26 Apr Speak Your Vues

SPEAK YOUR VUES WITH THE VUES MASTER

Please note that the author of Speak Your Vues is in no way affiliated with the publisher of
this paper. The author of this column is an independent third party contributor. The views and
opinions expressed by this author may not reflect the views and opinions of the publishers. If
one has any issues with any of the views, please write a letter to the Vues Master.

PIZZA
Dear Vues Master:
I love pizza. It’s my favorite food in the world. It’s very hard
for me to go an entire Pesach without real pizza but I actually
do enjoy matzah pizza as well. A lot of people have been giving
me a hard time when I run to the pizza store as soon as Pesach is
over. I understand what they are thinking. You can’t go another
day with pizza. You have to run out right away. I hear ya, but I
can’t disagree more!!! We are not allowed to have chametz for 8
days and as difficult as that is, I understand it’s a halacha & I do
it happily. But when it’s ok to have chometz, zirizim makdimim
l’mitzvos. I can’t wait to make that hamotzi!!! For all you nonepizza lovers out there, do me a favor and don’t go to the pizza
store Motzei Pesach, I would appreciate having a shorter line!!
SW
Vues Master’s Note: There is a Targum Yonasan that says that one
should eat chametz the day after Pesach. Also the Gaon would
make havdalah on beer. Of course this year one can’t change the
minhag of eating Pizza for Melave Malka which I do every week!
PESACH PROGRAMS
Dear Vues Master:
I can not believe the prices a Pesach program was advertising in
Florida this past Yom Tov. This is insane!!! Lunches: tax and gratuity included $207.54 Per Adult per lunch $136.20 Per Child (age 3
-12) per lunch Dinners: tax and gratuity included $324.28 Per Adult
per dinner $220.51 Per Child (age 3 -12) per dinner What is this
world coming to? Is this the way we should be celebrating Pesach?
JC
Vues Master’s Note: Staying home is not cheap either! I took out a
mortgage just to buy eggs!
EREV PESACH MATZAH
Dear Vues Master:
My family has been going to get Matzos mitzvah, erev Pesach matzos my entire life. This year I wired online erev yom tov for almost
two hours and I was shocked that they raised the price to $15 a slice
of matzah. I understand the concept of supply & demand, but isn’t
this geneiva?
GW
Vues Master’s Note: If there are customers willing to pay for it then
it is not geneiva it is called supply and demand.
COMPLAINTS
Dear Vues Master:
A shul President in Skokie, Illinois, after many years of faithful
service, was betrayed by a close friend whom he had assisted in
many ways. This “friend” badmouthed him to the congregation
and persuaded the members to fire the President and appoint him in
his place. The congregation, however, made a big mistake. They
threw a farewell dinner for the departing President at which he took
the opportunity to tell the following story: Three characters complained to Hashem. Aleinu said “It’s not right. I’m at the end of the
Tefilla, when everyone is already removing their talleisim, talking
and getting ready to leave the shul.” Hashem said: “You’re right.
As compensation, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, I’ll
place you right at the heart of the davening.” Similarly, Asher Yatzar complained that it was unseemly to be recited after use of the
bathroom. Hashem said you’re right as well. As compensation, I
will give you a lead role under the Chuppa, the happiest time of a
person’s life. Finally, the Mamzer complained “It’s not fair. What
did I do wrong? Why should I be made to suffer because of something my parents did?” Hashem answered: “You too are right. As
compensation, I will make you the new President of the shul.”
GA
Vues Master’s Note: I like his response!
CHOCOLATE
Dear Vues Master:
I would like to share a hair raising story that occurred to my
family this year on Pesach. My wife received a very generous large chocolate platter from her boss as a gift before the
holiday. There was a sticker that show the hashgacha on it and
a separate sticker that stated kosher for Passover. One of my
children looked at the mouth watering treats and wondered
aloud whether it could be true that the platter was kosher for
Passover. We waited to open the delectable platter and called
the rabbi from the hashgacha just to make sure that it is actually kosher for Passover. To our dismay, we were told that
the chocolate platter actually may have contained kitniyos. We
were not able to eat it on Pesach! Luckily we chose to wait and
ask before enjoying. The store owners were unaware of the
fact that the stuff contained kitniyos and that the Ashkenazi
customers could not partake of it over Yom Tov. I am sharing
this story so other people check their purchases and do not fall
into such a scenario in the future.
