What is the Holocaust? The Holocaust was the mass slaughter of European civilians by the Nazi's during World War II. (Webster's Dictionary, p.552) Recently, I read Ellie Weisel's book Night and it told the story of his personal experiences in the Holocaust. Both Ellie and his father, Cholmo, had terrible experiences in which everyone around them were dying, brutal and unnecessary punishment was happening all the time, and gas chambers were their unfortunate way out. The Holocaust is something I feel should be taught in schools because it is interesting history, it's necessary truth, and it shows respect towards those who suffered and died in the Holocaust.
The Holocaust is interesting history because it was such an appalling event that mostly resulted in death. It was so unbelievable how the rest of the world knew about the "Final Solutions" for the Jews and did very little, if anything to stop this. Another reason the Holocaust is interesting is because it's so incomparable in history. There was no other event in history that was so planned, well thought out, and in such a civilized manner. The Holocaust is something every school should teach.
"The camp looked as though it had suffered an epidemic: empty and dead." (Night, ch.4, p.45). This is a quote in the book that explains how Ellie felt about the appearance of one of the camps he and his father were transferred to. In these camps the prisoners suffered to the greatest extent. They were brutally beaten to death, verbally abused, were starved to death, women and children were separated from their families, and worst of all they were treated inhumanly. They were deprived of their pride, dignity, and personality by the Nazis treating them like animals. This is worst than any brutal torture because they might as well be dead if they were going to be treated like this. I feel the Holocaust is necessary truth because we as people need to know the truths in this epidemic.
