The Holocaust, Auschwitz-Birkenau and Traditional Catholicism

JMJ

Nota Bene: This will be a somewhat rambling article as I only heard today about it being the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. So these are some impressions that occurred to me as I drove home from work.

So, across the world there are a variety of opinions about what Germany did in the concentration camps. The same holds true within Traditional Catholicism. There is a spectrum of beliefs, opinions and theories about the Holocaust and the factory efficient murder of Jewish people deported from occupied countries. It is not unique to Traditional Catholicism, but it is the stick that people like to use to 'beat' down the Trads.

Well ... that would be a mistake.

My father was a teenager during the Second World War and hated the comedy "Hogan's Heroes" because it portrayed the German soldiers as buffoons. When describing his impressions of the Germans he would say, they were "very, very effective."

He experienced this first hand as he was walking home from school. Two soldiers challenged two men who happened to be beside my Dad. Their order was simple, "drop your pants". This was a practically surefire way to identified Jewish men.

It also explains my Dad's reluctance when the Doctor's suggested circumcising his baby boys.

Back to the story ... according to my Dad the two men were both Jewish, members of the underground and the underground had a safe-house near the school. They grabbed my Dad and used him as a human shield, whereas my Dad said he wanted to fight with them. In spite of being used as a human shield, my Dad went home that night and the two men were dead. So my Dad witnessed two things at once. First the soldiers weren't mindless killing machines. They killed two members of the resistance who were using a young teenager as a human shield. My Dad's impression of them being 'effective' was from first hand experience.

Then comes the FUD that people spread about Auschwitz. I've heard things from Bishop Williamson and others. I never thought of them critically back them, as I would now ... actually, it was the Terrorist attacks of Sept 11, 2001 that were the wake up call for me. I heard him give his version of why an Airplane weighing tens of thousands of pounds flying at hundreds of miles per hour couldn't do the damage it did to the Pentagon. His reason, it has a fiberglass nose whereas a missile has a Titanium nose. Well, having worked in the Aerospace industry I knew that was Male Cow Manure (MCM). Then he went on to simply ignore eye witness testimony, more MCM.

Here's the key for me. About 15 years ago I was in Poland for work for a few weeks and one weekend I had a choice - go visit the Salt Mines or Auschwitz. I took the trip to Auschwitz I and II. It was well worth it and I find it intellectually dishonest of Bishop Williamson to refuse to go and see for himself.

From this, I know a few things about Auschwitz:

It is possible that they did kill hundreds of thousands of people in Auschwitz I, II, and III through a combination of work, starvation and executions (shooting, hanging and gas chambers). I know this sounds strange, but I've heard people say it wasn't possible. I did the math and it was possible.
The eye witness account, Polish and others, cannot be dismissed offhand as I've heard done. It is invalid to discount a person's testimony just because it doesn't jive with one's personal beliefs. There is also the fact that there is the testimony in the trials.

I've been to Auschwitz I and II. While the older site was an old military base adapted to the tasks, II was purpose built and huge. After the tour, I asked our driver to go the end of the line of fence posts and watch towers. He did better, he drove to the end of the camp, which took quite a while, and then it changed I asked was that the end, he said "no ... now we are passing the prisoner of war camp for Russian soldiers. Because of the Geneva conventions they had to be kept separate." Then he drove around to the back of the camp and showed us the spot where the farm houses used to do tests with the Zyklon gas. Camp II was enormous and pictures don't do the scale justice.

There was also a III, but it was a factory and was bombed during the war. So given the scale and the capabilities - I am convinced that it was possible. Given the witness testimony, I am convinced that it happened. As far as the numbers, I leave that to the witnesses and historians and say that from my understanding of the capacity it was possible.

It was murder on a factory scale and genocide is an apt description. Of course, I'm not saying that the Germans didn't imprison and execute others. I am saying that murder of people because of their beliefs remains murder. Period. End.Stop.

The view from outside the camp.