WA
Vues Master’s Note: Well you need to check the Hashgacha and
stick to the basics! It would be nuts to eat it.
GREAT ADVENTURES
Dear Vues Master:
My family went this year to Great Adventurers over Chol Hamoed.
We went to the kosher stand and spent almost $200 on a few hot
dogs & drinks for everyone. When I got up to the front of the line
to pay, the non jewish person taking the money said that if we were
interested we could go to McDonalds and get everything we just
ordered for about $30. I just laughed at him but after I left the stand
I was thinking about what he said. Of course I would never think
for a second about eating treif, but why should kosher food be that
expensive? I get it should be more. I get that it should be even more
expensive for Pesach. But that much more? Really?????
SA
Vues Master’s Note: Ashreinu Ma Tov… We are zocheh to be moser
nefesh to eat kosher. It is still way easier than in Europe or other
places far out in the US where one can’t get kosher food easily.
Based on inflation that is not even so expensive!

TEFILLIN
Dear Vues Master:
Forget chametz, 8 days without tefillin was the
real loss, happy to wear these signs of the Exodus
from Egypt and G-d’s unique providential relationship with the Jewish people again!
RUP
Vues Master’s Note: What do you mean, we put
Tefillin on, on Chol Hamoed!
JOURNEYS 5
Dear Vues Master:
Thank you guys for the most interesting and
entertaining newspaper! “I personally think
that Journeys might be the highest level Jewish
Album ever made,” said Doni Gross, the producer and arranger in an interview with the JV
Ari Hirsch together with songwriter and singer
Abie Rottenberg, for the special Pesach issue.
“Doni and I have been working on this album
for 2 years, said Abie. Doni continues that I don’t
believe that I ever spent so much time on any individual album, Mon-Thurs, sometimes 15 hrs.
with a break only for Mincha/Maariv and to eat
a little bit! These albums are going to be around
a long time because it’s real music. It’s inspiring.
It’s not just music. It’s hashkafa. Abie is giving
over part of his neshama in such a high level way,
continues Doni. RMS- I love Journeys. Just Like
Aish {Rachmana] got me through Coved being
locked down in my car, so too Journeys 5 gets me
through these trying times, [War, Rav Chaim’s
petirah, tragedies in Meron, Karlin Stolin, Terrorist in Eretz Yisroel]. This album is absolutely
unequivocally gorgeous, stunning, beautiful,
amazing, entertaining, fabulous. From the get go,
Benny Friedman belts out Chaverim Kol Yisroel
to a Bovover March. And for the first time My
oh My-since long ago at Har Sinai-Chaverim Kol
Yisroel. It speaks of Achdus in Moshiach times.
It is such a catchy tune and song, my eineklach
sang it at the Yom Tov seuda. Doni is so good at
matching the music to the song that it becomes
part of the tune and melody that you sing it as
well. Then comes From the Ashes, about Holocaust survivors who lift themselves up from the
dust. Featuring the Maccabeats who have such
harmonious voices sing, They rose from the ashes
-and relit their matches-To kindle a fire that somehow grows stronger. This song was composed by
Abie’s daughter, Shiffy [Rotenberg] Ochs. The
Flame that defines us will never go out! What
a Masterpiece! B”H It’s Shabbos-sung by Shloime Gertner and accompanied by the Gross and
Rottenberg children. [My eineklach changed the
words heyliger and tayerer Shabbos to Zeidy!
LOL] Of course Abie and Doni sing and arrange
the music together. What a Team! And there’s one
more plus our Parents spend more time with us
B”H its Shabbos! I believe everyone’s favorite
comes next in Journey at Sea, sung by Lev Tahor.
Composed by Abie’s son Chananya. It was arranged by Leib Yaakov Rigler, [Avraham Fried’s
arranger]. First of all, we all learned a new word
FORTITUDE. And who doesn’t try to imitate
the ending sung by Eli Schwebel; It’s Our Life
A Journey At Sea-A Voyage Of Fate And Destiny. The Waters Will Challenge -The Fortitude
And Courage Of Every Man. What A Classic!
