Why have it taken so long to prosecute former Nazi’s, that we still see cases popping up today?
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Thanks OP, this is a fascinating read.
Also thanks to u/montanunion for a comprehensive read. I appreciate the time you took to explain.
There is a cynical (but probably true) reason. The “glue” that holds the Jewish community together is the sense that Jews have always been a persecuted people. By observing Jewish traditions, you honor your ancestors and remind each other of that history. If you’ve ever attended a Passover seder, you would have observed that the stories read from the books retell the hardships going back to ancient Egypt.
Meanwhile, the Jewish community across the world is doing *extremely* well today. This is a credit to the community, but it makes it a tad harder to maintain the paranoia of being a persecuted people. Yes, you still have the occasional vandal spray painting a swastika on a synagogue or menorah, prompting a bringing together for a vigil and protest. But those incidents are spotty and fade away quickly.
Holocaust remembrance on the other hand is a big deal. Today, with there being no remaining sadistic concentration camp guards and officers to prosecute, the only thing left is people more loosely connected to the atrocities. Once they’re gone, Holocaust remembrance becomes a much less powerful agent for binding the community together. Therefore there’s an urgency to bring those people into the public eye, and the clout to make to make that happen.
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