ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 20, 1996 TAG: 9608200027
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARCIA D. HORN
IN HIS Aug. 12 letter to the editor, ``Enough about the Nazi Holocaust,'' Robert F. Boyd asserted in his closing paragraph: ``I'm forced to believe that until humans have evolved into a more compassionate and understanding animal, it may be better to temporarily forget some aspects of history.''
The context of this remark is also stated disturbingly in his opening paragraph: ``I'm beginning to understand the hostility that so many of the generations following World War II have expressed for Jews.''
These statements are a chilling reminder that the lessons of the Holocaust need to be studied with far more dedication in order that we become the ``more compassionate and understanding'' people of Boyd's conclusion.
The dangers of forgetting certain aspects of history have been stated often. In the context of this letter, the comments of Michael Berenbaum, project director of the United States' Holocaust Memorial Museum, especially apply:
``The Holocaust cannot be allowed to numb us to evil, but it must sensitize us and alarm us. It must sharpen our insights into the importance of human rights and human dignity everywhere.''
During the Holocaust, Hitler ordered massive book burnings in his attempts to suppress historical accounts and manipulate information. He tried frantically to destroy the evidence of the ovens, of the mass murders and burials, especially toward the end of World War II. His victims were not only 6 million Jews, but also the Gypsies (mentioned by Boyd), as well as millions of others, including Catholics, Protestants, Russians, Poles, the handicapped and children - all innocent. Their story is depicted most powerfully in Washington, D.C.'s Holocaust Memorial Museum. Boyd needs to visit the museum.
At the dedication of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1992, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel pleaded urgently for an immediate halt to the genocide in Bosnia because he couldn't bear, as a human being, to see this kind of history being repeated.
The purpose of the museum and other forms of memorializing the Holocaust is to constantly renew our sensitivity to the dangers of genocide and racism in order to educate ourselves and those after us to make a more just and caring society in the future.
The one commandment of those who died in the Holocaust and those who survived it remains: ``Remember. Do not let the world forget.''
Marcia D. Horn teaches English at Ferrum College.
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