I remember when I was 10 and my family took a vacation trip to New Mexico from California, passing through Arizona there were a lot of ads on the radio from conservatives/republican groups protesting the Eichmann trial. He was only following orders.
I’ve been trying to remember when I first learned about the Holocaust, but I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know about it. I certainly learned more detail gradually as I got older, but I knew the basic facts from a very young age. But not because I learned it in school—my parents told me. I remember reading The Diary of Anne Frank when I was quite young. I also learned about Hiroshima and Nagasaki when I was very young.
I was 4 years old when Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed. I don’t remember those events directly, but VJ Day is one of my earliest memories. Everyone was so happy to see the end of the war, people were out in the street celebrating. When I started school at 6 yrs., we were already aware of the pending competition with the USSR and the threat of more nuclear attacks. As with lonecat, my parents were the main source of my awareness of such events. I remember the Emmett Till murder, the McCarthy Red Scare, and the push for housing rights in the early 1950’s. We didn’t learn that in school though. US history in school in those days stopped upon reaching the Civil War, and that was sketchy at best (but I remember my teacher was very proud of being FFV, First Families of Virginia).
I once had a co-worker who was a Holocaust Survivor. She would not talk about her past nor her experiences. All she would say was “I survived. That’s all. I lived.”
I wonder if the various required courses on the Holocaust will get into the religious motivations (“hate the Jews”) and then lead from there to the Crusades, the Inquisition, the witch burnings, the Arawak genocide, the Irish peonage racket, the Spanish baby sellers, the Vatican Bank scandal, the millions of AIDS casualties in Africa due to banning of condoms, and of course the ever-widening bloodstain of pederasty — all of which can be laid at the doorstep of the Roman Catholic Church, which for some strange reason continues to escape indictment under RICO (the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act).
I first learned about the Holocaust from my parents and many of my friends who had parents and relatives who lived through it. I remember, as a young child, asking about the numbers decorating the arms of many of my Grandmothers’ friends. In school, not so much…
While I am not sure when I first learned of the concentration camps, I did learn at an early age ( 5 or 6) about how humans treated others. At the time, my father was stationed at the Air Force Base outside Casablanca, Morocco. I clearly remember him talking about a story in the newspaper about how a group of Arabs (we were not really aware of the tribal conflicts which were still a large factor of life there) had killed everyone in a hospital, dotctors, nurses, staff, patients etc. They killed both French and Arabs, cutting throats with gusto. I knew, more or less, that the French and Arabs (Moroccans) were enemies, but I was surprised that they would kill other Arabs, I have, of course, since learned that humans will use the slightest of differences (whether of origin or belief) to justify murder.
We had to move from town to the base because violence erupted on Bastille Day, 1955. I was on the roof of our apartment building with my mother, waiting for my brother and sister to get home on a bus from summer school. In the not too great distance, I could here a heavy machine gun firing (and yes, even then I knew what one sounded like).
When we left Morocco, we flew to Frankfurt Germany in October, 1956. While there, we went into Wiesbaden. There is a hat store on the corner of one of the streets (I checked a few years ago on Google Maps, and it was still there). When I turned around to face the opposite direction from the store, I could see some remnants of bombed out buildings.
But my real introduction to the Holocaust came from reading William Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. There I learned about some of the experiments, the woman with the lampshades made of human skin, and more. And yet, even that doesn’t capture all of the utter hideousness of the Third Reich.
And then there were the Japanese…
But the blood of the “different from me” runs off of our hands as well.
I like Steve Benson, I really do. But I’d like to know where he lives that the Holocaust is not taught in schools. Glad to see teachers and students still in masks though.
And while we’re at it let’s mention that Jew-hatred is foundational to Christianity and Islam. Both have traditionally and consistently oppressed, exiled, and occasionally exterminated Jews since their foundings. Both religions are based on appropriating Jewish religion and identity. So the Holocaust wasn’t a one-off aberration. It was just one event in a long and disgraceful history that didn’t start or end with it. It wasn’t the first genocide against Jews under Christianity and al-Islam, and it wasn’t the last.
