Editor, the Gauntlet,
[Re: “Pro life display offensive,” March 30, 2006]
I want to thank Sarah Laemon on behalf of my Oma and Opa, as well as my Aunt Greta, for her letter admonishing the pro-life display. I was personally hurt when I saw the pictures of genocide displayed. Did the pro-life protestors not stop to consider the feelings of those whose families were involved in these atrocities? I realize that you are going for shock value to try to prove your point, and I applaud you for exercising your democratic rights, but you crossed a line between making a point and just being insensitive.
I cannot imagine what my Aunt Greta would say if she had seen that. Her entire family was murdered in Auschwitz. She only survived because my Oma and Opa risked their lives, and the lives of their four small children, to hide her and keep her safe throughout the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.
I don’t care if you are pro-life or pro-choice. I realize that not everyone is going to have the same point of view as I do. I accept that and respect that. I think you would receive a much better reaction if you adopted a campaign that was informative and respectful.
I ask you, pro-life club, to stop exploiting a very painful time in my family’s history for the purpose of furthering your own agenda. That is not what we are supposed to have learned from such atrocities in history.