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No, thats ridiculous.
zahavasdad – I didn’t miss the point. I’m making another point. I believe it is still valid to try to avoid conspicuous consumption of consumer products i.e. BMW, Mercedes, when it is possible to buy something else equally good, even as a chinuch to our children and especially for a gashmius item, like a nicer car or piece of clothing, that we do not forget so easily the crimes committed against us. We need to remember Amalek and we need to remember the Germans. Obviously, if the item is something needed for health, i.e. medication, medical equipment, etc. then we should use it by all means. to jdf007: you’re right, we do need to go after the current “nazis”, but we need to remember the ghosts to realize the harm the new ones can bring if gone unchecked.
Anyone interested in this topic should read Benjamin Ferencz’s book “Less Than Slaves” where he recounts the attempts to get the large German corporations to pay reparations to survivors who were used as slave labor in their companies. Some of these trials/negotiations lasted well into the 1960’s and 1970’s (not so long ago) and the vicious attitudes of the company owners/officials are eye-opening. They never bore any responsibility for their actions and some actually had the chutzpah to say that “by using slaves we saved jews who otherwise would have been killed” and therefore owe nothing to anybody. If you read this book, you will really think twice about buying products from these companies. The next generation needs to be educated about this. It is very disturbing to see frum 20/30-somethings driving BMW’s and Mercedes when their grandparents or greatgrandparents were either killed or enslaved. The sad part is that they are not making a conscious decision; they are just totally ignorant of the history. Sad…