Path: csiph.com!v102.xanadu-bbs.net!xanadu-bbs.net!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!aioe.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Rod Pemberton" Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth Subject: Re: OT: translation of "sonderkommando" Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 05:04:39 -0500 Organization: Aioe.org NNTP Server Lines: 82 Message-ID: References: <4cfdf86c-3b03-4191-95b1-00f3cc8d8402@googlegroups.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: i+Urkql2cL38hhKqzSWEjg.user.speranza.aioe.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; format=flowed; delsp=yes Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Complaints-To: abuse@aioe.org User-Agent: Opera Mail/12.16 (Linux) X-Notice: Filtered by postfilter v. 0.8.2 Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.forth:34663 On Wed, 26 Nov 2014 20:24:21 -0500, wrote: > So, once again, my question is: What was so "special" about the > sonderkommando? They seem to be pretty typical soldiers, drafted into > the army and given an unpleasant job, but making the best of it. During > WWII, America drafted our boys into the U.S. Army. Many of them may have > felt queasy about the fire-bombing of Dresden, Tokyo, etc., that > targeted women and children, but they couldn't leave the Army because > going AWOL is a felony that can result in getting executed. During the > Vietnam war, America drafted our boys into the the U.S. Army. Many of > them may have felt queasy about the napalming of villages, that targeted > women and children, but they couldn't leave the Army because going AWOL > is a felony that can result in getting executed. So what is special > about Dario and Morris and all of the other sonderkommando? They seem to > be pretty typical soldiers. The Sonderkommando were "drafted"? They were prisoners used as slave labor. If you disregard the fact they were locked up, you might be able to make the claim of being "drafted" for German Jews, but not for the Jews of countries Germany invaded, like Hungary and Poland. You simply can't draft citizens of other countries. You generally can't draft your own country's prisoners either. You have to be free to be when drafted and free after the service. > So, once again, my question is: What was so "special" about the > sonderkommando? So, Hugh, are you really this thick? ... Howerd answered this question by calling it "sardonic" language. You're familiar with the term blue comedy, yes? What about dark humor? One form of Dark humor: "... examples in which the comedy is used to mock the victim, whose suffering is trivialized, ..." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_comedy Nazi's had a perverse, evil, darkly humorous, at least to the Nazi's, way of phrasing issues related to their "Final Solution." Wikipedia politely calls it a "vague" and "euphemistic" language on their SonderKommando page. The Jews are constantly being mocked by the Nazi's via the Nazi's names for things. Keep that in mind. Buchenwald, the name of a concentration camp where people are locked behind barbed wire, gassed, shot or burned, means "beech forest," a forest of beautiful beech trees. You'd say that's rather dark humor, yes? It's a bit like calling Chernobyl an idyllic vacation paradise because the crowds are very minimal, the water is clear, ... The slogan "Jedem das Seine" is over the main gate of Buchenwald means "to each his own,", but figuratively means in context: "you've truly earned what's coming to you such as a brutal death we're going to give you but only after we've starved you nearly to death." The slogan "Arbeit mach frei" is over the entrances to multiple Nazi concentration camps and literally means: "work makes free," but figuratively means in context: "lazy, greedy Jews who've never worked a day in their lives are going to be worked to death here." Obviously, "free" is a euphemism for your life ending in "death." The bureau which delivered the Zyklon B pellets was called the "Hygienic Institute." I.e., that's another Nazi euphemism, meaning: "it's hygenic for us to get rid of these filthy Jews." The term "Sonderkommandos" literally means "special unit," but figuratively means in context: "you're a 'special' group of people since we're going to let you live for a while, and you're 'special' since you get to do the dirtiest, most vile work we've got, and you're 'special' since you get to be tormented by the horrors of being forced to handle, bury, mutilate, and rob the corpses of other dead Jews and your own deceased loved ones, before we kill you too." So, they're "special" in the sense they carried out the acts of the "Final Solution" upon other Jews, unlike other "Kommandos" or slave labor units used for woodworking, factory work, kitchen work, etc. Are you beginning to understand know? Rod Pemberton