Why The Holocaust?Photograph of the train tracks leading into Auschwitz-Birkenau When my students learn that I study the Holocaust and teach a class about it and other genocides, they have questions.
"Doesn't it make you sad?" "Is it because you're Jewish?" "Why would you want to learn about the Holocaust?" I do my best to answer the questions in the moment - yes, it makes me sad but its important. And no, I'm not Jewish (This surprises many student who assume that I would only be passionate about Holocaust education if I was). The last question is the one that I struggle with most because there is SO MUCH I want to say in my response. I want to tell them that Holocaust education is perhaps more important now than ever before. That the survivor population is fading and we have to learn all that we can from them. That there is too much hate in the world and the Holocaust teaches us what happens when we allow that hate to be codified as law and preached as the truth. That we must learn the history of the Holocaust and apply the lessons to our world today to prevent future genocides. As high school juniors and seniors, most of my students have had limited Holocaust education. They have read Anne Frank and done some general background study. Most students think that the Holocaust was sudden - that one day all was right in the world and then Hitler overthrew the government and rounded up all the Jews - in the blink of an eye the world was falling apart. They are genuinely shocked to know that Hitler legitimately rose to power and that the laws and restrictions on Jews were a gradual buildup over six+ years that reflected the kinds of antisemitism that European Jewry had faced for centuries. We grapple with complex questions: "Why didn't Jews just leave?" (Emigration and immigration requirements made it difficult to leave, although thousands of Jews did). "Why didn't Jews just refuse to wear their stars/register/change their passport/surrender their assets/go to ghettoes and camps?" (Many Jews did resist but Jews throughout Europe had come to accept living with a certain level of antisemitism; they did their best to survive and hoped that it would pass). And perhaps the most difficult question, "What did their neighbors do when Jews were forced into ghettos and camps?" Average people responded in many ways - some chose to risk their lives by hiding Jews or smuggling food. The entire nation of Denmark stood up to Nazism to save the majority of their Jewish population. Some looked the other way and didn't get involved because of indifference, prejudice, or fear for their own families and lives. Some actively participated for their own sets of reasons that we still struggle to understand. Each semester it leads us to the ultimate question - what would we do? I believe this is the key take away in Holocaust education today. I want my students to know that they can and do make a difference. That they have the power to make the world a better place by standing up to hate when they see it in their schools, in their communities, and in the world. I am embarking on this study trip to Poland to learn as much as I can, visit as many Holocaust sites as I can, talk with as many survivors as I can, to take home to my students all the information and experiences that I can. To share with them not only the history of the Holocaust but also the lessons that the Holocaust holds for all of us; to be better equipped to answer their questions. "Doesn't it make you sad?" Yes, studying the Holocaust makes me sad; it also makes me angry and unsure. I might cry when I describe my feelings walking through Majdanek or showing you pictures of the gas chambers at Auschwitz. And I will share with you that I while I know how I hope I would respond, I don't know how I would respond and I think about that a lot. "Is it because you're Jewish?" No, I'm not Jewish but I am human. Jews, Roma, political dissenters, and other groups targeted by the Nazis were too and we all share in that human story. There are lessons that we can all learn about the Holocaust irrespective of our faith traditions and that is the most important lesson. "Why would you want to learn about the Holocaust?" There is so much to say and I am hoping to bring home pictures and artifacts that help me say it all. Comments are closed.
|
About the Trip
|