Remembering the Holocaust: What it Has Meant

[Ian David]

Remembering the Holocaust: What it Has Meant
May 5, 2005

At a time when the memory of the Shoah is being undermined in a
variety of ways--claims that enough is enough, abhorrent comparisons
of Israeli behavior to the Nazis, trivial analogies to the Holocaust
by those who perceive all kinds of wrongs in the world, and, of
course, Holocaust denial--it is fitting on Yom Hashoah to focus on
some of what has been achieved by this remembrance.

First, is the respect we show the six million. Whether it is at
ceremonies in Israel or all around the world, or whether it is the
opening of the new Yad Vashem Museum or the continuing importance of
the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum or the growing collection of interviews by the Shoah Foundation, the first goal is not to forget those who perished.
To this end, there is increasing attention on personal stories and
histories, so the monstrosity of the numbers should not obscure the
monstrosity of personal loss.

Second is the never-ending need to educate young Jews that "never
again" can we allow this to happen. That is why today there are over
15,000 young people commemorating the Shoah at Auschwitz, why in
Israeli schools and American day schools there are services,
discussions and commemorations. Teaching about both the dangers of
powerlessness and the need for good people to stand up in the face of
evil is part of this critical education.

Third is the connecting link between remembering the Shoah and combating other examples of Genocide. In a world where the horrors of Darfur are ongoing and where Rwanda is still a fresh memory, there is no reason to suggest that the world has learned the lessons of the Holocaust. Still, focusing on this unspeakable human tragedy that took place in the heart of Europe serves as a goad, as a rallying cry to get the world to stand up this time or next time in a way that it failed to do when the Jewish people were in peril.

Fourth is the important lesson of how we observe the Holocaust each
year. The two main dates in the calendar of remembrance are
Kristallnacht and Yom Hashoah. Having these two events teaches us a
great deal about the evolution of hatred and how to deal with it.
Today, Yom Hashoah, we remember the culmination of the evil of Nazism,
the complicity of many others, the consequences of Jewish
powerlessness. Kristallnacht reminds us that evil is not only a
finished product but a process. The Holocaust didn't suddenly
transpire. It was the product of Nazi ideology and discrimination for
years. It was the product of the development of a racist anti-Semitism
that emerged in the nineteenth century. It was the product of
Christian anti-Semitism which pervaded European societies and their
populations for centuries.The murder of six million was not an
overnight phenomenon.

We still haven't fully learned that we need to stand against evil
early on and at all stages so that it does not become an unstoppable
force. But we are working at it and remembering the Holocaust provides
the vehicle to do so.

Fifth is the importance of identifying and honoring those exceptions,
those individuals who did stand up and who saved Jews during the
Holocaust. It can never be emphasized enough that compared to the
millions who stood by or those who conspired in the extermination of
the Jews and other innocents such as Gypsies and gays, those who
helped the victims were numerically like drops in the bucket. Honoring
those people, however, whether at Yad Vashem or other ceremonies or in
film or in books, creates the potential of a flood of individuals who
can be inspired by such heroism, who recognize that even in the most
dire of circumstances, people have the choice of how to behave and can
make a difference.

As the survivors pass from the scene, the challenges of continuing
these efforts in the face of mounting opposition will increase. And
the greatest challenge will be to come up with creative approaches to
educating about the Holocaust so that young people, generations
removed from the event, can see it as relevant to their own lives.

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[tucoramirez2005]

1. I think you're downplaying

the number of Slavs (in Poland, the USSR, and the Balkans) who were murdered by Nazism as well. There was more to the mass murder than Jewish, Roma, and gay people...tens of millions more.

May all affected be remembered.