Letters, May 21, 1945

"Lest We Forget"

Sirs:

Despite the slow seepage of horror from earlier reports, I was unprepared for your account [TIME, April 30] of the German concentration camps. Erla—the trapped, clawing, burning men; Buchenwald—the massive cordwood of the starved dead; Belsen—the small children, "too nearly dead themselves to cry," nestled against the rotting bodies of their mothers.

Let us have an international Day of Remembrance after this war, with persistent requiem music such as recently honored one man of good will—remembrance for those who died innocent and helpless, as well as for those who died active in combat for them.

Lest we forget, let us not pretty up these sites. Let their preservation be scrupulous in every detail. Let their numbers and distribution be sufficient so every German—with Allied encouragement, if necessary—be acquainted with them with Teutonic thoroughness. Let them be accessible to people of all countries as one of the distinguishing monuments of our time. . . .

HAZEL M. WIGGERS Chicago

Sirs:

. . . These brutal, insane and inhuman acts should make it the business of each and every one of us to see that all Germans and Japs in any way connected with perpetrating and executing these crimes be quickly brought to trial and shot. These pictures should allay the American misconception that the only German criminals are those in high places and that the mass of Germans are innocent, God-fearing people, victims of circumstances. . . .

(Cn. SP. Q.) ALBERT A. GOLDBERG Norfolk, Va.

Sirs:

. . . There has been much talk about the re-education of the Nazi. How about starting right now in prison camps over here by showing them all the pictures of the Nazi horror camps—the pictures that have hurt the rest of us so badly—and by telling them all the details? Let them know they come from a race of monsters, that there will never be reason for pride in a German.

(MISS) H. C. Wordeman New York City

Sirs:

. . You have rendered a great public service in obtaining from your correspondents such vivid and unforgettable descriptions of seemingly indescribable conditions at Buchenwald, Belsen, Erla and Nordhausen. . . . May I add a reference to a leaflet which the Germans widely distributed among our armed forces as they were advancing from the West? This leaflet was entitled Brain Splitters for Suckers Only. On the second page of the leaflet appears this question: "And have you talked to an eye witness of German atrocities?" Your article is an answer to that question. On the second page of the leaflet they add this observation: "The German people are just as decent as you and your folks." Your article is likewise an answer to that statement.

NAT SCHMULOWITZ

San Francisco 32nd or 33rd?

Sirs: