Re. MEMORIES.E18 replies

Zvonko Springer (zzspri@cosy.sbg.ac.at)
Sat, 27 Jan 1996 19:14:18 +0100 

To   :  Project Memories for Children in Project Chatback
For  :  MEMORIES@SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU
From :  zzspri@cosy.sbg.ac.at            \ Zvonko Springer \
Date :  Sat, January 27, 1996
Subj.:  Open letter - Re: MEMORIES.E18 / Replies
Ref. :  MEMORIES.E20
Lines:  82

                        O P E N  L E T T E R

   is addressed to all subscribers of Project Memories for Children in
Project Chatback: MEMORIES OF 1940-something (it's the way Tom Holloway
wrote it in his e-mail of Fri, 26 Jan 1996). I write this Open Letter
in support to Tom's letter directed to one of the Members on MEMORIES
Panel of Elders, that is Mr. Manny Karbelnig < aj667@lafn.org >.

   I have to protest against Manny's references to my contribution under
Ref.: MEMORIES.E18 to this Project. Obviously, Manny either did not read
my long text in MEMORIES.E18 thoroughly or he does not want to understand
the purpose of the Project Memories. Manny's response is in a serious
contradiction with the context of my contributions to this Project. It
is also in an opposition to all the other responses or replies which I
have received from many subscribers up to now.

   Manny's reference to that 'the German people ..., continue to be
war-like, believe they are ... superior people' is false and a nonsence
as such. One should not refer to any people (probably meaning a nation)
of being war-like as such. Turn pages of few proper history books,
Manny, and you'll find quite a number of war-like peoples (= nations)
at one time or the other, isn't?

   It is true that the Marshall Plan was ingenius in rehabilitating
Europe economy after the end of WWTwo. It saved the peoples of the
Free Europe from all those horrible aftermathes which occured after
the WWOne. The Plan had given them a fair chance of re-building new
freed societies. However, large parts of Europe's population stayed
behind the Iron Curtain and didn't have anything from that Plan, isn't
so after at all. Manny, did you have any first-hand experience living
through the Cold War here in Europe? Do you know how the life looks
like under rulling system of FASCISM, NAZISM, COMMUNISM and any other
kind of RADICALism?

   Manny, the style of your response to Don Giddings' reply reminds
me at some radical slogans which I have heard or read since the time
of being able to distiguish between humane and evil. One can read and
hear such slogans now-a-days too - even in several of those radical
or neo-nazi Newsgroups in Internet. I'm afraid that Manny's responses
and contributions might fit better to such Listservs than to MEMORIES.

   In his answers Re: Questions for elders of Wed, 17 Jan 1996, Manny
has mentioned that he has been a teacher too. How could he hope that
his children and grandchildren would be spared in the next conflict
of war horrors? Manny also extends his hopes to other American families
(why only them?) after writing such trite slogans. How could one learn
from Manny's pieces - who is one's own real enemy? What are the reasons
for the following Manny's rather unfair replication to Don Giddings?

< Why test Atomic weapons in the American desert, why have the Russians  >
< test in Siberia, the French in the lovely Pacific Islands. There is    >
< ideal atomic testing ground in  Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgard, Munich,  >
< etc. The second, probably fatal mistake was allowing the Germans-Nazis >
< to unite. The only good thing the Russians ever did was to keep the    >
< Germans-Nazis under their thumb.                                       >

   I do not intend exemplifying any of Manny's wrong and offensive sta-
tements here at all. I find his statements absolutely impossible, very
wrong and extremely dangerous from educational point of view. I suggest
that Manny either disowns himself from his responses or voluntary leaves
the MEMORIES Panel of Elders immediately. I believe that the List Owner
should decide upon appropriate solution to Manny's future membership.

   As for myself, I would not consider Manny's contributions up to now
as productive and positive for MEMORIES Project. May the rest of his
life be like the best of his life before today - my paraphrase of last
line in Manny's letter.

        Many regards from your old CROATIAN SOLDIER alias

                        Zvonko of the Oak Hill

End of MEMORIES.E20 .