The Holocaust: The Indifferent Generation

There is no one I hate more than a person who denies or is indifferent to the Holocaust. How can someone deny the absolute facts? How can someone blatantly say, “Oh it wasn’t that bad”, or “It wasn’t only Jews, you know. They make it sound like it was only them.” The undeniable truth is: it happened. Millions of people were unjustly killed, and the vast majority were Jews. People of that generation were deniers, people of my generation are simply indifferent.

I’ve had a Jewish last name my whole life; I’m a “stein”. I spent my first two years in school (the pre-kindergarten years) in a Jewish school and celebrated some Jewish holidays with my Jewish dad. I guess I was “raised” Catholic- but I certainly don’t identify myself with the faith. I fell in love with the Jewish community a few years ago. I became fascinated by their sense of community, by their determination. I love their “never again” mantra and admire their steadfastness in defending “their” land. I’ve done a good bit of studying, both in school and on my own time, about the Holocaust and its history. I transcribe tapes of interviews of Holocaust survivors. I’ve read books and have watched documentaries and shows on the History Channel. I’m a little more interested in the Holocaust and am a little more of a staunch defender of it than the average person; I’m also a little more informed and am a little more involved in it than the average history student.

But I’m amazed at the lack of concern people have for this horrific event. For students, the Holocaust is just another event to memorize, more names to learn, and more pictures to stare blankly at. For parents, it’s just another war story their dads (and today’s students’ grandparents) talked about when they were kids. And for our grandparents, well, it’s their story. They lived the Holocaust, and now their voices are dying. The average survivor must be about 80 years old now; My grandpa is 83 and he’s a WWII war vet: he guarded German Prisoners of War.

My generation, the students, should be more involved. Instead of reading words on a page, they should hear and see survivors telling their stories. They should watch some real documentaries or hear some real stories- not just watch Schindler’s List and move on to the next chapter about the Cold War. I’ve heard their stories.

I’ve heard a woman say, “I can’t sleep at night” over fifty years after the war because she still sees dead Jewish babies every time she closes her eyes.

I’ve heard a survivor say that he heard Polish people say, “What? Hitler didn’t kill ALL the Jews?” after the war was over. I’ve met a survivor who was probably about 83 years old, hobbling along with a walker, while she was coming out of an elevator after just giving an interview of her Holocaust experience. She said to me, “What are you doing here, such a pretty girl like you? What are YOU doing HERE? So pretty… so pretty…” She was incredulous that someone so young could actually be involved in preserving this event. Where I volunteer I’m the youngest person by at least 30 years.

Why is my generation so indifferent? Studies show that third-generation immigrant children lose their language. That’s also true, I think, about the Holocaust. We’re the third generation. We’re so immersed in our own time and culture, that we don’t really hear our grandparents- those of us that even have them.

I want to scream every time I hear someone lightly use the word “Nazi” or when I see someone draw a swastika and laugh. I had a friend who made a swastika out of a bunch of converse shoes she had. She then took a picture of it because she thought it was “cool”. At the time, I didn’t really think much of it; Now I know that it was complete ignorance on her part that made her do it. That girl exemplifies my generation. They don’t know what a swastika represents. If they did, they’d abhor it as much as I do.

Get informed.