That's what people are worried about as the NY Jets and Giants consider selling the naming rights to the stadium in which they play, to Allianz, a German company which insured the Auschwitz death camp and had a CEO who served in Hitler's cabinet. Not surprisingly in our hyper-polarized culture, this possibility brings out the worst in most of those who have an opinion. On the one hand, the watchdog groups like the ADL speak out against the move because, "it would put their name in lights for generations." On the other hand we have Jewish leaders backing the move because, as one rabbi said, "Allianz is a friend of the Jewish people and we need not live in the past."
I am honestly not sure which of these responses is worse, but each is definitely guilty of pandering - one to the past and the other to the present. How about a response that speaks to the future?
Perhaps the Allianz name in lights for generations is just what we need. If this company, which dates to the 1890's, damaged its own reputation by acting badly for a decade, it might be able to rehabilitate itself by public association with some positive for an even longer period of time. But that's the question here isn't it?
Do those who oppose this move believe that companies with past Nazi connections should ever be rehabilitated? Or do they simply want to keep hammering away at the grandchildren of those who were guilty simply because they still work in corporations that bear the same name? This is not about punishing those guilty of unspeakable evil, it's about punishing a brand. So do these same groups oppose Ford Motors, whose founder was a vicious anti-Semite and almost single-handedly responsible for the popularization of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion?
On the other hand, I would love to know what qualifies Allianz as a "friend of the Jewish people". Other than wanting to sound "nice", what motivates the desire to simply give the company a free pass? That we should "not live in the past"? Is the rabbi who uttered those words for real? Last time I checked, while we should not be imprisoned by out pasts, taking time to live in them has been a part of Jewish tradition since the command to see ourselves as slaves leaving Egypt every Passover.
So rather than praise this deal because it scores a few points in the present, or damn the deal because of the company's past, perhaps the deal should be framed as a challenge to Allianz. Perhaps along with the tens of millions of dollars which they would pay to place their name on the stadium, they should be asked what else they would do to brand the company as one committed to remembering the Holocaust and to working against genocide anywhere in the world.
This is about branding. And this moment presents a real opportunity to see how a company might re-brand itself after a problematic past. After all, what is more important, that we remember their past misdeeds, or that they create a new identity which works against such deeds ever occurring again?
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Author, radio and TV talk show host, and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Brad Hirschfield is the author of 
Of course I will now be called anti Semitic
As you should be. Nothing strange about it.
Thank you Joyce. You know your Scriptures. God said to Abraham and his seed "Those who bless thee will be blessed; those who curse thee will be cursed". Thank you for your support of the Jewish people in these troublesome times. May the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob bless you mightily!
Nazi murder spree, cover-up, corruption at Days Inn, CNA/Loews, and AHLA …
Days Inn’s nazi shrine at it’s flagship hotel was insured by CNA, a division of Loews, owned by the Tisch family. Jon Tisch is a former head of the American Hotel Lodging Association. When Nazi Tom Metzger stated, “I remember the good ole Days Inn, Georgia”, he referenced the flagship property of the 1800 unit chain.
3 sets of Miami homicides from the 1970’s have been solved. They each had a nick-name … “The Hepatitis Murders”, The “Miami Rampage Murders”, and “The Building Toss Murders”. All 3 sets had 20 victims perish. They were committed by the same gang of young pro-nazi perpetrators with high-up connections in Dade County.
The perpetrators are:
1) Tom Tobin, Atlanta, GA - now a magistrate in Atlanta. Son of Mami judge, David Tobin.
2) John Snodgrass, Atlanta, GA - formerly CEO of Days Inn hotels and formerly president of Cendant Corp..
3) Doug Collins, Atlanta, GA - formerly president of Days Inn and CEO of Buckhead America, a hotel management company.
4) Anthony Marshall, Orlando, FL - formerly Dean of F.I.U.’s hotel college and current director of the American Hotel Lodging Association in Orlando
5) Frederick W. Tokars - United States Federal Prisoner #40099-066, formerly a Judge pro temp in Atlanta and City of Atlanta prosecutor.
1) “The Hepatitis Murders” - victims were administered a lethal combination of “Hepatitis D” and “Hepatitis B” in the form of feces. Within 4 mos., the victims developed jaundice, diahrreha, emaciation, before their deaths. The Hepatitis “D” was supplied to the group by the brother of 1 of the perpetrators, Dr. Jerome Tokars, jr., in practice today at the CDC in Atlanta. Tokars, Collins, Tobin, and Snodgrass injected the victims with the Hepatitis “D” and within days, forced the feces of Anthony Marshall into the victims orally. Among the victims are:
Helen Whited, daughter of the editor-in-chief of the Miami Herald
Captain Steven Rabinovich, Eastern Air Lines
Don Oglesby, a medical student at the U. of Maimi
Dana St. Claire, a senior at Carol City High School
Bob Bowers, a resident of Miami
Alan Moyers, a resident of Miami and Navy officer
I believe that these 5 also participated in the same M.O. in the deaths of 5 U.S. Army personell at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu in the mid-1980’s.
The “Hepatitis Murders” may have been re-classified as a “failed medical experiment” over the objections of Dr. Joe Davis, M.E.. I believe that the re-classification of these murders was coerced at the insistence of those connected to the perpetrators and done so at gun-point.
2) The “Building Toss” murders.
20 victims thrown to their deaths in Miami in the mid-70’s. The persons responsible are Tobin, Tokars, Snodgrass, and Collins. I do not believe that Anthony Marshall of Orlando participated in these homicides though I am certain he was aware of them being committed by these persons aforehand.
3) The “Miami Rampage Murders” - over a period of 2 weeks, 20 persons were beaten, shot, and stabbed to death by the 4 younger persons of the gang, Tokars, Collins, Snodgrass, and Tobin.
I believe that the persons responsible for these 3 sets of these murders should be brought to justice and convicted and sentenced to life in prison. This information can be confirmed in interview with U.S. Federal Prisoner #40099-066, Frederick W. Tokars.
On one hand this will shame and embarrasses people who's parents , brothers, sisters and children who died in Auschwitz. What Allianz did was an irreversible mistake that 12 million dollars doesn't help. When you think of a drunk man driving and he kills a pedestrian who was walking on the sidewalk what do you think should happen? this man will obviously pay the family blah blah and serve time in jail but is that enough? This situation isn't simply about how much allianz is willing to pay for the naming rights. This is a moral challenge that a person must go introspective to find the answer. On the other hand What allianz did was in the past and the people who work their now should not suffer for the mistakes that the previous owner has done. they are trying to make amends and are still looking for people and families who they insured. Why should allianz have to be chosen out of the group of companies who ere or had ties with them? You drive BMWs and Mercedes and Volkswagens all the time. Even though were at war with Arabs you buy there oil. With the drunk driving incident do you punish the grandsons of these people? you see a very long list of pros and cons
i am personally a con thank you!
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Thanks,
- Andrew Morales
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