Remembering The Holocaust - Dialogue web extra

>>> GERMANY HAS PASSED NUMEROUS LAWS SURROUNDING THIS, THE TEACHING OF THE HOLOCAUST IS MANDATORY. IT IS ILLEGAL TO DENY THE HOLOCAUST. AMONG MANY OTHER THINGS. THEY NOW HAVE AS YOU WERE TELLING ME BEFORE THE PROGRAM, A NEW PROGRAM -- >> IT IS SOMETHING THAT CAME ABOUT ABOUT SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT YEARS AGO, WHERE IT WAS DECIDED TO PLACE A PLAQUE, A METAL PLAQUE IN FRONT OF THE HOME WHERE THE PERSON WHO DID NOT RETURN, JEWISH PERSON WHO DID NOT RETURN ONCE LIVED. AND ON THAT PLAQUE, IT'S CALLED A STUMBLING BLOCK. IT IS ON THE SIDEWALK. AND IT HAS THE NAME, AND THE DATE OF BIRTH OF THE INDIVIDUAL, WHERE, WHEN, AND HOW SHE OR HE DIED. AND IT IS A TREMENDOUS TRIBUTE. AND SO EVERY SO OFTEN, YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER THIS ALL HAPPENED 70 YEARS AGO. STILL, GERMANY COMES UP WITH VARIOUS WAYS OF REMINDING ITS PEOPLE. AND TWO YEARS AGO, WHEN WE RETURNED -- WE HAVE BEEN BACK FIVE MORE TIMES SINCE 1995. AND EACH TIME WE RETURN, AND SPEAK IN SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES AND CHURCHES AND IT IS TREMENDOUSLY WELL RECEIVED. IT IS SO GRATIFYING. AND IT IS SO DIFFICULT FOR TODAY'S GENERATION IN GERMANY TO HEAR THE STORIES. AFTER ALL, IT HAPPENED IN THEIR COUNTRY, BY THEIR OWN PEOPLE. THEIR GRANDPARENTS, THEIR GREAT GRANDPARENTS GENERATION. IT IS A HUGE BURDEN. AND UNFORTUNATELY IT IS GOING TO BE THEIR BURDEN FOR GENERATIONS TO COME. >> DO YOU THINK -- GO AHEAD. >> TWO YEARS AGO, TWO YEARS AGO, NOVEMBER, IT WAS DECIDED IN MY FORMER HOME TOWN OF HOYA THAT A BRAND NEW PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL WAS TO BE NAMED IN MY HONOR. AND WHAT AN HONOR THAT WAS. I MEAN, TO NAME A PUBLIC SCHOOL IN HONOR OF A JEWISH WOMAN WHO IS STILL LIVING, IT WAS TREMENDOUSLY COURAGEOUS. AND, IN FACT, THE SCHOOL WAS NAMED A SCHOOL WITH COURAGE, A SCHOOL WITHOUT RACISM. AND IT WAS HIGHLY PUBLICIZED. IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL CELEBRATION. FINE FOODS AND MUSICIANS. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. AND THE NIGHT BEFORE, THE PEOPLE IN THIS TOWN AND WE COMMEMORATED -- ON THE SITE WHERE OUR SYNAGOGUE ONCE STOOD. IT WAS A FEW DAYS THAT WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED. AND WITH MIXED FEELINGS, BUT FONDLY REMEMBERED, NEVERTHELESS. >> DO YOU SUPPOSE THERE WILL BE A STUMBLING BLOCK PUT IN FRONT OF YOUR FAMILY'S SHOE STORE, YOUR FAMILY'S HOME >> THERE IS ONE FOR MY FATHER, YES. AND IN FACT, WE WERE JUST -- IN FACT, THE CHILDREN IN MY SCHOOL DECIDED THAT THEY WOULD POLISH THE STONES AND THEY DID SO THIS PAST FALL. THEY POLISHED