[lutorm]

Every human above the age of five who lives or has been educated in "the west" or "the north" knows at least the basics about concentration camps and the jewish genocide or what it's like to live under dictatorship. Every single one of us knows how horrible it was. None of us would want to be a victim or a witness or an actor of such a monstrosity.

I disagree. The resurgence of neo-Nazi movements and Holocaust denial suggests that your argument is incorrect.

[johncoltrane]

I have been a member of a very active french anti-fascist group called SCALP in the early 90s. I know too much about those neo-Nazis you talk about. They would be a good illustration of the second part of my comment regarding SOME people who don't care about the suffering they might be responsible of.

Most of these movements are built around a leader's father-like character and the removal of all responsibility from the shoulders of the small guys.

That's how you push a nation to slaughter its minorities. That's how all the small guys can manage their guilt.

All of the fascist skinheads and young royalists and whatnots I've fought against have had the exact same education as me. All of them knew about the holocaust, the armenian genocide and so on because - like me - they were exposed to the same books and classes and documentaries.

Watching hours of emaciated prisoners and dumped corpses is guaranteed to disturb anybody. Most people will react by rejecting the images and the causes: they will say this shit is horrible and, for the rest of their lives, will be able to connect the dots.

Some people, the sociopaths I was talking about, will react by thinking that all these horrors were deserved, that the perpretators were right, that the west betrayed them and so on. They won't be a lot but they will find each others. The coldest and the more charismatic among them will take the role of leader and you'll have a new group of neo-Nazis.

A shorter version of my argument would be "They are perfectly capable of connecting the dots. But what disgusts most of us is somehow seen by them as acceptable.". I don't think the resurgence of neo-Nazis invalidates my point.

Quite the contrary.