A Jewish Man Being Shot And Dumped Into A Mass Grave
April 12, 2007 — Strephon Kaplan-Williams
Photograph from the Library of Congress, courtesy of the USHMM Photo Archives.
German soldiers of the Waffen-SS and the Reich Labor Service look on as a member of Einsatzgruppe D prepares to shoot a Ukrainian Jew kneeling on the edge of a mass grave filled with corpses. (1942)
He’s that friendly guy down the street you have had coffee with a number of times, you and your friends, at that little outdoor cafe, at least in summer time, down the street.
Now like a fever, like an epidemic even, war has come upon you and all the people of your land, your neighborhood, and even your good earth and sky.
Who would ever think that you have been made to dig such large graves in the ground?
Who would have thought it on this earth that you would be digging your native soil so someone could shoot you in the head, destroying your brain, your hopes, your fears, your knowledge, your humor, your fantasies of that girl next door, your memories of that longed for kiss, the book you have read, the last one you were reading before this, the work at hand teaching or making shoes, but earning your daily bread, and the folks at home, the meals to be made and eaten. You each had your jobs to do in that big house where you all lived.
Now someone has taken you away from all this normal life and brought you to the edge of this woods. These foreigners, these aliens, these Germans of a strange and killer race like doing this to you and your fellow human beings.
They like killing you for no other reason than that you are a Jew.
And what have you ever done to them?
It’s too late, but what should you have done to them? Would you not, if you had a gun now, shoot as many of these aliens in uniform before they shoot you and your fellow human beings.
My Gott, they shoot women and children, and old people as well, and they are about to shoot you in your head and take a picture of it.
My God, what is the world coming to? It’s just incomprehensible, isn’t it?
Do we have your attention, all you Lookers-On? We are going to kill a Jew!
July 4, 2007 at 12:15 am
This may be disturbing reading, but important nonetheless. There are still people out there who want to downplay or deny the Holocaust. During the Tehran Holocaust Conference, I interviewed David Irving, a Holocaust denier who had just been released from prison on related charges. Here is his story.
http://www.orato.com/node/1478
While I disagreed with what he had to say, it does raise many important questions about freedom of expression…what do you think?
August 25, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Defenseless. Knowing there is no mercy for you. All dressed up to be killed. All that can be done now is become a part of history.
December 30, 2007 at 5:30 am
He *is* part of history.
The photographer could never have know the impact that this stoic man with his coat on his arm, would have on future generations.
Every time I see this man, I look into his eyes. I see his clenched fist as he beaces for the inevitable.
I feel his fear, his hopelessness…
I put myself in his shoes.
I wonder who or what he is looking at..
Loved ones?
Callous spectators?
Anything but the horror below?
We should all put ourselves in his shoes.
Never Again.
February 1, 2008 at 10:34 am
lol i know
February 4, 2008 at 11:54 pm
that is very sad to look into the picture and see a person get shot
March 5, 2008 at 9:30 pm
“My God, what is the world coming to?”
You do understand that this photo was taken more than 60 years ago….right?
April 4, 2008 at 10:37 pm
I think the holocaust is like how the mexicans are being treaded and i think alot of people think that mexicans are like dog and are fun to kill them and pleace don’t be like the w people pleace viva la riza you know what i mean mexican people you are the best
April 4, 2008 at 10:39 pm
I think the holocaust was a very bad thing to do and i think they shoued not be killed
April 28, 2008 at 6:04 am
For our friend william … It may be how they are treated in Mexico by the drug cartels and corrupt government officials but If you are referring to the current climate of anti-Illegal immigration enforcement … (forgive me if my assumptions are wrong) .. I would have to say that the comparison is completely absurd and has no factual basis. While one could argue that great hardship has come upon some good and decent individuals it in no way compares … even slightly … with the intentional and unashamed murder of millions of men, women and children.