Ellen Schwartz Ms. Watts-Martin AP English Language May 7, 2011 ISearch Paper There is a grave event that has happened time and time again throughout our history: Ethnic cleansing. Knowing little about the subject, I decided to take an in depth look in to ethnic cleansing- I wanted to know why we allow it to occur again and again over time, and what effect it has on the world as a whole. My findings helped me to better understand this issue and to realize that our society’s response to ethnic cleansing is both inadequate and inexcusable. Ethnic cleansing is undoubtedly a social injustice because of the methods used to carry it out, as well as outside parties’ reluctance to stop it from happening- knowing this, several steps can be taken in order to prevent this tragedy from occurring again in the future. From my research, I have also learned more about how this crime can be prevented.
It seems as if Oskar lived his life by the motto that you shouldn’t think twice about doing the right thing, and that you should always know what the right thing to do is. Although Oskar started out being a Nazi, he realized the mistake he made by taking part in killing Jews. Oskar knew that there was no way to stop what the Nazi’s were doing, but was then willing to do as much as he could do to save as many Jews as possible (Steinhouse). The way that Oskar Schindler decided to help the Jews when he could have easily stayed as a Nazi proves that he is a hero. Oskar Schindler showed his heroic actions by risking his own life and using his fortune to save over 1,200 Jews.
The dead cannot be brought back to life. So what can we do? First, we must all acknowledge our responsibility for not having done more to Prevent or stop the genocide.” Genocides are not something that takes place suddenly and lacking warning. But, it is something that is deliberately projected and strategized. The results of these genocides are so violent that it is felt beyond the borders of the altered area as it damages the security and protection of the people of the
The Perils of Indifference In the argument “The Perils of Indifference,” author Elie Wiesel talks about the issues caused by indifference to suffering of human beings through out history. He illustrates how indifference has caused many people to be left as victims because human beings as individuals, feel its easier to just look away from such wrong doings. His objective is to help people realize what their lack of acknowledgment of others is doing to our society. He also wants to show that in history there has been good things that people have accomplished from taking part and doing the right thing for others. Wiesel being a Holocaust survivor, has credibility as well as emotional and logical evidence to support his argument on human indifference.
To what degree is the Indigenous rights movement in Canada unique to this country, and how is it connected to broader international protests and processes? In the aftermath of World War II as the atrocities of the Jewish genocide came to light, many peoples’ attitudes towards racial intolerance were severely altered. The hitherto held notion that civilized European nations were the standard bearers for acceptable principles of behaviour had taken a huge blow. Japanese violence against the Chinese and the brutal destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US did much to provide their citizens and politicians cause for rumination too. The culmination to all of this reflection was the United Nations and its consequent Declaration on Human Rights.
Comparisons to Holocaust Life’s experiences teach us that unless we can learn from our mistakes, that history will repeat its self! Were the genocides against the Native Americans a stepping stone to the Nazi Holocaust? Historical facts can lead one to believe that it most likely was. From the beginning of both the Holocaust and the Native American genocide there were many stereotypes. Stereotypes are a form of classification based on inaccurate information or assumptions.
A genocide can occur in a variety of ways. It could be a systematic killing organized by the government, as a result of old hatred, or it could be suspicion of a ethnic group cast upon by those in power. A genocide can also occur just because those in power want to secure their places in power; wiping out an ethnic group can do so. A genocide can also occur as a result of media propaganda, as the media has the power to influence the general public and their actions, it would be one of the major ways in which a genocide would occur. The Rwanda genocide that occurred in 1994 occurred because of several reasons.
Dissonance is the prime factor of a conflict; however, it is also very essential for us to learn from it. Through times many disagreements have occurred due to a clash of ideas. The Holocaust, many people know how horrifying and wrong it was, but not many people actually knew why the twisted Nazis’ started it. The Germans had been forced into an economic hell due to the Versailles Treaty. The British, Americans and the French had ruined and humiliated them.
On one hand, the failures of emigration initiated with the growing sympathy for Jews both abroad and nationally. The Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938, a consequence of Polish emigration and the assassination of Ernst von Rath by Polish Jew Hershal Gryzpan, reduced Germany’s international opinion, especially in America where on the 23rd to the 25th November, a public protest was constructed: the burning of the swastika to show their disregard for the German treatment of Jews. This international view of Nazi emigration is seen to contradict the Nazi aim to increase international anti-Semitism and the awareness of the ‘Jewish Question’. It instead raised sympathy for the Jewish population abroad. Furthermore, it reveals another reason for the failures of emigration rather than the refusal to Jews to leave Germany.
“…And You Shall Teach Your Children”: Holocaust Denial and The Importance of Education The Holocaust illustrates how silence and indifference to the suffering of others, can however unintentionally, serve to perpetuate the problem. It is an unparalleled event in history that brings to life the horrors of racism, prejudice, and anti-Semitism, as well as the capacity for human evil. The Nazis were the original deniers of the Holocaust. Though, at the beginning they documented every killing and every policy, this was all done in secret and via code words (united states holocaust museum). Once it became clear that they were not going to win the war they made it their very mission to destroy every piece of evidence and documentation that called for the extermination of the Jewish people.