My eineklach love to count out loud every time
Mordechai Shapiro sings There’s Nothing In
Your Life. [22 times-now that’s SIGNIFICANT!]
Mordechai is a Star. A close second favorite is My
Little Town sung by the great Shulem Lemmer.
There were 600 people in my little town-but I,
only I, would survive. Once again Leib Yaakov
Rigler arranges a musical sensation! This was
also composed by Chananya Rottenberg. {Talent runs in the Family]. Like Father Like Son
& Daughters]. The Secret was performed by
the 8thb Day, and composed by Abie’s daughter, Bella [Rottenberg] Levine with her husband
Nochum. Al Hatzaddikim sung by the great super
star Avraham Fried. It’s a beautiful story about
the Sukelener and Vitzchinitzer Rebbes after the
war. How they do for each other, and how they
each care for the other one. Piano by the greatest Yaron Gershovsky. [Avremel; When are you
coming out with your amazing Album[s] can’t
wait! RMS] B”H -You Can’t Say It Enough, performed by the upcoming super star Joey [Yossi]
Newcomb. [BTW-I bought my 3yr old einekel a
yarmulke and had the words on it that say Thank
You Hashem!] Words by Henya Meyer& Abie.
My 2 yr. old einekel Rachel loves to sing Lucky
Fingers Max, sung by Jewish [Rock] Star Gershon Veroba, and arranged by Yaron Gershovsky.
But Lucky Lucky Fingers Max-got lucky and
found out-he has a Jewish Soul. The Ring song
that is sung by Abie and composed by his daughter, Shiffy [Rottenberg] Ochs. Arranged by Leib
Yaakov Rigler, and piano by Yaron Gershovsky.
[I love watching his fingers move on the piano
like a drummer drums that fast AMAZING!]
Not only was I blessed by the kindness that you
had shown. If what I’d lost had not been found-I
never would have known. The kids favorite [and
my wife] There A’int No Bishul In A Kli Shlishi. {My einekel pronounces it Kli SHISHI!}.
This was composed by the one and only Moshe
Yess A”H [Megama -When Zeidy made us laugh.
When Zeidy made a Kiddush Fri Night] Tali Yess
his son sings it so KOOL! Together with AbieWhat a Duo. Try singing so deep as Tali at the
end. Important note this only with liquids, since
solids like meat from the hot chulent retains its
heat even on your Kli Shlishi plate. The Halacha books warn you not to put coleslaw juice
on your hot chulent. {Perhaps my Einekel was
right You need a KLI SHISHI! } Kli Rishon Kli
Sheini that’s a different Kup Of Tea! Ushpizin by
Chaim Dovid and sung by R’ Baruch Levine and
Shlomo Simcha & Of Course Abie Rottenberg.
Achron Achron Chaviv-We’ve Got The Music
II-featuring Shmuel Burstein, Eli Kranzler, Rivie
Schwebel, & the all-time Pirchei best soloist Yussi Sonnenblick with Abie Rottenberg [Dveikus
Reunion]. [PS- In case you’re looking for MBD,
he was on the first We’ve Got The Music I- MBD
MBD MBD ty Shimon Lefkowits for pointing
that out to me.] Now For My Afikomen PresentMBD & Avraham Fried singing and harmonizing on an Album together with Doni Gross- Arranger, and Abie Rottenberg composer. L’shana
Haba B’Yerushalayim im Moshiach Tzidkeinu
B’Binyan Beis Hamikdash B’mhera B’yameinu.
Thank you Ari & Allan Hirsch for a great interview with Journeys!
RMS- RLL
Vues Master’s Note: We aim to please!
YICHUS
Dear Vues Master:
An Am Haaretz boasted that he has a Megillas
Yuchsin that goes back all the way to Adam Harishon. A man who knew his true character said:
“I’m surprised that you don’t have a Megillas
Yuchsin going back further than that.” The Am
Haaretz asked how could anyone have a Megillas
Yuchsin going back further than Adam Harishon?
The man responded: “Perhaps you have forgotten, before Hashem created Adam, he created the
Beheimos.“
MB
Vues Master’s Note: I guess he did not have
yichus atzmo!
