THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

er

Friday, April 19, 1985 15

. . . the Jewish
groups try to make
something out of the
Holocaust that it
wasn't."

claims it is in large part falsified, but
after all, it is a literary document and
should have been published as one. It
is perfectly ridiculous that Anne, in
the play and in the movie, should say,
still believe they (the Nazis) are
good.' Was she an idiot? No, she wasn't
an idiot. She knew that the Nazis were
no damn good. That was done for
American audiences — that notion
that the Nazis are also good people.
That's what we need like a hole in the
head."
What Bettelheim intended to do
in the Harper's essay was warn Jews
against the advocacy of "business as
usual." He strongly believes that the
issue of how to survive with genocide is
a legitimate topic for concern. "It's im-
portant to remember that genocide is a
real possibility," he adds, "and there-
fore we better be aware that this possi-
bility exists, rather than to bury our
heads in the sand like the proverbial
ostrich. Racial persecution and dis-
crimination is by no means restricted
to often isolated instances in history,
but is all-pervasive and one needs to
learn how to protect themselves
against it.
"Man is essentially a pretty de-
structive animal," continues Bet-
telheim. "And it takes a long process of
education to control that. Contrary to
the liberal position which believes

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