向盧森堡致敬,紀念抵抗
皮泊·洛薩諾
50年代冷戰最初的幾年,由威斯康辛共和黨參議員麥卡錫掀起的反共歇斯底里高潮中,成千上萬的人, 從車間工人到好萊塢人物,都成為受害者。
數百人被美國聯邦調查局追殺、驅逐或冤枉下獄,包括亞瑟和朱利.盧森堡夫婦。
1953年6月19日盧森堡夫婦被無恥地枉稱向蘇聯提供制造原子彈的“機密”而被處決。現在,他們被譽為民主與和平的英雄。
他們的兒子,羅伯特.墨洛泊,現今60歲,已是兩個成年女兒的父親,他說,他今天的工作主要是將來源于他幼年時的經歷擴大。1990年墨洛泊創辦羅森堡兒童基金(RFC) ,這是一個公共基金會向那些他們的父母因從事政治活動而受到迫害的兒童提供的教育和活動經費。多年來,RFC已撥款超過350萬元使數百名兒童受益。
今年6月19日,RFC將在盧森堡被處決54周年的日子舉辦慶祝“歡樂兒童抵抗”演出活動,節目包括戲劇、音樂和詩歌。
這個活動將在波士頓約翰.漢考大廳的回灣活動中心舉行,安吉拉.戴維斯,愛華.安瑟勒,大衛.史特泰恩,霍華德.潤和許多其他知名人物將會出席。
墨洛泊在一個電話采訪中說:“我們正在嘗試通過制作這個節目去紀念我的父母英勇的抵抗”。
墨洛泊說,他永遠忘不了他的父母在獄中給他和他兄弟邁克寫的最后的一封信。信中說他們的死“是為了捍衛他們所相信的知識,在他們死后會有人繼續堅持下去。”
今天,墨洛泊認為RFC受益者及其家屬正是這樣去做。
“進步的社區組織正在凝聚起來給予我們援助”,他說。“雖然他們當時沒能拯救我的父母,但他們正在拯救我和我的兄弟”。
“今天,我們正嘗試通過RFC去恢復捍衛這些知識。”墨洛泊補充。“我們正在努力地在活動家的父母與子女之間做出積極正面的聯系,使社會正義的捍衛者能世代相傳。”
他說:“在麥卡錫時代,政府說有一個國際共產主義在進行陰謀破壞美國的生活方式,而且說,只有通過增加軍費和用灌輸恐懼的恐嚇策略手段,才可以解決這個問題。現在,陰謀破壞美國生活方式的事情正在各地發生著,但是,它不是‘共產主義’,而是‘恐怖分子’的陰謀。這是一個錯誤的假設。過去是過去,現在是現在。”
基于布什政府和極右勢力,墨洛泊繼續說,“我們正生活在一個暴虐的時期,進步力量受到越來越多的攻擊。”
在此次活動中發言的其中一位是反對伊拉克戰爭的抗議者31歲的卡米洛.梅吉亞,他在美軍服務了近九年,包括2003年在伊拉克的5個月,直到他決定不再歸隊。
梅吉亞,是已知的第一個拒絕在伊拉克作戰的老兵,出于良心他于2004年申請拒服兵役。為此,他被控逃兵罪而被判處一年徒刑,服刑九個月后被釋放。梅吉亞6歲的女兒桑曼薩成為RFC的受益者。
“當一個活動家被起訴,將會給這個家庭帶來困境,尤其是像桑曼薩這樣的孩子。”梅吉亞在電話上告訴記者。“人們需要認識到,一個活動家的背后有一個家庭在支持著他,因而需要更多的像RFC這樣的群體組織去做這樣的慈善活動。”
“基于為了世界的資源”是全球反恐戰爭的一種婉言,梅吉亞說,“派遣更多軍隊到伊拉克去,就意味著更多的死亡和更多的暴力。”
“我們并不是生活在一個民主國家中,利潤是美國最高優先而且我們不能夠把跨國公司與我們的斗爭分割開。”他補充說。
這些天來,梅吉亞在勸說一些老兵和他一起到學校、社區中心及教堂去做巡回演講。他撰寫并出版了一本新書《在通往阿拉.馬迪的路上——上士梅吉亞的獨立造反》。
墨洛泊強調RFC主要的信息和各種活動都是突出以兒童為本位的觀點。
墨洛泊說:“我們從兒童的需要考慮,而不僅是為了施舍,但是,我們相信通過這種延續性斗爭方式去培養跨世代的活動者并構建進步和活躍的社區。”
欲知詳情,訪問www.rfc.org
作者:皮泊.洛薩諾([email protected]),是《人民的世界周刊》的作家和編輯委員會成員,是一個RFC受益人。
原文:
Honoring the Rosenbergs, celebrating resistance
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Archive Oct. 2001 - 2007 editions 2007 Editions June 2, 2007
Author: Pepe Lozano
People's Weekly World Newspaper, 05/31/07 12:25
Logo of the Rosenberg Fund For Children
In the 1950s, during the height of the anti-communist hysteria led by Wisconsin Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy, thousands of people, from shop workers to Hollywood figures, became victims during the Cold War’s initial years.
