Letters to the Editor | Nov. 4, 2024

My Jewish grandfather, a loyal German who served in the kaiser’s army during World War I, and who later observed the rising tide of antisemitism and political unrest in Germany, once voted for Adolf Hitler. This decision has prompted deep reflection within my family on the complexities of human behavior in turbulent times. As the years passed, my grandfather’s life took a tragic turn. In 1942, he was imprisoned by the very regime he once supported, sent first to Theresienstadt and eventually to Auschwitz, where he perished along with my grandmother.

Throughout his letters, he detailed the growing hostility and prejudice in Germany, capturing the dark transformation of a nation. Despite his early loyalties, he ultimately fell victim to the very forces he failed to fully recognize. My family’s history is not just one of loss, but also one of resilience. My father, sent to the United States at 13 to escape the rising threat of Nazism, later served in the U.S. Army. After his discharge, he returned to his hometown and learned the full extent of the tragedy that had befallen our family. Through letters from both my grandfather and my father, I have a poignant record of their experiences and the personal toll of global conflict.

I share this story in the hope that it serves as a reminder of the dangers of complacency, and the necessity of standing against hatred and intolerance. My family’s journey through some of history’s darkest chapters underscores the need for vigilance in protecting democratic values and learning from the past.

Joel Goldwein, Merion

Pennsylvania voters are guaranteed to be shortchanged in the 2024 presidential election. Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Washington, D.C., have a combined population of almost 13 million and 42 Electoral College votes. Pennsylvania has roughly 13 million residents but only 19 Electoral College votes. In a series of 1960s decisions that can be summarized as “one person, one vote,” the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against states that gave their rural residents more electoral power than their urban ones. Yet, the Electoral College, an 18th-century election albatross, has already trumped the popular vote twice this century, in 2000 and 2016, violating the one person, one vote principle. The Electoral College shouldn’t be allowed to undermine a third.

Paul L. Newman, Merion Station

The Voter Registration Act of 1993 contains the provision that voter registration list maintenance programs not be undertaken within 90 days of an election. Yet, Virginia did just that, arguing that because the purge applies to noncitizens, and the law does not, it was free to ignore the law’s 90-day mandate. Virginia provided no proof that noncitizens voted in the past or are likely to do so in 2024. In fact, eligible voters were purged from the list. Both the federal district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals ordered the state to reinstate the 1,600 voters removed from the rolls. Cue the U.S. Supreme Court conservative justices, who issued an emergency stay blocking the lower courts’ ruling. They did so without explanation, although it is certainly clear. Bored with merely putting their thumbs on the scales of justice to fit their ideology, they have moved to disenfranchising voters. Somehow, Chief Justice John Roberts doesn’t grasp why the public has lost faith in the court’s moral authority. It may be because the Roberts Court seems hell-bent on joining the ranks of the tarnished Taney Court.

Stewart Speck, Ardmore, speckstewart@gmail.com

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