Dear Mr. Huckabee,
I am not Jewish. I am a half Irish, half German catholic 100% American. You, and your rhetoric are a disgrace to the United States of America. Your comments were insensitive and offensive, and before even the first debate have disqualified you for the Presidency of the United States. The thing that struck me the most was your assertion that you have been to Auschwitz three times. If it is true, then this fact alone makes you an abomination to your fellow man!
Let me clue you in, I've been there and done that. As I grew up I was a war historian in school, and outside of it. Not that I was a bloodthirsty lad, but the tactics of battle, and the politics of nations ensnared my imagination. At the age of 17, my family went on a trip to Germany. During that trip, we went to the concentration camp of Dachau, on the Polish border, and three days later to the extermination camp at Auschwitz. And do you know what? I never want to go back to either place again!
First, you notice the silence. When you get out of the car the sound of the door closing echoes for miles. Then you notice the stillness, no birds flying overhead, no bugs on the ground, no grass or weeds growing, no animals skittering around, this is truly desecrated and desolate earth. And that's just the parking lot.
Arbeit Macht Frei. Work shall set you free. A cruel joke, there's only ONE freedom here.
You walk through those gates and the very air is heavy and oppressed, it's hard to breathe. Noise is muffled, people speak in whispers, the souls of the damned are all around you. The camps have been updated for safety's sake. Only one or two of the original bunkhouses survive, for a reference point. The rest of the barracks have been razed, replaced with 6" high slats marking the dimensions, filled with white gravel. A trip up the stairs to a corner guard tower gives you the layout of the camp, just imagine 2-3 story barracks anywhere you see long, rectangular pits of white gravel.
The Administration building is the museum, and you won't sleep for a week. Walls covered, panels hanging from the ceilings, all covered with photos of man's inhumanity to man. And even more obscene, all in black and white, just like the original "Night of the Living Dead" was so much more chilling and effective in black and white.
The "showers" can barely be entered. The knowledge of that occurred here dares you to have the balls to step across that threshold and risk it.
And then the crematorium. The piece de la resistance, the centerpiece of any camp experience. It is surprisingly dull and workmanlike. Tile floors are made of tile for easy cleaning, and a whole wall with doors separated by about 24". The doors are nothing spectacular or evil, made of steel or iron, about 12-14" high, approximately 30-36" wide, with a grate in the center to check the progress. It's the realization of what was put INTO those ovens that raises the hairs on the back of the neck, puts the goosebumps on your arms, and blows a foul, cool breeze over your entire body.
Having seen, and experienced all of this, here is my question for you. Three ffreakin' times Mr. Huckabee??? I was no wilting violet and once each was more than enough for me! And I can pretty well guarantee you that the British, American and Russian troops who liberated those camps never wanted to step inside the gates of those cursed grounds again.
THREE freaking times Mr. Huckabee??? What IS there about that unholy and obscene place that fascinates you so much?