Comments on: Explosive New Book Unearths Argentina’s Forgotten Holocaust

By: Avi K.

Avi K. — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:18:34 +0000

I hope you aren’t referring to your critics here when you point to those who think that “apparently this kind of death in some way doesn’t ‘count.’” Nobody here is saying anything like that. The only deaths that don’t count are those that didn’t actually happen, like the supposed slaughter of 200,000 Jews in Argentina by escaped Nazi war criminals.

By: huxley

huxley — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:29:14 +0000

Condemned to death in Europe by real Nazis because they were denied the refuge they sought in Argentina by Directive 11. To some, apparently this kind of death in some way doesn’t “count”…

Ron Rosenbaum — You originally said, “…in Argentina in the years immediately after the war when, according to Kerr’s research, up to 200,000 refugee Jews may have been murdered by escaped Nazi war criminals.”

Those are just not the same thing. You are an untrustworthy source.

By: Avi K.

Avi K. — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:26:01 +0000

Charlie, when people were “disappeared” in Argentina, their friends and relatives knew they were missing. Rosenbaum is saying that 200,000 Jews were killed and nobody even noticed. Not their wives, their bosses, not the Mossad nor the Jewish Agency. That doesn’t sound plausible does it?

By: charlie finch

charlie finch — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:20:03 +0000

Considering all those who have “disappeared” under the Peronists in three incarnations (including Isabel Peron), the assertion is not farfetched. Perhaps as out lefty friends are fetishizing the ridiculous concept of “soft power” (gee, the Syrians surwe respond to that!), our righty types believe in “soft fascism” with a Latin dance beat

By: Avi K.

Avi K. — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:18:04 +0000

Ron, did you bother to call Goni before publishing this? Or did you think a second-hand account by a novelist was good enough to run with? I’ve emailed Goni myself, and I look forward to sharing his views with your readers. (If, that is, you deign to publish my comments, an honor I have mysteriously not yet received.)

By: DavidN

DavidN — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:07:56 +0000

I just googled “Argentina 200,000 Jews Holocaust” and all I got were links to stories about this Catholic idiot who insists there never were gas chambers. In *his* statements to the press he asserted that “only” 200,000 Jews were killed, and he’s referring to the actual Holocaust, the one in Germany. He’s not referring to something that occurred in Argentina, after the war. Obviously the guy’s an idiot, but now I’m pretty confused also.

By: DavidN

DavidN — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:03:31 +0000

Wait a minute!?!? The Perons killed 200,000 Jews after World War II and no one noticed? I’ll need to look into that one first. The links you provide don’t seem to relate to that, only discussing this order that the government signed *before the war* which prohibited Jewish refugees from entering the country. Not quite the same thing as murdering them once they arrived. Interesting to know there’s a new Bernie Gunther novel, though. I’ll be looking forward to it.

By: Chris H.

Chris H. — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:35:59 +0000

Okay, it seems to me there’s a difference between denying visas to Jews and murdering 200,000 Jews. Moreover, you say, loosely quoting Kerr, “up to 200,000 refugee Jews may have been murdered by escaped Nazi war criminals.” Where were these Jews murdered? And when? I’ve read three reviews of Goni’s book. Two were fairly positive (Foreign Policy and The Independent) and one trashed it (The Guradian, where Goni work-s/ed). However, none of the reviews mention the murder of 200,000 Jews by escaped Nazis. And to return to the issue of denying visas to Jews (it goes without saying this demonstrated depolorable cowardice), who didn’t deny visas to Jews? As undoubtedly you are aware, at the Evian Conference and elsewhere the US did next to nothing to assist Jews attempting to leave Germany.

By: Avi K.

Avi K. — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:22:10 +0000

Ron, your link doesn’t support your claims at all. It says what is not in dispute: that the Argentine government refused entry to many European Jews, thus resulting in their death. Directive 11 was the order implementing this policy.

But what you claim is, Kerr’s research shows that 200,000 Jewish refugees were murdered in Argentina by “escaped Nazi war criminals” — that “Nazis in South America may well have continued doing what the Nazi in Europe did with such horrific proficiency.” That is an entirely different thing, and you still have provided no evidence in support of it.

You would get us somewhere if you would direct us to an additional source, perhaps one of the non-fiction variety.

By: Avi K.

Avi K. — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:54:55 +0000

I agree with Chris. Is there any evidence that this happened other than what’s written in this novel? It’s pretty obvious not, since not only do you not mention a single detail, you also have to support your argument with the use of such wishy-washy words as “may have” and “aparently” [sic]. The systematic murder of 200,000 people is not something obscure or uncertain: it either happened or it didn’t.

Take note of the recent spate of fraudulent Holocaust memoirs, Ron. You only serve the interests of holocaust deniers when you pass along wrong information what really happened.