Father Dennis McManus warned the audience that his presentation would not be an uplifting talk.
As the keynote speaker at the 30th annual Sam Miller Catholic/Jewish Colloquium on April 16 at the Center for Pastoral Leadership in Wickliffe, his topic was ?Still with us: The Holocaust?s Legacy in War, Genocides, Racial and Ethnic Conflicts.? He delivered sobering statistics and realities, sprinkled with some bits of positive news.
Father McManus is a visiting associate professor of Jewish civilization and director of the Jan Karski Institute for Holocaust Education at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He has taught courses on the history of Christian-Jewish conflict, autobiography of the Holocaust and the theory and practice of interreligious dialogue. He also served as a consultant for Jewish affairs at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. For the past 21 years, he has served on the board of directors of the Anti-Defamation League/USCCB joint program in Holocaust education, known as Bearing Witness.
He said some genocides are over, but others continue. ?When I go to Eastern Europe and close my eyes, it?s like I?m back in 1939,? he said. ?What we thought we?d put behind us is still there,? he added, cautioning, ?It could happen again.?
Father McManus said the Holocaust legacy as a genocide continues to influence human behavior. He said extremist groups like ISIS study the Nazi ?playbook? for the Holocaust and use many of the same principles for mass extermination of those they consider threats.
The Jews are still blamed by some for things in which they bear no guilt, including the belief that they are responsible for the murder of Jesus