Anyway, today is the anniversary of the liberation of the camps and something for us to consider deeply because there is a history of rulers trying to wipe out various 'deplorables' (link). Caesar(s), Hitler, Stalin, and others have done so and I have no doubt that others will rise up and walk in their footsteps.

We just don't know who.

P^3

Auschwitz II (Birkenau) 1944

https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0b711n3/the-man-who-volunteered-to-be-imprisoned-in-auschwitz

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/auschwitz

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp

https://www.auschwitz.org/en/

https://ground.news/article/auschwitz-anniversary-marked-as-peace-again-shattered-by-war_cdf21e

Rome,the SSPX and this time of Crisis - Updated

+ JMJ Obviously there's lots of events right now. First we have the April 1st - I almost thought it was April Fools - meeting between Pope Francis and Bishop Fellay. Nothing really news worthy as this is a natural progression as Rome appears to be considering fulfilling Archbishop Lefebvre's wish to 'accept us as we are'. Second we have the April 8th publication of what will be a verbose exhortation of the Synod of the Family. I'm willing to bet that the Pope will give with one hand (unilateral regularization of SSPX) and take with the other (ambiguous document that opens the flood gates of sin further). Much to pray for. P^3

The Vatican and SSPX – An Organizational Culture Perspective

Introduction The recent and continuing interactions between the Vatican and the SSPX have been a great opportunity for prayer and reflection. The basis for the disagreement is theological and not liturgical. As noted by Dr. Lamont (2012), the SSPX theological position on the four key controversial aspects of the Second Vatican Council are base on prior theological work that resulted from relevant magisterial pronouncements. So it is difficult to understand the apparent rejection of the theological position of the SSPX.

A Reply to Martin Blackshaw’s FLAWED Remnant article titled: FLAWED: SSPX Advice on Abortion-tainted Vaccines

+ JMJ An article has appeared in the Remnant (link to article) and I am afraid that there are a number of flaws in it that need to be addressed. The author, Martin Blackshaw, believes that both the Church and the SSPX are misapplying the principle of Moral Theology called 'Cooperation In Evil'. Unfortunately, Mr. Blackshaw rests most of his arguments on citing authors that support his position, without considering the possibility that they are wrong. This highlights a key factor in this crisis: ignorance of the faith and its application . I don't am not singling out Mr. Blackshaw for this criticism, I have observed that it applies to laity and religious, superior and subject a like. No one seems immune in this enduring crisis, myself included. I further believe that this ignorance is why so many Catholics, both traditional and non, rely on their gut feeling or "Catholic conscience" for charting their way through this crisis of the faith. While...

Battle Joy

+ JMJ I was listening to a Cd of John Vennari on Battle Joy ( Recapture the Flag: Dedication and Battle Joy - by John Vennari ) and it really captures a key point that Catholics (Traditional and otherwise labelled) need to adopt. We should see this conflict as a chance to prove our mettle for our King and to earn our unending reward. As veterans we'll be able to talk about the old battles in which we fought and the honour we gained in fighting for our King! Attached is a preview of course that, although secular, contains some of the elements of Battle Joy. P^3 https://www.coursera.org/learn/war/lecture/VDwfk/the-joy-of-battle

SSPX and the Resistance - A Comparison Of Ecclesiology

Shining the light of Church Teaching on the doctrinal positions of the SSPX and the Resistance. Principles are guides used to aid in decision making. It stands to reason that bad principles will lead to bad decisions. The recent interactions between Rome and the SSPX has challenged a number of closely held cultural assumptions of people in both sides of the disagreement. This has resulted in cultural skirmishes in both Rome and the SSPX. Since it is the smaller of the two, the skirmishes have been more evident within the SSPX. The cultural fault-line that Bishop Fellay crossed appears to be linked to two points of Catholic Doctrine: Ecclesiology and Obedience. The cultural difference of view points is strong enough that it has resulted in the expulsion of a number of members. It should also be noted that some other priests expelled since the beginning of the latest interactions (starting in 2000) held the same view points and have joined with the l...

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