The Nazi death camp that Barack Obama's great-uncle helped liberate

Barack Obama, at a Memorial Day event in Las Cruces, N.M., credited his great-uncle, Charlie Payne, as being among the U.S. troops who liberated the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz.

The trouble with that bit of history -- as the Republican National Committee pointed out today -- is that the Soviet Red Army was the military force that liberated the World War II death camp.

The RNC seized the opportunity to fire off a news release, saying that “unless his uncle was serving in the Red Army, there’s no way Obama’s statement yesterday can be true. Obama’s frequent exaggerations and outright distortions raise questions about his judgment and his readiness to lead as commander in chief.”

The Obama campaign soon acknowledged that the Democratic candidate made a mistake. It explained that Obama’s great-uncle was in the 89th Infantry Division that helped liberate another notorious death camp, Buchenwald. Obama, the campaign said, “is proud of the service of his grandfather and uncles in World War II -- especially the fact that his great-uncle was part of liberating of one of the concentration camps at Buchenwald.”

All of which raises the question: What's worse, Obama's apparent gaffe or the RNC pouncing on a Holocaust-related historical mistake for political advantage?

-- Stuart Silverstein

Comments

[aleks]

Unless someone can point out why a heroic ancestor liberating Auschwitz would help him more than one who helped liberate Buchenwald, the idea that this was a "lie", "exaggeration," or deliberate "distortion" is pretty damning of the accuser but doesn't say much about Obama.

[ps]

Maybe Obama's Great Uncle Payne lived in one of the new 7 states Obama discovered on the campaign trail while Clinton was getting shot at on the runway. It's all so funny.

They all promise grand ideas that will never get implimented by a do-nothing Congress, grander the idea - less chance it will be implimented. Good news - they can blame Congress for their failures...and they will probably be right.

[larry]

LOL. WWII stories never died.

[Kevin Leandro]

Obama has once again made a comment that is patantly false! Grant you he may have just mis-understood his family elders that told him this bit of family history, however you would think that a man that is runining for the highest office in the land, and has acess to a staff of hundreds would check his facts before telling this tale publicly. All it takes is a google search. Did Mr. Obama really think that no one would check his statments for un-truths after the many blatent lies he has told in the past? If so then his judgement is as bad as his creditablity. His campain will always try to explain away his gaffs and acts as though it is wrong to question certain aspects of his character becouse he is a minority, well don't you believe that the President should be elected based on their accomplishments and character and not based on affirmative action? If a man is "freindly" with terrorist, and very close to a racist preacher then his character and judgment is indeed open for questioning. I for one refuse to become "freindly" with people I fundamently disagree with. One must question how much Obama agrees with his American hating racist freinds!
I believe that Mr. Obama's great uncle is a hero and his lagacy should reflect as such, however I find it hard to believe that a WWII hero that loved his country would vote for Obama if there was no family connection! Mr Obama has a bad opinion of the type of men who love America so much they are willing to fight and die for her. Obama never even considered joining the ranks of America finest. perhaps he felt is was above military service or maybe like his wife, he has never been proud of his country, either way it demostates a serious character flaw!

[volunteer]

The authors come up real short in expressing the info -

ie. Obama did not make a mistake only in where his relative helped relieve a camp, but also who in his familt did the relieving

His great uncle, not his uncle

You can write it off as a mistake, but like Hilliary, he is misspeaking to the point where he is actually lying

[Chris Irwin]

Wow, Obamas great uncle helped liberate a death camp.

Who the hell cares if he got the name wrong, big deal. My grandfather came back a broken man from fighting in Asia--he got break bone fever and came back destroyed by what he had witnessed.

Saying he lied cause he got the name of the camp wrong is a little harsh and demeaning to his great uncles service to his country.

[piedruss]

Please, oh please can we move on to real issues? Does anyone remember the word "platform"? We used to hear this word during presidential election years. This "he said-he said-she said" regarding political comments that are NOT related to the issues facing our country are more reminiscent of a high school election for senior class president than the "highest office in the land". I think our political dialogue is looking more like TMZ all the time.

[Curtis Lacy]

Grow up just a little, everybody. Obama made a misstatement, the McCain camp caught him on it, he acknowledged his error. Why can't that be the end of it?

Silverstein's rhetorical question re which is worse, making a blunder, or trying to capitalize on it, insinuates a base motive for the McCain group which has not been established. It is Silverstein who should be ashamed of trying to make political capital out of nothing. Anything to increase his readership, one must suppose.

[gorgon '08]

The RNC formally charged Obama with lying about his relative's role in liberating a death camp.

It turns out it was true... just a different death camp.

Whoops. Major backfire.

