I am not a Holocaust denier.
Of course, the Holocaust happened. It remains one of the most important events
of the 20th century, of modern history, perhaps of human history.
But if someone never heard of
the Holocaust, doesn’t know that it happened, then history doesn’t matter. The
event is wiped out of history, not by denial, but by ignorance.
Some of the most populous
states passed laws between 1985 and 1995, covering nearly one-third of the US
population, requiring the teaching of the Holocaust in public schools. In each
case, the law specified that knowledge about the Holocaust ought to be connected
to human rights issues. Prejudice and discrimination must be identified
with genocide, leading to an emphasis on “the personal responsibility that each
citizen bears to fight racism and hatred whenever and wherever it happens” (New
Jersey) and “encouraging tolerance of diversity” (Florida). As the wording of
these laws demonstrates, teaching about the Holocaust is a political act.
Because encouraging diversity and fighting prejudice are politically
controversial, Holocaust education is a partisan political act, and always has
been.
Despite such laws, ignorance
about the Holocaust is widespread in America, especially among young
people. The millennial generation should have been exposed to Holocaust
teaching in schools, especially in those states that require it. But they know
little about the Holocaust. Two-thirds of millennials do not know what
Auschwitz was; half cannot name one concentration camp; about 40% believe that
fewer than 2 million Jews were murdered; 20% are not sure if they have ever
heard of the Holocaust.
Ignorance about the Holocaust
is a worldwide problem, even in Europe where it happened. In a recent poll, one-third
of Europeans said they know little or nothing about the Holocaust.
There is overwhelming popular
support for more teaching about the Holocaust. The same survey that showed the
gaps in knowledge also found that 93% of Americans agreed that “All students
should learn about the Holocaust while at school.”
Politicians are responding.
Legislatures in Kentucky
and Connecticut
with unanimous votes recently passed laws to require teaching about the
Holocaust in public schools. In 2017, the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect
got commitments from legislators
in 20 states to introduce bills to mandate Holocaust education, the
beginning of its effort to get all 50 states to require Holocaust education.
But there are political
problems for some in the implications of Holocaust history. The focus on human
rights, the disastrous consequences of racial prejudice, the victimization of
other minorities including gays, the hyper-nationalism of fascism and its
deadly attacks on all leftists all can lead to a critical stance against
typical conservative political positions, and in particular, against current
policies of the Republican Party. Absorbing the moral significance of the
Holocaust might well lead students to believe that monuments to Confederate
white supremacy should be taken down, that denigration of immigrants is wrong,
that loud claims that America is the greatest country ever sound like “Deutschland
über alles”.
Holocaust
deniers, avowed
Nazis, self-proclaimed antisemites,
and supporters of white supremacy appear occasionally on the fringes of the
Republican Party, or even among Republican
congressmen. Some Republican candidates in the recent midterm elections
used antisemitic
images against their Jewish opponents. David Duke, former KKK leader and
former Republican legislator in Louisiana, said about Trump’s 2016 election, “This
is one of the most
exciting nights of my life.”
American conservatives sometimes
use the Holocaust to spread inappropriate partisan messages. On Holocaust
Remembrance Day two weeks ago, the Harris County (Texas) Republican Party
posted a Facebook message with a yellow star-shaped badge and these words: “Leftism
kills. In memory of the 6 million Jews lost to Nazi hatred in the name of
National Socialism. We will never forget.” The Texas Republicans explained that
they were connecting the name of the National Socialist Party with “leftism”,
even though the extreme right-wing Nazis killed every socialist they could get
their hands on.
The use of the Holocaust to
argue against restrictions on gun ownership has a long
history. Wayne LaPierre, executive director of the NRA, Ben Carson when he
was a Republican candidate for President, and the senior Republican in the
House have
all claimed that Jews were killed because they had not armed themselves.
Some people on the left also
have trouble with teaching the Holocaust. Because the Israeli government and
many Jews across the world have used the Holocaust as a justification for the
existence of Israel, supporters of the rights of Palestinians sometimes claim
that there is too much emphasis on the Holocaust.
Sometimes leftists are
criticized, because they can be linked with other people who would like to see
less attention paid to the Holocaust. For example, the two women who just
became the first
Muslim women elected to Congress, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, are often accused
by Republicans of being antisemitic, because of their criticisms of Israeli
policy. Their comments do sometimes veer towards condemnations of Jews as a
group, and Omar just had
to apologize for some of her tweets. But their criticisms of Israel are
echoed by many Jews. I find such conservative attacks misleading, but I am one
of those Jews who is critical of Israeli treatment of Palestinians.
Nevertheless there are some
on the left who do not wish to push more Holocaust education, because more
sympathy for Jews can lead to support for Israeli occupation policies and
discrimination against Palestinians.
But the facts of the
Holocaust are clear and they lead inexorably to important moral and political
conclusions, which can be discomforting to ideologues of the right and left.
Antisemitism has always been based on false ideologies, and it leads to
discrimination and eventually murder, like all ethnic hatreds. Extreme
nationalism is the twin of ethnic hatred, and leads to war. It is always
important to juxtapose the authority of governments or leaders with basic moral
precepts, to question authority.
Holocaust education is
necessary. The Holocaust is one of the most significant events of our recent
global past and was an important determinant of the contemporary European and
Middle Eastern world. Its moral implications, lessons if you will, have
universal significance. Learning about the Holocaust makes everyone
uncomfortable. That is why we must keep teaching it.
Steve Hochstadt
Berlin
February 12, 2019
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