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We remember the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust and others murdered by the Nazis, including ethnic Poles, Roma, homosexuals and people with disabilities, among others.
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Haaretz today reports the publication of a book containing the diaries of the "Polish Anne Frank". At present it appears available only in Hebrew. But it would be nice to think an English translation might emerge.
The following is mainly paywalled, but I can read the whole article on Press Reader.
Renia Spiegel wrote one of the last entries in her diary on July 25, 1942. She was 18, a Jewish girl who had escaped the Przemyśl ghetto in Poland and found shelter in an attic with her boyfriend's parents. "Terrible times have come. Mama, you have no idea how terrible. But Lord God looks after us and, though I'm horribly frightened, I have faith in Him," she wrote her mother, who was living under a false identity in Warsaw. "Pray for us. I send you lots of kisses," she concluded.
[Post edited 27 Jan 15:47]
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Today is Holocaust Memorial Day on 14:26 - Jan 27 with 886 views
Auschwitz was at the end of a process. We must remember that it did not start from gas chambers.
This hatred gradually developed: from ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.
Auschwitz took time.
I would also add that if you havent taken the chance to do the Auschwitz-Birkenau then try to do so. It is very humbling and really gives you an idea of the awful scale of the atrocity
What happened should never be forgotten, glossed over, excused, subjected to whataboutery or diluted. It was beyond awful.
I went to Munich in October and did the National Socialist tour, as well as Berchtesgaden. The tour guide mooching us around the city showed us about where the rallies took place place, book burning, Krystalnacht, the gestapo headquarters site, the Putsch, Adolf’s flat, place where the disgraceful appeasers Chamberlain and Daladier sold out Czechoslovakia in 1938 etc etc.
It was fascinating and disgusting, all in a beautiful, welcoming city. He made the interesting point that for generations, the Nazi period was deleted from German history. It was not taught in the schools, talked about or recognised. Just buried.
But that has all changed. Young German people want to know and understand. It is on school curriculums and of course the point is that unless you understand the past, including the worst bits, you are doomed to repeat those mistakes. It is true.
Current generations cannot be held responsible for the disasters of the past otherwise we are going to be holding everyone to account from the ancient Egyptians, Syrians on. But we can all learn and above all never forget how easy it is for humans to become inhuman. The ultimate modern mass example is the Holocaust though there are plenty of examples since in all parts of the world.
Never forget.
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Today is Holocaust Memorial Day on 16:33 - Jan 27 with 679 views
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day on 15:45 - Jan 27 by Churchman
What happened should never be forgotten, glossed over, excused, subjected to whataboutery or diluted. It was beyond awful.
I went to Munich in October and did the National Socialist tour, as well as Berchtesgaden. The tour guide mooching us around the city showed us about where the rallies took place place, book burning, Krystalnacht, the gestapo headquarters site, the Putsch, Adolf’s flat, place where the disgraceful appeasers Chamberlain and Daladier sold out Czechoslovakia in 1938 etc etc.
It was fascinating and disgusting, all in a beautiful, welcoming city. He made the interesting point that for generations, the Nazi period was deleted from German history. It was not taught in the schools, talked about or recognised. Just buried.
But that has all changed. Young German people want to know and understand. It is on school curriculums and of course the point is that unless you understand the past, including the worst bits, you are doomed to repeat those mistakes. It is true.
Current generations cannot be held responsible for the disasters of the past otherwise we are going to be holding everyone to account from the ancient Egyptians, Syrians on. But we can all learn and above all never forget how easy it is for humans to become inhuman. The ultimate modern mass example is the Holocaust though there are plenty of examples since in all parts of the world.
Never forget.
The sadness felt on this day is compounded by the fact that there is a genocide and genocide emergencies going on today in Myanmar, Sudan and Yemen (among others).
I question the point of commemorating the shocking cruelty of one group of humans over another if we allow such atrocities to continue today.
"Never forget" is not enough.
Never forget. Never again.
