Holocaust reminder

Once again, Ken Burns and his associates have provided us with a thoughtful and amazing documentary on PBS. It is also timely in an unexpected way. “The

U.S. and the Holocaust” shows the maps of Hitler’s incursions into the Sudetenland and other areas which England’s Neville Chamberlain endorsed, and it has left me even more appalled at the Russian claims to vast swaths of Ukraine. There have been some in the West who think Ukraine should allow Vladimir Putin to “annex” some of those territories as a way to end the war—just another version of appeasement.

Can anyone dream that Putin would stop there? Czechoslovakia was just the beginning for Hitler; Poland became his next target. Putin has repeatedly stated his desire to “reunite” the former countries of the USSR. It would take only the least opportunity for him to pursue that effort. At the beginning of the Ukraine invasion many Americans were extremely vocal in supporting the smaller nation against their giant neighbor. We happily displayed the yellow and blue of Ukraine’s flag, planted sunflowers, and urged our government to provide weapons. We cheered the country’s now serious president, who had once made his fellow citizens laugh at his comedy on television.

I applaud the support President Biden and our Congress continue to provide, but I want to be sure we don’t suffer war weariness as the fighting continues. Putin is pushing the limits of Russian endurance in his latest call for more troops and a resupply of armaments. If there is any justice, this could be his undoing, but as much as I care for some of the Russian people I have come to know over the years, I doubt that the general populace is likely to rise up against their police state. The Ukrainian people, on the other hand, have shown incredible strength in fighting for their nation’s survival. Let us continue to hope they succeed.

MARY DEE TAYLOR

Little Rock