Demjanjuk was not just `doing his job'

I just finished reading the letter in The Chronicle by Larry Rowland defending John Demjanjuk. I can't believe my eyes! I'm shocked, appalled, angry, and scared all at once.

First, to dismiss John Demjanjuk's actions during World War II as a man simply doing his job is a bunch of crap. If this excuse is his defense in court then the only thing to say about Mr. Demjanjuk is that he is a coward who has no mind of his own to stand up for his own beliefs. If he really believed in his "job," then he doesn't deserve anything. In addition, to belittle Hitler's actions as a few "mistakes" is not only nauseating, but inaccurate; try 11 million mistakes!

Mr. Demjanjuk had options. There were thousands of families who put their lives on the line to help Jews and many others escape persecution. Many of these people died for their heroic actions, but at least they never had to use the pathetic excuse of, "I was just doing my job."

What bothers and scares me the most are the statements that Mr. Rowland so casually makes about how many people died, and how we should simply forgive and forget. We must never forget! His statement that most people died because there was a shortage of food, and the soldiers in the field needed food shows his lack of education and reality. Do me a favor, Mr. Rowland, and talk to someone who miraculously survived a concentration camp. Hear firsthand how innocent men, women and children were stripped naked, shaved bald, raped, beaten, separated from their families and slaughtered to be used as fertilizer, or skinned to make lampshades. The atrocities are endless--and yet you have the unmitigated gall to shrug it off and say "forgive and forget"?

Finally, the last comment I must address is that regarding gun control. I find it ironic that you want the country to go back to being safe enough to leave our doors open, yet you support the right for people to bear arms. It is precisely the fact that so many crazy people have guns that it is so unsafe to leave our doors open in today`s world. The fact that ten year-old children and teenagers walk around shooting each other is exactly why we need gun control in this country. Furthermore, it is your fellow members of the Nazi party that I fear the most as a human being, and especially as a Jew. The fact that Nazis here are armed keep me awake at night.

In a nutshell, Mr. Rowland, get a clue! Your statements are unfounded and very disturbing. I wish you could go to Israel and walk through Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial. Or better yet the Holocaust Memorial in Washington, D.C., which is a little closer to home. After looking at the pictures and reading the documented facts, and watching the people walking through crying as they read for the first time what happened to lost family members, then come back and tell me just how great Hitler was. If your mind still isn't changed, then you are just as demented as Hitler was.

Our grandparents are the last generation that lived through the Holocaust; after they are gone there will be no more first-hand stories to be told in person. This fact scares me. It is also the reason why we must never forget what took place during World War II. This is my duty as a Jew and everyone's responsibility as human beings.

Dana Miller