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How Significant was the Holocaust?

The entrance to Auswitch, the largest death camp Reads Work Makes You Free

By Eleanor Langford, 9 John

Contents
Contents...............................................................................................................................2 Introduction.........................................................................................................................3 Uniqueness..........................................................................................................................4 People affected....................................................................................................................5 Remembered........................................................................................................................6 Conclusion: How Significant was the Holocaust?.............................................................8 UN Statement......................................................................................................................9 ............................................................................................................................................9

Holocaust
by Barbara Sonek we played, we laughed we were loved. We were ripped from the arms of our parents and thrown into the fire. We were nothing more than children. We had a future. We were going to be lawyers, rabbis, wives, teachers, and mothers. We had dreams, and then we had no hope. We were taken away in the dead of night like cattle in cars, no air to breathe smothering, crying, starving, dying. Separated from the world to be no more. From the ashes, hear our plea. This atrocity to mankind can not happen again. Remember us, for we were the children whose dreams and lives were stolen away.

Introduction
The Holocaust is of course a significant event in the worlds history. But to judge how significant, we must use certain criteria to decide how important it was. These will help us to compare the holocaust to other events and fully understand what makes the Holocaust such a major event in our history. The first of my criteria is Uniqueness, how unique was the event? This should be included since a repetitive event, like earthquakes or the election of new prime ministers, does not affect a people as much. If, for example, an area that had never before experience seismic activity had a major earthquake, it would be a unique event and would interest people more. The second of my criteria is the people affected, how many people were involved/affected by the event? It is important here to include the people affected, not just those who were involved or died in the event. For example, around two hundred thousand people were killed in the Haiti earthquake, but surely all of them would have had families, and those in Haiti not hit by the earthquake would have been hurt by the horrors happening in their country, and right over here those organising charity events would have been affected. Overall, a few extra hundred thousand people would have been influenced by the earthquake, not just plus those killed. Next would be Remembered, how is it remembered and who by? If we do not remember event, then to us it does not exist. Some events may be remembered more than others, and would perhaps have anniversary events. If just two people remember an event, they it will not have an overall influence on society as a whole. And many events Another that must be included is Resonance, what events did it affect during and after? A single event may not be that significant, but it could kick start a domino line of events lasting a long time, and affecting many more people. For example, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand was of course a terrible event in itself. But it was one of the main factors in the start of the First World War. If he had not been killed, many thousands of people would have lived.

Uniqueness
The most common meaning of Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group. A prime example of which is of course the Holocaust. It is thought that around twelve million people were killed in the concentration camps under Adolf Hitler, six million of which were Jewish. To say that the Holocaust is a unique and rare event is very wrong indeed. In history there have been countless similar events, some with Joseph Stalin death tolls that dwarf the holocaust, such as those under Stalin and Mao ZeDong. They both murdered significantly more people than Hitler. There have been around 47 other examples of Genocides in the twentieth century, with death tolls ranging from 2,000 dead under Al Zarqawi right up to 78,000,000 under Mao Ze-Dong. Chairman Mao killed millions during the great leap forward when the country turned communist. Joseph Stalin killed 23,000,000 under communism in Russia. These statistics prove that not only is the Holocaust not one of a kind, it is also no where near the biggest genocide in history. For something to be unique it should be radically distinctive and one of a kind, but the holocaust is neither. I have just pointed out that it is small Mao Ze-Dong compared to others of its kind, and that there have been many other similar events this century. I havent even taken into account any of the genocides before the twentieth century, since there have been far too many to count. However, the holocaust was unique in one sense. It is the most significant example of a regime targeting a specific race or religion in such large numbers, and in such a systematic way. In communist China, under Chairman Mao, people mainly died in the famines caused by collective farming, or were executed for speaking up against communism. People were killed for more because of their political agenda, not because of their religion or race. This is known as politicide, which is very similar to genocide. During the holocaust around half of the killings only targeted Jews, unlike any other genocide of its size. In conclusion, if we merely concentrate on the fact that there have been multiple other genocides, then the Holocaust is not significant. If we consider it in terms of death tolls, it is slightly significant. But if we consider its targets, it is quite significant indeed.

