Letters to the Editor: Aug. 15, 2025

Role of citizen

In Germany, and across much of Europe, there is a project underway to commemorate the lives of the victims of the Nazi regime and the systematic disappearance of Jews, Gypsies, some Catholics and others judged unworthy by the Nazi government. The Stolpersteine project, which translates to “stumbling stones project,” places small brass plaques in front of the doors of the residences of people swept up in the hatred and violence of the time.

They plaques are slightly elevated above the sidewalk to draw attention and include the names and birthdates of those who were disappeared by the system. It is quite moving when you see them.

Today in America we are witnessing a moment in which friends, relatives and neighbors are being disappeared without due process and taken to concentration holding cells unfit for human beings, before being sent away, often to a place where they don’t speak the language or have any history or connections. We have an administration that is making quite a show of this violent mass deportation campaign.

Polls show that few Americans support this program. Even among ICE agents, morale is low.

So what can we do? One idea is to make sure that innocent people who have been taken from us are not forgotten. We could put pictures and names of the disappeared on posters in front of the places where they lived or worked.

We know better than to sit by idly as happened in Europe in the 1930s and early 1940s. Don’t wait 80 years!

We must make it visible that we do not support the disappearance of innocent people. And when we do have a chance to elect other leaders who believe in the Constitution and the rule of law, we should do so without hesitation.

The role of citizen is the most important position in our democracy.

Phil Forve

McMinnville

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