Where in the world is Auschwitz?

[metta 0]

Washington Post

Where in the world is Auschwitz?

Auschwitz, January 1945.

"I had an uncle who was one of the, um, who was part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps. And the story in our family is that when he came home he just went up in the attic and he didn't leave the house for six months."

--Barack Obama, Memorial Day speech, Las Cruces, NM.

In an attempt to burnish his credentials with America's veterans, Barack Obama has frequently talked about his grandfather "who served in Patton's army." He has now added a new episode to his World War II repertoire: the uncle who liberated Auschwitz. Unfortunately, the story shows that the presumptive Democratic nominee has a poor grasp of European history and geography.

The Facts

UPDATED TUESDAY 5:30 P.M.

Auschwitz is located in southern Poland, near the city of Krakow. It was liberated by the Red Army on January 27, 1945. At the time, U.S. armies were still on the western borders of Germany, a thousand miles away, regrouping after the Battle of the Bulge. The Americans had not even crossed the Rhine at this point.

The Obama campaign now says that Obama was referring to his great-uncle on his mother's side, and the camp in question was not Auschwitz, but Ohrdruf, which was part of the Buchenwald camp system in Lower Saxony. Ohrdruf was the first camp to be liberated by the Americans on April 4, 1945, and it was visited a week later by Generals Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley. Eisenhower later wrote to his wife that he "never dreamed that such cruelty, bestiality and savagery could really exist in this world."

The campaign declined to release the name of Obama's great-uncle, apparently because he is an elderly man who does not want to be disturbed by reporters. Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said that he served in the 89th Infantry Division which crossed the Rhine river in March 1945.

UPDATE TUESDAY 6 P.M.

The attempt to shield the name of the Obama relative who took part in the liberation of Ohrdruf lasted about an hour. According to the Associated Press, it is Charlie Payne, the brother of Obama's maternal grandmother, Madelyn Lee Payne.

Obama's Auschwitz claim, made during a Memorial Day appearance in New Mexico, was first reported in blog postings by Washington Post reporter Karl Vick and by CBS News. Neither report provided a direct quote, raising the possibility that Obama might have been misquoted. I asked Vick to go back and check his recording of the event.

The above quote is taken from a verbatim transcript. Prior to talking about Auschwitz, Obama mentioned his grandfather (the one in Patton's army), recalling that he did not like talking about the war. This led into a riff on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a term that Obama said was unknown during World War II and the Vietnam War. "People basically had to handle it on their own." He gave the example of his uncle who hid away in the attic after liberating Auschwitz.

Granted, it is getting late in the campaign. The candidates are tired, and prone to making silly mistakes. Many Americans might have problems distinguishing Buchenwald and Ohrdruf from Auschwitz. But should we not expect more from a Harvard-educated presidential candidate? Is it too much to ask that an aspiring commander-in-chief knows (1) that Auschwitz (like many of the other Nazi death camps) is in Poland, and (2) that the eastern advance of the U.S. Army in World War II stopped on the river Elbe? Let me know what you think.

The Pinocchio Test

Before hearing from the Obama campaign, I gave the candidate four Pinocchios for this howler. I am subtracting one Pinocchio in view of the explanation that Obama confused the two concentration camps and that the underlying story was accurate. Three Pinocchios for "significant factual errors."

(About our rating scale.)

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

This is what qualifies as misspeaking. Buchenwald, Ohrdruf, Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen - I bet you less than 10% of Americans today could point out on a map where these places are. Obama might be part of the 90% as might Hillary and McCain. Big deal.

[no name 1]

Anyone but Obama '08!

[MrsCat 6]

Anyone but Obama '08!

My sentiments exactly!

Misspoke - hahahahahaha. How does someone not know if they have an uncle, and if you're SOOOOO proud of your family's military contribution wouldn't you know the particulars. That guy has 0 substance!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Anyone but Obama '08!

My sentiments exactly!

Misspoke - hahahahahaha. How does someone not know if they have an uncle, and if you're SOOOOO proud of your family's military contribution wouldn't you know the particulars. That guy has 0 substance!

Practice pronouncing Buchenwald before you start laughing.

Anyone but Obama '08!

Same dev that said that she'll support the Democratic nominee? All talk, eh?

[Peikko 1,575]

Where in the world...

...do you get this stuff from?

This is definitely 'much ado about nothing'.

[jundp 191]

My sentiments exactly!

Misspoke - hahahahahaha. How does someone not know if they have an uncle, and if you're SOOOOO proud of your family's military contribution wouldn't you know the particulars. That guy has 0 substance!

Well, not necessarily. My dad did three tours in Viet Nam and I only know the barest of details about them. And these are facts pieced together from information gathered from my siblings, my dad's DD 214 (which I got only because I arranged his military funeral) and the tiny info he gave me.

That isn't to argue for or against Obama, just that I'm really proud of my dad, but I don't know particulars. I couldn't tell you where he was, except Saigon (at the end).

[Dr. Obvious 49]

My sentiments exactly!

Misspoke - hahahahahaha. How does someone not know if they have an uncle, and if you're SOOOOO proud of your family's military contribution wouldn't you know the particulars. That guy has 0 substance!

Well, not necessarily. My dad did three tours in Viet Nam and I only know the barest of details about them. And these are facts pieced together from information gathered from my siblings, my dad's DD 214 (which I got only because I arranged his military funeral) and the tiny info he gave me.

That isn't to argue for or against Obama, just that I'm really proud of my dad, but I don't know particulars. I couldn't tell you where he was, except Saigon (at the end).

I mostly agree. My grandfather fought for years in WWII and was actually at D-Day. He would never talk about it though. It hurt to talk about it. He tried to once, but even so many years after the fact, he couldn't get through it without crying and having to stop. We never pushed the issue.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

This is what qualifies as misspeaking. Buchenwald, Ohrdruf, Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen - I bet you less than 10% of Americans today could point out on a map where these places are. Obama might be part of the 90% as might Hillary and McCain. Big deal.

Um, I disagree somewhat on the percentages--2 and 98 make more sense than 10 and 90 given that it is the US (Canada would be 3.5 and 96.5--somewhat of an improvement over southern neighbour).

[one...two...tree 2,762]

[Ban Hammer 14,269]

just reading it, i thought something was weird - as patton's bunch was never near auschwitz.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Yea! Oblahma the pseudo war hero via his great uncle. Prolly doesnt even know his uncles name, after all he doesnt even know who he helped free.

If Oblahma would have been president back then, those ppl would prolly still be there.

[SpiritAlight 1]

You guys are rrrrough.

I'd like to envision any of us under such scrutiny remain graceful.

As far as how things have been going:

A five year old could run the country better than anyone has in the past x years.

And I mean the same for my home country.