The exaggerated, ecstatic coverage of Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel's appointment as commander of the Israel Air Force underscored his part in the F-15 squad flyover the Auschwitz concentration camp. Three state-of-the-art combat planes flew over the ruins of the death camp in this airborne show of strength led by Eshel in 2003. This showcase sortie was trumpeted as the highlight of his army service.
At first, this would appear to bear witness to the Jewish people's heightened consciousness of the past, a phenomenon attested to in a recent survey that found 98 percent of Jews in this country view the memory of the Holocaust as the most important foundation of the people's existence. But in actual fact the flyover was a grotesque and controversial historical masquerade. It reflected the fact that most Israelis view the Holocaust through a prism that filters out everything else. That's easy to understand, in light of the trauma's dimensions, but the viewpoint occludes a large portion of reality.
History texts this year will note not only the anniversary of the Wannsee Conference, which marked the start of the "Final Solution," the onset of systematic extermination: In 1942 Allied forces also stifled the Nazi army's momentum. From that point the tables were turned, and foundations were laid for a postwar reality that would govern Europe for decades to come. Perhaps these postwar arrangements are now passe, on the verge of final collapse. The flames that erupted this week in Athens are liable to spread to neighboring countries, in a "Greece first" sort of chain reaction.
A gloomy, though not inconceivable, scenario forecasts 2012 as a year of internal collapse in Europe, this time not due to military circumstances but as a result of socioeconomic trends. The gravest feelings of despair are felt on the European periphery, far from the media spotlight. Anyone who has visited Greece or Portugal recently can report on stagnation in urban locales, on ghost towns bereft of hope.
America was largely responsible for liberating the western part of the continent from the ravages of World War II, via the implementation of the ambitious Marshall Plan, officially known as the European Recovery Program. Its main idea was to replace military forces with an economic-democratic foundation, while providing incentives for collaboration and mutual aid. In financial terms adjusted to today's currency values, the United States disbursed about $100 billion to the continent. President Harry S. Truman and Secretary of State George Marshall had to deal with an isolationist-minded Congress led by a Republican majority. It wasn't until April 1948, three years after the war ended, that the Marshall Plan went into effect.
The problem is that the United States under President Barack Obama, assuming he is elected to a second term, cannot save Europe this time. The American public's patience for foreign intervention of any sort has worn thin, owing to the reckless adventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. America is mired in a crisis of its own.
In its day, the Marshall Plan's most important rehabilitative effects were felt in Germany. In an intriguing historical irony, Berlin is today considered the leader of efforts to save the continent. Over the last year, the Germans have been gnashing their teeth, hesitating to fully carry out the role of the savior. In Greece, Germany is already viewed as the real boss, as something between a nursery-school teacher and a repo agent for a bankrupt factory. This situation is fraught with tension. Last week I met in Jerusalem with jurists and other civilian experts, some of whom were from Germany and Greece. Tension between them was palpable.
A recent headline in Haaretz announced that "Germany lacks funds to go after Nazi war criminals." That is just as well. Last year's trial of John Demjanjuk was a farce. There's no point in Germany's chasing after 90-year-old war criminals, just as Israel's planes have no reason to fly over Auschwitz.
It's important to learn from the past, but the real challenges are to be found in the present and future.
