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by plus9z
4595 days ago
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The mechanical efficiency of the the mass killings, for one, is fairly unique. Also, the stories of the Holocaust are more widely heard because many of the people that were alive when it happened are still alive today. Genocide is genocide, but if the victims are alive to tell their stories it gives a particular event more focus. And finally, the fact that we were inundated with propaganda prior to entering in conflict against the Germans solidified the war in out collective conscience as "the US coming in to save the persecuted Jews." I mean, one could make the same arguments about other genocidal leaders. Why isn't Mao in out textbooks? What about Pol Pot? Well, we didn't have the same level of propaganda regarding those leaders, and there aren't as many survivors that tell their stories in the U.S. EDIT: added extra reason and examples |
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But let me give you an example. Here in Brazil we had our own kind of holocaust. Very mechanical, and very cruel. But it was only last year that I have found out about it. From a documentary made about it's victims (one that is still alive today).
In contrast, I spent a lot of time in school learning about the holocaust. I watched a dozen movies about it. And I have lost count of the books I've read about it.
It was a cruelty beyond belief. But there are more recent genocides that don't get even a fraction of the attention. And why don't we learn about them?
Why the holocaust is treated as the worst human genocide in history when it clearly is not?
Even in our own (Brazilian) history there are genocides made by the empire that are very close to the mechanical cruelty of the holocaust. And we don't even learn about them on school. Why?
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Note: I'm not arguing about the importance of learning about holocaust. I'm just saying that we should make room to learn about other mistakes that we made in our history. That's the only way we'll keep from making them again.