Source: AP

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The Barack Obama campaign said Tuesday the candidate mistakenly referred to the wrong Nazi death camp when relating the story of a great uncle who helped liberate the camps in World War II.

The Democratic presidential candidate said the story is accurate except that the camp was Buchenwald, not Auschwitz.

"Senator Obama's family is proud of the service of his grandfather and uncles in World War II — especially the fact that his great uncle was a part of liberating one of the concentration camps at Buchenwald," campaign spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement. "Yesterday he mistakenly referred to Auschwitz instead of Buchenwald in telling of his personal experience of a soldier in his family who served heroically."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080528/ap_on_el_pr/obama_nazi_camp

exposure when he "misspeaks"...but in his case it turns out BETTER for him...

Earlier, the Republican National Committee pounced on Obama's improbable statement that an uncle had served in the unit that liberated Auschwitz.

In fact, campaign spokesman Bill Burton says, his great uncle was a member of the 89th Infantry Division that liberated the Ohrduf camp, part of Buchenwald and, according to the Holocaust Museum, the first concentration camp liberated by U.S. troops.

The soldier in question, Burton said, is Obama's grandmother's brother, who's still alive.

UPDATE: "Senator Obama’s family is proud of the service of his grandfather and uncles in World War II – especially the fact that his great uncle was a part of liberating one of the concentration camps at Buchenwald. Yesterday he mistakenly referred to Auschwitz instead of Buchenwald in telling of his personal experience of a soldier in his family who served heroically," Burton says.

UPDATE: RNC spokesman Alex Conant, who said earlier that Obama's mistake raised questions about his "readiness to lead", moderates a bit: "At times it appears that Barack Obama inaccurately recalls his own history and American history, so it’s important that we point to the facts. In this case, we’re happy to see that he took the time to set the record straight."

He got one aspect of a true story incorrect, the name of the camp, that's not too bad. I'd prefer that mistake to having fictional events added in.

Sheesh. :puke:

There is no white or black when it comes to survival - not then and not now. Not for my country - there never could be!!

You know - if he was purple - with a light blue parentage - I could not care less - if he is American - it is ok with me. That is how Americans think.

SO -

If his family did serve in 3rd army - when it really counted - they get to vote twice - hell, 5 times - but for the grace of god - and 1st army group - go all of us!

We almost lost that war - it was so close in the end.

I think - American kids really, really need to be taught what happened then - well taught.

Even in the end -

On december 16 the fight was thrown against the gap over the forrest - to split 1st army from the northern armies - it was smart - very "Fredrick the Great" like -

It almost worked too.

No - Japan was never a very serious threat I suppose - but they were never the real threat to us.

I think we came within a "pubic hair" of losing that war.

That we did win - was totally because of the quality of the army we put in the field -

I think that too. They were that good.

Enjoy your stay.

Brief as it will probably be.

He spoke yesterday, and said he acknowledged the US's long line of fallen heroes, some of which were sitting in the audience.

So, was it a Bernie movie, with corpses propped up, presumably ripped from their grave for the candidate's visit? Was he saying he can't tell the difference between the dead and the living, if they're over a certain age? Was he implying that he wants them dead, or they're as good as dead?

Nah, he goofed. A speech error of *-like proportions.

Now, with the "57 states" speech error--not counting, of course, Alaska and Hawaii, he might even rival *'s best.

The Bernie gaffe and 57-states gaffe got more blog-play than the Auschwitz gaffe. Notice which one gets noticed by the AP, which blog-mill comments must be dealt with in the national media. The first two have no upside; they are bushisms. To dwell on the Bernie gaffe would be to talk about the audience, not Obama. Yawn. The 57-states gaffe would lead to wondering how much Obama knows about the US, and the inevitably bad comparison with 5-graders. The Auschwitz gaffe is a springboard to give a portion of Obama's speech airplay, show his family is great and he's a true humnitarian, and to show repubs engaging in hyperbole, victimizing the poor Obama.

This gaffe could be spun differently with virtually no effort. If not left firmly tied down and anchored, it starts spinning furiously on its on. But to do spin would be as tactless as allowing it to spin. And probably be called flame bait.

I cannot believe the fuss being made over this - and to find it here on DU. You cannot be serious. Perhaps someone in his family repeated the story wrong. Why should he be accused of not knowing history. J,M&J, you people are creepy.

Auschwitz is in Poland. you may have noticed that Poland spent the next 50 years being dominated by the Soviet Union (remember that Lech Walesa guy? Pope John Paul II?) strange that US troops would enter Poland. This was not an off the cuff remark, it was in a prepared speech.

it is also the third time, as I count, that he has embellished family history to make a connection with an audience: that Selma inspired his parents to meet, that JFK airlifted his father to the US and now this. once is a mistake. twice is an oversight. thrice is a pattern.

