My brother and I have an odd relationship. Sometimes, we can have long and extensive debates about the weirdest of bullshit. Other times, we are quite in sync with each other, and can have a fairly polite, opinionated, and intellectual conversation. Yesterday was one of those moments.
Two things can be taken from that conversational piece:
1. My brother is a devilishly handsome son of a bitch.
2. Protests that garner public attention do work when it comes to bringing evil people to justice.
The Kony video, to boil it down to its basest components, details the rebel leaders numerous atrocities, puts a face to his victims, as well as features a call to action. While the video does oversimplify the numerous other problems in the region, as well as does not call into question the government’s role in not stopping, but allowing an environment where such a man can exist, it is quite a powerful video. And it’s effort to call the attention of the world through protests (which are beginning to form, judging from my Facebook events list) and the use of the media to call the attention of the powers that be to action against a horrible man reminds me of another incident like this that occurred several years ago. In the case, it’s the efforts of Serge and Beate Klarsfeld, which eventually brought about the extradition, trial, and conviction of Klaus Barbie.
Barbie was a Nazi war criminal, whose actions while serving as the head of the Gestapo in the region resulted in the deaths of up to 14,000 people, earning him the nickname the Butcher of Lyon. Barbie would later work for the United States as an intelligence agent after the war, spying on the Soviet Union in Germany before eventually taking advantage of the Nazi Ratline (Wikipedia lists it as US built line, while other sources have it listed as ODESSA). Barbie would work for various South American dictatorships, including Argentina and Bolivia, running guns as well as serving as an advisor. The 2007 documentary My Enemy's Enemy also raises the possibility that it was Barbie that helped orchestrate the capture and death of Che Guevara.
In time though, Barbie would be hunted by the Klarsfelds, who are a rather interesting couple. Serge was a Romanian Jew who lost his father to the Holocaust. Beate was the daughter of a German soldier who, after moving to France and meeting Serge, decided to go to action against former Nazi leaders. Their methods and some of their actions, to this day, remain controversial to a lot of people, both in and out of Germany. However, in my opinion, they were very much in the right in going against Barbie. The Klarsfelds pursuit of Barbie took place over two decades, both in the legal and public areas. Beate oftentimes flew alone to the countries where Barbie was rumored to be hiding. Similar to the recent Kony video, which details the atrocities of the rebel leader, Klarsfeld detailed Barbie’s numerous atrocities in a series of interviews with the print and television media, as well as organizing protests in front of government areas. The protests were often alone, though as time wore on, she did see a swelling of support. She also gave a bit of a face to the crimes Barbie perpetrated by having a mother who lost three of her four sons to Barbie’s programs and policy along with her on a few of the protests. Often times, she was arrested, and due to their actions against hunting not just Barbie, but Nazi war criminals in general resulted in death threats and a failed car bomb attack. In spite of that, the message did spread, and public awareness and outrage escalated over the war criminal, who was protected in part by the military regime at the time, in their midst. In 1983, with a change in the regime in Bolivia, Barbie was arrested and extradited to France. He was eventually put on trial, and in 1987, Barbie was sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity, where he died four years later.
In closing, the use of media isn’t a new thing. While you may question the motives, or even the organization broadcasting said message, the message itself is fairly clear. It’s meant to draw attention to an unpleasant and perhaps evil man, and to try and stop him.
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