The Hall of Names at Yad Vashem
Monday, January 27, marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz
extermination camp. Leaders from 49 countries, along with their high-level
delegations, are traveling to Jerusalem to take part in remembering the Holocaust
and committing to fighting anti-semitism.
extermination camp. Leaders from 49 countries, along with their high-level
delegations, are traveling to Jerusalem to take part in remembering the Holocaust
and committing to fighting anti-semitism.
The main event will take place at Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the victims
of the Holocaust. The guest list includes US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, US Vice
President Mike Pence, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and many other prominent
world leaders.
of the Holocaust. The guest list includes US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, US Vice
President Mike Pence, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and many other prominent
world leaders.
The ceremony has caused some controversy. Although 780 people are invited to the
ceremony, only 24-30 of the invitations went to the approximately 100,000 Holocaust
survivors living in Israel today. In response, several ministers have transferred their
invitations to survivors, and urged other ministers to follow suit. Also, the 75th
anniversary comes at a time when anti-semitism is on the rise across the world. This
was brought up by several world leaders, including French Prime Minister Emmanuel
Macron, who said that “Holocaust survivors, citizens of France and of other states,
are being persecuted only because they are Jews.”
ceremony, only 24-30 of the invitations went to the approximately 100,000 Holocaust
survivors living in Israel today. In response, several ministers have transferred their
invitations to survivors, and urged other ministers to follow suit. Also, the 75th
anniversary comes at a time when anti-semitism is on the rise across the world. This
was brought up by several world leaders, including French Prime Minister Emmanuel
Macron, who said that “Holocaust survivors, citizens of France and of other states,
are being persecuted only because they are Jews.”
Discussion Questions:
1. Of the 780 people invited, only a fraction were Holocaust survivors. Should more
1. Of the 780 people invited, only a fraction were Holocaust survivors. Should more
survivors have been invited to the event commemorating the victims of the Holocaust?
2. Why does anti-semitism exist, and why is it still on the rise today?
3. Will the message of the Holocaust still be as strong after all the survivors are gone?
2. Why does anti-semitism exist, and why is it still on the rise today?
3. Will the message of the Holocaust still be as strong after all the survivors are gone?
Sources:
Anti-semitism exists as a scapegoat for those who are either uneducated or purposefully choose to blame their own problems on others. The intolerance of other religion can also stem from the "us against them" mentality that only propagates racism, anti-semitism, and hatred. A cause of it today is mostly from the Israel vs Palestine debate that people link all jews to Israel, and vice versa. With many people not fully understanding the circumstances of the "other side", a lack of empathy becomes rampant.
ReplyDeleteI believe that more Holocaust survivors should have been invited. Although the Holocaust is an event that would provoke lots of emotion from the survivors, the event could be a way to honor those who went through the Holocaust and those who didn't make it's memories. After all the survivors are gone, places like the Hall of Names at Yad Vashem will help keep the message of the Holocaust alive.
ReplyDeleteI agree that more Holocaust survivors should have been invited because they suffered a lot and probably lost many loved ones. However, I think that after all the survivors are gone, the message will not be as strong because even though their stories will live on, actually hearing them from a real survivor makes it so much more impactful.
DeleteI think that the message of the Holocaust won't be as strong after all the survivors are gone because there won't be any living evidence or stories told by those of the survivors. But I still think that the message of the Holocaust will still be strong because there are many stories, articles, textbooks,Autobiographies, and memoirs that were written for several years that will last forever. And these written evidence will be read by everyone around the world to remember the horribleness of the Holocaust and the many families massacred at the time. This is an autobiography written by a survivor:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.un.org/en/holocaustremembrance/docs/pdf/chapter9.pdf
I believe that more survivors should have been invited to the event, because it was an event honoring the deaths of their family members and friends, so not inviting more survivors make it seem like they are having the ceremony as simply a formality, and not to actually honor the survivors. Anti-semitism exists partly because sometimes others are taught to think of other religions as inferior to their own, in the form of anti-semitism. I believe that it is still on the rise today because there are still stereotypes surrounding Jews from decades ago, that still infect people's thoughts. As people continue to project their anti-semitic beliefs on others, anti-semitism will only spread, so world leaders should take more action to stop it. I believe that the message of the Holocaust will still be as strong once all the survivors are gone because their lives and experiences will live for centuries through their stories that are recorded in books and online.