PRETZELS
Dear Vues Master:
Someone sent a letter last week speaking against
the Kasher l’Pesach pretzels. He said that if those
pretzels would have been around at ‘the time the
chachomim issued the issur on kitniyos, they
too would have been banned. Then he says that
for the chinuch of our children we have to teach
them that we don’t need to buy everything with
the KFP label. Excuse me. Who are you to argue with the rabbonim of the hashgacha?- (and
you said it’s a good hashgacha) do you think
you know better. Of course it is always good to
machmir and not buy these things. But who are
you speaking against it. There are better things to
teach the children. And know not everyone was
brought up the same way as you. So you want
to be machmir, good for you. But don’t start telling people what they could or can’t or should or
shouldn’t eat or buy. Keep it to yourself and let
everyone up their own judgment based on where
they are holding and if they have questions they
can go to THEIR rov.
TT
Vues Master’s Note: Hey what happened not to
mish? I guess he meant don’t mish into my business!
TRUST
Dear Vues Master:
Rav Chaim Kanievsky trusted his father and so
did Rav Avraham Mordechai. They trusted them
because they were their father not because they
were great Torah scholars. The Sefas Emes did
not have the local melamed teach his son the Mah
Nishtanah, but rather, he hoped that young Avraham Mordechai would himself notice the many
changes and interesting costumes of the night and
ask the questions spontaneously, as described by
Chazal. Each and every part of the Seder was
unique, different from a regular Shabbos or Yom
Tov meal, yet the boy asked no questions. The
Sefas Emes was puzzled by his son’s silence,
and finally asked the child if he noticed anything
different from the usual. “Yes,” replied the boy,
“everything was different from the usual.” “So
why didn’t you ask me about it?” the Sefas Emes
wondered. “Because I know,” the child replied,
“that whatever the Tatte does, he does with good
reason, whether I understand it or not. Why, then,
would I ask questions?” (Gerrer Dynasty)
DG
Vues Master’s Note: What about the 5th son,
the one who is not even at the Seder how does
he learn?
CHOL HAMOED SAGA
Dear Vues Master:
Where are we going? Are we there yet? Traffic,
kids kvetching, matzah soggy tuna sandwiches,
potato chips & potato sticks, more eggs & potatoes.Don’t forget the pickles! Need quarters
for the meters. Pass the chocolate please. Lines,
lines, and & more lines. Kids pushing & cutting
the line. Baby (lady) fingers, macaroons, Geffen,
Liebers, Haadar, Pashkez, Oberlanders. I need
a drink, a bathroom, I’m hungry, I’m cold, I’m
tired, I’m bored, I’m hot. All in all, I had a great
time at Keansburg Amusement Park sponsored
by Chasdei Lev, taking my Eineklach. There
were plenty of rides & shows with juggling plus
Rabbi Hill, a famous story teller. Everything was
organized and ehrlich with music & fun. This was
hakaras Hatov to the Rebbeim @ MechanchimMenahelim. I would only recommend that at the
big tent, there should have been separate entrances & seating for men & women. I can’t wait to go
see Desperate Measures 2
RMS-RLL
Vues Master’s Note: Awesome rides! I am confused trying to keep up with your letter!
HUSBAND
Dear Vues Master:
A elderly Rav who was never at a loss for words,
stood silent before his congregation. He motioned to a young boy to approach and told him
that he had forgotten his teeth at home. “Please go
to my house and bring me my teeth,” he said. After the boy returned with the teeth, the rav spoke
and spoke with no end. He just couldn’t stop
speaking. Finally, the gabbai approached him and
said the hour was growing late. The Rav apologized. “He brought me my wife’s teeth.”
BM
Vues Master’s Note: That is why it says “at psach
lo” Lashon nekeiva!
RIDDLE
Dear Vues Master:
3 people standing next to each other (same place
same time) 1 says the complete Hallel 2 says
short Hallel (no Lo Lanu & Ahavti) 3 says Hallel with Lo Lanu but skips Ahavti Answer: On
the second day of Yom Tov Pesach – the first
day Chol Hamoed in Eretz Yisroel 1: Visiting
E.Y. from Chutz La’aretz (second day Yom Tov
Pesach – complete Hallel) 2: Israeli (first day
Chol Hamoed- short Hallel) 3: Visiting E.Y. from
Chutz La’aretz & decides in the middle of Hallel between Lo Lanu & Ahavti to become a ben
Eretz Yisroel.
