It was a cold, rainy Saturday in mid-October. It was not a great day to be out walking for my friend and fellow Democratic colleague to help in his re-election bid. Little did I know that it was going to get worse because of what I was about to see.
The house comprises of: an impressive entrance hall, lavatory, lounge with mullioned windows, large fireplace and doors to gardens, as well as a study/office with a wall of glazing overlooking the courtyard.Every year communities throughout the world recognize Yom Hashoah -- Day of Remembrance -- to remember the Holocaust. The mantra is "never forget." We must never forget the innocent children, their parents and grandparents that perished at the hands of the Nazis. If we stand by silently while others trivialize one of the darkest moments in human history by using its symbols of hate and genocide, we have failed in honoring the memories of the innocent lives lost.Before the reader dismisses this as simple vandalism or the work of "punk" kids -- as has been suggested to me -- please think again. This was too calculated. We have all heard the rhetoric and comparisons of the Obama administration to socialism and have seen the depiction of our president as a Hitler-like image. I recall seeing a swastika on a sign at a national tea party rally on television in the early spring. And now a Utah Democrat's political signs are vandalized with this hateful symbol.I have already started to speak with my son about religious discrimination and intolerance. I feel like I'm prepared to have the tough conversations with my son -- and daughter -- about the bigotry they will encounter, even today, because of their Jewish faith, their identity. I am prepared to share with them why I believe it is so important for them to learn from their own experiences to be respectful and accepting of diversity and advocate for the rights of all people. But this was different! This was different from what I experienced as a 13-year-old. What I saw that Saturday morning was not hate as I understood it; it was the use of a symbol of hatred to send a political message. This is what I'm not sure about how to explain. How do I explain to my son that a symbol that, unequivocally, represents the highest level of human tragedy -- genocide -- that a symbol that represents the systematic extermination of 6 million Jews and 6 million other "non-pure" Aryans is now, for some, merely a means to express disagreement or dislike of an officeholder or candidate's political views or policies?Comparing an "unpopular" speaker of the House in the United States Congress to one of the masterminds of genocide? Does this person not realize that in our community today live survivors of Auschwitz and children and grandchildren of the Holocaust? I take comfort, and gain hope, in the outrage expressed by the students.That morning as I walked through the pouring rain knocking on his constituents' doors, I could not stop thinking about what I had just seen. The more I walked, the angrier I got. It brought back memories of when I was in 7th grade and the synagogue my family attended was desecrated. I kept thinking to myself, as a father, how would I explain this to my eight-year-old son?David Litvack is minority leader in the Utah House of Representatives.The house has five large bedrooms and an array of living rooms, all of which are beautifully presented.And before the reader dismisses this as merely an isolated incident or the minds of a few ignorant individuals, please consider another incident that took place this past fall. A man in a prominent position in Utah politics, speaking to a group of university students, compared the popularity of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to a high-ranking Nazi official by stating -- and I paraphrase -- that Adolf Eichmann was probably more popular in Auschwitz than Nancy Pelosi is in this country. Unbelievable! This person should know better. No excuses!
David Litvack is minority leader in the Utah House of Representatives.
Author: David Litvack
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