Learning from Auschwitz
by Mike Davis, Ph.D.
Head of School
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the German concentration camp of Auschwitz and is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This camp in southern Poland was the largest of the World War II death camps, and it is the place where Nazis murdered over a million people during the five years that the camp was open – 90% of them Jews, along with Poles, Soviet prisoners, homosexuals and others termed “undesirable” by the Nazis. They were systematically put to death in gas chambers, shootings, and hangings; they were killed through forced labor and starvation, disease, and horrific medical experiments – until the camp was liberated by Soviet troops on January 27, 1945.
Head of School
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the German concentration camp of Auschwitz and is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This camp in southern Poland was the largest of the World War II death camps, and it is the place where Nazis murdered over a million people during the five years that the camp was open – 90% of them Jews, along with Poles, Soviet prisoners, homosexuals and others termed “undesirable” by the Nazis. They were systematically put to death in gas chambers, shootings, and hangings; they were killed through forced labor and starvation, disease, and horrific medical experiments – until the camp was liberated by Soviet troops on January 27, 1945.
Today at the camp site, dignitaries from around the world and some 300 former Auschwitz prisoners were on hand to pay tribute. Most of the survivors are now in their 90s, and theirs is a dwindling number and a wavering voice. Ten years ago, at the 60th anniversary, some 1,500 survivors attended the commemorative events. This is perhaps the last major anniversary that survivors of the camp will be able to attend.
Historians often struggle with how to preserve the story and the lessons of the Holocaust. As educators, we teach history, in part, to help future generations learn from past injustice. We hope that humanity will not repeat past crimes and see the interconnectedness of all people. We hope that our children will emerge from their childhood with an appreciation and respect for their fellow human beings.
With the passage of time, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that the rise of National Socialism in Germany was a mass movement. Hitler, to be sure, was a demagogue, who preyed on people's fears, insecurities, and prejudices. However, it is important to note that the rise of Nazism happened in an industrial nation whose population was relatively well educated. Hitler's anti-Semitism and nationalism tapped into deep channels of European and Germanic intellectual history. There is a lesson for all of us about the inevitable logic of hatred and where it leads. If we look back into Germany on the eve of the rise of Nazism, the Weimar Republic in Germany was a model of democracy. It contained structural flaws that allowed the Nazis to seize power, but it also included a Bill of Rights guaranteeing freedom of speech, religion, and equality. Intellectual culture thrived in 1920s Germany with significant advances in science and technology. Berlin was a center of philosophical and artistic thought. There is a lesson here to be vigilant about the insidious voices of hate.
Time and again, humans have proven that hatred and bigotry have the potential to destroy lives on a massive scale. It is shocking that, since World War II, the ability of humans to inflict suffering continues: Whether it be in the Killing Fields of Cambodia, the genocide in Rwanda, or the escalating violence of ISIS, our world continues to be influenced and affected by hatred and intolerance.
It is up to each of us, as parents and as teachers, to talk to our children about this day and why it is so important that we remember our past. In a new documentary about the never-released Alfred Hitchcock film about the liberation of Auschwitz, the film’s title says it all, and the narrator repeats the warning that if we do not learn from the past, “Night Will Fall.”
© 2023 Colorado Academy