Well, there’s the Holodomor, the Stalin-run famine of Ukraine 1932-1933. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor
Winnipeg businessman and philanthropist Israel “Izzy” Asper had long wanted to have a Canadian Holocaust Museum. When he tried to get government support, there arose a bunch of "Whatabout"s, especially from Winnipeg’s large population of Ukrainian descendants, who viewed the Holodomor as an atrocity on a par with the Holocaust, and from leaders of Canada’s indigenous communities.
After a lot of wrangling, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights was built in a central part of Winnipeg, housed in IMHO a tremendously ugly building (with a lot of architectural hand-waving about symbolism). (You can read all about it at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Museum_for_Human_Rights ). There are 10 galleries, covering a wide varieties of examples of humanity’s evils against humanity. The gallery “Examining the Holocaust and other genocides” includes five genocides officially recognized by the Canadian government: the Armenian genocide, the Holodomor, the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide and the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. Atrocities against Canadian indigenous peoples are covered in parts of most other galleries, including one called “Indigenous Perspectives.”
I do believe that it is important for people to learn about humanity’s atrocities, and especially for the “wrongs” perpetrated by their own countries (hopedly to induce humility). I don’t know—with all the evil in the world, something rubs me the wrong way in selecting some subset of evils as “official” ones. (How about slavery, for instance? Palestinians?) I suppose that in many ways the creators of the Museum had an impossible task in the selection and display of evils, and in trying to celebrate “human rights.”
Kurtass Premium Member almost 3 years ago
The fascist republicans don’t want that taught either.
Willywise52 Premium Member almost 3 years ago
And the Race Massacre in Tulsa,don’t forget that,much as some want to.
mourdac Premium Member almost 3 years ago
They didn’t teach about the Holocaust even when I was in grade school (Paleolithic era, I believe).
Gen.Flashman almost 3 years ago
I remember when I was 10 and my family took a vacation trip to New Mexico from California, passing through Arizona there were a lot of ads on the radio from conservatives/republican groups protesting the Eichmann trial. He was only following orders.
piper_gilbert almost 3 years ago
As a country, we will never heal if we refuse to look at the wounds.
Michael G. almost 3 years ago
Remember, boys and girls, war is a real shot in the arm for business!
lonecat almost 3 years ago
I’ve been trying to remember when I first learned about the Holocaust, but I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know about it. I certainly learned more detail gradually as I got older, but I knew the basic facts from a very young age. But not because I learned it in school—my parents told me. I remember reading The Diary of Anne Frank when I was quite young. I also learned about Hiroshima and Nagasaki when I was very young.
Tarzan & Redd Panda almost 3 years ago
What is the sub-ordinate flag? Not a national flag.
Sgt. Snorkle almost 3 years ago
The younger generation will not believe it, or want too!
martens almost 3 years ago
I was 4 years old when Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed. I don’t remember those events directly, but VJ Day is one of my earliest memories. Everyone was so happy to see the end of the war, people were out in the street celebrating. When I started school at 6 yrs., we were already aware of the pending competition with the USSR and the threat of more nuclear attacks. As with lonecat, my parents were the main source of my awareness of such events. I remember the Emmett Till murder, the McCarthy Red Scare, and the push for housing rights in the early 1950’s. We didn’t learn that in school though. US history in school in those days stopped upon reaching the Civil War, and that was sketchy at best (but I remember my teacher was very proud of being FFV, First Families of Virginia).
Bookworm almost 3 years ago
I once had a co-worker who was a Holocaust Survivor. She would not talk about her past nor her experiences. All she would say was “I survived. That’s all. I lived.”
Richard S Russell Premium Member almost 3 years ago
I wonder if the various required courses on the Holocaust will get into the religious motivations (“hate the Jews”) and then lead from there to the Crusades, the Inquisition, the witch burnings, the Arawak genocide, the Irish peonage racket, the Spanish baby sellers, the Vatican Bank scandal, the millions of AIDS casualties in Africa due to banning of condoms, and of course the ever-widening bloodstain of pederasty — all of which can be laid at the doorstep of the Roman Catholic Church, which for some strange reason continues to escape indictment under RICO (the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act).
