This post contains mentions of the Holocaust, ableism, and eugenics. Please do not read if you are sensitive to these topics.
—————————————
There have been conversations regarding whether the term Asperger’s should still be used in the autism community. This post will explain the biggest issue I and other people have with the label. There’s no way to gently segue into this so I’m just going to start.
The term Asperger’s was coined by an actual Nazi. Hans Asperger worked with the Nazis during the Holocaust. He saved some children who he deemed intelligent enough by giving them the label of Asperger’s and sent the rest of the kids to die.
Some people call him a hero for saving kids during the Holocaust, but he sent children to be murdered because he saw them as genetically inferior. He saw some of us as a “hardly bearable burden” to our families. He believed that they should be put out of our misery.
I do not believe allistics should use the term Asperger’s to describe an autistic person. I do not believe that autistic people should use it for themselves either. However, I’m not saying that you should assume someone is a bad person for using it. I figure that most do not know the history. There are autistics who use the term for various reasons even knowing the history, which I heavily disagree with.
And I’m not the only one who feels this way. I learned this from listening to Jewish autistic people speak on the subject. If you are not Jewish, it is best to listen to those who have the authority on the matter.
Here is a video of a Jewish autistic person explaining how use of this label harms not only Jewish autistics, but autistic people as a whole. She also makes a very good point about Asperger’s being a functioning label.
Here is an article about Hans Asperger being a Nazi.
Some of the information here is correct. However, Asperger did not name the condition he studied after himself. He actually called it “autistic psychopathy,” back when psychopathy meant something different than it does today. A psychologist named Lorna Wing named Asperger’s Syndrome after him decades before it was clear that he was a Nazi. (Source: Neurotribes by Steve Silberman, paperback edition)
To be absolutely clear, I don’t think what Asperger did was okay. It’s just important to be accurate in informational posts.
This post contains mentions of the Holocaust, ableism, and eugenics. Please do not read if you are sensitive to these topics.
—————————————
There have been conversations regarding whether the term Asperger’s should still be used in the autism community. This post will explain the biggest issue I and other people have with the label. There’s no way to gently segue into this so I’m just going to start.
The term Asperger’s was coined by an actual Nazi. Hans Asperger worked with the Nazis during the Holocaust. He saved some children who he deemed intelligent enough by giving them the label of Asperger’s and sent the rest of the kids to die.
Some people call him a hero for saving kids during the Holocaust, but he sent children to be murdered because he saw them as genetically inferior. He saw some of us as a “hardly bearable burden” to our families. He believed that they should be put out of our misery.
I do not believe allistics should use the term Asperger’s to describe an autistic person. I do not believe that autistic people should use it for themselves either. However, I’m not saying that you should assume someone is a bad person for using it. I figure that most do not know the history. There are autistics who use the term for various reasons even knowing the history, which I heavily disagree with.
And I’m not the only one who feels this way. I learned this from listening to Jewish autistic people speak on the subject. If you are not Jewish, it is best to listen to those who have the authority on the matter.
Here is a video of a Jewish autistic person explaining how use of this label harms not only Jewish autistics, but autistic people as a whole. She also makes a very good point about Asperger’s being a functioning label.
Here is an article about Hans Asperger being a Nazi.
i was a little apprehensive to watch this because it’s four minutes long and i have a short attention span, but within the first 30 seconds i was hooked.
watch this. please, you won’t regret it.
That last line
That fucking last line hit me.
Stop whatever else you’re doing and watch this. This is an amazing story of the best of humanity amidst the worst mankind is capable of. It’s proof of that one act of kindness can last a lifetime.
just a quick heads up that the english sub pronouns for the baby are incorrect
….and I am crying.
HOLD ON A SECOND,,,,,,,,,,JUST HOLD,D ON A SECCOND,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Demi and grey aspecs can have complex orientations and explaining details is often exhausting and highly personal!
I cannot even fathom how disgusting this is. Stop using the black fucking triangle. There is nothing more disrespectful to Holocaust victims. How dare you. How. Dare. You.
Hey quick question. It’s in the wrong orientation, and the wrong color. Have you been requested by Holocaust victims to personally brigade against the demi flag? Where does your issue with it come from? I’m genuinely asking, because unless you’re banning every triangle ever, I don’t see why this one in particular is worth this amount of self-riteous woker-than-thou objection.
Hello. I’m Romani, Polish, and Yukat. And I had entire branches of my family wiped out in the Holocaust. Aunts. Uncles. Cousins. Grandparents. All of them slaughtered wearing a black triangle. Because that is what the Nazis branded us with.
