HOL0010

 

Written evidence submitted by Emma-Louise Howell

 

  1. Six million lives wasted. Among them: doctors, lawyers, children. People. It is easy to remember the Holocaust as a series of facts and figures, it is what many of us do, it is what we’re taught in schools. After all, that was how the Nazis viewed them; they were numbers, just as they are now.

 

  1. Victims of the Holocaust were dehumanised by the Nazi aggressors; stripped of their name, identity, all human rights and forced to live in squalor. By only teaching the statistics of the Holocaust, people continue the Nazi ideology that Jews were not people, they are distanced from reality, they are aliens. It is imperative that this perspective is abolished and the people of modern society view the victims as they should rightfully be remembered: human beings.

 

  1. It is truly disheartening that we will be the final generation to experience firsthand accounts of survivor’s testimonies. My personal experience of receiving an inspiring lecture by Zigi Shipper was a truly transformative experience and certainly revolutionised my own perceptions of life, instilling a sense of gratitude and overwhelming contentment by comparison to Zigi’s desolate childhood. While time is limited for the survivors, it is crucial that their legacy remains. With the increasing movement of Holocaust Denial, meticulous work must be undertaken to ensure the lives of these remarkable people, and all those who perished before them, are remembered. The disrespectful mockery imposed by Holocaust Denial must be eradicated and it is, therefore, essential that all citizens are informed of the events that occurred under the Nazi reign.

 

  1. I am passionate about Holocaust education and this is primarily due to my participation in the Lessons From Auschwitz programme under the Holocaust Educational Trust. My experience at Auschwitz-Birkenau offered me an unparalleled educational experience and transformed my life perspective, providing an understanding that is simply unattainable in the classroom. The memories acquired on my visit are truly immutable; following the final journey of 1.1 million people, standing immersed in forgotten shoes and entering the depths of the gas chambers provided unsettling insights into the lives of these unworthy victims. The events of the Holocaust can be taught in schools, read in books and heard in testimonies, yet the sheer palpability of visiting extermination camps such as Auschwitz-Birkenau evokes an indescribable sorrow that allows visitors to grasp the extremity of this tragedy.

 

  1. The consumer culture in which we live presents a foray of difficulties; the vast majority of youths are besotted by the mindless entities of games consoles, designer clothing and latest technology. The value of these items are vastly overrated and still scarcely appreciated. Yet such hollow desires are yearned for before the basic necessities of life: food, water, love; necessities that were considered luxury to the undeserving victims of the Holocaust. The triviality of retrieving these simple commodities has detracted all worth from these essential goods, while 70 years ago children of similar ages were risking their lives to attain just one of these virtues. It is imperative, not only for the sake of humanity but for the safety of the future nation, that all children are taught the true value of these fundamental goods, for it is the children of this country that will form the next generation of leaders. By exposing the devastation of the Holocaust on a nationwide scale, children, and adults alike, will be able to fully appreciate their current lifestyles, regardless of their social status. It is irrefutable that citizens of the United Kingdom are in a position far superior than the unrelenting abuse, starvation and dehumanisation of those who experienced the Holocaust. To understand the true worth of life, you must hold knowledge of someone else’s misfortune.

 

  1. The barbaric atrocities of the Holocaust are, regrettably, not unique to their cause; Rwanda, Cambodia and Bosnia are all examples of unjust mass genocide, yet this is rarely covered in the curriculum. Unfortunately, the racial discrimination that instigated this mass murder is still prevalent within modern society, an unfair prejudice that must be stopped. The grassroots racism that catalysed the massacre is an aspect of Holocaust education that is vastly overlooked in the curriculum; it is essential that racial tolerance within society is enforced to ensure there are no reoccurrences of such crimes. It is the general consensus that the Holocaust was utterly nefarious, yet failure to address racism may perpetrate further genocide. It is inconceivable that humans contain the capacity to carry out such savage brutality, yet what is more ludicrous is the innumerable bystanders that enabled this to happen. Today, we are all bystanders of discrimination. By educating citizens about the Holocaust, a greater understanding of the impact of discrimination can be achieved. With ISIS banning women from public appearance, forbidding their speech and enforcing strict dress codes, there are alarming parallels to the Nazi Regime that emerged to deny Jews of human rights. Oppression of such extremity should not be permissible and it is utterly sickening that such activity is occurring, unchallenged in the 21st Century. Now is the time to educate; the Holocaust is being mirrored in the waters of the Mediterranean, the desperate pleas and the wails of mourning mothers echoes Hegel’s shamefully true affirmation that ‘we learn from history that we do not learn from history’.

 

  1. Remembrance of the Holocaust is of unquestionable importance in the future. I stood on the tracks of Auschwitz-Birkenau holding a candle in remembrance; I do not want to be stood on the ports of Syria in 70 years’ time. Education will prevent discrimination. It is essential that we join in unity to share the stories of the fallen and finally disprove Hegel in our journey to peace.

 

 

 

October 2015