Okay here's a situation I want your advice on: Say you know someone who is somewhere between an aquaintance and a friend and ages ago he dated the granddaughter of some nazi bigwig (not someone mentioned in the obvious Hitler brigade but it is very clear that a. this person was very high up and b. they were in it out of their own free will and gave Hitler their full support). You're half Jewish and some of your family died in a concentration camp so you are quite closely linked to the events. Your friend is not aware of this fact however. His ex is now married to another person who is very high up and her husband has made a public apology to the Jews about the Holocaust(I'm not sure exactly what that entailed but the apology was made). Obviously this apology means a lot to you. There is no way you will ever meet your friend's ex and he might not have been aware of that connection while they were dating.

How would you feel? Would you feel as if your friend had betrayed you? Or would you go by the old adage of forgive and forget assuming that just because she's the granddaughter of a nazi doesn't make her one as well? You can't talk this over with your 'friend' as you are not that close and he is equally unaware of the fact that you are Jewish or half Jewish (depending on how you feel). Are you justified in having an almost vitriolic hatred towards his ex?

Nage

I don't see the dilemma Chris. What's any of the past got to do with the Ex? :)

Did I miss something in the story? If I understood the issue correctly, I think it would be dangerous to hold the Ex accountable for her grandfathers activities.

I'm sure it would not be so simple for someone who did feel close to the past transgressions though. :)

I see what you mean, Bogie. And believe me it's something I would advocate myself if someone presented this dilemma to me. It's like saying all Arabs are terrorists.

And like you stated, having some ties does shed a new/different perspective on things. Maybe that's what we all need. I saw this programme on telly once where they got a bunch of Palestinian students and Israeli students together for dinner, theatre and so on and the concept worked brilliantly for those who participated. Besides, there's enough hatred going on in the world.

Nage/Chris

There is no moral dilemma there. It would be like saying today's Americans are responsible for their forefather's ignorance during the times of slavery. Just because I'm white, it's my fault? That's not fair. My forefathers didn't even own slaves, as far as I've been made aware.

So her grandfather was a nazi nincompoop. She didn't hurt anyone! Hate the grandfather.

Originally posted by ValJ:
<STRONG>There is no moral dilemma there. It would be like saying today's Americans are responsible for their forefather's ignorance during the times of slavery. Just because I'm white, it's my fault? That's not fair. My forefathers didn't even own slaves, as far as I've been made aware.

So her grandfather was a nazi nincompoop. She didn't hurt anyone! Hate the grandfather.</STRONG>

I agree! It's not fair to blame someone for the faults of others.

Nope. I just don't see the sins of the father being passed on to his children. We cannot be held accountable for things we were not a part of.