Wednesday, December 3, 2008

"Never Again"

In the summer of 2007 I traveled around Europe for a few weeks. One of the places I visited was Dachau, a town in Germany where a Nazi Concentration Camp was located. When we left Germany on a train to France a German (male, I am guessing about 35-40 years old) asked us why so many Americans came to visit Concentration Camps- he didn’t seem to understand why we thought it was so important to “our” history.
When a tragic event happens and near to ten million people die it is hard to believe the event does not have an effect on nearly everyone in the world. We were supposed to learn a lesson from the Holocaust- “Never Again” was the main point. So why do similar things continue to happen?
First on your blog I want you to write a “journal” entry on how you think the holocaust effects you. Second visit http://www.ushmm.org/conscience/history/ a section of the U.S. Holocaust Museum. Lastly you are to research the Genocide in Rwanda, the Genocide in Darfur or the Genocide in Srebrenica. Compare these Genocides to the original Holocaust (where/who) and try to determine why those events were allowed to happen despite our pledge of “Never Again”.

A Picture of a Memorial at Dachau~