Lives Undeserving of Life?

Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling

Before Germany and Austria finally agreed to allow thousands of immigrants to cross their borders, it appeared once again that thousands of fleeing refugees would become casualties of "lives undeserving of life."(1) Indeed, and starting in 1941, millions of so-called undesirables across Europe were also considered "lives undeserving of life." But their fate was boxcars to Auschwitz instead of buses or marches to nowhere.

It might sound like an outrageous comparison, but the refugees fleeing war-torn regions in southwest Asia were either prevented from boarding trains or turned away from Budapest's main railway terminus. Unwanted by Hungarian authorities, and suspended in time without food and water, police blocked and then pushed back the surging immigrants, with at least one man being killed by riot police.(2)

Meanwhile, thousands of other refugees fleeing war-torn regions were stuck for days, sometimes even weeks, in makeshift camps. Despite sweltering heat, some decided to begin marching, their momentary destination a 170km journey to the border crossing between Hungary and Austria. As Hungarian authorities debated tough new anti-immigration laws and security issues, Germany and Austria finally relented.

It is ironic that the West's refugee crisis is a creation of its own illiberalism. The U.S. preemptive invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, for example, produced millions of refugees, as did the military coup in Libya, or the ongoing attempts to overthrow Syria and Yemen. Additionally, exploitive economic policies, a global arms trade, and an unresolved Palestinian catastrophe have simply added to a massive humanitarian crisis.

Furthermore, the U.S.' devastating war against Iraq created the Islamic State. Additionally, a newly-declassified CENTCOM document revealed that the 24 nation anti-ISIL Coalition, consisting of Germany, Austria, France, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, and the United States, has killed a "significant number of civilians" in some 6,500 air strikes. In one case, Canada killed up to 27 civilians in a Syrian aerial attacks.(3)

The family of Aylan Kurdi, the three-year-old whose lifeless body washed up on a barren Turkish beach, and whose image triggered horrified reactions around the world, was actually a Syrian-Kurdish refugee trying to reach Canada. Although Canada had rejected his family's request for asylum, they still were trying to reach the North American country. Aylan died along with his 5-year-old brother Galip and his mother, Rehan.

Another refugee, a 13-year-old boy from Syria, one of among many "lives undeserving of life" casualties, explained the refugee crisis perfectly when he exclaimed: "Just stop the war in Syria-and we will return. We don't want to go to Europe."(3) From young to old and handicapped to sickly, Syrians, Libyans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Yemenis, and many others are in need of a destination, a place where they again belong.

Consequently, Auschwitz is the name of a specific death camp, an archetypal symbol of the evil engendered by the Holocaust. In fact, the gas chambers and crematoria at Auschwitz were the culmination of a process of assembly line killing, and stand as eternal witness to the convergence of a sick and fanatical ideology, popular imaginary fears, and a false need of greater "living spaces."(5)

General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, described the horrors of one such death camp, including the indisputable evidence of Nazi brutality and ruthless disregard for life. "Up to that time," he said, "I had known about it only generally...or assumed that the stories were just propaganda. I am certain, however, that I have never at any other time experienced an equal sense of shock."(6)

What is the excuse of a supposedly more humane and modernized Europe and U.S.? Unfortunately, and as thousands of more immigrants continue to flee their war-torn nations, unlearned lessons remain. Refugees have been referred to as "swarms of people," the same language used to describe pests. Others have been tattooed with certain marks, reminiscent of the tattooing which occurred in Europe's concentration camps.

Still, other immigrants are either walking or being loaded on buses to nowhere. As for the refugees like Aylan Kurdi, their destination had already been decided by a ruthless and global assembly line-like war machine. Their deaths were reinforced with sick and fanatical ideologies coupled with popular and reactionary imaginary fears. Their lives, evidently, were undeserving of life.

In a world which ensures that some lives are undeserving of life, genocide and Final Solutions can take many "civilized" forms. Is the same true of willing or passive executioners? Fortunately, some still believe all lives deserve life. The charity workers that just assisted exhausted but surprised refugees crossing into Austria serve as another archetype, an eternal witness of goodness, compassion, and inclusive living space.(7)

Dallas Darling (darling@wn.com)

(Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John's Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.worldnews.com. You can read more of Dallas' writings at www.beverlydarling.com and wn.com//dallasdarling.)

(1) Jones, Adam. Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction. New York, New York: Routledge Publishers, 2006., p. 27

(2) www.bbc.com. "Migrants Stranded as Hungary Bars Them from Rail Station." September 1, 2015.

(3) www.commondreams.org. "CENTCOM Document Reveals Coalition's Hidden Carnage in Syria and Iraq," by Chris Woods., September 4, 2015.

(4) www.rawstory.com. "Syrian Boy Explains Refugee Crisis Perfectly: Just Stop the War-and We Don't Want to Go to Europe," by Travis Gettys. September 9, 2015.

(5) Charny, Israel W. Encyclopedia of Genocide. Denver, Colorado: ABC-CLIO Publishers, 1999., p. 299.

(6) Ibid., p. 296.

(7) www.independent.com. "Warm Welcome for Thousands of Exhausted Migrants Who Crossed from Hungary to Austria Overnight." September 5, 2015.