readfred almost 3 years ago
I first learned about the Holocaust from my parents and many of my friends who had parents and relatives who lived through it. I remember, as a young child, asking about the numbers decorating the arms of many of my Grandmothers’ friends. In school, not so much…
Baslim the Beggar Premium Member almost 3 years ago
While I am not sure when I first learned of the concentration camps, I did learn at an early age ( 5 or 6) about how humans treated others. At the time, my father was stationed at the Air Force Base outside Casablanca, Morocco. I clearly remember him talking about a story in the newspaper about how a group of Arabs (we were not really aware of the tribal conflicts which were still a large factor of life there) had killed everyone in a hospital, dotctors, nurses, staff, patients etc. They killed both French and Arabs, cutting throats with gusto. I knew, more or less, that the French and Arabs (Moroccans) were enemies, but I was surprised that they would kill other Arabs, I have, of course, since learned that humans will use the slightest of differences (whether of origin or belief) to justify murder.
We had to move from town to the base because violence erupted on Bastille Day, 1955. I was on the roof of our apartment building with my mother, waiting for my brother and sister to get home on a bus from summer school. In the not too great distance, I could here a heavy machine gun firing (and yes, even then I knew what one sounded like).
When we left Morocco, we flew to Frankfurt Germany in October, 1956. While there, we went into Wiesbaden. There is a hat store on the corner of one of the streets (I checked a few years ago on Google Maps, and it was still there). When I turned around to face the opposite direction from the store, I could see some remnants of bombed out buildings.
But my real introduction to the Holocaust came from reading William Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. There I learned about some of the experiments, the woman with the lampshades made of human skin, and more. And yet, even that doesn’t capture all of the utter hideousness of the Third Reich.
And then there were the Japanese…
But the blood of the “different from me” runs off of our hands as well.
nyg16 almost 3 years ago
the GQP says there was no such thing
wsedrel Premium Member almost 3 years ago
What holocaust? & let’s teach flat earth also (pay no attention to those murdered & traumatized Jews over there: nothing to see, keep moving…)
Durak Premium Member almost 3 years ago
I like Steve Benson, I really do. But I’d like to know where he lives that the Holocaust is not taught in schools. Glad to see teachers and students still in masks though.
basilisk Premium Member almost 3 years ago
And while we’re at it let’s mention that Jew-hatred is foundational to Christianity and Islam. Both have traditionally and consistently oppressed, exiled, and occasionally exterminated Jews since their foundings. Both religions are based on appropriating Jewish religion and identity. So the Holocaust wasn’t a one-off aberration. It was just one event in a long and disgraceful history that didn’t start or end with it. It wasn’t the first genocide against Jews under Christianity and al-Islam, and it wasn’t the last.
FrankErnesto almost 3 years ago
First came the Inquisition. Not much said about that either.
kaffekup almost 3 years ago
“The Holocaust! But teacher, that’s almost as bad as making us wear these totalitarian masks!”
cherns Premium Member almost 3 years ago
“The Holowhat?”
Well, there’s the Holodomor, the Stalin-run famine of Ukraine 1932-1933. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor
Winnipeg businessman and philanthropist Israel “Izzy” Asper had long wanted to have a Canadian Holocaust Museum. When he tried to get government support, there arose a bunch of "Whatabout"s, especially from Winnipeg’s large population of Ukrainian descendants, who viewed the Holodomor as an atrocity on a par with the Holocaust, and from leaders of Canada’s indigenous communities.
After a lot of wrangling, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights was built in a central part of Winnipeg, housed in IMHO a tremendously ugly building (with a lot of architectural hand-waving about symbolism). (You can read all about it at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Museum_for_Human_Rights ). There are 10 galleries, covering a wide varieties of examples of humanity’s evils against humanity. The gallery “Examining the Holocaust and other genocides” includes five genocides officially recognized by the Canadian government: the Armenian genocide, the Holodomor, the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide and the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. Atrocities against Canadian indigenous peoples are covered in parts of most other galleries, including one called “Indigenous Perspectives.”
I do believe that it is important for people to learn about humanity’s atrocities, and especially for the “wrongs” perpetrated by their own countries (hopedly to induce humility). I don’t know—with all the evil in the world, something rubs me the wrong way in selecting some subset of evils as “official” ones. (How about slavery, for instance? Palestinians?) I suppose that in many ways the creators of the Museum had an impossible task in the selection and display of evils, and in trying to celebrate “human rights.”
Anyway, “Holowhat” actually has two answers…