Auschwitz, will we ever learn?
Yesterday the participants of Steemfest 3 had the opportunity to visit Auschwitz/Birkenau. The German concentration camp in Poland. I read a post about this visit from my son Exyle and also the comments he received from various Steemians. Everyone who participated in this visit was very impressed, more than very impressed, stunned that something like that really happened
(both photos are from Pixabay)
As a historian, I know it is very difficult to learn from the past. But to visit a concentration camp like Auschwitz helps enormously because you experience for yourself the horror of such a camp. You also experience the horrors of what extreme nationalism or whatever extreme political or religious fanaticism can do to 'non-believers' or to people, individuals or as a group, who get the blame because they are different or in the way.
It has been the case during history, think of the witch hunts or the inquisition or the way black slaves were treated, and native peoples like Indians, Maoris, and Aborigines.
Jews have been prosecuted for centuries and centuries, even now there are a lot of people who are anti-Semites, remember the shooting only last week in de U.S. I think they, as a people, have suffered more than any other people in history.
The scale in which it happened in the second world war (6 million Jewish victims) is overwhelming. We must never forget that has been done, and only some decades ago!
But we have not learned from it and in many countries, minorities, or people who believe differently than the majority (for instance the Christian woman in Pakistan) are being persecuted.
Even in my country, the Netherlands, there are people with strong feelings against letting refugees into the country. Or, many people say yes, they are welcome, but not as my neighbors, not in our village. This happened to Jewish refugees in the years just before 1940 who tried to escape prosecution in Germany, and it happens now in 2018.
We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. I hope we will learn how great this is and that we, as a people, will learn to share with less fortunate people.
Let us never forget what happened in the past, let we try to learn from it (as much as we as individuals can because countries don't) and let's never forget that living in a rich country is not a merit but luck because your cradle stood there and not somewhere else.
I wish you all a good Sunday.
Clio
I agree on all accounts. It's so frightening to see the world plunging into an abyss of extreme nationalism, fear, and hate similar to that of the 1930's. After having that 23andMe genetic test and finding out about my Ashkenazi Jewish heritage it changed the lens in which I see the world pretty much overnight. Glad to see you writing again, @clio. I hope all is well!
Thank you, Eric, I hope to write more in the future. All is well with me and my family.
I hope you are proud of your Jewish heritage. I can fully understand that it has changed the way you look at the world. Perhaps you have read books about Jewish history, for example, the novels of Chaim Potok including the beautiful book 'Wanderings' or 'The Source', a historical novel by James A. Michener. Both books were written decades ago, but provide an overview of the history of the Jewish people through the ages.
Glad to hear all is well. I'm definitely proud of my heritage. It all was a bit confusing though because the family oral history on my father's side said we were Native American and that couldn't have been more inaccurate. I haven't read any of those books but will put them on my "to-read" list.
Glad you to our meeting, my friend and your excellent historical review shows us that no matter how each of us has life now, we must always remember the past and its terrible pages like Auschwitz. Someone said that the people who do not remember the past have no future! Thank you, Clio
You are right @serkagan. It is also said that you can only understand the present by knowing the past!
You are right Auschwitz is the worst of all death camps, words can’t convey the horror that we experienced at the time. It’s good that we are having excursions. We must remember
You are right, we must always remember!
Good post on education .
yes friend ,history told us the very dangerous pictures of political issues.Welcome back to this community after the long break.Hope you are alright in every way.
Thank you, I am alright, there was so much to do lately, but I hope to write more in the future.
I think it's really cool for people to actaully go to those places and visit history! Yes it was horrible but to make sure stuff like this never happens we need to learn about this. I recently read a book called a Man's Search For Meaning. It's about a man living in the concentration camps. He tells in the story of how the Nazi's try and dehumnize them, and in the book explaining some of the most horrible conditions. And he realizes from this expereince that how he choose to suffering brought meaning and purpose.
Anyways it's a super interesting book. Its by Viktor Frankl. Awesome post man.
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