First, a history lesson.
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe At Night – By Drrcs15 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (or as it is known by its shorter name, the “Holocaust Memorial”) was built in Berlin as a memorial to the millions of Jews killed by Nazi Germany in the Holocaust during World War 2. The Memorial is made up of 2711 rectangular concrete slabs of varying height. From afar, it resembles a graveyard full of unmarked tombs. A portion of this Memorial is dedicated to detailing the history of “The Final Solution,” the name for the Nazi plan for the extermination of Jews.
Although there are no actual graves in the Holocaust Memorial, it serves as a reminder of a dark time in human history, when people were treated as less than animals, when human life was considered inconvenient and disposable, when men, women, and children were killed for no other reason than an accident of birth into a belief, a culture, and a social strata of society.
That all said:
What was THAT all about, Vice President Robredo?
I hope you weren’t going for a “The Mafia Never Forgets” look, because that’s what you nailed
Wala bang ni isa sa inyo ang nag-isip na, “Um, teka, parang medyo OA naman yata ang posing natin considering what this place is?”
Look. It’s bad enough that we have Filipinos who are Holocaust deniers. It’s bad enough that we have lawyers who idolize Hitler. It’s bad enough that we have a sitting President who believes that his “war on drugs” will be better than the Hitler-led Jewish Holocaust – and is doing his damnedest to make his belief a reality.
It is bad enough that the Philippines is now going through its own twisted version of a Holocaust, under the guise of “protecting” Filipinos from “drug personalities.”
And then this?
I know this is unsolicited advice, but please listen:
This.
Is.
Wrong.
Please.
Apologize.
Granted, using the Holocaust Memorial as a background for Cosmopolitan Magazine-esque posing isn’t nearly a fraction as bad as being a Hitler fan or a Holocaust denier, but come on. You should know better, VP Robredo. We don’t use objects of symbolism and meaning as props for some cheap photo-op. We don’t act as if history doesn’t matter.
We don’t trivialize mass murder.
We don’t trivialize atrocities.
We aren’t ka-DDS. Please lang, let’s not act like it.
And hey, before the Outrage Crowd hops onto the High Horse BandwagonTM, let me say this: I still respect and support you VP Robredo. It is out of this respect that I am writing this and hoping it somehow reaches you, and that you consider what I have to say.
Because abandoning the people whom we voted into office and who deserve our support is also an atrocity.