.....and don't call me Shirley.

They will say political prisoner camp - even though it was a death camp in the end -

FIX your wording OBAMA!!

Man if you are going to fix it - which I think was dumb - be careful - get it right the second time.

Why didn't you just say all Germany was a death camp in 1945!!!

Maybe you are not intentionally talking to me.

POTUS. No way, he confused Auchwitz and Buchenwald. Goodness gracious, they were so different. Aushwitz was a "death" camp and Buchenwald was a "slave labor" camp. Now, who would want a president who couldn't keep that straight? :)

No more Drunky McStupid after January 20th.

He needed to get this right or blur it - In truth it is blurry.

No more swift assholes - They attack again and we need to anticipate it - cut their nuts off.

Listen - Buchenwald and Dachau - were political camps (originally) - and if those asshole managed to screw up Kerry in 04 - they will do Barrack here too - my guess.

Lets not get caught flatfooted again. I don't want to lose anymore.

especially when I type fast. Thanks.

Auschwitz was the slave labor camp complex. Birkenau was the death camp across the railroad tracks from Auschwitz

error is unwarranted. I think it is of no consequence that he got them mixed up.

lay OFF the pandering for a while.

My father, uncles perished at Auschwitz. I find it to be totally pandering.

:) Did the same thing in Miami, with the Cubans. unreal!

Living in the real world is a real bitch sometimes. I'd like an escape-hatch like you've apparently got.
Thanks!

:freak:

What better day to discuss his family's and our nation's history than on Memorial Day with an appropriate story like that of his Great Uncle's.

Pandering, I think not.

You know how many American kids were there in April of 1945 - you know what they did???

It is easy to judge now - but not then. Mostly those camps were found by lone patrols - and when they found them, there was no hesitation - They weren't thinking counter attack - our kids went right up and did their best to help those people.

I am so PROUD of our people for what they did - and they knew what a counter attack meant to their efforts.They had to live thru them. Alot of them didn't live thru them.

If his Uncle was in the 89th - that is 3rd army - 1st army group - oh yeah, they did the deal - and they paid the price - it was a very big price. And they did it and never looked back - how many of us could do that today??

But some of my family was there too -

Yeah - when our kids came up to the wire - they figured they would be attacked - so when they did the right thing - they were afraid in a way of the consequences of being in the first "wave" so to speak - they didn't hesitate - and they did it anyway. SO brave.

SO - lets see - his "uncle" was in the 89th - so he was surely in the "forrest" in November and the Bulge and the Rhineland campaign - Odds of living thru the three - about 1 in 3.

If that is his family - he has a VERY strong stock indeed.

It is not just the camp -it was that terrible shitty war that had to be done.

He made a mistake not on the camp he spoke - but on the great deeds done.

His uncle, like my parents and my friends parents - they stopped a new dark age from coming.

Nothing less than that.

:hug:

I think I was given the gift to be so by people that had no choice but to do what they did - not nice things.

I am very respectful - I suppose. The people I know that did war way back when - I loved them so much - I always will.

Maybe I would carry thru what I think they would want - cause I think I respect them so much, I could never ever do anything that I didn't believe they would want.

All the schooling all that crap - I trust those little kids that protected us once 60+ years ago - I honestly do. Frozen in my mind now.

A long time ago - dad was at the camps in Buchenwald on liberation - about the 15th - they gave him a picture - dead bodies on train cars. ALll the people he ever killed in the war - alot of people - all that was made even to him with that picture - that he really knew he did the right thing. There were questions in his mind before that time. Hard to kill - very hard.

I always thought - forgive me -thank god for those camps - to me. Justified alot of killing.

You know - I so resent that I know war - I really do, pisses me off!!

I never asked for this - why me!!!

Mom and dad - all of my uncles and most of mom's friends - they did the war - close up and personal - no way around it. SO when my brothers went to war- it was kind of normal in a way.

When the kid went - bells and whistles went off in my head - but it was too late!

It is why I really hate war - cause I have been there waiting, hoping - and you can only do that so often. I never saw cities blown up - horrified family - any of that. Generally - my family blew up the cities, caused the horror and got to live with it.

Different perspective.

if he had family members who had served and what he remembered about what they told him.

Of course, you'd have to had been listening to the discussion in order to make a fair and accurate judgment. :eyes:

he learned well from the Chicago political machine.

much of ignorant America sees Obama as some kind of "foreigner" - stuff like this lets them know that some of Obama's family did indeed serve in the military

Pfffttt!

:eyes:

But of course, you can be Bush and not know the leaders of India or Pakistan back in 2000, and that's OK. In fact, it's just "Gotcha!" journalism.

:eyes:

It really doesn't matter.

Just say your family helped liberated camps in Germany Barrack - certainly true - and go no further man.