ALL OF THE STONES IN OUR HOME TOWN. AND I WAS TOLD THAT THEY WOULD ALSO LIKE TO PLACE THE STONE IN HONOR OF MY MOTHER, MY BROTHER, AND ME. SO, IT GOES ON AND ON. AND IT IS BEAUTIFUL THAT THEY'RE CONTINUAL LY COME UP WITH SOMETHING TO REMIND THE CITIZENS OF GERMANY. >> DO YOU THINK THAT IN OUR COUNTRY, THERE SHOULD BE LAWS LIKE THAT? OF COURSE, WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH. >> FREEDOM OF SPEECH UP TO A POINT. >> PEOPLE ARE ALLOWED TO DENY THE HOLOCAUST. >> THAT IS TOO BAD. THAT IS TOO BAD. BUT I MUST SAY IN ALL DUE RESPECT TO THE MEDIA, THAT THE MEDIA GIVES THESE PEOPLE MUCH, TOO MUCH ATTENTION. IF THERE WERE NO PUBLICITY ABOUT THEM, THERE WOULD BE NO ONE TO LISTEN TO THEM. AND EVENTUALLY, I WOULD LIKE TO THINK THEY WOULD DISAPPEAR. >> ISN'T THAT WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT ABOUT HITLER IN YOUR BOOK -- >> GAVE IT PUBLICITY, HUGELY, AND IT WAS CONDONED BY THE GOVERNMENT. THERE WAS NO WAY OUT AT THAT TIME. EVEN THOUGH WE THOUGHT THIS WILL GO AWAY. BUT WE LIVED WITH MY GRANDPARENTS. MY GRANDPARENTS WERE ELDERLY AND ILL. COULDN'T LEAVE. WOULDN'T LEAVE. DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THE REASON FOR LEAVING. WE COULDN'T LEAVE THEM. AND IT -- WE COULDN'T LEAVE UNTIL THEY PASSED AWAY IN 1938. IT WAS ALREADY TOO LATE. >> PEOPLE HAD THOUGHT ABOUT HITLER, HE IS JUST, YOU KNOW, DON'T GIVE HIM ANY ATTENTION. AND THEN HE ROSE. >> YES. >> SOMEHOW. >> GIVEN ATTENTION -- THAT IS ALL OTHER REASON WHY HE WAS GIVEN ALL OF THAT ATTENTION. >> RIGHT. >> WE KNOW THAT THE FIRST WORLD WAR WAS LOST BY THE GERMANS. IT CREATED A DEPRESSION AND SO ON AND SO FORTH, AND THE -- >> SEPARATIONS. >> SEPARATIONS AND THAT TOOK MORE MONEY OUT OF THE COUNTRY. THEY WERE VERY UNHAPPY AND THEN HE CAME ALONG, THE GUY WITH THE MUSTACHE, AND -- >> SO, IF IT WERE UP TO YOU, PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DENY THE HOLOCAUST HERE EITHER. >> THEY SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO TALK EVIL. WHAT KIND OF AN EXAMPLE IS THAT TO OUR CHILDREN? I KNOW FREEDOM OF SPEECH, UP TO A POINT. WONDERFUL. BUT TO -- SUCH EVIL AND SUCH FOOLISHNESS. IT'S FOOLISH. BECAUSE THE DOCUMENTATION IS ENDLESS PERTAINING TO THAT SUBJECT. >> WHAT, IF ANYTHING, DO YOU PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT'S GOING ON IN ISRAEL RIGHT NOW? BECAUSE THE -- THE HOLOCAUST IN ISRAEL, INTIMATELY LINKED, TIED TOGETHER. THERE WAS NO PLACE FOR JEWISH PEOPLE TO GO. >> IN ISRAEL BACK THEN, MANY MORE OF OUR PEOPLE WOULD HAVE SURVIVED. THERE WASN'T A COUNTRY IN THIS WORLD THAT REALLY WANTED US, INCLUDING UNFORTUNATELY OUR OWN UNITED STATES. IT WAS A SHIP, ST. LOUIS