A Thin Veneer
It’s Yom haShoah. Time, again, to reflect on the events of 60+ years ago, and what they mean for us today.
My father survived the Holocaust under rather unusual circumstances 1 . Growing up, as the child of a Survivor, I tend to think my childhood as having been fairly normal. But there were a few telltale signs that not all was completely as it seemed.
All the years I was growing up, we had gold hidden in the basement of our house. “Dad,” I would plead, “there are these things called banks …”. “You never know.” he would reply, thoughtfully holding up a gold bar, “One of these might buy a loaf of bread, or a sack of potatoes, some day.” And so the gold remained, a hedge against eventualities I could never quite wrap my head around.
It’s hard for us to remember, today, but Germany, before the rise of the Nazis, was the most civilized country in Europe. And German Jews were better off than their co-religionist anywhere else in Europe or, probably, in the world. But the veneer of civilization is thin. And my father, having learned that lesson well, could never be as complacent as I.
1 In honour of the day, please take some time out, and watch the video.