If you were at Buchenwald on the 12th or Dachau on the 19th or all the little camps in between - did it change the war - and if the war isn't won - what does it matter - cause it would happen all over again? You know??

No - no difference. That is why, you know, FDR chose to bypass bombing on of some camps to concetrate on the war - he understood - want to liberate them - win the war!!

That literally happened - real life decisions. And god help me, it was the right decision.

and why the word Assassinate made everything so much more "key"? :eyes:

Hypocrites abound.

it's going to be time for some major house cleaning in the media. I want to see these worthless shitbags on the street

In 1985, Reagan visited a German military cemetery in Bitburg to lay a wreath with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. It was determined that the cemetery held the graves of 49 members of the Waffen-SS. Reagan issued a statement that called the Nazi soldiers buried in that cemetery "victims", which ignited a stir over whether Reagan had equated the SS men to Holocaust victims; Pat Buchanan, Director of Communications under Reagan, argued that the notion was false. Now strongly urged to cancel the visit, the president responded that it would be wrong to back down on a promise he had made to Chancellor Kohl. He attended the ceremony where two military generals laid a wreath.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan#Second_term.2C_1985.E2.80.931989

I don't forgive him that - I know many that didn't forgive that.

I thought at the time - how dare you!!

Berlin during the war. Unless Berlin was a sound stage in Hollywood, he never came close. Besides, his eyesight was so poor, he was held to duty in the States, the notion of him piloting a B-17 was ludicrous.

Reagan got away with a lot of that kind of crap. Then again, hand him a script and away he would go...even if he was a "B" actor, he was an actor, and knew how to read his lines.

…on more than one occasion, former President Ronald Reagan claimed that towards the end of the war he served in a unit that filmed recently liberated death camps. In fact, Reagan had remained stateside with the First Motion Picture Unit of the Army Air Corps. Ironically enough, one of the camps Reagan would have filmed if his recollections were accurate was Ohrdruf, the one the Obama camp now says Obama's great uncle helped liberate.

Writing for the Washington Post in 1984, Lou Cannon reported on Reagan's story, which he apparently told to former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and legendary Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal; this was corroborated by members of Shamir's cabinet as well as Rabbi Marvin Hier, who was with Wiesenthal to hear it. Reagan administration officials, though, denied that the president ever claimed to have served outside the U.S. and insinuated that perhaps both men misunderstood Reagan because of their less than perfect English. (In fact, Cannon says, both were fluent.)

In a biography of Reagan he wrote later, Cannon says that in 1981 Reagan told a similar, if different, version of the story. In this account, Reagan did not actually go to any camps but had seen a secret military film of some, which he saved in case later on people didn't believe those kinds of atrocities had been committed. But, Cannon says, there was never any such secret film.

more…
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/05/27/obama_holocaust/?source=rss

place.

Ike was convinced that the what the world was witnessing would never be believed in the future w/o documentation. He was correct, as those who deny the atrocities claim now, that the films were "made up" and part of a collaboration to discredit Germans.

Reagan, with his history of living in a fantasy world, most likely believed he flew over Europe, and did things he never could/would have accomplished considering his incredible lack of real talent.

FWIW...Jimmy Stewart DID fly over Europe, as did others. Johnson, Nixon and Carter all saw at least some action in the Pacific, as did Kennedy, (obviously). Reagan most likely felt "left out", and did what he thought would enhance his "career". After all doing training films for the Signal Corps didn't do much for one's career..."This could be YOUR penis!" Doesn't quite cut it like "...touched the face of God".

NPR's Prarie Home Companion...Keillor brought it up, and McGovern, (as a guest), seemed a tad embarrassed by it. He went into, "just my job at the time" mode...:)


edit: bad spelling...:blush:

And man -he knew horses.

I give give him that.

Ever watch him ride - in the movies - yeah, he was a horseman. He was good too.

confusing Sunni and Shia
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/03/7694_mccain_sunni_sh.html

left shoe/right shoe when getting dressed...I can hear Cindy now..."the flap in those longjohns goes in the BACK John! For crying out loud, after all these years you'd think you'd remember!"

you know there's L and R and F(ront) and B(ack) on the soles of his shoes :7

In a WWII documentary.

I don't remember the details of his story but I certainly remember the ending.

As he was standing there trying to make sense of the heaped corpses and living skeletons, one of the camp officers goose-stepped up and started barking demands: he would not surrender to a low-ranking officer and certainly not a black soldier, etc. etc.

The black officer said he pulled out his .45 pistol and shot the Nazi dead, on the spot.

To me, that's almost as heart-warming as a story about the Nazi prisoners waiting for the Nuremberg trials. Alec Baldwin used it in his TV movie Nuremberg.

These prisoners included Goering and other top Nazis, who were always complaining that the American jailers treated them like...cough...common criminals.

The Americans would often respond. "Sorry. I'm only following orders."

