importance of Holocaust
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Hyy .
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The Holocaust is a contemporary issue. It cannot, and should not, be an event consigned to history.
Paradoxically, the reasons for this lie in its ancient roots. The Holocaust is not bound by a few years in the mid-20th century; instead, it stretches back, past the parameters of the modern era, into the medieval age and beyond to the inception of antisemitism.
Would the Holocaust have been possible without the Protocols of the Elders of Zion? Without Dreyfus? Without the Spanish Inquisition? Antisemitism, discrimination against Jews of all walks of life, was not a new concept in 1933, but was widespread and prevalent in many countries. It is therefore incorrect to let the Holocaust be consigned to the period of the Third Reich; the Nazi regime manipulated and amplified the latent prejudices of its citizens. It did not create them.
This makes the Holocaust a contemporary issue because it demonstrates the atmosphere in which genocide can take place. How many people pertain to prejudices which are unfounded and illogical, but which are unconsciously adhered to? These beliefs survive both because they are socially acceptable and because they remain unchallenged.
There remains in our society a degree of antisemitism, but furthermore levels of xenophobia, Islamophobia, a fear of the travelling community, of black and Asian communities. Indeed a recent survey has shown these prejudices to be on the rise.
It is therefore important to remember the Holocaust because it is an example of how these trends could evolve into something far more threatening.
However, the Holocaust is more than a warning from the past. The human cost of the loss of six million lives is incalculable; consider what could have been achieved by those who died, what could have been discovered, written, invented and prevented. There is a very long list of Holocaust survivors who have positively contributed to society but they represent a tiny proportion of the talent and promise of the generations of European Jews lost to us.
Many did their best to assimilate wherever they were by simply building new ordinary lives for themselves. Nevertheless, the bereavement caused by the loss of family and friends was a disaster of huge proportions which caused unimaginable grief and suffering that continues today.
To put it another way murder is the greatest crime that can be committed. The Holocaust was not the single murder of six million people, but six million individual murders. Remembering the Holocaust is an important act in itself, and honouring its victims, both Jews and gentiles, particularly those with no family left to remember them, is a further reason why the work of the British Holocaust Commission will be so important.
There are many misconceptions concerning the Holocaust. For example, it is not widely known that almost half of Holocaust victims did not die in extermination camps, but instead were shot, starved or died of illness. Why does this matter? Chiefly because some of the misconceptions are potentially insulting and worrying. It is hard for young people to comprehend to vileness of the Holocaust without some justification, even if they have studied both Nazi ideology and the aims and methods of Nazi propaganda in detail.
Whilst the increased use of social media and technology has huge potential for good, it also means that false information and ideas are easily spread and it is often hard to distinguish between fact and rumour. Without thorough education covering the Holocaust and events leading up to it, it is possible that it could be forgotten or the truth misrepresented in the future.
Education is a key tool in ensuring that the Holocaust is not forgotten. The Holocaust Education Trust and other similar bodies play a key role in teaching the lessons that can be learnt from the Holocaust. I was lucky enough to benefit from taking part in the Lessons from Auschwitz programme earlier this year. It changed my perspective on the Holocaust by transforming it into a relevant issue.
The trip to Auschwitz was integral in this because it removed a barrier between myself and the Holocaust- suddenly, it was no longer just part of my A-level syllabus. I was forced to confront the reality that the people who had died in the gas chambers, ghettos and prison cells had been individuals. I was also made aware of just how great the suffering was, because I saw for myself the cattle trucks and the appalling conditions that prisoners lived in.
Even going in a group of 200 teenagers did not detract from the experience. Instead, it enhanced it because, whilst parts of the trip were very private experiences, we benefitted from the thoughts and reflections of others because it enabled us to process what we saw.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
The Holocaust is a contemporary issue. It cannot, and should not, be an event consigned to history.