[Post edited 27 Jan 16:50]
1
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day on 17:12 - Jan 27 with 625 views
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day on 16:33 - Jan 27 by Cafe_Newman
The sadness felt on this day is compounded by the fact that there is a genocide and genocide emergencies going on today in Myanmar, Sudan and Yemen (among others).
I question the point of commemorating the shocking cruelty of one group of humans over another if we allow such atrocities to continue today.
"Never forget" is not enough.
Never forget. Never again.
[Post edited 27 Jan 16:50]
I actually chose my words carefully precisely because of genocide since the war and happening now.
For me, highlighting the horror of the Nazis shines a light on the above/your point. It’s an extreme example, especially as they exterminated everybody from political opponents, the disabled, to people they just didn’t like.
They did it in a totally systemic way where there can be no muddling, no excuses, no questioning. It was ironically just about the only ‘efficient’ thing the Nazis did, if one wants to call it that - which I don’t.
It was not just ghettos and extermination camps. Two examples. There was the ‘hunger plan’ - the aim being to deliberately starve 30 million to death as a cheap, cost effective was of disposing of what they considered sub humans. They managed 4.2 million people.
There was the ‘forced labour’. 13 million people were transported to Germany and forced to work. The Germans after the war insisted they were not slaves because there were not meant to live. Just be worked to death. Charming.
These people count in Holocaust Memorial Day, just as those suffering today anywhere in the world. It stands as a lesson for all, not just that event, of just how cruelty and evil can become normal. And supported.
That’s how I see it.
[Post edited 27 Jan 17:13]
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Today is Holocaust Memorial Day on 17:56 - Jan 27 with 544 views
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day on 17:12 - Jan 27 by Churchman
I actually chose my words carefully precisely because of genocide since the war and happening now.
For me, highlighting the horror of the Nazis shines a light on the above/your point. It’s an extreme example, especially as they exterminated everybody from political opponents, the disabled, to people they just didn’t like.
They did it in a totally systemic way where there can be no muddling, no excuses, no questioning. It was ironically just about the only ‘efficient’ thing the Nazis did, if one wants to call it that - which I don’t.
It was not just ghettos and extermination camps. Two examples. There was the ‘hunger plan’ - the aim being to deliberately starve 30 million to death as a cheap, cost effective was of disposing of what they considered sub humans. They managed 4.2 million people.
There was the ‘forced labour’. 13 million people were transported to Germany and forced to work. The Germans after the war insisted they were not slaves because there were not meant to live. Just be worked to death. Charming.
These people count in Holocaust Memorial Day, just as those suffering today anywhere in the world. It stands as a lesson for all, not just that event, of just how cruelty and evil can become normal. And supported.
That’s how I see it.
[Post edited 27 Jan 17:13]
The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust also appear to have chosen their words carefully, they too acknowledge other genocides, even up to the current day.
There's also a well produced video on their site echoing the points you make, again with carefully chosen words.
My sadness stems from the fact that there appears to be some sort of omission. It's as though there's one genocide that can't be explicitly mentioned, only alluded to in general terms. I question whether it's a deliberate omission. If it is, it's reasonable to question the sincerity of the stated aims of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.
I hope there are other people on the internet who are noticing these carefully chosen words.
[Post edited 27 Jan 19:36]
1
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day on 18:02 - Jan 27 with 532 views
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day on 17:12 - Jan 27 by Churchman
I actually chose my words carefully precisely because of genocide since the war and happening now.
For me, highlighting the horror of the Nazis shines a light on the above/your point. It’s an extreme example, especially as they exterminated everybody from political opponents, the disabled, to people they just didn’t like.
They did it in a totally systemic way where there can be no muddling, no excuses, no questioning. It was ironically just about the only ‘efficient’ thing the Nazis did, if one wants to call it that - which I don’t.
It was not just ghettos and extermination camps. Two examples. There was the ‘hunger plan’ - the aim being to deliberately starve 30 million to death as a cheap, cost effective was of disposing of what they considered sub humans. They managed 4.2 million people.
There was the ‘forced labour’. 13 million people were transported to Germany and forced to work. The Germans after the war insisted they were not slaves because there were not meant to live. Just be worked to death. Charming.
