|
|
|
Jewish World Review Nov. 4, 1998 / 14 Mar-Cheshvan, 5759
WHEN ADOLPH EICHMANN WAS ARRESTED IN 1960, the German philosopher Karl
Jaspers stated that the architect of the Final Solution should be tried in an
international court and charged with crimes against humanity.
At that time it was clear to world Jewry that Eichmann should be tried for
his crimes against the Jewish people. The uniqueness of the Holocaust as a crime
against the Jewish people was reinforced by a sense that perhaps the world
had not yet understood what had been done to the Jews. Reinforcing this view was
the fact that anti-Semitism was still a problem. Therefore, with the notion
of Jews -- not humanity -- as a victim, Eichman was tried in Israel.
Today, as we see genocide in Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo and other places, there
is again discussion, particularly in the United Nations, about creating an
international court for crimes against humanity.
More and more, I tend to believe that Jaspers was right to think of genocide
in terms of international human rights, regardless of who the perpetrator
and victim may be.
And so, I ask: Can you be an admirer of the Jews and the Nazis at the same
time? Is it possible to commit crimes against humanity and at the same time
be a philo-Semite?
At the request of a Spanish judge, Britain recently arrested Gen. Augusto
Pinochet, who ruled Chile for 17 years, for his responsibility in the
assassination of 95 Spaniards. Pinochet took power by force following a
bloody coup d’etat in September 1973.
That coup, whose brutality set an example for other South American
dictatorships that followed, began with an air blitz on the House of
Government. It was followed by the suspected murder of the constitutionally
elected socialist president Salvador Allende and continued with the
establishment of dreadful prison camps, generalized terror and the physical
elimination of political enemies. Rape of pregnant women, execution on the
spot with no trial, torture of prisoners to death, mutilation of people and
disfigurement of bodies were common practice during Pinochet’s regime. Three
thousand people were assassinated and 1,100 disappeared under his despotic
rule.
However, unlike in Argentina, where the memory of the military regime is no
less than a national trauma that will never be erased, mixed feelings
prevail in Chile.
The Chilean coup d’etat (which the Nixon administration actively supported
through economic embargo of goods to Chile and through CIA support) followed
a situation of social chaos; political division between right and left had
reached a dimension of violence and uncontrolled antagonism. In 1973, Chile
was on the verge of a civil war. The middle classes, fearful of socialist
policies that threatened private property, supported the coup. Jews, as an
integral part of the middle class, had views no different from those of
their fellow nationals.
It is possible to say with a high degree of certainty that despite the
prominent presence of Jews in Allende’s government, an important number of
Jews welcomed Pinochet. Moreover, when Allende was elected president in
1970, 8,000 of Chilean’s 30,000 Jews fled the country, mostly to Israel, fearful
of losing their property and assets to the socialist regime. Furthermore, when
Pinochet took over three years later, many of those who had fled returned to
Chile; however, other Jews fled the country.
Unlike its Argentinean counterpart, the Chilean authoritarian regime had
repudiated anti-Semitism from the outset. Pinochet himself flirted with the
Jewish community. He made a habit of touring synagogues during Yom Kippur
services and appointed some Jews to high government posts. One of them,
Sergio Melnick, was an Orthodox Jew who served as a key figure on Pinochet’s
economic team.
Also in contrast to Argentina where the military developed ideological anti-
Semitism, the Chilean army welcomed Jews into its ranks. Some Jewish
officers made impressive careers in the Chilean Army, such as the hard-liner Gen.
Jose Berdichewsky, an ardent supporter of Pinochet. Berdichewsky, who spoke
fluent Yiddish, was appointed ambassador to Israel in the mid-1970s. Pinochet, of
course, maintained excellent relations with the State of Israel, where Chile
acquired weapons. This relationship made Israel vulnerable to criticism from
both inside and outside the country.
(Despite the generally good Jewish
relations, Pinochet had no problem praising the army of the German Third
Reich, which he considered to be very brave, unlike the current German Army,
which he called "an army of useless homosexuals.")
Moreover, Pinochet developed a strong relationship with, and received advice
from, members of a mysterious sect located in southern Chile. Colonia
Dignidad allegedly served as a haven for ex-Nazis and is suspected of having been a
center for governmental repression against political opponents. Headed by
Paul Schaffer, a former Wehrmacht soldier and World War II veteran, Colonia
Dignidad enjoyed Pinochet’s protection; he emphatically defended the colony
and attacked those who dared to criticize it.
With the establishment of the democratic regime in Chile, Colonia Dignidad
became more vulnerable. President Eduardo Frei removed its not-for-profit
status and, most recently, Schaffer became a fugitive after a Chilean court
ordered his arrest on charges of abuse and abduction of children. During the
Pinochet years, the Chilean Jewish community made a conscious decision not
to make a public issue of Colonia Dignidad in order not to raise the general’s
wrath.
Pinochet has gone unpunished for his crimes. He most likely will walk free
from Britain due to his status as Chilean Senator for Life --- which he
managed to extract from Chilean civilian rulers as part of a deal for a peaceful
transition to democracy — and to his status as a former head of state.
Pinochet’s admiration of the Nazi method existed simultaneously with his
benevolent and protective treatment of Jews. Therefore, we need always to go
beyond looking at human rights solely in terms of its effect on the Jewish
community.
An international court, whose creation the United Nations is constantly
postponing for political reasons, would potentially represent the law of
reason. Such a court should be able to try crimes against humanity,
regardless of whether the crime was committed against nations or individuals or where
and by whom they were committed. Otherwise the lessons of the Holocaust cannot
be fully
Pinochet --- good for Jews, tragedy for human rights
Can you be an admirer of the Jews and the Nazis at the same
time? Is it possible to commit crimes against humanity and at the same time
be a philo-Semite?
By Luis Fleischman
Luis Fleischman is director of the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey’s
Jewish Community Relations Council.
