Friday, April 9, 2010
[The following, by Zach, is crossposted from The Brothers of Judea, 'Standing Up Against Hate on the Huffington Post.']
This was a topic that I have wanted to write about for a couple of weeks, but only today was there a perfect example of it posted here on the Huffington Post:
We often see anti-Zionists saying things like this. Comments that range along the line of, "What's the big deal about the Holocaust? Who cares? It was a long time ago, and a lot of other people are suffering too! So why are we making such a big fuss over it?"
Comments like these are not anti-Semitic, nor are they Holocaust denial either. The person is not claiming that the Holocaust didn't happen, but instead is simply being a jerk about it. I call this Holocaust cynicism. It is quite prevalent among anti-Semites and anti-Zionists alike, at least on the Huffington Post. The only time that they mention the Holocaust is to complain that Jews make "too big of a deal" about it and that it happened "a long time ago."
In fact any time the Holocaust is brought up they usually respond in this manner. The implication behind these comments is not that they think the Holocaust wasn't a bad thing, just that we should make such a big fuss about it anymore. One of the prominent examples of this is Norman Finkelstein's "The Holocaust Industry" in which he claims that Jews now just exploit the memory of the Shoah for cash. Maybe he and the other Holocaust cynics are right. Maybe it would make for a good discussion among Jews. Perhaps the Jews should think about whether they make too much of the Holocaust. But as it usually stands, Holocaust cynicism coming from people who aren't interested in an honest, intellectual discussion of that matter. Most Holocaust cynics also demonstrate clear anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish attitudes, and that should tell you something. They use this cynicism as a discussion-ender against people who would want to discuss how the Holocaust impacted Jewish history and the modern Jewish mindset.
It would be one thing if Bushdepression here was complaining on a Rwandan genocide thread that it should be getting more attention. I don't think he would find many people who would disagree. But the fact is that he came onto a Yom Ha'shoah thread and said basically, "This remembrance shouldn't exist." As if the lessons learned from those dark days no longer matter and should be forgotten. As I explained in my post this morning, there are many things about the Holocaust that is unique: There is more to it than just a lot of people killed a lot of other people. Bushdepression is heavily implying that the Jews are trying to make it all about them when they dare to remember their losses. And if that isn't Holocaust cynicism in it's highest form, I don't know where else one would find it.
No event in human history has been studied more thoroughly and carefully than the Holocaust. Thousands of thesis and dissertations papers have poured over mountains of data, from physical evidence and anecdotal testimony to captured German war documents. Virtually everyone with a PhD in History will stake their career on the fact that millions of Jews were systematically exterminated by Nazi Germany.
One can no more "revise" this fact than one can revise the existence of gravity. Wannsee Conference records prove that Nazis planned the extermination of Jews as, "The Final Solution." German concentration camp records prove that it was carried out.
To the person who suggests, "who cares?" I say that it is important because it is the only time in history that millions of innocent people were exterminated only because of their religion. The Shoah was the continuation of the annihilation of the Jews by Babylonians, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, Christians and the Spanish Inquisition. It is important because millions of people knew about the Nazi death camps, yet they did nothing to stop it. It's important becaue some of those people protected Jews, at risk of their own lives. It is important that our progeny know about the immmorality and unethical behavior of Europeans during the Holocaust. Otherwise, our descendents might repeat the horrid crime. We should all care about teaching the Holocaust carefully. If we do not, we risk the same horrid result in a different generation.
Whenever we stand up to those who deny or minimize genocide we send a critical message to the world. As we continue to live in an age of genocide and ethnic cleansing, we must repel the broken ethics of our ancestors, or risk a dreadful repeat of past transgressions.
Holocaust deniers ply their mendacious poison everywhere, especially with young people on the Internet. Deniers seek to distort the truth in a way that promotes antagonism against the object of their hatred, or to deny the culpability of their ancestors and heroes. If we ignore them, they will twist the minds of countless young people, creating a new generation of those who deny the facts of the worst episode of genocide in history. Freedom of speech and the press is a symbol of a healthy society. Yet, since no crime in history is so heinous as the Holocaust, its memory must be accurately preserved, to protect our children and grandchildren.
Museums and mandatory public education are tools to dispel bigotry, especially racial and ethnic hatred. Books, plays, films and presentations can reinforce the veracity of past and present genocides. They help to tell the true story of the perpetrators of genocide; and they reveal the abject terror, humiliation and degradation resulting from blind prejudice. It is therefore essential that we disclose the factual brutality and horror of genocide, combating the deniers’ virulent, inaccurate historical revision. We must protect vulnerable future generations from making the same mistakes.
A world that continues to allow genocide requires ethical remediation. We must insist that religious, racial, ethnic, gender and orientation persecution is wrong; and that tolerance is our progeny's only hope. Only through such efforts can we reveal the true horror of genocide and promote the triumphant spirit of humankind.
Charles Weinblatt
Author, "Jacob's Courage"
http://jacobscourage.wordpress.com/