Time Traveling in the Holocaust Memorial Museum
How Neighbors Became Predator and Prey
Toni Heffle
Issue date: 4/2/09 Section: Opinion
April 2 was the date of H.F.U.'s free bus trip to U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., open to students, staff and faculty. The event was organized by Dr. Leanne Owen, and supervised by Dr. Joseph Stoutzenberger.
The Holocaust, just as the Great Depression, is uneasy subject matter for the older generation, while the younger generation seem detached from this part of history.
The exhibits combined films, artifacts, photos, and diary pages to recreate 1933-1945 and the aftermath of WWI. Hitler promised bread and work, and to restore Germany to greatness, as people who hungered for food and leadership listened to propaganda about 'internal enemies' that 'stabbed Germany in the back and prevented military victory and prosperity.' He warned Germans that Jews were taking over the world, would starve Germany's children, and must be destroyed. His master plan took over radio, film, newsreels, theater and music, using media to sell Nazi ideology, and crying, 'broadcasting belongs to us.' All opposition parties were banned, their leaders imprisoned and often killed. This toxic leader assured Germans that pure races produced healthy culture and families, and by 1935 Germany responded by legalizing segregation and racism. 'Undesirables' described as 'subhuman, and responsible for Germany's problems' were targeted for decimation and included Jews, African Germans, Gypsies, democrats, liberals, pacifists, Jehovah's Witnesses, physically and mentally disabled, and homosexuals. Between 1933-1939, over 400 laws were enacted to define, segregate, isolate and impoverish German Jews. Jewish assets, businesses and homes were looted, smashed, burned, or confiscated. Jewish lawyers were disbarred, businesses closed, physicians barred from practice, nurses dismissed, and pupils expelled from public schools.
'Inferior' races were separated from 'superior' races, then shot and dumped into mass graves, while others suffered starvation, incineration or the gas chamber.
For the 6 million+ people who had been murdered in the name of 'ethnic cleansing,' of which 1.5 million+ were infants and children, action arrived 'too little and too late.' All who perished were part of someone's family tree, and were murdered by followers of the charismatic leader who presented himself as savior of Germany, but became a ruthless dictator who preyed upon weaknesses heightened by unemployment, hunger and despair, and promised 'change.' Lives were changed forever, and this memorial to the millions of people murdered by Nazis and their collaborators cautions visitors to 'reflect upon their own moral and spiritual responsibilities, as citizens of democracy,' and to monitor carefully the course of our leaders.
The Holocaust, just as the Great Depression, is uneasy subject matter for the older generation, while the younger generation seem detached from this part of history.
The exhibits combined films, artifacts, photos, and diary pages to recreate 1933-1945 and the aftermath of WWI. Hitler promised bread and work, and to restore Germany to greatness, as people who hungered for food and leadership listened to propaganda about 'internal enemies' that 'stabbed Germany in the back and prevented military victory and prosperity.' He warned Germans that Jews were taking over the world, would starve Germany's children, and must be destroyed. His master plan took over radio, film, newsreels, theater and music, using media to sell Nazi ideology, and crying, 'broadcasting belongs to us.' All opposition parties were banned, their leaders imprisoned and often killed. This toxic leader assured Germans that pure races produced healthy culture and families, and by 1935 Germany responded by legalizing segregation and racism. 'Undesirables' described as 'subhuman, and responsible for Germany's problems' were targeted for decimation and included Jews, African Germans, Gypsies, democrats, liberals, pacifists, Jehovah's Witnesses, physically and mentally disabled, and homosexuals. Between 1933-1939, over 400 laws were enacted to define, segregate, isolate and impoverish German Jews. Jewish assets, businesses and homes were looted, smashed, burned, or confiscated. Jewish lawyers were disbarred, businesses closed, physicians barred from practice, nurses dismissed, and pupils expelled from public schools.
'Inferior' races were separated from 'superior' races, then shot and dumped into mass graves, while others suffered starvation, incineration or the gas chamber.
For the 6 million+ people who had been murdered in the name of 'ethnic cleansing,' of which 1.5 million+ were infants and children, action arrived 'too little and too late.' All who perished were part of someone's family tree, and were murdered by followers of the charismatic leader who presented himself as savior of Germany, but became a ruthless dictator who preyed upon weaknesses heightened by unemployment, hunger and despair, and promised 'change.' Lives were changed forever, and this memorial to the millions of people murdered by Nazis and their collaborators cautions visitors to 'reflect upon their own moral and spiritual responsibilities, as citizens of democracy,' and to monitor carefully the course of our leaders.