Letter: America’s election impacts the world

I recently returned from Europe where I saw the Venice International Art Biennale whose theme was Foreigners Everywhere.

“Wherever you go, wherever you are, you will always encounter foreigners. They/we are everywhere. No matter where you find yourself, you are always truly and deep down inside, a foreigner.” It was lovely to hear all the different languages, see art from different cultures, and appreciate the harmony of people from around the globe attending.

On this same trip I was asked repeatedly about what is happening in America. They are very apprehensive about one candidate because they know what happened (and is happening) in their own countries with wars, the swing to the alt-right, the lessons of the Holocaust, and the parallels they see today in the USA.

“Do the Americans not notice? Do they not understand what will happen with an authoritarian candidate? This is not entertainment! Your choice will affect the world.”

In Austria, under a blue sky, the Mauthausen and Grusen Concentration camps, the Grusen Tunnels where foreigners were worked to death, the regional Gestapo headquarters, the house where Hitler grew up, are so cleaned up, one cannot imagine the horrors that happened there, until you see the photos, read first-hand accounts, study the history, talk with people who have family that lived through the horror.

And it started by blaming foreigners, just like here in America. Blaming others. Then. And now.

Jelmar Atkins

Sycamore