Reflection 11

Reflection Paper #11: Reflect on the Holocaust. What do you think about people who say it didn’t happen?
The Holocaust was an atrocity of ginormous proportions that should not have ever taken place. The attempted genocide or extinction of approximately six million European Jews is documented as one of the worst dehumanizing experience of a people. This was also one of the worst acts against another culture. The reason for this was a pseudo belief of ethnic superiority by Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany during World War II. They were under the belief that they were of Aryan- blond hair, blue eyed and tall - descent and was indeed superior. The proper context of the term Aryan was used to describe different European languages but the Nazis distorted it to solidify their racial perversion. Even though the Jews are most widely acknowledged in the Holocaust, others were subjected to the wrath and hatred of Nazi Germany such as the gypsies, mental and physically handicapped, homo sexual, Jehovah witness and African descendants known as the Rhineland bastards – the children of German women who had babies by black soldiers. Many laws were put in place in order to support Nazi Germany’s annihilation of any other culture other than their own. One of the unconscionable acts performed was involuntary sterilization because they believed these groups of people were inferior and would ill breed among them. This is so hard to comprehend that people would be so cruel and to express such a lack of empathy toward others. The Jews and others were used in medical experiments; they were exposed to all types of diseases, stripped of their possessions, placed in concentration camps and murdered. I cannot fathom how the rest of the world, including the United states, stood nonchalantly by and allowed this madman (Hitler) to reign in power and authority when he was blatantly committing criminal acts. I am having great difficulty in comprehending how the German citizens did not openly voice their discontentment and revolt against Hitler. All of the world have to accept a modicum of responsibility since a deaf ear and acquiescence through silence spoke volumes of what Nazi Germany was doing. I believe that people that claim that the Holocaust never occurred are bliss in their ignorance. They have chosen to ignore history and the facts that are blatantly evident for reasons I cannot understand. There are people that are still alive that have stated these events took place and I think it is a conscious decision to make this standpoint. As they say ignorance of the law does not absolve you from the law, likewise denying documented history does not negate the validity of its occurrence.