Hundreds were hunted down by the FBI, deported or wrongfully imprisoned, including Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.
Then on June 19, 1953, the Rosenbergs, now remembered as heroes for democracy and peace, were shamefully executed for allegedly giving the Soviet Union the “secret” of the atom bomb.
Their son, Robert Meeropol, now 60 and the father of two grown daughters, says his work today is largely based on his experiences as a child.
Robert Meerepol
In 1990, Meeropol founded the Rosenberg Fund for Children (RFC), a public foundation providing for the educational and emotional needs of U.S. children whose parents have been targeted for their political activities. Over the years, the RFC has made grants of over $3.5 million to benefit hundreds of children.
This June 19, the RFC will commemorate the 54th anniversary of the Rosenbergs’ execution with “Celebrate the Children of Resistance,” a program of dramatic readings, music and poetry.
The event will take place at the John Hancock Hall at the Back Bay Events Center in Boston. Angela Davis, Eve Ensler, David Strathairn, Howard Zinn and many other notable figures will be featured.
“What we are trying to do with this program is to celebrate the heroic resistance of my parents,” Meeropol said in a phone interview.
Meeropol said he never forgets the words his parents wrote to him and his brother Michael, in their last letter to them from prison, saying that they died “secure in the knowledge that others would carry on after them.”
Today, Meeropol believes RFC recipients and their families are doing just that.
“The progressive community rallied to our aid,” he said. “They may not have saved my parents but they saved my brother and me.”
“We are trying to replicate that today through the RFC,” Meeropol added. “We are trying to make a positive connection between the activists-parents and their children in order to transmit generations of social justice advocates.”
“During the McCarthy era the government said there was an international communist conspiracy out to destroy the American way of life,” he said. “And the only way they could solve this was to increase military spending and instill fear as a scare tactic. Now, the same thing is happening all over, but it’s not a ‘communist’ but rather a ‘terrorist’ conspiracy. This is a false assumption. It was then, and it is now.”
With the Bush administration and the ultra-right, Meeropol continued, “We are living in an oppressive period with a growing attack on the progressive forces.”
Speaking at the event will be Iraq war resister Camilo Mejia, 31, who served in the U.S. military for nearly nine years, including five months in Iraq in 2003, before refusing to return.
Mejia, the first known Iraq veteran to refuse combat, applied for conscientious objector status in 2004. Instead he was convicted of desertion and sentenced to one year in prison. He was released after serving nine months. Mejia’s 6-year-old daughter Samantha is an RFC recipient.
“When you prosecute an activist, it brings hard times to the family, especially for children like Samantha,” Mejia told the World by phone. “People have to realize there is a family behind activists, and there should be more groups like the RFC.”
The global war on terror is basically a euphemism to go after the world’s resources, Mejia said. “Sending more troops to Iraq means more death and more violence.”
“We’re not living in a democracy; profit is the top U.S. priority and we can never separate the corporations from our struggles,” he added.
These days Mejia counsels veterans and tours the country speaking at schools, community centers and churches. He is the author of a new book, “Road from Ar Ramadi, The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia.”
Meeropol emphasized that the main message of the RFC and the event is to highlight the child’s point of view.
“We want to take the needs of children into account, not as do-good softies, but we believe this is the way to invest in the continuity of struggle across generations and to embrace the progressive and activist community,” said Meeropol.
For more information, call (413) 529-0063 or visit www.rfc.org.
Pepe Lozano (plozano @pww.org), a PWW staff writer and editorial board member, is an RFC beneficiary.
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