Community Chat

[Zaimee]

Sadly, if you haven't learned anything about it, it is easily forgotten. I fear that Holocaust education is not part of many schools curriculum and even if it is written in, many teachers are not qualified to teach as they have little knowledge other than watching movies. 

When I taught 4th/5 th gifted, I was the only teacher that did a comprehensive unit. Teaching in Miami, I was able to get special permission for field trips to the Holocaust Memorial and meetings with survivors. Years later students would return to visit and always comment on those lessons since it was the only time that the Holocaust was discussed.

Yes, we say never forget, but to some, it is a lesson never learned. 

[rms1954]

I remember I first learned about this in school when they showed us a movie.  I was horrified.  I had nightmares for weeks.  I cried and cried in bed if I thought about it.  I've always been ashamed that I was of German descent.  When I began working in 1972 there was a woman in our office who was Jewish.  When she found out I was German, her attitude changed towards me.  She called me some horrible names.  I asked my boss if I could go home because I didn't feel well.  Well it got back to him she had said.  He spoke to her in private.  Whatever he said to her must have worked because she started treating me in a more cordial way.  

[cactusgal]

[PamfromCT]

A book I found very enlightening was “Fascism, A Warning” by Madeleine Albright.  It is very relevant and recently published.  

[Oznell]

Found in the pockets of murdered inmates in the Klooga camp, a photo of a young Jewish hockey player from Vilna:

All the archived items found from that period and those places are so poignant and important.

[evelyner]

I'm a child of Holocaust survivors. A very sad time for my parents, especially my dad who lost so many people. 

[nyc1]

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@Nataliesgramma wrote:

I was a Leasing Agent for an Apartment Complex about 30 years ago.

I struck up a conversation with an elderly woman who stopped by the Office to get her mail.

She had an accent, so I asked her where she was from....

Anyway, that conversation still sticks with me today, especially when she rolled up her sleeve to show me her "number"...

@Nataliesgramma  When I was a child into my early teens, whenever I took the SUBWAY into the city I ALWAYS saw older people with their numbers across their wrist.  Sadly,  it was too common a sight.   It tugged at my heart even as a youngster. 

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[Shanus]

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@suzyQ3 wrote:

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@suzyQ3 wrote:

I grew up in what was a Jewish community at the time -- the Fairfax area of Los Angeles. Many of my friends were the children of survivors. I think that these parents were still in shock. It was just a few years after WW2.

One memory among many: When Adolf Eichmann, head of the Gestapo Office of Jewish Affairs, was captured in 1960. My girlfriend, whose parents were survivors, and I took Newsweek and stomped on the cover photo of him until it was obliterated.

But the sad and tragic truth is that we can't obliterate those determined to elevate hate into unthinkable actions. All we can do is foster knowledge and facts --  and shine that light. Cockroaches cringe at the light.

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I need to add something here. I made it sound as if we are dealing only with monsters. But the most unnerving aspect is how many ordinary people were heavily involved.

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@suzyQ3 ...were and still are involved.

[Shanus]

When we were younger, we traveled a lot. In every city and country, we sought out a Holocaust Museum. We looked at the images, especially those of the children some infants. Always cried, but it was necessary to go and be a part of our past. I had family members who had numbers on their arms. They wore them proudly as survivors of a horrific time. 

We lit a candle that would encircle the names of the lost souls. Many other candles were lit and people had their heads bowed in prayer.

Yes, it was a sad day in an other wise fun getaway, but one we never missed. 

[haddon9]

"Humanity's basic decency (and I think our propensity to shut down as a reaction to incomprehensible horror) was used against us to make us unable to completely comprehend the evil we were dealing with. We must remain on guard against that."

I'm so afraid of this happening again.  Most people are good and can't fathom how evil some could be. By not understanding this, evil in some form can take over again.