Re: Was WWII more than the Holocaust?

Ed Behrendt (edsdanzig@WORLDNET.ATT.NET)
Mon, 27 Apr 1998 13:09:46 +0000 

Hi Pat,

I found your message fascinating and of great interest. The same holds true
of the messages individuals
from the Memories Project sent in response.

You see, I am a Holocaust survivor, now living and teaching in the U.S.
Yes, I teach about WW II and the Holocaust. To nearly 10,000 children in
the last 4 years. We have done this all over the world and our group
has become quite successsful and well known.

First of all you must recognise that the comment which your student made
about WW II being only about the
Holocaust, was obviously one that he has picked up somewhere else, because
it is a very common blatant
anti-Semitic remark.  It is a remark, I believe, that must be caught in the
bud early on, unless of course
we wish to continue with world discrimination which eventually will again
lead to war.


If your student is taught world history, then he should know that WW II
started in 1939 in Europe with
the Germans marching through Danzig and attacking then capturing Poland.
Many other countries were overrun by
the Germans soon thereafter. All this and more before the Allies even knew
all that much about the Holocaust.
As a matter of fact, the very word 'Holocaust' was not even in use at that
time.  More importantly, he might
want to research Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" (My Struggle) which he wrote in
his very early stage, while he
was in prison, long before anything was done to Jews or others. In that
book, Hitler predicted what he was
going to do to other countries and people, most of whom were not Jews.
That, by the way, included his plan
to take over England and 'probably' America. You might also want to remind
your student that while about
6 million Jews perished in the Holocaust, 5 million non-Jews were also
killed by the Nazis and Germans.
This does not count soldiers and others fighting in the war. So the
Holocaust was NOT ONLY about Jews.

What happened in America before the war and why did we become involved?
Well, a couple of years before
America officially entered the War, we were already helpng Great Britain,
primarily with providing ships,
weapons and other defense items.  Why did we do that?  To defend 'freedom,
democracy, our way of life,
and eventually our families and homes'.  Had we not done so, Hitler and his
goons would have attacked
England and if he had won, would then have turned his attack on the U.S.A.
We wanted to help freedom
loving people, but also were determined to protect ourselves.  We also knew
that the Germans and the
Japanese had made a joint pact together, and we knew well in advance that
sooner or later the Japanese
would attack us,helped by the Germans.

The Holocaust started long before the U.S. came into the war, and Jews plus
others were already dying.
The U.S. did practically nothing to help Jews at that time.  Even the
congressional Rogers-Wagner bill of 1939, which was supposed to help 20,000
children escape to this country, was rejected. So you see,
there is no doubt that the U.S. did not come into or fight WW II because of
the Holocaust or to rescue just Jews.

I regret to say that I also have to disagree with Mary Haas a little.  In
my teaching and related experience, American students learn and know far
more about the war in the Pacific than they do about the war in Europe,
particularly prior to college age.  They know all about Pearl Harbor, the
internment of Japanese Americans here, the loss of the Philepines, Iowa
Jimma, Guada Canal, the complete actions of General McArthur and so
much more.  They know practically nothing about VE-Day and much more about
VJ-Day.

As for learning and knowing about the Holocaust, until fairly recently,
schools hardly ever mentioned the
topic and students knew little.  It is only now that it is changing, and
high time too!  In 5 of our 50
States the teaching of Holocaust history is mandadory and 15 more States
highly recommend it.  That keeps
up-dating and before too long it will become mandetory education all over
this country.
A couple of year ago, the well known Roper organization took a poll (which
is what they do for a living),
and discovered that only 1 out of every 15 students knew anything about it
at all, and that 1 out of
every 10 adults here believed that the Holocaust never even happened.

Pretty sad I believe, so Pat don't hesitate to continue teaching the way
you have and include Holocaust
history.  If we can help in any way, we would be happy to do so.

Best wishes,

Eddy Behrendt
"Reach & Teach"
Holocaust Education Group
edsdanzig@worldnet.att.net
http://home.att.net/~edsdanzig












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