Letter to the Editor

Remembering and Evaluating Amalek in View of Iran
East Windsor, New Jersey 08520

The Bible, in Deuteronomy 25:17-19, commands us to remember Amalek and his actions. Who exactly was Amalek and what did they do? And lastly, why is that important today? At the time of Moses, just after the Jews left Egypt, Amalek attacked and killed many people even though there was no particular benefit to them. In fact, their hatred was so strong; they were willing to suffer significant losses to their own people in battle after attacking the Jews.

Perhaps the greatest example of this type of behavior during the twentieth century was the action of the Nazi German government at the time of the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II. A quarter of million German soldiers were at war in the Soviet city of Stalingrad. In this frigid, long-running battle the German army became very short on munitions, food and fuel. Supplies were available, but far away in Germany. Railroad transportation was desperately needed but that was a source of contention. Adolf Eichmann and his genocidal operation also needed the railroad cars for the transportation of Jews to the death camps.

A bureaucratic fight ensued that was hotly argued in Berlin. At the end of this dispute, Eichmann’s group was awarded the railroad resources. Thus, while Jews were transported to their deaths, German soldiers froze, starved and went without ammunition far away in Russia. While the Red Army also suffered heavy losses in the battle, at the end of the battle, with half of its soldiers dead, the German Army was forced to surrender. The other half was taken prisoner and almost all of them died in Soviet captivity.

In the United Nations speech by Ahmadinejad with the words of regarding the elimination of Israel, it is easy to see the sacrifice he is willing to impose on the Iranian people in order to destroy the Jewish state. Going back to the World War II scenario, think of the patriotic German mothers who sent their sons to the army only to have them freeze or starve to death or get shot and killed. In a similar way Iranian mothers should consider where their leadership is taking them and the leaders of the free world should be able to anticipate what to expect from the leadership in Tehran.

A. Horn
New Jersey