Why Is Holocaust Important?

[Martian2]

The Holocaust is more than just about the death of Jews. In many ways, the Holocaust is about the Germans. From a Westerner's view, they are "one of us." How could they have committed these unspeakable acts? What does that say about Western civilization? Is our future filled with more Holocausts? Are we all doomed?

The Holocaust was relatively recent. There are still survivors. The horrors of incarcerating Jews/people (i.e. Allied prisoners of war) in concentration camps and tattooing innocent inmates, including women and children, with numbers spoke to the inhumanity of the Germans. The Germans went further still. They built ovens to burn living human beings and gassed people to death in "homicidal gas chambers disguised as showers." These were not isolated incidents. The insane and deranged Germans systematically killed millions of people, not just Jews.

"Some scholars maintain that the definition of the Holocaust should also include the Nazis' systematic murder of millions of people in other groups, including ethnic Poles, the Romani, Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, people with disabilities, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other political and religious opponents.[4] By this definition, the total number of Holocaust victims would be between 11 million and 17 million people.[5]" see The Holocaust - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Holocaust has been widely publicized (i.e. Schindler's List) by powerful Jews. But the story extends far beyond mere publicity. How could the Germans (who were modern, industrialized, living in the largest country in Europe, having the world's second largest economy, having the most Nobel Prize winners prior to 1933, and a shining example of Western enlightenment and progress) turn into demonic nightmares that committed such unimaginable and unspeakable acts. German behavior and atrocities during World War II forced all Western societies to take a hard look in the mirror and ask the question: "could it happen to us?"

As a result of this introspection and reflection, Western powers and societies became more humane. Colonization/enslavement of non-white countries was gradually reversed and terminated. The Civil Rights Act of 1960 and 1964 were passed in the United States to make society more fair for non-white American citizens.

The effects of the Holocaust were far-reaching and the reversal of global European colonization and social reform in the United States were equally profound. The Holocaust raised important questions of what it means to be human and how do we, as Homo sapiens, ensure that these atrocities are never repeated against our fellow human beings. The broader questions and responses engendered by the Holocaust will ensure its importance in history for a long time to come.

 

[qsaark]

Why posting this on this forum? What this has to do with Pakistan?

 

[Martian2]

Why posting this on this forum? What this has to do with Pakistan?

Oops. I thought this was a general "World Affairs" forum. Is there a place where I can post this anywhere on this website? If not, due to objections, I will delete my article.

Decolonization of all non-white countries after World War II is important for many countries; including the birth of Pakistan. However, I am not here to cause controversy.

 

[qsaark]

Oops. I thought this was a general "World Affairs" forum. Is there a place where I can post this anywhere on this website? If not, due to objections, I will delete my article.

You are most welcome to post it in this section but if it has little or no relevance to Pakistan, there will be no discussion which will negate the purpose of your post.

 

[Martian2]

You are most welcome to post it in this section but if it has little or no relevance to Pakistan, there will be no discussion which will negate the purpose of your post.

I figured it's a slow news day and that some members may not mind reading something different. My competition in another thread is "UFO: Myth or Reality?" I think my chances of getting more viewers and comments are pretty good.

 

[illuminatus]

Holocaust is a disgraceful event for the whole humanity. I do not wish to downplay the severity of this tragic period of history. No human being in their right mind can ever condone such a tragic event. Nonetheless, a lot of recognition is drawn away from similar or worse acts of inhumanity that have taken place over the last century and before that. History is filled with viscous atrocities. People know very little about similar atrocities such as 300000 Chinese civilians murdered by the Japanese invaders in Nanking, 1937-1938. The Bosnian ethnic cleansing is another classic example where thousands of Muslims were exterminated in cold blood just for being Muslims. Yes, all of this happened in the backyard of the so-called civilized Western world who blatantly turned a blind eye. Rwanda genocide where roughly 1 million people lost their lives. The millions that died in Stalin's labour camps. Soviet Union era. The human toll of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are also no different. The list is endless because human evil has no boundary. Primarily due to historical reasons the Western world generally likes to over emphasise the Holocaust. The horrible Holocaust after all took place on European soil during WW.