MF
Vues Master’s Note: I don’t believe you can make
a decision in the middle of Hallel and cause Halachos to change!
HOLOCAUST
Dear Vues Master:
With the approach of Holocaust Memorial Day
(Yom HaShoah) comes yet another wave of attempts to distort the Holocaust in order to advance
various political or social agendas. The tensions
surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic have become a breeding ground for wildly inappropriate
Holocaust-related analogies. U.S. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) has taken
to calling advocates of Covid-19 immunizations
“vaccine Nazis.” Her colleague Lauren Bobert
(R-Colorado) has denounced vaccine supporters as “needle Nazis.” Some protesters against
Covid-related restrictions have been wearing yellow stars of David intended to resemble those
that the Nazis forced Jews to wear. Top-rated Fox
television host Tucker Carlson has compared the vaccine to Nazi medical experiments. Although
many of these offensive and inaccurate analogies
emanate from one side of the political spectrum,
they are by no means exclusive to that camp. On
the left, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. recently claimed
that public health measures to combat Covid are
even more onerous than what the victims of the
Nazis endured. “Even in Hitler’s Germany, you
could cross the Alps into Switzerland,” he said.
“You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did.”
Kennedy later apologized; but the damage—in
terms of his impact on the public—was already
done. A different kind of Holocaust distortion
will soon be coming to America’s television
screens, courtesy of noted filmmaker Ken Burns.
He says his forthcoming documentary is intended
to “dispel the myth” that during the Holocaust,
“Americans looked on with callous indifference.”
When Burns tackled this subject previously, it was
obvious that his lens was distorted by a narrow
partisan perspective. His 2014 PBS series, “The
Roosevelts: An Intimate History,” dealt in part
with President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s response
to the Holocaust. It badly misrepresented the historical record. Burns blamed America’s harsh
immigration restrictions on Congress and public
opinion, failing to note that FDR suppressed immigration far below what the law allowed (in most
years from 1933-1945, the quota for immigrants
from Germany was less than 25% filled). Burns
also falsely credited Roosevelt with creating and
funding the War Refugee Board, when FDR actually tried to prevent its creation and gave it only
token funding (90% of its budget was provided by
American Jewish organizations). Burns’s 2014
film did not mention any of FDR’s fifteen hostile statements about Jews, which historians have
amply documented. Ironically, the scriptwriter
for that film was Geoffrey C. Ward, a Roosevelt
biographer who was one of the first to document
the president’s anti-Jewish “humor.” In his 1989
book, Ward revealed that on multiple occasions,
Roosevelt told “mildly anti-Semitic stories in
the White House,” in which “the protagonists
were always Lower East Side Jews with heavy
accents…” Ward also documented additional
examples of FDR’s “jokes” about Jews. Yet he
omitted them from the 2014 film. Subsequently,
other historians revealed remarks by Roosevelt in
which he spoke disdainfully of “Jewish blood”;
asserted that antisemitism in Poland was caused
by the practices of Jewish businessmen; advocated quotas to restrict the admission of Jews to
Harvard; and said (in 1943!) that antisemitism
in Nazi Germany was “understandable” because
there had been too many Jews in various German
professions. It will be interesting to see if any
of Roosevelt’s statements about Jews make it into
Burns’ forthcoming documentary, because according to the advance publicity, Geoffrey Ward
has written the script for that one, too. A director
with a partisan agenda and a scriptwriter who has
withheld evidence that he himself uncovered—
that’s quite a combination. Meanwhile, another
type of distortion is rearing its ugly head, this in
time in connection with the Russian invasion of
Ukraine. Whether Russia’s slaughter of civilians in Ukraine will reach the level of genocide
remains to be determined, but there is no doubt
that widespread atrocities have occurred—no
doubt, that is, except among a handful of extremists with loud megaphones in the American
media. Widely-published leftwing journalist
Glenn Greenwald recently charged that “Twitter experts eager to start WW3 [are] emotionally
demanding that the US go to war with Russia
due to horrifying yet context-and-evidence-free
photos and videos posted by Ukrainian officials.”