:rofl:

Just wonderin'.

I wish it was.

ANY American - black white blue or purple - have my support.

And if an American did shoot dead a Nazi officer - for any reason - I'd support the American - every time. American is American - we have no color - I'd assume they had a reason.

can mccain do better? of course not. blatant completely biased reporting and attitudes.

we're really getting to see who's who now.

(along with the RNC, AND Hillary) have just been waiting for a reason to attack Obama - any reason will do.

Obama is a Harvard grad... unless he missed all his history classes from 6th grade forward then the important point in the story is that he stated Americans freed auschwitz which is not true. This is a gaffe on the order of a Bushism... IMHO we don't need anymore Bush gaffes in the WH.

Obama needs to get it together... the mispoken Junior Senator is going to be toast if he continues these gaffes through the GE. I don't care if you think no one will vote for the Republican... If Obama is portrayed as lacking in intelligence and judgement its all over come Nov.

this nonsense already - any misstatement is magnified a thousand times no matter how insignificant.

:rofl:

Its a trend...Its a trend of many... and he will get played.. it is already close between him and Mcain if this plays up he will lose. Seeing fallen heroes in the crowd... Uncle in Auschwitcz, 57 states visited... It is being played to the center.. I am not suggesting that anyone here be swayed... We won't its the voters he needs to get and the RNC is showing him as being as incompetent as Bush... everytime Shrub mispeaks he gets hit do you even think for a moment that they will let Obama pass on anything... LOL...

“Dr King’s dream began to be realised when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It took a president to get it done.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3173652.ece

"You know, my husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right?" she said to the editorial board of South Dakota's Argus Leader. "We all remember, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-oped0528pagemay28,0,1984716.column


"For those unaware of Hillary's "plantation" remark, this is what she said at Al Sharpton's event to a predominantly black audience in Harlem:

When you look at the way the House of Representatives has been run, it has been run like a plantation and you know what I'm talking about….."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/20/opinion/main1226117.shtml


"Hillary Clinton has been caught answering a planted question on global warming from a member of the audience during a supposedly spontaneous session with voters in the key first caucus state of Iowa.


The embarrassing disclosure is the latest campaign stumble for the Democratic presidential frontrunner who is involved in a heated fight in Iowa with rivals Barack Obama and John Edwards."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1569021/Hillary-Clinton%27s-planted-question-gaffe.html

"Sen. Hillary Clinton said she "misspoke" last week when she gave a dramatic description of her arrival in Bosnia 12 years ago, recounting a landing under sniper fire.

Clinton was responding to a question Monday from the Philadelphia Daily News' editorial board about video footage of the event that contradicted her assertion that her group "ran with our heads down" from the plane to avoid sniper fire at the Tuzla Air Base."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/25/campaign.wrap/index.html

"The way that amendment was drafted we would subordinate our judgment to the UN Security Council," Clinton said. "I didn't think that was a good idea. If I had known then what I know now I would never have given President Bush the authority" to use military force.

Obama seized upon Clinton's gaffe - cordially - by reminding the senator the legislation she voted in favor of in 2002 "had the title "Authorization to use force in Iraq."

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0802/S00036.htm

"I think that since we now know Sen. (John) McCain will be the nominee for the Republican Party, national security will be front and center in this election. We all know that. And I think it's imperative that each of us be able to demonstrate we can cross the commander-in-chief threshold," the New York senator told reporters crowded into an infant's bedroom-sized hotel conference room in Washington.

"I believe that I've done that. Certainly, Sen. McCain has done that and you'll have to ask Sen. Obama with respect to his candidacy," she said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/06/clinton-mccain-and-i-hav_n_90310.html

Years of service in the WH and the Senate... My point was that Obama is a Freshmen and his gaffes are unbecoming of what he wants to accomplish... How is he going to pull eveyone together if he gaffes just as much as the other idiots running for President. I thought he was above all this.... I guess the air is just getting let out of my ballon then....

TV newscast has listed this "issue" as part of the news recycle. I mean, come on. Is that all the news they can find. Scotty's book didn't get the recycle this story got.

...Auschwitz-Birkenau, Buchenwald....same basic idea...Jews go in, they don't come out...Not sure that why this is such a big deal...

Obama told the story about his great uncle to demonstrate what's happening today with the men and women fighting in Iraq. He explained that his uncle went into solitude for about six months after witnessing the horror of the camp. He was showing the need for mental health for our returning soldiers. Apparently, it was more important to focus on the mistake of camps than focus on the message that some of our soldiers need counseling after being in a hell hole.

this is right out of the fucking soviet union people

shameful and pathetic that anyone is attacking him about this non-event.

Which is the more egregious error? Which one will receive more CorpMedia attention?

imagine sniper fire.... then he might be called a plagerist...

...both types of camps were horrific, but the difference should be noted.