The greater concern and sympathy also stems for those who are like yourself. Therefore feel more empathy/concern for those who are:

- Living on the same continent
- The same Race
- The same/similar Religion
- Similar ways of/quality of life (norms and values)
- Similar cultural/economic climates
- Guilt feelings because Holocaust could have been prevented from happening, had the Western world not adopted a policy of appeasement in the 1930s. Hitler should have been stamped down early, not appeased to prevent a war, because in the end a war did occur, and as a result the tragedy of the Holocaust took place. Unfortunately, that's the bitter truth. It seems the West will never get over their guilt feelings.

On a different note, this may sound a little harsh, but Israel hasn't learnt anything from the Holocaust. The Israeli state uses the Holocaust to muster sympathy in order to further their land grabbing agenda from the Palestinian state. The Israelis are using disproportionate use of force with the help of their Western counterparts in order to occupy and suppress the helpless Palestinian people. Palestinians are humiliated and deprived from their rights. The Israelis have no regard for human rights. This is no less than another genocide. By the way, I've a neutral stance in the Israeli Palestinian conflict. I shape my opinion based on neutral observation.

 

[Gin ka Pakistan]

I will never understand why west came so late to stop Holocaust , they had men behind enemy lines and intelligence.

 

[illuminatus]

I will never understand why west came so late to stop Holocaust , they had men behind enemy lines and intelligence.

Now, that should be the real question regarding the Holocaust. Why did it happen in the first place? A very legitimate though tough question. One that shall remain unanswered I'm afraid.

We have to understand that the event took place during the industrialization period of the Western world. The West could never have perceived that being at the peak of civilization (having undergone The Enlightenment a couple of centuries before) such a tragedy could occur right under their noses. After all, the prevailing thought in Europe was that of individual liberty, freedom, human rights etc. and that there was a clear divide between the so-called 'civilised' world, consisting of the Western, Christian countries, and the 'uncivilised', consisting of the suppressed colonies, the Ottomans. Different moral standards were applied. But when WW2 came around, and it was discovered that Germany, a civilised and a very modern state, could commit a deliberate and well-thought out genocide of millions, it shattered long standing views that European nations had a higher moral code or authority and could and would act in accordance with that. I guess another very bitter pill to swallow.

 

[Martian2]

Primarily due to historical reasons the Western world generally likes to over emphasise the Holocaust. The horrible Holocaust after all took place on European soil during WW.

The greater concern and sympathy also stems for those who are like yourself. Therefore feel more empathy/concern for those who are:

- Living on the same continent
- The same Race
- The same/similar Religion
- Similar ways of/quality of life (norms and values)
- Similar cultural/economic climates
- Guilt feelings because Holocaust could have been prevented from happening....It seems the West will never get over their guilt feelings.

On a different note, this may sound a little harsh, but Israel hasn't learnt anything from the Holocaust. The Israeli state uses the Holocaust to muster sympathy in order to further their land grabbing agenda from the Palestinian state. The Israelis are using disproportionate use of force with the help of their Western counterparts in order to occupy and suppress the helpless Palestinian people. Palestinians are humiliated and deprived from their rights.

The Holocaust occurred right in the heart of European society. The German perpetrators, the largest and most important European country (i.e. the apex of Western scientific thought and achievement), of the Holocaust destroyed the myth of European cultural and moral superiority. To the contrary, it exposed the moral depravity of brutal European colonialism when it was applied to fellow Europeans.

You are correct in saying that, in general, there is more sympathy in the United States for Jews and the Holocaust. In high school, during social studies class, all of us watched films about concentration camps, numbers stenciled into the forearms of women and little children, and grotesque emaciated bodies of prisoners. After many hours of watching the films and days of discussion, I think it would be hard for any human being not to feel sympathy for the victims.

There are some prominent Americans that agree with your views on current Israeli government policy towards the Palestinians.

Jimmy Carter: Israel's 'apartheid' policies worse than South Africa's - Haaretz - Israel News

"Jimmy Carter: Israel's 'apartheid' policies worse than South Africa's
By Haaretz Service

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter said in remarks broadcast Monday that Israeli policy in the West Bank represented instances of apartheid worse even that those that once held sway in South Africa.

Carter's comments were broadcast on Israel Radio, which played a tape of an interview with the ex-president, but did not specify to whom Carter was speaking. But has made similar remarks in recent interviews, such as one to CBC television.

