As a young practicing Jewish American, there were not many years where the word, Holocaust did not have a strong meaning to me. The Holocaust was the murder of over 6 million Jews and over 8 million non Jews by Nazi Germany. I grew up constantly being educated on the historical tragedy. It was a part of my history therefore, my parents made sure to make it a part of my education. Unfortunately, this is not the case for most individuals not just in America, but world-wide as well. It is not uncommon for my Rabbi, Hebrew and Jewish educators, and even Family to ask me to think critically about the Holocaust. Not just the emotional ties it has, but the facts of it. Why was it even able to happen and how did we as a world, let it get so far? Why
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In a different light, yes. Maybe not to my religion, maybe not to me and my family, and maybe not in my specific country, but for me the answer is yes. Yes, because it does not need to have the title of the Holocaust in order to possess the immense impact and horror. One thing that has been constant in the world is discrimination. Discrimination against race, gender, age, religion, and anything else that an individual can feel “bothered” by. There are people that deny any existence of the Holocaust and there are others who push it aside as “just a thing in the past”. If we push things aside and forget about them, how are we to stop the past from repeating itself? With lack of acceptance that the Holocaust was indeed a horrific event that took place, lack of knowledge of diversity, and lack of acceptance, how can we confidently say that history will never …show more content…
I have listened to numerous Holocaust Survivor’s share their stories, visited multiple museums, worked at the Yad Vashem (national Holocaust museum of Israel), and visited concentration camps. When I was 5 years old, I had the honor of meeting a man named David Tuck. David is a Holocaust survivor who was born in Poland. His life was drastically altered when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 (Holocaust Survivor Biography: David Tuck). At the time, David was solely 10 years old. He has survived through a ghetto, a labor camp, and a death camp (David Tuck - Survivor Keynote). Today, David spends his time traveling and educating. He enjoys telling his story to anyone who will listen. David shares his story because he believes knowledge is power; I agree. Due to David’s age, he is only able to travel so much and speak so often. Most of his talks take place at Universities, Synagogues, and Museums. Although the entirety of David’s audiences is not Jewish, a majority of them are. That being said, there are only so many individuals that are able to learn and be inspired by David’s insight and riveting story. Through this Senior Research Project, I plan to share David’s story to a different audience, in a different way. My hopes are to be able to spread his story to people who may not be in his usual target audiences. I am looking to explore the success of education and
In a different light, yes. Maybe not to my religion, maybe not to me and my family, and maybe not in my specific country, but for me the answer is yes. Yes, because it does not need to have the title of the Holocaust in order to possess the immense impact and horror. One thing that has been constant in the world is discrimination. Discrimination against race, gender, age, religion, and anything else that an individual can feel “bothered” by. There are people that deny any existence of the Holocaust and there are others who push it aside as “just a thing in the past”. If we push things aside and forget about them, how are we to stop the past from repeating itself? With lack of acceptance that the Holocaust was indeed a horrific event that took place, lack of knowledge of diversity, and lack of acceptance, how can we confidently say that history will never …show more content…
I have listened to numerous Holocaust Survivor’s share their stories, visited multiple museums, worked at the Yad Vashem (national Holocaust museum of Israel), and visited concentration camps. When I was 5 years old, I had the honor of meeting a man named David Tuck. David is a Holocaust survivor who was born in Poland. His life was drastically altered when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 (Holocaust Survivor Biography: David Tuck). At the time, David was solely 10 years old. He has survived through a ghetto, a labor camp, and a death camp (David Tuck - Survivor Keynote). Today, David spends his time traveling and educating. He enjoys telling his story to anyone who will listen. David shares his story because he believes knowledge is power; I agree. Due to David’s age, he is only able to travel so much and speak so often. Most of his talks take place at Universities, Synagogues, and Museums. Although the entirety of David’s audiences is not Jewish, a majority of them are. That being said, there are only so many individuals that are able to learn and be inspired by David’s insight and riveting story. Through this Senior Research Project, I plan to share David’s story to a different audience, in a different way. My hopes are to be able to spread his story to people who may not be in his usual target audiences. I am looking to explore the success of education and