Millions of my people were murdered during the Holocaust. We don’t even know the number because everyone has always hated us and just like the ones who wore the pink, they were glad to see us go. To this day the black triangle is used to identify Romani. For example it’s used in France, the fourth most unsafe place for Romani people. In 2020.
So no. This is not me being woker-than-thou. Its not me banning every triangle ever. It’s one out of millions of Holocaust victims who have never and will never get justice calling out the ace community for creating a flag that is literally used by fucking Nazis.
And if us lgbt+ Romani calling this disgusting fucking behavior out upsets anyone than congrats. You are a Nazi Sympathizer.
@thepigeondrivesthebus Thank you for bringing this up. From here on, we will be using redesigned demi flags that do not include black triangles. It has been recognised in the aspec community for a while that the flags are problematic and many people have come forward to say they are uncomfortable with them. We were previously a semi-inactive blog waiting on the wider community to come to a consensus about a replacement flag but you have shown us that wasn’t the right approach to take, and so all future demi-related posts on this blog will feature one of these two replacements: [X] [X]
I am sorry for any harm that has been caused by our use of these flags. It was never our intent to evoke nazi imagery in using these flags, but we are aware the impact of our actions is more important than the intent. Going forward, we will use and advocate for the use of the alternative flags in the hope that our reach on this blog may have enough impact to change flag preferences in the wider community.
Note to followers: Read this link to learn the basics of the black triangle symbol’s origins: [X]. Though there has been talk in the aspec community of replacing these flags, I’ve seen a lot of misinformation about the black triangle given in explanations of why the change needs to be made. To clarify, for those who couldn’t read the link: the black triangle is a symbol from the Holocaust that was used to target Romani people primarily. School history classes often fail to mention that the Holocaust was a genocide of Romani people as well as Jewish people. Please read up on this if you were unaware: [X]
I would like to thank you for your response to my question about Jewish headcanoned characters in horror fanfiction. It was really helpful and made me think a lot about how best to do the characters and the culture justice. (Also, really sorry my asks have been so long! I overthink things and also just never shut up.)
Your answer made me really consider what the POINT of everything these characters go through is and how they grow. In the end, what I want this story to be about (and what I always got from the canon) is the characters not only surviving, but fighting back and making a difference despite how powerful the villains seem. These two characters are the two main heroes of this installment and get fairly happy endings, certainly happier than some of the other heroes.
Unfortunately I cannot change the fact that the villains experiment on people as that’s the main source of horror in the canon, and can’t really change the fact that some victims were gassed either. So the nature of the bodies they find is the biggest difficulty. I had already made that connection and realised the difficulty, you confirmed my suspicions in that area and I realise the need to tread carefully. I think if I handle it right this could add to their determination to defeat the villains, to prevent any such thing happening again, but of course it will be a challenge. I know I will need a sensitivity reader, but is there anything specific I need to avoid in this scene?
Just to clarify, Nazis/the Holocaust are not involved in the plot and neither Jewish character is experimented on or tortured.
I have however realised that with the canon timeline the woman won’t be able to be with her family on Friday evening at one point, and I’m worried this could be seen as “punishing” as she’s separated from them at an important time… she gets back home in the early hours of Saturday morning and I was going to make sure her family welcome her home and end on a fairly happy note, she definitely gets to spend Saturday with them. But if this is too much I can make only the man Jewish, I just thought having two would be better to avoid tokenism, and that it might add something to the strong bond that develops between the characters.
So my final question is: would having a Jewish woman be unable to be with her family on Friday evening be OK, or would it read as a punishment for being Jewish; and if I do go ahead and make her Jewish, what would her parents (who she lives with) do on that Friday evening knowing their daughter is out on a dangerous mission and they haven’t heard from her? Would they go ahead with the Shabbat meal? I’m thinking they’re probably Reform, if that affects it.
Oy, sorry for how long it took me to get back to this. I find your questions really interesting, but I need to be in the right frame of mind before diving into these human experimentation questions and doing them properly, so sorry about that.
I like what you’re saying about how the character goal can be survival on the face of it, but in some settings survival itself is an act of resistance. Most concentration camp stories will explore this theme, so I would recommend adding some to your reading list. This will also give you an idea of how to cover similar atrocities sensitively, by seeing how it’s already being covered by survivors.
I’m not sure we’ve covered this recently, so here are my thoughts on using the Holocaust to research for Jewish characters:
You’ve already demonstrated preparedness to delve into some harrowing topics, which is why I’m recommending this line of research for you specifically. I don’t want people to come away thinking that a detailed history of genocide is required reading for everyone hoping to create a Jewish character. For most pieces, knowing the basic facts of what happened and reading contemporary Jewish voices, noting how it all fits into our consciousness today, is sufficient. If you want to write Jewish characters experiencing or witnessing acts of violence that mirror the Holocaust, that’s when more may be needed.