'When Israel does occupy this territory deep within the West Bank, and connects the 200-or-so settlements with each other, with a road, and then prohibits the Palestinians from using that road, or in many cases even crossing the road, this perpetrates even worse instances of apartness, or apartheid, than we witnessed even in South Africa.'

Carter said his new book, 'Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid' was meant to spark U.S. discussion of Israeli policies. 'The hope is that my book will at least stimulate a debate, which has not existed in this country. There's never been any debate on this issue, of any significance.'"

 

[Martian2]

I will never understand why west came so late to stop Holocaust , they had men behind enemy lines and intelligence.

I believe that the West was afraid of the German war machine. The West knew that if they confronted Germany then millions of Allied soldiers would have to die. The American public was weary about the prospect of a second world war, within 25 years, on a faraway continent. Americans kept hoping that the Europeans could solve an European problem.

Today, on a much smaller scale, we see similar behavior by the West. Despite all of the rhetoric and protests by the United States and NATO, they all meekly acquiesced to the Russian invasion and annexation of Georgian territory (as recognized by the UN) in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

 

[kidwaibhai]

The Holocaust was a sad moment among many in human history. I personally think that when a whole nation finds it easier to blame a small number of people for everything that is wrong in there country then a situation like a Holocaust becomes a real possibility.
That is why all of us should watch out for this and play our part in stopping such sentiments against minorities may they be in the West or in Pakistan.

 

[Martian2]

The Holocaust was a sad moment among many in human history. I personally think that when a whole nation finds it easier to blame a small number of people for everything that is wrong in there country then a situation like a Holocaust becomes a real possibility.
That is why all of us should watch out for this and play our part in stopping such sentiments against minorities may they be in the West or in Pakistan.

You have hit the nail on the head. One of the important universal lessons of the Holocaust is that scapegoating minorities and unfairly blaming them for wider social and economic problems may lead to sickening inhumane acts. People of good character have a duty to speak out against injustices to prevent a Holocaust-like event from happening in their own societies.

 

[qsaark]

Irony is the same nation that suffered something of the magnitude of holocaust is doing the same with the Palestinians. The only difference is, Germans did it swiftly during few years whereas successive Zionist regimes have been doing it slowly over a period of several decades and will continue to do so until a single Palestinian is remained in the occupied Palestine.

 

[Martian2]

Irony is the same nation that suffered something of the magnitude of holocaust is doing the same with the Palestinians. The only difference is, Germans did it swiftly during few years whereas successive Zionist regimes have been doing it slowly over a period of several decades and will continue to do so until a single Palestinian is remained in the occupied Palestine.

Most of the European Jews, the Ashkenazi Jews (see Ashkenazi Jews - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), were wiped out by the Germans during World War II. I believe the Jews that are in control of Israel, the Sephardi Jews (see Sephardi Jews - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), have no direct experience or memory of German brutality. Hence, these untraumatized, unsympathetic, and tougher Middle Eastern Jews are putting the screws on the Palestinians.

Jew - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Only in Israel is the Jewish population representative of all groups, a melting pot independent of each group's proportion within the overall world Jewish population.[33]"

This is where it gets really interesting. The Palestinians may be descendants of the original Jews that have lived there for centuries or millennia.

Palestinians are the descendants of the area's original Jews. - Indymedia Ireland

"Palestinians are the descendants of the area's original Jews.
category dublin | history and heritage | other press author Thursday October 09, 2008 19:18author by Betty Report this post to the editors

'Most of the early Zionist leaders, including David Ben Gurion believed that the Palestinians were the descendants of the area's original Jews. They believed the Jews had later converted to Islam.'"

911 - Israel - The Original Jews are Todays Palestinians - Palestinian Mothers (lots of good links)

"911 - Israel - The Original Jews are Todays Palestinians"

aangirfan: The Palestinians are most likely the original Jews.

"Saturday, January 17, 2009
The Palestinians are most likely the original Jews."

 

[fhassan]

The holocaust was a terrible event in history, our brothers in monotheism perished at the hand of a godless people.

Such a thing must never be allowed to happen again, unfortunately there are some who have used the holocaust in order to propagate a devilish agenda, thus trivializing the holocaust to nothing more than a queen on the chessboard of life.