Paradoxically, the reasons for this lie in its ancient roots. The Holocaust is not bound by a few years in the mid-20th century; instead, it stretches back, past the parameters of the modern era, into the medieval age and beyond to the inception of antisemitism.
Would the Holocaust have been possible without the Protocols of the Elders of Zion? Without Dreyfus? Without the Spanish Inquisition? Antisemitism, discrimination against Jews of all walks of life, was not a new concept in 1933, but was widespread and prevalent in many countries. It is therefore incorrect to let the Holocaust be consigned to the period of the Third Reich; the Nazi regime manipulated and amplified the latent prejudices of its citizens. It did not create them.
This makes the Holocaust a contemporary issue because it demonstrates the atmosphere in which genocide can take place. How many people pertain to prejudices which are unfounded and illogical, but which are unconsciously adhered to? These beliefs survive both because they are socially acceptable and because they remain unchallenged.
There remains in our society a degree of antisemitism, but furthermore levels of xenophobia, Islamophobia, a fear of the travelling community, of black and Asian communities. Indeed a recent survey has shown these prejudices to be on the rise.
It is therefore important to remember the Holocaust because it is an example of how these trends could evolve into something far more threatening.
However, the Holocaust is more than a warning from the past. The human cost of the loss of six million lives is incalculable; consider what could have been achieved by those who died, what could have been discovered, written, invented and prevented. There is a very long list of Holocaust survivors who have positively contributed to society but they represent a tiny proportion of the talent and promise of the generations of European Jews lost to us.
Many did their best to assimilate wherever they were by simply building new ordinary lives for themselves. Nevertheless, the bereavement caused by the loss of family and friends was a disaster of huge proportions which caused unimaginable grief and suffering that continues today.
To put it another way murder is the greatest crime that can be committed. The Holocaust was not the single murder of six million people, but six million individual murders. Remembering the Holocaust is an important act in itself, and honouring its victims, both Jews and gentiles, particularly those with no family left to remember them, is a further reason why the work of the British Holocaust Commission will be so important.
There are many misconceptions concerning the Holocaust. For example, it is not widely known that almost half of Holocaust victims did not die in extermination camps, but instead were shot, starved or died of illness. Why does this matter? Chiefly because some of the misconceptions are potentially insulting and worrying. It is hard for young people to comprehend to vileness of the Holocaust without some justification, even if they have studied both Nazi ideology and the aims and methods of Nazi propaganda in detail.
Whilst the increased use of social media and technology has huge potential for good, it also means that false information and ideas are easily spread and it is often hard to distinguish between fact and rumour. Without thorough education covering the Holocaust and events leading up to it, it is possible that it could be forgotten or the truth misrepresented in the future.
Education is a key tool in ensuring that the Holocaust is not forgotten. The Holocaust Education Trust and other similar bodies play a key role in teaching the lessons that can be learnt from the Holocaust. I was lucky enough to benefit from taking part in the Lessons from Auschwitz programme earlier this year. It changed my perspective on the Holocaust by transforming it into a relevant issue.
The trip to Auschwitz was integral in this because it removed a barrier between myself and the Holocaust- suddenly, it was no longer just part of my A-level syllabus. I was forced to confront the reality that the people who had died in the gas chambers, ghettos and prison cells had been individuals. I was also made aware of just how great the suffering was, because I saw for myself the cattle trucks and the appalling conditions that prisoners lived in.
Even going in a group of 200 teenagers did not detract from the experience. Instead, it enhanced it because, whilst parts of the trip were very private experiences, we benefitted from the thoughts and reflections of others because it enabled us to process what we saw.
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It comes from the Greek word holos and kautos which literally means ‘completely burnt’. It is used to describe the persecution and mass murder of Jews by German Nazis between 1933 and 1945.The Nazi killing operations against the Jews were referred to as the 'Holocaust' by the Jews, as they wanted the world to remember the atrocities and sufferings, they had endured during the Nazi killing operations.
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