an INDUSTRY...here is a funny video the 'lobby' doesnt want you to see

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1090967.html

trafka

It's funny nobody mentions that the majority of the 6 million victims were in fact Polish. The numbers are: Polish Jews - 3 million, Polish Catholics - 2.5 million, other Slavs, Gypsies and gays - 0.5 million. It's really disturbing to me that respectful newspapers and other medias always say it was only the Jews. That's a great example of how one can shape/change history using his/her prejudice and purposeful ignorance.

jchez

Thanks for pointing that out; it is so important.

We should also remember that Stalin decided to decapitate Polish society by killing over 20,000 of Polish Doctors, Lawyers, Professors, and Army officers. FDR and Churchill decided to ignore that fact in order to defeat Hitler; a pact with the Devil if ever there was one.

Stalin also was hell bent on exterminating the Ukrainians and the Russian Kulaks, anyone who once owned or who even had parents or family who once owned land or businesses.

P.S.

By "funny", of course, you mean tragic.