Not so “great, glorious and correct”
1. There’s one tragic episode that illustrates - in a puzzling way - the
lack of humanity of those who follow insane orders without questioning
them. It occurred during the Second World War in the French village of
Oradour-sur-Glane, in June 1944. Having received information that a SS
commander was being held by the French Resistance in Oradour-sur-Vayres,
the SS mistook it for nearby Oradour-sur-Glane, which was sealed off.
Ernst-Günther Schenck, a doctor and SS member, wrote a memoir detailing the gruesome episode in which the entire village was decimated: “The peak of horror is not reached by the fact that, as an act of revenge, a whole town has been reduced to ashes. The entire male population shot and all women and children locked up and burned in the church. If such a thing had been done in a delirium of hatred, aroused by a savage fight, it would have been gruesome enough, but somehow humanly understandable… But the ‘Elite Guards’ who had received this order carried it out with utter calmness and placidity. They assembled the women and children with pronounced kindness. The mothers were moved by so much tender care on the part of these dreaded men who were hugging the children, playing and joking with them, taking them gently into their arms, and placing them carefully into the perambulators. Their behavior was such that the mothers followed them confidently into the church as if they all went to some feast of atonement. After all the women and children had gathered in the church, the doors were closed and the mass murder began.”
Ernst-Günther Schenck goes on to explain his interpretation of the criminals’ modus operandi: “I am convinced that these ‘Elite Guards’ did not feel the slightest shade of hatred against the French children when they held them in their arms. Some of them, in this moment, might even have though of home and might have toyed with the idea of fondling their own child. And I am equally convinced that, if a counter order had arrived they would have continued to play daddy… But, befehl ist befehl [and order is an order]. What kind of human beings are these?”
2. Confucianism teaches the concept of “filial piety,” meaning the respect for age, seniority and hierarchy. This concept has many virtues if used with compassion and kindness. But it also can lead to political aberrations, like the North Korean regime.
“An order is an order”… I though about that concept when trying to imagine what was going through the plainclothes Judiciary Police (PJ) agents when they tried to grab a petition from the hand of a reporter who was wearing a journalist’s pass during Wu Bangguo’s visit.
Of course there are explicit and implicit orders, and it’s obvious that the local authorities did all they could to make the National People’s Congress Standing Committee Chairman’s visit to Macau a perfect one. We can’t say for now that there was an explicit order to intimidate the reporters. But the nonsensical decision of trying to seize news materials from journalists (besides shouting at them and even blocking their cameras with hands and damaging material) is illegal (the Basic Law protects the freedom of the press) and sets a dangerous precedent.
The PJ has another version of the facts, which I quote: “In response to some journalists who complained that our agents have tried to take away some pamphlets that were in their possession, our initial examination shows it’s possibly a misunderstanding on the part of our staff.”
Let’s hope it was just a misunderstanding; but the harm is done. Wu Bangguo’s visit was tainted by an incident which got out of proportion because the police zealously shot itself in the foot. Thus the visit ended not being so “great, glorious and correct.
(in MDT)
Ernst-Günther Schenck, a doctor and SS member, wrote a memoir detailing the gruesome episode in which the entire village was decimated: “The peak of horror is not reached by the fact that, as an act of revenge, a whole town has been reduced to ashes. The entire male population shot and all women and children locked up and burned in the church. If such a thing had been done in a delirium of hatred, aroused by a savage fight, it would have been gruesome enough, but somehow humanly understandable… But the ‘Elite Guards’ who had received this order carried it out with utter calmness and placidity. They assembled the women and children with pronounced kindness. The mothers were moved by so much tender care on the part of these dreaded men who were hugging the children, playing and joking with them, taking them gently into their arms, and placing them carefully into the perambulators. Their behavior was such that the mothers followed them confidently into the church as if they all went to some feast of atonement. After all the women and children had gathered in the church, the doors were closed and the mass murder began.”
Ernst-Günther Schenck goes on to explain his interpretation of the criminals’ modus operandi: “I am convinced that these ‘Elite Guards’ did not feel the slightest shade of hatred against the French children when they held them in their arms. Some of them, in this moment, might even have though of home and might have toyed with the idea of fondling their own child. And I am equally convinced that, if a counter order had arrived they would have continued to play daddy… But, befehl ist befehl [and order is an order]. What kind of human beings are these?”
2. Confucianism teaches the concept of “filial piety,” meaning the respect for age, seniority and hierarchy. This concept has many virtues if used with compassion and kindness. But it also can lead to political aberrations, like the North Korean regime.
“An order is an order”… I though about that concept when trying to imagine what was going through the plainclothes Judiciary Police (PJ) agents when they tried to grab a petition from the hand of a reporter who was wearing a journalist’s pass during Wu Bangguo’s visit.
Of course there are explicit and implicit orders, and it’s obvious that the local authorities did all they could to make the National People’s Congress Standing Committee Chairman’s visit to Macau a perfect one. We can’t say for now that there was an explicit order to intimidate the reporters. But the nonsensical decision of trying to seize news materials from journalists (besides shouting at them and even blocking their cameras with hands and damaging material) is illegal (the Basic Law protects the freedom of the press) and sets a dangerous precedent.
The PJ has another version of the facts, which I quote: “In response to some journalists who complained that our agents have tried to take away some pamphlets that were in their possession, our initial examination shows it’s possibly a misunderstanding on the part of our staff.”
Let’s hope it was just a misunderstanding; but the harm is done. Wu Bangguo’s visit was tainted by an incident which got out of proportion because the police zealously shot itself in the foot. Thus the visit ended not being so “great, glorious and correct.
(in MDT)
Etiquetas: Crónica
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