Reader feedback: Acknowledge the facts

Re: Europe remembers, Volume 11, Number 4, January 31 - February 6, 2005

It would have been nice to hear something more specific from Dzurinda. It seems from this article he only made very short general remarks.

Has any Slovak president or prime minister ever said, "What we did was wrong and, our Roma and Jewish communities are still suffering today as a result of what happened in Auschwitz"?

Is it ever mentioned in any school in Slovakia how many Jews there were in the country before World War II and how many after? How many Roma? How many Roma and Sinti in the Czech lands?

Is the psychology of blaming the victim after the fact ever discussed? This basic human behaviour can only be altered through education.

Where are we today? Why are we obsessed with blame? Obviously the leaders of countries in this region have not taken the lead in resolving these issues.

With all the potential that Eastern Europe had in the early 90s and still has, I still hope that leaders in the region will live up to my expectations of stepping up to the plate and take initiatives to act as leaders rather than as second-class citizens.

I don't hold Eastern Europeans to a lower standard than anyone else or expect less. If anything I expect more, because the environment is far more flexible and dynamic than it is in Western Europe.

The potential for greatness is there in Slovakia, in society, government and business. I look forward to the day I can see it flourish.

BB,
Munich, Germany

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