lm115Holocaust+Essay

=Should sixth graders be learning about the Holocaust? This question has been asked many times. What do you think? Learning about the Holocaust is important for the young people of our world. It keeps us educated about the past so history won't repeat itself in the present or the future. It can teach us about being prejudiced, and how we should respect one another. And how we need to learn, not for now, but for the future of our community . This is why I think sixth graders should learn about the Holocaust, and as a sixth grader myself I have a front hand view on the situation. = = = =One reason I believe sixth graders should learn about the Holocaust so it will never happen again and time won't repeat itself.  If we don't want it to happen again then we need to get the message out through learning. If we teach the younger generation, which includes middle school students such as sixth graders, they will know how cruel it is and history won't repeat it self. In her book, The Devil's Arithmetic, author Jane Yolen explains: "All the facts about the horrible routinization of evil in the camps is true: the nightmare journeys on the cattle cars, the shaving of heads, the tattooing of numbers, the separation of families, the malnutrition, the musselmen and the Komanndos." You may think sixth graders would get scared at this topic, but if seventh, eighth, ninth grade, and so on can learn about it, why not start with sixth grade? One of my teachers, Ms. Rustler, said,"I think sixth graders should learn about the Holocaust because it is an event that happened in history, and so it will never happen again." And rightly so; if we learn from mistakes of the past, we can ensure they never happen again. = = = =Have you ever heard the phrase, "don't judge a book by its cover?" This phrase means that we should avoid pre judging people by their skin color, religion, and looks. The Holocaust can teach us many lessons about being prejudiced. This means you shouldn't judge or think something before you have the facts or information. One type of prejudice that has existed for centuries is antisemitism. There were very few Jews in Germany at the time of WWII , and they were chosen as economic competitors and were even used as scapegoats for politics. Although there were times and places in Europe where the Jews were accepted, antisemitism still remains as a part of history. Many Jews who lived through the experience still can't believe it happened. Survivor Renee Firestone, for example, states, "I wonder whether the world learned anything? The way you look around the world today makes you wonder- What did we learn from the Holocaust?" A poem by Robert Fulghum states, "We can learn a lot from crayons...they all have learned to live together in the same box." This shows that all humans, any skin color, religion, and personality need to learn to live together in a community, in a country, in a continent, in the world together. How we should treat each other with respect and kindness, and great honesty. That we should be the one to treat others how you would want to be treated. = = = =My third reason is it can make you feel fortunate for what you have.  In the book The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen Hannah, a twelve year old girl, living in the present of today was not very grateful for anything, she dreaded going to her family's Passover Seder, she can't stand listening to the same stories, and she absolutely sick of them talking about the past. After she magically traveled back in time and relived what her relatives had lived, the Holocaust, she realizes how fortunate she really was for what she had.  You may think that you are so unlucky and so unfortunate, but you are not. You have to realize that many people take things for granted, but back then they didn't have those things. From the horrific things that happened during this time period we really are very fortunate not have experienced that time. That is why we must love our neighbors as much as ourselves so none of this every occurs again. = = = =The message is clear. Sixth Graders should learn about the Holocaust. For many wide ranged reasons. For one it teaches us a lesson. Like a thought that sits deep in our brains. That it should not happen again. It keeps us reminded that for how different we are, we can all live in harmony. It teaches us that we are all the same on the inside. We are in fact like a box of crayons. All made of wax. Different sizes, shapes, colors, and names. Yet they have all learned to live in the same box, together. =