Friday, April 19, 2013

Understanding the Holocaust


Prompt: Throughout this unit, you have probably considered two important questions regarding the Holocaust: How was the Holocaust possible? and Why did the Holocaust happen?  How would you answer these questions?  Another important question to consider is Why is it important to study the Holocaust?  What argument would you make for the importance of studying the Holocaust?  Why? (Echoes and Reflections)     


I would say the Holocaust was possible because Germany had a Fascist dictatorship. Hitler ruled everything. He blinded the people and they respected him out of fear. He used propaganda to influence his ideas on anti-semitism. Laws were passed by the Nazis against Jews that took away their rights. They planned attacks on the Jewish people. I think its important to study the Holocaust so we can keep this from happening again. It happened because of the choices some people of Germany and other Nazi occupied countries made to act or not to act. The Nazis thought that exterminating the Jews would help because the Jews were a 'low' and 'evil' race, and were affecting the society negatively. Hitler and the Nazis blamed them for all the problems in Germany.  By studying the Holocaust we can see exactly how the Holocaust happened and take those as warnings for preventing something like what the Nazis did from happening again. Its very important to study things like the Holocaust so that we can see the steps that lead up to it and know exactly when something in our own government starts to go wrong.  

2 comments:

  1. I'd have to agree with you, people were scared for their lives, afraid that Hitler would do something horrible to them if they didn't do what he commanded. Some of the people who followed him, had an idea that it was wrong for what they did but then they are the others who really didn't care. What we learned from the Holocaust, is something we never what to have happening again. Having someone brainwash innocent people to kill out other innocent people. Just imagine another Holocaust happen. Could it be worse or could it be like Hitler's? Like you said, it's important to study the Holocaust to make sure nothing like that horrible nightmare ever happens.

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  2. I agree that it is important to study the Holocaust so that we can identify and defend ourselves against current situations that come too close to those of the Holocaust. Awareness of historic recurrence ("History repeats itself") and the repetitive patterns within politics and society can help us make important decisions about how we can help steer events away from mirroring the past. People who have learned about the past can use their knowledge as fuel to debate current issues and increase awareness of the potential outcomes of certain sets of circumstances.

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