1.29.12 Happy Birthday Adam

For me this are two different things. I know what Auschwitz was and what happened, but I did not realise the backgroud pic was Auschwitz. I had never seen this Auschwitz pic and did not expected it to be something like that. Now I know it, it is obvious.
Not recognizing the pic does not mean you don't know what Auschwitz is.

But I agree that it is important not to forget what happened.

I'm going to cut the magazine some slack. I graduated from high school in 1957, and at that point had never heard of the Holocaust, it was not taught in school, it was never discussed in my family. It was only through personal reading after that that I learned of the horrors. I was in my 50's when I graduated from college, and the only exposure there was an elective intensive weekend seminar where we saw and discussed the movie Shoah and had a personal visit from a survivor. Since then I have visited Holocaust museums on both coasts.

So, it is primarily through my own personal pursuits that I have knowledge of the events and issues, but I don't have all the photographs engrained in my brain. And frankly, when I saw the Adam pic I only saw Adam, and was only vaguely aware that the background was grungy and prison-like.

I don't think my lack of awareness of all the visual images makes me a bad person. But now that I have been made aware of the significance of that photo, I will never again look at it without disgust and horror. I don't think it is fair to assume FAULT knew what the image was when they printed it ... but it IS fair to judge their actions once they became aware, and their response was swift and appropriate.

All this is JMHO, YMMV.

Guys, that pic that Fault used (and took down) is obviously going to elicit very strong feelings. Looking at the bright side, I think it has already raised awareness and made some people think.

So much goodness today, let's not spend it criticizing how other people feel, 'k?

[walks in wearing lolly hat]

[looks around wryly, sighs]

I'm coming the sad realization that certain things which should be iconic, which fall under the category of "Never Forget", are being forgotten. There is a reason why the phrase "Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it" exists.

The fact that so many people, particularly younger people, simply don't recognize that picture frightens me. I don't blame FAULT. Apparently an intern put up the image (which yes, was fan-generated months ago). Older management immediately yanked it as soon as they saw it.

Yes, even an intern SHOULD know that picture. Absolutely. I am saddened, but not shocked, that they did not. I applaud FAULT's swift action. I also applaud that Adam's fans firmly, but calmly, pointed out the inappropriateness of the picture in a way that FAULT could fix the error.

FAULT has been very supportive of Adam for his upcoming album. They are embarrassed by their mistake. Let them maintain face right before the publication of their much-lauded Adam issue.


ETA: Or what NoAngel and others have said.