People affected
Although the Jews were the most significant number of people affected, other groups were also targeted. These included political opponents such as Jews, political dissidents, soviet prisoners of war, homosexuals, communists, the mentally handicapped, non-Aryans and gypsies. Anybody who expressed a hatred of the Nazi regime could be arrested and sent to a concentration camp with little thought. First to be considered German Citizens being educated about would be the twelve million the Holocaust after the war. killed during the holocaust. Many people dubbed this section in their criteria as People killed which is incorrect. Once somebody is dead, and then their life stops and therefore the effect that event has on their life stopped. Twelve million may have died, but every one of that twelve million would have families, distant relations, friends, communities that would be affected. By killing the 6 million Jews in Europe the entire Diasporas was affected, and too this day ever Jew mourns the six million they lost each day. There are currently thirteen million Jews in the world, and have been for a long time. Every year since then they have all been affected. It also affected the people of Germany due to the guilt felt by many of them after the war when the atrocities of the holocaust became common knowledge, and they were shown what they had supported. The political dissidents, soviet prisoners of war, homosexuals, communists, the mentally handicapped, non-Aryans and gypsies that were killed did not have a cultural centre; they were not truly a race or religion. Their families of course would be affected, but the number of relations adds up to much less. The fact that the holocaust affects so many millions of Jews around the world, and the German population as a whole, means it can be considered very significant under this criterion.

Remembered
The holocaust is remembered the most by the Jewish people themselves, since they were the most targeted. Determined for it not to be forgotten, they created the Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. As the Jewish peoples living memorial to the Holocaust it safeguards the memory of the past and imparts its meaning for future generations. Established in 1953, as the world centre for documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust, it is today a dynamic and vital place of intergenerational and international encounter. Memorials here include the Righteous among Nations - including trees dedicated to the memory of gentiles like Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg. There is also a holocaust memorial day. It was first held in January 2001, and has been on 27th January every year since; it is the date when Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest camp, was liberated at the end of the war. On 27 January 2000, representatives from forty-four governments around the world met in Stockholm to discuss Holocaust education, remembrance and research. At the conclusion of the forum, the delegates unanimously signed a declaration. This declaration forms the basis of the Statement of Commitment adopted for Holocaust Memorial Day. From The Holocaust Memorial this decree, the holocaust was taught in schools, and vowed to be remember for as long they could. See back of this booklet for the full statement by the United Nation. It is true to say that most of the world does know something about the holocaust, even if they merely know it was to do with Nazis. Its everywhere around us. On a daily basis history channels show documentaries on the Holocaust, and on anniversary dates larger channels also run special made documentaries. There are hundreds of cultural references to the holocaust in our day to day media, just in passing; it is a point of sorrow and comparison. There have been countless books and films about it such as The Stranger, The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Witness, and many more in every language. If we look at the number of people who solemnly respect and remember the holocaust, and how keenly it is taught, we can say without a doubt that under this criterion the holocaust is significant.

Resonance
To the most of the world, the Holocaust had a resonant effect on the way they thought about genocides. It affected the world by setting an example of human kind. It showed that anything is possible with apathy. People never realised quite how bad things were. The allies didn't focus on completely stopping the Nazis from torturing the Jewish people. As a result, their soldiers were shocked to see many skeleton-like prisoners within the Nazi camps nearing the end of the war. They could've bombed a lot more of the railway tracks, but the allies weren't putting enough focus on that. Unfortunately, the world was very anti-Semitic and anti-foreigners at the time. But now, we are gradually learning not too. The foundation of the state of Israel was partly influenced by the international perception that the Jews deserved a nation state after the horrors of the holocaust, although this has created tensions between the Palestinians and neighbouring Arab countries that have caused problems to the present day. Anti-Semitism remained strong in Europe even after the Holocaust and WWII, and it was exacerbated by the fact that many people had financial incentives to make sure the Jews never came back. Instead of doing the honourable thing by reclaiming stolen Jewish houses and property and addressing Anti-Semitism, they gave them a new place to live, Israel. The British controlled Palestine at the end of WWII, so they handed the territory over to the United Nations so they could create Israel. This was done in part because of the Holocaust and so that the world's Jews would have a place to turn to when all else failed. Without the Holocaust, Israel would never have existed. The Palestinians lost their homes, their land as a result of this. And there is conflict about it to this day. In conclusion, the Holocaust had a resonant effect on the whole of the world, gradually changing our view on the Jewish people and acts against humanity over the years. It had a domino effect to do with the state of Israel. After the Holocaust the Jews had nowhere, so they were given a state of their own, but this affected the Palestinians, who attacked back, and conflicts went on. Considering that a whole new country was created, we can definitely say that the Holocaust was quite significant under Resonance.