TURNED BACK FROM THE SHORES OF FLORIDA, AND PASSENGERS WERE NOT ALLOWED OUT. THEY WENT BACK TO VARIOUS COUNTRIES IN EUROPE, AND A HANDFUL SURVIVED. >> NOW, AS YOU SEE ISRAEL WHICH IS SURROUNDED BY ENEMIES AND HAS BEEN EVER SINCE IT WAS CREATED, AND A LOT OF MILITARY ACTION GOING ON IN THAT COUNTRY. DO YOU -- ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT THE STATE OF ISRAEL RIGHT NOW? >> PLENTY CONCERNED ABOUT THE STATE OF ISRAEL, PARTICULARLY SINCE WE HAVE CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN LIVING IN THE COUNTRY. OUR GRANDCHILDREN SERVE IN THE ARMY. AND I'M VERY FEARFUL, BUT I AM NOT A POLITICIAN. AND I'M NOT A HISTORIAN. AND I GO WITH THAT. >> TRY TO STAY OUT OF THAT -- BECAUSE AS MANY PEOPLE THAT POINT TO ISRAEL -- UPSET WITH ISRAEL. >> UPSET WITH ISRAEL. IT IS A TINY COUNTRY, SURROUNDED, AND YOUR LISTENERS I HOPE WILL LOOK AT THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE MIDDLE EAST TO SEE HOW MINUTE ISRAEL IS COMPARED TO THE EXPANSE OF THE OTHER COUNTRIES. AND IT IS SCARY. IT IS VERY FRIGHTENING. >> I WAS REMISS IN ASKING YOU, I DID NOT ASK YOU IN THE MAIN PROGRAM. BUT THE TITLE OF THE BOOK, "FOUR PERFECT PEBBLES," ABOUT A GAME THAT YOU PLAYED WHERE YOU TRIED TO COLLECT FOUR PEBBLES THAT REPRESENTED YOUR FAMILY TO KEEP THEM ALIVE. DO YOU HAVE ANY PEBBLES? DID YOU SAVE ANY? >> NO, I DID NOT. BUT WE HAVE -- THE PEBBLES, OUR GRANDDAUGHTER, THE MOM OF OUR GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER, WHEN SHE WAS A LITTLE GIRL SHE COLLECTED PEBBLES AND SHE WOULD LINE THEM UP AND MAKE DESIGNS WITH THEM. I TOOK ARIEL'S PEBBLES AND BROUGHT THEM TO GERMANY, THE FIRST TIME WE WENT BACK AND PLACED THEM ON MY FATHER'S GRAVE. THIS IS A CUSTOM THAT WE HAVE TO PLACE A PEBBLE OF STONE ON THE GRAVE INDICATING THAT THE GRAVE WAS VISITED. AND THERE IS A CONNECTION SOMEHOW. YES. >> FULL CIRCLE. >> FULL CIRCLE. >> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING PARTS OF YOUR LIFE WITH OUR VIEWERS. AND WITH THE WIDER AUDIENCE HERE IN IDAHO. WE HOPE YOU COME BACK. >> THANK YOU, MRS. FRANKLIN. I LOOK FORWARD TO THE POSSIBILITY OF A RETURN TRIP AND I WISH YOUR LISTENING AUDIENCE, THEIR CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN, ALL SUCCEEDING GENERATIONS, A HEALTHY, HAPPY, PRODUCTIVE FUTURE IN A WORLD OF LOVE AND PEACE. THANK YOU. >> THANK YOU SO MUCH. YOU HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO MARION BLUMENTHAL LAZAN. A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR AND ALSO ONE OF THE AUTHORS OF A BOOK CALLED "FOUR PERFECT PEBBLES." FOR MORE INFORMATION, CHECK OUT THE "DIALOGUE" WEB SITE. I'M MARCIA FRANKLIN. THANKS FOR TUNING IN.