[Leica] IMG: Czech Holocaust memorial

[Peter Klein]

Corrected link for the photo of art by children of the Terezin 
concentration camp:
<https://www.flickr.com/photos/24844563@N04/35766092394/in/dateposted-public/>

Nathan is correct, the way I worded my caption implied that Communism 
fell later than it actually did. I've fixed it.  The actual story is 
more complicated than fit into a caption.  When the Prague Holocaust 
Memorial was closed (undoubtedly due to Soviet pressure), the official 
reason given was "to protect it from moisture."  After the Velvet 
Revolution, the inscriptions had to be restored due to--you guessed 
it--damage from moisture. That took several years.

I strongly suspect the real reason why the exhibit was closed was the 
same reason why, for a long time, there was no monument at Babi Yar 
(site of a huge mass shooting of Jews from Kiev). And when one was 
finally built, it only mentioned that "Soviet citizens" were killed. It 
was long Soviet policy that Jews should get no special mention (or any 
at all) regarding Nazi mass killings.  This silent Holcaust denial 
helped shade the East Germans from collective guilt, gave ideological 
cover for Stalin's campaign against "Rootless Cosmopolitans" and later 
treatment of Jewish "Refuseniks" who wanted to leave the USSR, and 
helped ingratiate the Soviets with Arab countries.

--Peter

 > Nathan wrote:
 > Hi Peter,
 >
 > Thanks for sharing these. Two things, however: the third link points 
to the
 > same image as the second. And: while the museum may not have reopened 
until
 > 1995, Communism fell in 1989/90.
 >
 > These photos remind me of the Heydrich assassination?here was one top 
Nazi
 > who got what he deserved early on:
 > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhard_Heydrich
 >
 > Of course, it did not change the course of the war, and the 
consequences for
 > the Czech people were terrible, but still.
 >
 > Cheers,
 > Nathan