Greenwald’s claim echoes a recent assertion by a
prominent voice at the other end of the political
spectrum, Fox’s Greg Gutfeld, the most-watched
host in late-night television. He claimed that news
stories showing the suffering of Ukrainian civilians “have sped up and are accumulating to create
a narrative — and they only go in one direction…
an image is taken and then played over and over
and over again to create some kind of emotional
response out of you.” According to Gutfeld, that
“narrative” may be “leading” America toward
“World War III.” Isolationists, whether from
the far left or far right, are understandably jittery
about a world war. We all are. But to allege that
the news reports of Russian atrocities are part of a
conspiracy by the media to drag America into the
Ukraine war is outrageous. And it’s eerily reminiscent of isolationists’ accusations in the 1930s
that Jews were exaggerating Nazi atrocities in
order to drag America into a war with Germany.
Holocaust Memorial Day should an occasion for
remembering the Holocaust and the lessons to
be learned from it. Instead, sadly, we find our attention diverted by those who are exploiting or
distorting that history—or even doubting atrocities that are taking place right now—in order to
advance narrow partisan agendas.
RM
Vues Master’s Note: Thanks for the history lesson!
STORY
Dear Vues Master:
A few weeks ago, your magazine included an
article from one of your regular columnists sharing stories about HaRav Chaim Kanievsky ztz’’l
for the goal of gaining inspiration and chizuk.
However, I respectfully want to let the readership
know that one of the stories therein only related
half of the actual story, and thereby concluded the
exact opposite of the true message of the story,
which ends up being pogem on R’ Chaim’s kavod. The story that was published, in short, stated
how a Rebbe came to ask R’ Chaim’s mechila
for telling his students that R’ Chaim did not start
out with any kishronos or specific intelligence,
and it was only through his hasmadah and hard
work that he became great in Torah. However,
after telling his talmidim this, he felt bad about
perhaps lacking in kavod for R’ Chaim, and therefore came to ask mechila. R’ Chaim responded by
saying, “I didn’t have any kishron then, and I still
don’t!” And the columnist in the aforementioned
article thereby ended the story, and concluded
that what the Rebbe had taught his talmidim was
correct. Now, I am not one to disagree with the
tremendous power of diligence and effort, even in
the absence of talent, however, according to what
i have heard in a few other places, the story as
told in the article did NOT end there, and to try
to repair a bit the pegam on R’ Chaim’s kavod,
I want to relate the story as I read it on Matzav.
com, written by R’ Pinchos Lipschutz. As R’
Lipschutz relates the story in his opinion article
titled “Watch What You Say,” the story actually
begins with the Rebbe approaching R’ Elya Mann
(R’ Chaim’s chavrusa) to have him ask mechila
on his behalf, because of what he said to his
talmidim. The reason he brought his request to R’
Mann/R’ Chaim is because his son was suddenly
beginning to exhibit signs of mental disturbance/
illness, and he felt it was perhaps because of his
lack of kavod to R’ Chaim. R’ Elya brought the
request to R’ Chaim, who, out of his great HUMILITY, stated that the man doesn’t need mechila. R’ Elya felt that the man however really did
need mechila because of what he said, and discussed the matter with R Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz, who had taught R’ Chaim when the latter was
a child. R’ Michel Yehuda replied that R’ Chaim
was brilliant as a child, and the man definitely
needed mechila. R’ Elya went to ask R’ Chaim
again, beginning by saying that he had gone to R’
Michel Yehuda about the question. R’ Chaim immediately understood where R’ Elya was heading
and said “I am mochel the Rebbe completely.”
Within a few days, his son’s mental health was
restored. To conclude, your magazine always
includes inspiration and chizuk, which I’m sure
helps your readership tremendously. The only
reason I interceded over here was because the
story concluded with a lesson which was beneath
the kavod of R’ Chaim, the same lesson which
the Rebbe in the story was at fault for. A gut
Shabbos,
AL
Vues Master’s Note: Thanks! Now we hear the
rest of the story!