Conclusion: How Significant was the Holocaust?


We know that of course the Holocaust was significant; I have proven so under each of the previous for criteria. But the issue is how significant exactly is the Holocaust in the worlds history. We must be careful here to look at everybodys history, not just the Jews. And we must create points of comparison; how significant is it compared to something else? Firstly, we must look at the Uniqueness criteria. There I said that the Holocaust could only be considered unique in the fact that so many of a single race was killed under it. From this you could say the Holocaust is quite significant, but some might say more to Europeans and Jews. But twelve million innocent lives were lost, which must count for something. It is not the first holocaust, nor was it the last; in the centuries before it there have been many others with sometimes double the death tolls. Sadly, I feel under the Uniqueness criterion, the Holocaust can be considered only mildly significant, if that is all we take into account. The next criterion to look at is people affected, where I stated that by killing so many of a single race, you are affecting the lives and hearts of every Jew around the world, but not so when killing others such as the mentally handicapped or homosexuals, who do not have a cultural centre. Also the holocaust affected the German Nation as a whole, as they supported it, instigated it, learnt about it after the war and have been blamed and hated for it ever since. But, there is an issue there. If we compare it to something like the Second World War or the genocides under communism in Russia and China, we see just how few people were affected. Which makes it, again, mildly significant under the criteria, if it stood on its own they we could possible say it is very significant. My third criterion was remembrance, where I looked into the many ways the Holocaust is remembered today. Not only is the Holocaust referred to in every day life, a point of great sadness and sorrow, EG Hes so thin, he looked like a Holocaust Victim. But forty-four world governments met and agreed to make sure it is taught and remembered by this country. There are so many films books and documentaries about it in some many countries. Since the Jews spread around the world to every continent, they took their memories of the Holocaust with them, they vowed never to forget. It would be fair to say that under remembrance, the Holocaust was very significant. Finally, my last criterion was Resonance, where I concluded that the Holocaust was significant since its aftermath echoes on to this day with the conflict between Palestinians and Israelites. It also affected the worlds view on Jews, the treatment of Jews and the Jewish stereotype. A whole new state was born from the Holocaust, which proves it is quite resonant. However, the worlds mindset is too hard to fully judge, and since the Resonant affects only touched Europe and the UN fully, we can only said it is fairly significant. I have just said how significant the Holocaust is under each criterion; my results were mildly, mildly, very, fairly. However these are adjectives, and dont really fit the bill for judging significance. Therefore I have decided for my conclusion to judge the holocaust on a scale of one to ten, ten being extremely significant, and one being not significant at all. Looking fully back over all my research and considering everything I have learnt, I have come to the personal conclusion to give the Holocaust 6 out of 10. I chose this number because though under the first two and final a criterion, the Holocaust is only slightly significant, more of a 4 or 5 out of ten. It is outweighed by the third, which is more of a 8 of ten.

UN Statement
Taken from the UN website 1. We recognise that the Holocaust shook the foundations of modern civilisation. Its unprecedented character and horror will always hold universal meaning. 2. We believe the Holocaust must have a permanent place in our nation's collective memory. We honour the survivors still with us, and reaffirm our shared goals of mutual understanding and justice. 3. We must make sure that future generations understand the causes of the Holocaust and reflect upon its consequences. We vow to remember the victims of Nazi persecution and of all genocide. 4. We value the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives to protect or rescue victims, as a touchstone of the human capacity for good in the face of evil. 5. We recognise that humanity is still scarred by the belief that race, religion, disability or sexuality makes some people's lives worth less than others'. Genocide, anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia and discrimination still continue. We have a shared responsibility to fight these evils. 6. We pledge to strengthen our efforts to promote education and research about the Holocaust and other genocide. We will do our utmost to make sure that the lessons of such events are fully learnt. 7. We will continue to encourage Holocaust remembrance by holding an annual Holocaust Memorial Day. We condemn the evils of prejudice, discrimination and racism. We value a free, tolerant, and democratic society.

2,881 Words Besides from this page, this booklet is entirely Eleanors own work. Signed

Diane Langford

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