Editorial: Headstones didn't inform; they insulted
Express-News Editorial Board
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Headstones bearing Nazi swastikas are not worth keeping.
Their recent removal from Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery should be celebrated. The event should have been broadcast far and wide to raise awareness about the horrors of the Holocaust, the genocide of 6 million Jewish people and the murder of millions of others under the Nazi regime. This was a teachable moment. Never again.
Instead, the removal and replacement of two headstones for German prisoners of war Alfred P. Kafka and Georg Forst was a stunningly quiet moment, even if it was a welcome about-face from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The removal was chronicled by Express-News reporter Sig Christenson thanks to a tipster, not a formal announcement or press briefing.