ReplyDeleteI believe all of the survivors have a right to be at the event. It is commemorating the loved ones they lost through a devastating time period which they had to live through, so they should be there to honor them. A part of the reason anti-semitism exists is because some people grow up in an anti-semitic environment and so that's the norm. Anti-semitism is still present today for many reasons. I believe that the Israel-Palestine conflict has especially increased anti-semitism because of the controversy that is correlated with the topic. Lastly, I think that the message of the holocaust should remain as strong as it is today even after all of the holocaust survivors are gone because even though they aren't here to live and tell the stories of WWII, the event is still extremely significant and it is still important to learn off of what had happened.
ReplyDeleteI think that all of the survivors should have been invited. They all went through similar things at the camps and it's not right to single out people. Anti-semitism exists because people in a community made it acceptable and the norm to single out a certain group of people simply because they were not what the norm was. Sadly anti-semitism is still present today. I think that the learning opportunity that is given by the holocaust is something that should never deteriorate especially after all the survivors are gone.
ReplyDeleteI believe the message of that the Holocaust will live long after the last of the survivors pass on. Their families will continue to spread awareness about the horrors of the Holocaust even after they're gone. The magnitude of the event is something which can't be forgotten; too many lost their lives for the Nazi party to simply send a message or exact revenge. As for the amount of survivors invited, I believe that more survivors should have been invited because it was their families being commemorated. They could have lost friends or loved ones and this memorial would have given them an opportunity to honor them. No matter the amount of survivors left of the Holocaust, it will simply not be forgotten because of the magnitude of the event and the amount of lives lost.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely believe that the message of the Holocaust will still be passed on even after all the survivors are gone. Many survivors such as Elie Weisel have written stories or books about their experiences, and the Holocaust is being taught in schools and will continue to be taught in schools. Even if there are no more survivors or people who lived in that time period, the memory of them will still live on, just as how we pass down knowledge and stories of events that have happened hundreds or thousands of years in the past.
ReplyDeleteAs people said before, I believe that all of the survivors should have been invited, and also that the message of the Holocaust will still be passed on even after all the survivors are gone. Books have been written, stories have been passed down through families of the survivors, and this is too much of an important event in history to ignore and not teach our future generations about this horrific time.
ReplyDeleteBy Kaelyn Luebke (it wouldn't let me sign in)
DeleteI believe that every Holocaust survivor should have been invited to this event. They went through the horrors of the Holocaust and they saw people being killed, their own family being separated and killed, and their own lives being put into jeopardy. I believe it is disrespectful for them not to be invited to a memorial of something they went through, no matter how famous they were.
ReplyDeleteI also think that after all of the Holocaust survivors pass away, the message of the Holocaust will not be as strong, because it won't be coming from real people, and it might just feel like stories to people learning about it. It might not be as impactful and I think it's important to document what happened in the Holocaust with videos and photos of survivors in order to make sure the message still exists in a strong way, and to remind people that this can never happen again.
Many more Holocaust survivors should have been invited to this event, in light of the utter devastation they had to endure. They deserve to have a space where they can remember the lives that were lost, and participate in the fight against anti-Semitism by sharing their experiences.
ReplyDeleteAnti-Semitism stems from people’s need to have an explanation for their misfortunes; the majority wants to pin the blame on a minority, an enemy, in order to unify themselves and feel righteous. For a minority that is especially successful as the Jewish, this only compels the majority even more to persecute them out of jealousy, feeling that the others’ successes cause their failures. The reason why Anti-Semitism is on the rise today is because once again, it is fufilling the longing for an agenda, especially in the Arab and Muslim lands, where being against the Jewish state can serve as a psychological means to reverse the oppression of Mulisms, which is only bolstered by the denial of the Holocaust. Luckily, despite the growing acts of anti-Semitic violence in America, our government has taken action to control it through mobilization. However, the future of Jewish treatment may be uncertain in other countries, as the important message of the Holocaust is painted out of other’s history.
ReplyDelete