[Leica] IMG: Vienna's Judenplatz
Douglas Barry
imra at iol.ie
Fri Jul 14 04:45:07 PDT 2017
Peter, I'd heard of Lessing, but was not familiar with him. I see he
died at Braunschweig in Germany where my three Rolleiflexes were born.
I'm sure there's a moral there somewhere.
Sadly, philosophers can enunciate - based on life and the lessons of
history - but seekers of temporal power, and the mobs that support them,
grind these enunciations into blood soaked streets.
Humanity will never learn, more's the pity
Douglas
On 14/07/2017 10:57, Peter Klein wrote:
> If any one place can symbolize the struggle between tolerance and
> intolerance in Europe, the Judenplatz in Vienna is a worthy candidate.
> At one end of the square is a statue of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, a
> key Enlightenment writer and philosopher, and pioneering dramatist of
> the German-speaking world.
> <https://www.flickr.com/photos/24844563@N04/35910082945/in/dateposted-public/>
>
>
> Lessing's play "Nathan the Wise," set during the Third Crusade, was a
> plea for religious tolerance. The title character was based on
> Lessing's lifelong friend Moses Mendelssohn, today considered the
> spiritual father of liberal Judaism. Other characters are the Sultan
> Saladin and a Knight Templar. They discuss which of their three
> religions is the true one. Lessing's answer: "Of this you may be sure:
> Your father loved you all, and it was his ardent wish that all of you
> should love one another." This was such a radical idea that the Church
> banned the play during Lessing's lifetime. In some quarters, it is
> still a radical idea.
>
> Now let's turn around with our backs to the statue. We see this:
> <https://www.flickr.com/photos/24844563@N04/35869709356/in/dateposted-public/>
>
>
> This is the Holocaust memorial, in the form of a library turned
> inside-out, dedicated to the more than 65,000 Austrian Jews killed by
> "the Nazis" between 1938 and 1945.
> <https://www.flickr.com/photos/24844563@N04/35910083045/in/dateposted-public/>
>
>
> Behind and to the right of the memorial, you can see a building with
> several traffic barrier posts in front. This is the Jewish museum and
> community center. Such barriers, which surround most Jewish
> synagogues, schools and institutions in Europe, are a reminder of the
> real threat of terrorism. We could hear children singing Hebrew songs
> inside. The guard became *very* nervous when anyone walked near the
> barriers.
>
> The Judenplatz was the center of Viennese Jewish life during the
> Middle Ages. Until 1420-21, when Archduke Albert V instituted a series
> of persecutions against the community of 1400-1600 Jews. It culminated
> in the last 200 surviving Jews burned at the stake, all Jewish
> property confiscated, and Jews banned from Austria. The Holocaust
> Memorial sits atop the foundation of the destroyed medieval synagogue.
>
> The statue of Lessing is the second one to stand in the square. The
> Nazis tore down the first one and melted it down for munitions.
>
> "Nathan the Wise" was playing at Vienna's Volkstheater during our
> visit. With supratitles in English and Arabic.
> <http://www.metropole.at/nathan-with-strings/>
>
> Today, who embraces Lessing's still-radical idea, and who its
> malignant opposite? It's a question we need to ask, and keep asking.
>
> --Peter
>
>
>
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