Similarly, do not rely on these tips if you’re researching the Holocaust in order to write about the Holocaust. That’s not something I would feel comfortable advising on as a non-expert. This is just for researching it as part of a well-developed Jewish character, whether to understand their family history, their reactions in certain situations or anything along those lines.
Stick to non-fiction accounts. There are so many novelisations of the Holocaust, with varying levels of research vs romanticisation.
Non-fiction is of course not immune to romanticisation. Know the difference between a Holocaust book and a WW2 book. In this context, the latter is where the Allied forces and their descendants wax lyrical about their great victory, acknowledging ten-million-plus systematic murders only insofar as they raise the stakes for the ‘good guys’. Unless there are very compelling reasons to the contrary, these do not make good sources for understanding how to write a Jewish character, even if Jewish people appear in them.
Know that by sticking to non-fiction accounts, you are reading a biased sample. True stories are told by people who made it out. Most didn’t. Remember this.
Read Jewish voices from the same nationality and background as your character – rather than assuming that, for example, a Mizrachi Jew whose ancestors were never in Europe would feel exactly the same as an Ashkenazi of Polish descent.
As for not being home on Friday night, there’s definitely a sense of loss when that happens, but it happens. It’s something most people will be able to relate to now, whether the special days that you honour are Jewish or something else. Write it with the same level of empathy as someone trying to get home for Christmas Eve or the first part of their loved one’s birthday, and you should be fine. As always, think about where Shabbat fits into your character’s identity and what rituals and traditions go along with that. Even though she’s missing it, it helps for you to know exactly what she’s missing.
A Prayer for Yom HaShoah – composed by Rabbi Lord Sacks.
Today, on Yom HaShoah, we remember the victims of the greatest crime of man against man – the young, the old, the innocent, the million and a half children, starved, shot, given lethal injections, gassed, burned and turned to ash, because they were deemed guilty of the crime of being different.
We remember what happens when hate takes hold of the human heart and turns it to stone; what happens when victims cry for help and there is no one listening; what happens when humanity fails to recognise that those who are not in our image are none the less in G-d’s image.
We remember and pay tribute to the survivors, who bore witness to what happened, and to the victims, so that robbed of their lives, they would not be robbed also of their deaths.
We remember and give thanks for the righteous of the nations who saved lives, often at risk of their own, teaching us how in the darkest night we can light a candle of hope.
Today, on Yom HaShoah, we call on You, Almighty G-d, to help us hear Your voice that says in every generation:
Do not murder.
Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbour.
Do not oppress the stranger.
We know that whilst we do not have the ability to change the past, we can change the future.
We know that whilst we cannot bring the dead back to life, we can ensure their memories live on and that their deaths were not in vain.
And so, on this Yom HaShoah, we commit ourselves to one simple act: Yizkor, Remember.
May the souls of the victims be bound in the bond of everlasting life. Amen.
Let me tell you a short story. The main reason my grandfather survived the Holocaust was because he was of working age, being 14 in 1939. Instead of spending most of his years in ghettoes and death camps, he was predominantly in labor camps. That meant that the Nazi commandants had at least some incentive to keep their prisoners alive, but only to a point.
One day three prisoners escaped from the camp. To punish the inmates for the actions of their fellows, every single Jew was lined up in the courtyard. The commandant counted each Jew down the line, shooting every tenth Jew in the head. My grandfather was number nine.
Why do I talk about anti-semitism? Because I am number nine. I am the person who exists by the barest of margins. And if I ever let my guard down about the safety of Jews in the world, I will allow for the possibility that something like that will be done to me or to my children.
Do Jews talk about anti-semtism and the Holocaust too much? No. Anti-semites just don’t want us to talk about them. They know if we stop talking about it people will stop caring about it. If people stop caring about it, they won’t pay attention the next time someone comes for us.
So I’m sorry if it’s annoying. Or if you care about something else more. Or if you buy into anti-semitic myths and believe that Jews are somehow more privileged than the dominant ethnic group of any country other than Israel.
I will never stop talking about anti-semitism and the Holocaust. I will say “Never Again” with my last dying breath.
Wanda is a Jewish Romani woman and is the child of Holocaust survivors. The MCU cast a non-Jewish non-Romani actress and had the character join their fictional Nazi organization.
I’m seeing a lot of hype for WandaVision right now, and I don’t care if people watch it and enjoy it, but I hope people know this about her.