These people count in Holocaust Memorial Day, just as those suffering today anywhere in the world. It stands as a lesson for all, not just that event, of just how cruelty and evil can become normal. And supported.
That’s how I see it.
[Post edited 27 Jan 17:13]
There's a lot of evil done in the world, but Nazi Germany does represent a probably unique intention and implementation.
Certain things to remember are that most victims of the Holocaust were not in the gas chambers. It was by Einzatgruppen and firing squads. One of the issues they encountered was that shooting infants, children and pleading civilians was hard, even for hardened SS who believed they were doing the world a favour,to stomach. The gas chambers emerged as a way to spare the SS murder squads. Tech was specifically tested and developed to make the extermination of civilians less stressful for the murderers.
There's also the fact that when defeat was inevitable, resource was not diverted from the Holocaust. They wanted to make sure they finished as much of the job as possible. Killing Jews and undesirables was essential to their warped ideology. Many acts of genocide are a byproduct of war where the aggressors simply doesn't care to spare innocents. For the Nazi's, it was the reason for war and was as much a war aim as taking Moscow.
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day on 18:02 - Jan 27 by Kievthegreat
There's a lot of evil done in the world, but Nazi Germany does represent a probably unique intention and implementation.
Certain things to remember are that most victims of the Holocaust were not in the gas chambers. It was by Einzatgruppen and firing squads. One of the issues they encountered was that shooting infants, children and pleading civilians was hard, even for hardened SS who believed they were doing the world a favour,to stomach. The gas chambers emerged as a way to spare the SS murder squads. Tech was specifically tested and developed to make the extermination of civilians less stressful for the murderers.
There's also the fact that when defeat was inevitable, resource was not diverted from the Holocaust. They wanted to make sure they finished as much of the job as possible. Killing Jews and undesirables was essential to their warped ideology. Many acts of genocide are a byproduct of war where the aggressors simply doesn't care to spare innocents. For the Nazi's, it was the reason for war and was as much a war aim as taking Moscow.
The Operation Rheinhard camps are also often over-looked. We do not know a lot about Treblinka and Belzec which together were used to murder circa 1.5 million people in the space of a year because fewer than 10 people survived combined, I am not sure if anyone survived Chelmno. More is known about Majdanek because it was not primary a death camp and Sobibor because of a famous uprising and a relatively large number of survivors. A stunningly horrible fact is that there were possibly worse places than Auschwitz-Birkenau which really does begger belief.
[Post edited 27 Jan 18:32]
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Today is Holocaust Memorial Day on 19:44 - Jan 27 with 445 views
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day on 16:33 - Jan 27 by Cafe_Newman
The sadness felt on this day is compounded by the fact that there is a genocide and genocide emergencies going on today in Myanmar, Sudan and Yemen (among others).
I question the point of commemorating the shocking cruelty of one group of humans over another if we allow such atrocities to continue today.
"Never forget" is not enough.
Never forget. Never again.
[Post edited 27 Jan 16:50]
Agree never forget. But Israel should be ashamed killing so many women and children. Yes I know fifteen hundred died but to kill thousands of innocent people don't make it right. A
-3
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day on 20:04 - Jan 27 with 402 views
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day on 19:44 - Jan 27 by cressi
Agree never forget. But Israel should be ashamed killing so many women and children. Yes I know fifteen hundred died but to kill thousands of innocent people don't make it right. A
Could you please take this to another thread.
FREE IRAN FROM THE MULLAHS - FREE PALESTINE FROM HAMAS - FREE LEBANON FROM HEZBOLLAH
Just arrived at my hotel in Borehamwood after representing the Council at the Holocaust memorial at a local high school. Procession with lanterns from the Council to the school where we had speeches. We had the pleasure of hearing from a wonderful lady who told the story of her dad who survived but all his other family were murdered by the Germans and he came away with no photos of them, including his younger brother who was just shy of three and his 19 year old sister. Truly humbling to hear what he went through and listen to some video's of him.
Hertsmere Borough has the largest Jewish population in the county so the event was incredibly well attended by my fellow colleagues and politicians.
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