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Lessons Learned From Holocaust
As we learned from the history class 202 about the past century, all human cultures despite of
their geographical location were killing other people from other nations. Some of them were killing to
take their land others were fighting for their freedom, and some of them for their prosperity. With the
development of technology and weapons more people were killed by other human beings. It seems that
there was always a clear reason, not the most approved one, but at least people knew why they were
attacked or why are they attacking others. However with the Hitler in charge, the whole nation turned
against one race – Jews. Why, what, and how it happened is a difficult question, but Hitler convinced the
whole nation that Jews were the enemy as they were responsible for all the political and financial
problems in Germany. Today it sounds stupid and an educated person with the self-respect would say that
Hitler’s statement is irrational and illiterate, but as history shows people were different.
So what is Holocaust? Holocaust is the systematic, bureaucratic, and organized at the state level
of persecution murder of the Nazi regime and its allies around six million Jews. The word Holocaust is a
Greek word which means” “Sacrifice by burning” The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January
of 1933 believed that the German nation had racial superiority, and that the Jews were considered as “infe
rior” race that they were a threat the community and German race. The history of genocide that happened
during the World War II is not just the history of the past; it is the living history that concerns us all today
independently from our origins, cultures, and religions.
Time goes by and less and less Jewish people who survived the Nazi regime and “death camps”
are still alive today. Thanks to million Holocaust survivors in 1945, their documented stories, films and
photos taken during those horrific times, we today are able to review and understand why and how the
Holocaust occurred. In my opinion we are entitled to review the history, learn from the mistakes of our
ancestors and educate youngsters.
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Political and citizens’ Responsibilities
“The history of the Holocaust clearly addresses questions of the abuse of political power for violent
purposes on a national level and, ultimately, an international level”
Holocaust shows us that we as citizens need to be aware of the political, social, and economic choices. We
should always use a common scene and nurture basic human rights. While some people can argue that
Germans didn’t have a choice but to obey Hitler’s requirements, I personally think all of us have the right
to choose and to decide what’s moral and what’s not. Millions of Germans were helping organize
slaughter of Jews, building death camps, and poisoning them with gas. This is unhuman and should have
never happened to any living creature not to mention human beings.
