Tag Archives: hitler

The Holocaust Taught Us That No Human Being is Illegal

It is utterly loathsome to see this kind of dehumanization and Holocaust denial from anyone. But from a rabbi?

Anne Frank and millions of Jews, Roma and other ethnic or religious groups were rendered stateless for the very purpose of deporting them to death camps. Anne violated the law by hiding from authorities in a secret annex concealed in their father’s office building. She was not in the Netherlands legally because the Nazis changed the laws.

Laws do not equate morality. They do not equate ethics. They represent control and power. Sometimes they are good. Often they are reprehensible.

The Holocaust was perpetrated by a regime that stripped millions of their citizenship, even in the nations that it invaded and occupied. This regime created laws that reinforced this otherizing and demonization in order to seize their property and annihilate them. And without passports or other documents, these people were trapped, unable to flee to other countries.

This is no different than what the Trump regime is doing (and other administrations, both Democrat and Republican, have done). They are dehumanizing people based on their colour, or accent, or immigration status. They are rendering them stateless for easy internment in their concentration camps. For easy disposal.

But this is the moral bankruptcy at the heart of Zionism. A political ideology which relies on ahistorical myths and supremacy, and which cannot recognize these simple facts because doing so unravels their narrative. And thus, it makes the only choice it has left, which is to support fascism.

If the Holocaust taught us anything, it is that papers and passports are all temporary and arbitrary based on who holds power. It taught us that no human being is illegal. And no excuse made by a ruthless and brutal regime will change those immutable facts.

Kenn Maurice Orfanos, January 2026

Liberals: Stop Tone Policing Normal Responses to the Death of a Terrible Person

I was a hospice social worker for over 20 years, so I am quite familiar with death and human reactions to it. That said, I wanted to address some garbage pop psychology going around the internet the last couple days.

First, it is totally normal to feel relieved or to even feel glad when a terrible person dies. This does not mean you support the killing of that person. For example, I had a client whose father was incredibly abusive. He never made amends or apologized. In fact, he continued to be emotionally abusive. When he died, she went out to dinner with friends to celebrate. There was nothing wrong with her response to this. For her, it was cathartic.

Second, it is totally normal to feel joy about the demise of a horrible person. When the news of Hitler’s death reached people in concentration camps, they were jubilant. This was the man responsible for their enslavement and torture. He had murdered millions of people. So, celebrating the end of his reign of terror was to be expected. In fact, it would have been strange if people did not feel this.

Third, it is totally normal to laugh when an evil person dies. When Kissinger finally died, the internet exploded with humorous memes. This was because he was an evil man who was responsible for the deaths of countless people in the Global South and misery that lasts to this day. Laughing about the death of this odious person wasn’t pathological. It was an emotional release.

None of this means that a person approves of or is reveling in murder or violence because they feel this way. It simply means that they recognize that the person who is gone did horrible things to other human beings and now that they are gone, they will not be missed. And they are glad about it because their cruelty has ended.

So, enough with the shaming. Human emotions are complicated and messy. But tone policing them is not only annoying and counterproductive, it is often far more damaging in the long run.

Kenn Orfanos, September 2025