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Yom HaShoahYom HaShoah or Holocaust Remembrance Day will be observed this year from sundown Wednesday to sundown Thursday. The Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater will honor Yom HaShoah from 6:45-8:45 p.m.
Wednesday at Ohef Sholom Temple in Norfolk.In addressing remembrance, we acknowledge Nazi crimes against humanity. Nazi collaborators also participated in the genocide.
In 1940, the French parliament voted to collaborate with Adolf Hitler. France deported nearly 77,000 Jews to camps in the east. One of the most notorious events in French history occurred on July 16-17, 1942, when police arrested 13,152 Jews and held 8,160 in a bicycle stadium known as the Vélodrome d’Hiver.
Detained for days, people suffered from lack of food, water, medicine and sanitation facilities. Then they were deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.While not all French people were Nazi collaborators, the story of the Vél d’Hiv reminds us how easy it is for nations to lose their way.
In fact, in France today, the National Day of Remembrance commemorating the atrocity of the Vél d’Hiv follows just two days after the national holiday of Bastille Day celebrating “liberty, equality, and fraternity.” Every year the country acknowledges its democratic ideals and then confronts its national betrayal.There are lessons to learn from this episode in French history.
Consider taking a few moments to remember Holocaust victims and reflect on the outcomes of racism and antisemitism.Annette Finley-Croswhite, director ODU Center for Faculty Development and history professor, NorfolkMedicaidMedicaid is so much more than health insurance.For the parents whose child is battling cancer, Medicaid is their source of hope.
For the working family struggling to put food on the table, Medicaid is the means by which they can afford to nourish themselves. For the older patient in a nursing home, Medicaid is their comfort and quality of life.Health coverage is critically important for the well-being of people in all seasons of life, and that is especially true for people with cancer.
I know this on a deeply personal level as a breast cancer survivor.Research consistently shows that expanding access to Medicaid increases insurance coverage rates among cancer patients and survivors, increasing rates of early cancer diagnoses, and improving survival rates.I am very worried that the proposed cuts to Medicaid could put cancer patients and survivors, and so many more Virginians, at risk of losing their health coverage.
Health care is essential — I hope Congress treats it that way.Kim Anderson, volunteer, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, PortsmouthCourt orderSo, the Supreme Court issued an order on Saturday to temporarily halt the deportation of certain Venezuelan citizens under the Alien Enemies Act, many of whom are accused of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang.Their case is being handled by the ACLU, which has represented many left-leaning issues in the past.
The group decries the fact that these illegals are being deported without a hearing, but there was no hearing/court appearance when they illegally dodged across our border.So, why are these noncitizens entitled to one before going back? The “A” in ACLU stands for American and these illegals are not.Stan Mason, Virginia BeachSolutionThere should be a remedy for us deporting someone to El Salvador illegally.
Since President Donald Trump is such a skilled negotiator, there should be a way to get this person released from the prison in El Salvador. In Honduras, he would be able to have his American-born children visit him. If he is tortured or dies in El Salvador it will be blood on our hands.
Moreover, out of respect for our immigration court, a solution is in our best interests.Susan Nordholm, WilliamsburgSign up for Viewpoints, an opinion newsletter.
