Eight Pieces of Silk Quotes

“The imprisonment of captured Allied soldiers in concentration camps was in open contravention of the Geneva Convention rules of war — of which Germany was a signatory — and thus was unlawful. The Red Cross could have tried to have the captured Allied soldiers transferred to lawful POW camps which were run in accordance with Geneva Convention rules. Sadly, most of the captured soldiers whom the Germans incarcerated in various concentration camps perished along with the Jews, under cruel and subhuman conditions.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“History must never forget what the Germans and their eager partners, the Hungarians, Poles, Slovaks, Romanians, Ukrainians, and Yugoslavs, did to the Jewish people and to the world. It is fundamentally important for the world to read about the bestial behavior of these white-gloved monsters, and to know of their unspeakable atrocities committed during the most brutal seven-year period of human history.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“There would likely have never been a “Jewish Problem” to resolve, had not the 1,700 years of adamant anti-Semitic teachings of Constantine I, the first Christian Roman Emperor, initiated it.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“the Jewish community paid a bitter and ultimate price for their leaders’ ineptitude.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“The Jewish leadership, individually and collectively, failed in their responsibilities. They kept quiet about solid information presented to them and failed to advise the Jewish population. They did not tell them of the grave dangers that were looming. Our leaders lacked good judgment, and they missed opportunities. In their defense, I must say that they had never been trained in dealing with such monstrous threats as those facing us. With their limited knowledge of world affairs, they tried to lead a broken people who were living among a vicious population.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“It pains me to say that the collective paralysis of both religious and lay leadership was unforgivable. They seem to have existed in such a state of denial that their minds failed to register the clear and obvious threats emanating from our enemies.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“Our Jewish leaders obviously knew about the various anti-Semitic reports from 1939 through 1943, and about the deportation of 60,000 Slovakian Jews to the killing fields of Germany, Poland and the Ukraine. Yet, these reports were utterly silenced — disregarded! False hopes and hallucination were the diet fed to the Jewish public.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“On October 5, 1999, at a Cleveland Jewish Community Center event sponsored by the Cleveland Chapter of the American Jewish Committee, a Catholic Priest, Rev. John Pawlikowsky, declared:[1] “The Christian tradition of anti-Semitism was not marginal to attitudes of church piety. They were central.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“Several clandestine Christian groups and others operated a number of secret escape routes. Organizations called the routes “rat lines” or “rat routes.” ODESSA and other groups provided the SS and other Nazi escapees with false papers, a supply of cash and fully paid travel tickets. They successfully planned and funded the escape and resettlement of countless Nazi murderers and their sympathizers into many different countries.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“It was truly amazing how in the midst of so much hunger, death and destruction, the addiction to cigarettes was so unbelievably high.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“Upon return to their former Polish homeland after World War II, 1,500 Polish-Jewish war partisans and concentration camp survivors were murdered. Unpredictably, the surviving Jews’ fatal error was to try to return to their former homes, farms, and businesses to claim what was lawfully theirs. Many Polish anti-Semites did not like that idea, to the point that they were willing to murder the legal owners.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“Therefore, the Germans “stored” the overflow of victims in nearby containment blocks. My mother and sister Gizi were among those “stored” for later annihilation.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“In one mode of a button game, the winner was one that could precisely, correctly and powerfully ‘strike’ his button against a wall, such that it would bounce back and land close to another player’s button sitting on the playground”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“Our wonderful democracy and freedom as we know it today in the United States of America can change, and we must therefore always have vigilance on our side.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“Don’t park your brain on the street just because you went inside to listen to an opinion. It is good to keep an open mind, but do not let your brains fall out. (Dr. Joan Borysenko, Ph.D.) Ignorance may be temporary while stupidity can last a life-time. Life, freedom, and independence are profoundly worth defending — but historically, this has always required a superior and well-trained military force.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“When pressure and turmoil increased, some leaders chose their own survival first. (az) Just because leaders issue pronouncements, it does not mean that you have to roll over, park your brain and play dead. Traditionally, so-called “small leaders” are coerced into teamwork by the know-it-all, so-called “Big Leaders.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“Be aware of your political surroundings as the very safety of your family may depend on it.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“The immense power of propaganda must never be underestimated.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“Do not assign to strangers the responsibility for decisions that are rightfully yours. You and you alone are your most reliable final advisor.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“There is no boundary to the human mind’s capacity to deceive its very owner.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“Choose your leaders with care.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“Misleading the public can be quite easy when the listeners do not have all the facts.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“The naiveté of a large assortment of leaders continues to be unmistakably demonstrated when they fail to believe the clearly announced threats of their sworn enemies. (az)”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“Having my basic human freedoms torn from me by ruthless and malicious governments, I am forever grateful for all the wonderful opportunities this great democratic country provides and will forever treasure the liberties guaranteed under its wise and protective constitution.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“I listened carefully and sincerely appreciated when friends suggested corrections.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“I landed in this breathtaking and free country which I deeply love, respect and support.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“It must be fully recognized that the murderous SS men and women were not drafted or forced into the SS service. They were full-fledged volunteers. In fact, every Axis-country citizen was eligible to sign-up for the SS — so long as he/she was certified as being trustworthy by known Nazis. The legitimate DP groups were deeply distressed that the vast majority of SS personnel successfully”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“The Nazis from these areas were most afraid to go home — with good reason. They feared severe prosecution in the harsh Communist-oriented courts for the massive number of murders they committed during their brutal and vicious Nazi years. For”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“These SS men feared to return to their hometowns, yet felt safe in the DP camps where they easily obtained and lived with newly created identities, a luxury not easily available to them at home. Upon receiving their newly registered (= invented) names in the DP camps, many thousands moved to different cities in their home country. Countless numbers disappeared with new identities into South America, Canada and elsewhere. An inestimable number of them immigrated to and melded into the USA.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children

“We lay trapped in the DP camps. We didn’t want to go back to the countries that had betrayed us. On the other hand, the world outside was not ready to accept us or let us back into our historic homeland. We had a few good Jewish representatives, but we had no military or the political or financial means to handle our precarious situation. We were powerless.”
― Al Zelczer, Eight Pieces of Silk: What I Could Not Tell My Children