OP-ED- WHAT RUSSIAN TV
WOULDN’T LET ME SAY (ABOUT
PUTIN & THE HOLOCAUST)
Dear Vues Master:
I was watching a CNN report about Russian
atrocities in Ukraine when the email arrived. It
was from a producer for RT, the Russian government television network, asking to interview
me about what she called “the American media’s
collusion with the Third Reich.” Why is Russian Television suddenly interested in how U.S.
journalists covered Hitler? Evidently it has to do
with Vladimir Putin’s bizarre references to Nazis
in his attempts to justify the Russian invasion of
Ukraine. According to Putin, the Ukrainians—
including their Jewish president—are actually
Nazis and therefore the invasion constitutes “deNazification.” RT, Putin’s television network,
promotes similar themes. On the day the RT producer’s email arrived, the RT website featured
articles claiming that the Ukrainian army is filled
with “neo-Nazis”; alleging that Russian citizens
living in Ukraine are under attack from “neoNazi groups integrated into the government of
Ukraine”; and asserting that the Biden administration is carrying out “genocide” against Native
Americans in Nevada. RT.com also features wild
accusations against the American news media,
such as denouncing U.S. journalists for “vilifying” the January 6 rioters. Presumably such nonsense is a ham-handed attempt to undermine the
credibility of media outlets that have been reporting about Russian atrocities in Ukraine. The RT
producer’s claim that the U.S. media “colluded”
with the Nazis in the 1930s is in line with the Putin regime’s contention that the Ukrainians and
their American supporters are all Nazis or Nazisympathizers. It’s a classic propaganda device—
take the kernel of truth within a known historical
episode, tear it out of its original context, and then
twist and magnify it to suit some contemporary
political purpose. Yes, many major U.S. newspapers downplayed or ignored news about the
Holocaust–but that was poor journalism (and,
in some cases, a kind of antisemitism), not “collusion with Nazism.” Such anti-American propaganda is a staple of RT. Originally known by
its full name, “Russia Today,” RT was created
by the Putin regime in 2005. It is a propaganda
agency, controlled and financed by the Russian
government. Since 2017, its representatives in
the United States have been required to register
as foreign agents of the Russian government. I
wouldn’t have known any of that from the producer’s email, however. She described RT as an
“international TV channel,” with no clue as to
its mission, financing, or governance. She never
even used the word “Russia.” Obviously I have
no interest in being used by Putin’s television network for his propaganda purposes; I replied that
I would agree to an interview only on condition
that my full comments be broadcast, including
my thoughts on how the lessons of the 1930s are
relevant today. I explained that I would point out,
among other things, that: —Mainstream American newspapers in the 1930s were not pro-Nazi.
Because of naïveté or ignorance, many major
U.S. newspapers in the early 1930s failed to recognize that Adolf Hitler—like Vladimir Putin
today—was an aggressive dictator who would
threaten neighboring countries. —The Russian
public today is at a great disadvantage as compared to the American public during the Nazi
era. The American press is genuinely free and
independent, and so the U.S. public had access
to sources of information about the Nazi persecutions even when the Roosevelt administration
would have preferred that the public not know.
Thus while the New York Times downplayed
Holocaust news, other publications, such as the
weekly New Republic and the New York City
daily newspaper PM, highlighted it. By contrast,
the Russian people today are unable to freely
access information about Russian atrocities in
Ukraine because of the Putin government’s control of the Russian news media. — The fact that
American journalists 80 years ago did a poor job
of covering the Holocaust is no reason to doubt
the accuracy of today’s American media coverage of Russian atrocities in Ukraine. Russia’s war
crimes have been amply documented by U.S. media outlets from across the political and ideological spectrum. The RT producer’s reply was not
unexpected, but it was loaded with irony. “We are
not interested in airing propaganda, nor including
analysis which are propaganda themselves,” she
said of my intended remarks. Pretty funny coming from a full-time propagandist for the Putin
regime! I guess I won’t be hearing from RT again.
Rafael Medoff
(Dr. Medoff is founding director of The David S.
Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and author of more than 20 books about Jewish history
and the Holocaust. His latest is America and the
Holocaust: A Documentary History, published by
the Jewish Publication Society & University of
Nebraska Press.)