Senator Obama, Charles Payne, and Liberation

Senator Barack Obama’s supposed “kerfuffle” over his great-uncle’s participation in the liberation of Buchenwald (he said Auschwitz) offers a unique opportunity to revisit more history of liberation during World War II. Regardless of where one sits politically, I think it is in bad form for pundits to start trying to diminish the role that Charles Payne, his great-uncle, played in WWII Europe. I’m sorry to say that many of our Jewish youth aren’t familiar with camp names and locations, and neither should we jump all over Senator Obama when his great-uncle perhaps saved many of our people.

From the 89th Infantry Division’s historical website:

Concerning the service of Mr. Charles Payne: C.T. Payne was a soldier in the 89th Infantry Division. He served in the 355th Infantry Regiment, Company K. The 355th Infantry Regiment was the unit to liberate Ohrdruf. Mr. Payne was there.

For those who seek to minimize the horrors of Ohrdruf since it was a ‘work’ camp and not a ‘death’ camp, we have but one word: shame. Ironically, this argument has been made to us time and time again by various Holocaust-deniers and other pro-Nazi groups. We will let the testimony of survivors and veterans speak for themselves.

This had a silver lining. This treasure trove of a website is one of the best WWII historical sites I have ever seen. It’s worth the visit.

I had the honor of listening to Alexander Rosner, one of the Schindler Jews, at a local college a few years ago. In his speech, as Rabbi Murray Kohn relates on the 89th website, Mr. Rosner spoke of the high regard he had for American soldiers who liberated both he and his father from Dachau (many of the Schindler Jews had been marched there from Auschwitz at the end of the war, which was not depicted in the film). Let’s remember that fact, and give Senator Obama’s great-uncle the credit he deserves.