mc215+Holocaust+Essay

Holocaust Education. Should Sixth Graders Be a Part of It?

Imagine that you are a Jew in 1942. You going back to your house and you see a Nazi truck waiting outside. The officer tells you to get in their truck. You get in the truck without hesitation or questions and when you look up, you see all the people in your village. The officer says to be quiet and do as they say. The next time you look out of the trucks, you see a cluster of building waiting for you that say, "you will die here." You have heard rumors that millions of Jews have died at building complexes like these. That's how the Jews felt during the Holocaust. Some people think that sixth graders should learn about the Holocaust, but others do not. The Holocaust was arguably the worst time in world history that has been recorded and over six million Jews died during that period of time. Imagine 11 million people go into a building, but only five million come out. Sounds horrible, doesn't it. If sixth graders don't learn about the Holocaust, what will they be mature enough to learn about? Nothing. I believe that sixth graders should learn about the Holocaust.

The first reason that sixth graders should study the Holocaust is to realize how fortunate you are. Devil's Arithmetic author Jane Yolen said, "There is no way that fiction can come close to touching how truly inhuman, alien, even satanic, was the efficient machinery of death at the camps." That meant that it was so bad what happened in the Holocaust that not even fiction can compare to it. The people who were sent to the concentration camps were probably some of the most unlucky people. Some people complain, "My parents won't let me get a video game," while people in concentration camps barely had any food. Some people think that they aren't fortunate, but they really are because they have life. Not many people in the Holocaust had that. Maud Dahme says that, "Just to be alive is the greatest gift God had ever given me." Concentration camps only gave out one thing and that thing was death. Just being alive was a good thing in the Holocaust. Having a nice house, warm food, and a bedroom can be fortunate today.

A second reason why sixth graders should study the Holocaust is because it was a part of history. There are so many bad things that have happened in history. Someone may think that, the Holocaust is the worst thing that happened in history, and it probably was, so sixth graders shouldn't learn about it. If sixth graders are mature, which I know I am, we should learn about the Holocaust. Also, if we learn about the Holocaust, it could give someone feeling down some courage. If someone feeling down hears about the Holocaust, they are going to hear courage about the survivors. Someone may think that if you hear about the Holocaust, you will just be scared, but that's not true. You will have courage. My mom's assistant said that It's good to know history, and really, that's true. History can be so interesting and fascinating that if you keep it away from a kid, they may never learn it. School is for learning and history is for learning. The quote that Maud Dahme says, " “Exterminating Jewish children was a top priority. They were the first chosen to die in the camps because they were useless as laborers,” can be an interesting topic in school.

The third and final reason that sixth graders should learn about the Holocaust is so it never happens again. Someone may think that if you know about the Holocaust, you may want it to happen again if you are crazy, but that's not true. One thing everyone in the world can agree on it's that the Holocaust should never be repeated. The quote, "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it," basically means that if you don't know about the past, it will repeat. Also, history repeats itself and I doubt anyone wants the Holocaust to repeat. Like I said earlier, six million Jews died in concentration camps. Would you really want six million more Jews to die in concentration camps? I doubt you want that to happen again. In the Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen, the main character, Hannah, says, "That we will survive. The Jews. That what happens here must never happen again." Hannah said that to her friends Rivka and Shifre so that if they survived, they would make sure the Holocaust repeated. Imagine you were in their shoes. You are trapped in a concentration camp with nothing but a sliver of hope keeping them from committing suicide. Now, you are taken to die. Just imagine how bad that would be. Chosen. Killed. Murdered just because you were different. Call it whatever you want, you don't want it to happen again.

Even though the Holocaust is such a brutal topic, some people think it should still be taught to middle schoolers especially sixth graders. Someone may be scared by the topic every so often, but people are scared by horror movies all the time. Do you really think that sixth graders should study the Holocaust even though it is such a brutal topic to handle? If people can't learn about what happened in history, how do they watch horror movies? How will they appreciate those who suffer all the time. In my opinion, sixth graders about mature and strong enough to learn about the Holocaust.