Put the corks back in the bottles, boys. It turns out Obama is legit.

[dennybop]

If the RNC was ready to embarrass Obama by pointing out the Red Army liberated Auschwitz, you'd think thye'd have the good sense to check out the great uncle's military record...at least to see if the guy was a draft dodger...or a Commie Moslem. I'd like to say "shame on you RNC!!!" but I'm too busy laughing at them right now.

[JMackin]

I've readthat McCain has started to coordinate an effort to have people blogging for him on liberal sites. I believe I see his effort working already on this site. It can't be helped, of course, and I guess Obama could tell his troops to do the same. But somehow the dialogue is cheapened when it is just part of campaign tactics rather than a real dialogue. And I suspect some of the responses to this article fall in that category.

[Prof H]

Buchenwald wasn't a death camp, but a labor camp. The heinous mass executions did not take place on German soil by design.

Obama further misspoke or distorted things, depending on your political take. Regardless, he didn't do his homework.

[ezequiel gonzalez-alers]

He did lie. Only after he was caught, did he changed his story, The Los Angeles Times now wants to exonerate Obama for this lie. Hillary commited a gaffe when she said that she was under fire, but she was critized by the news media, including the Times. Noow, why the RNC is to blalme? They only raised a question. Did Obama was telling the truth?. A presidential candidate with aspirations to be the Commander-in-Chief should verify history before he/she open the mouth.

[volunteer]

Face it folks!

Obama is the same liar as many politicians and not the savior you thought he was before he was scrutinized

[Mike Duke]

They're both just as bad. Obama was using the story for political advantage and the RNC was likewise using Obama's mistake for political advantage. I don't see why people can't see that both parties say what they think will make the most people vote for them.

[Trojan]

The RNC claims this brings up questions about Obama's readiness to be President? How does McCain getting shot down by a technologically inferior opponent without an air force and then make no attempt to escape captivity for half a decade give him credibility? Food for thought.

[Wayne Altman]

Wait.... You mean to tell me that your Grandfather helped liberate one of the worst cases of human abuse ever known to man, and you do not know every intimate detail?
That Obama would make this mistake, tells me more than I need to know about why he does not get my vote for President. Shame on him for not knowing his grandfather well enough to know he was a hero, shame on whoever votes for this clown, that wants to be PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATE of AMERICA, and does not know the difference between Auschwitz, and Buchenwald.

[Roger]

Who cares what his family did. They are not running for president, he is. If his campaign can't afford to take the time to get these small details right, how can we trust him with the larger ones ?

[Jeff]

Well it certainly wasn't an exaggeration or an outright distortion, it was a mistake. One can say that it makes him look stupid, but that's about the end of it. For all we know he was told as a child that it was Auschwitz. That's the problem with passing on anecdotes. Most likely he was passing on something that was himself was told incorrectly or he simply made a mistake and named a more well known camp. At any rate, its a historical matter, nowhere near as bad as McCain repeatedly mixing up Sunni and Shia.

[Jimmy]

Hansel, speaking about forked tongue, it is Obama who have a forked tongue. In Fact every time I look at him, I get vision of a snake head on a human body.

[volunteer]

Obama is a phoney and is sucking in many narrow thinking people who need something beyond themselves

[Tyrese]

Barack is a loser without a public record, plain and simple. Any college graduate could do exactely what he is doing.
Americans are getting fed up with this loser trying to tarnish McCain's record.

[RDM1963]

WELL HERE WE ARE AGAIN TRYING TO PICK ONE PERSON WHO LIES THE LESS, RON PAUL TOLD THE TRUTH ALL THE TIME SO WE THREW HIM TO THE SIDE. WE REALLY FEEL BETTER HAVING A GOOD LIAR TO RUN OUR COUNTRY.THATS HOW BUSH GOT IN AND LOOK WHAT A FINE JOB HE HAS DONE. CAN WE HANDLE THE TRUTH OR DO WE REALLY CARE.HOPEFULLY THE TOP 5% WHO REALLY RUN THIS COUNTRY HAVE THEIR FILL OF GREED AND SUPPORT THEIR FELLOW AMERICANS.

[Mike Duke]

I don't know why people can't see that both parties are doing these things for political advantage.

Obama said it for political advantage, and the RNC pointed out the mistake for political advantage. That's what they do...

[Anon]

And this is the same Obama that said "Iran is not a serious threat" one day and the next day turned around and said he always believed "Iran is a grave threat" - just another gaffe ...

"I am not afraid to meet any world leader and I will meet without any pre-conditions" is now slowly morphing into "I will meet only after proper preparations" - the guy just shoots his mouth off and then parses words when caught in his BS. Good to have the media in the pocket to cover up his crap.