Sunflower & the Holocaust

Overview

A Holocaust survivor’s surprising and thought-provoking study of

• forgiveness,
• justice,
• compassion, and
• human responsibility,

Wiesenthal ca. 1940-45 & 1982

Ongoing work of Wiesenthal

• after the war he worked with American War Crimes Unit
• long-term effort to bring escaped perpetrators to accountability
• founded the Simon Wiesenthal Center helping to

Never Forget!

http://www.wiesenthal.com/

Summary of Sunflower

• While imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, Simon Wiesenthal was taken one day from his work detail to the bedside of a dying member of the SS.
• Haunted by the crimes in which he had participated, the soldier wanted to confess to–and obtain absolution from–a Jew.
• Faced with the choice between compassion and justice, silence and truth, Wiesenthal said nothing.
• But even years after the way had ended, he wondered: Had he done the right thing? What would you have done in his place?

“Holocaust” "Shoah"

As noted in an earlier discussion, an alternate name Shoah has been proposed as a more appropriate word than the word Holocaust. "Holocaust" is a word used in the Hebrew Bible to refer to burnt offerings made to God. It is a sacred act. In some contexts it is an act that is favorable to God.

Timeline

• The mass murder of European Jews and others under Nazi rule during World War II as Holocaust or Shoah.(see below)
• Timeline of a long history of anti-semitism:
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_antisemitism
  • http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/HistoryJewishPersecution/
  • http://www.zionism-israel.com/his/Anti-semitism_timeline.htm

Major facets of the Shoah

Major groups of people affected by Shoah the groups are not mutually exclusive.

Victims.

Millions were victimized by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust: Jews, Gypsies, political enemies, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, and people with disabilities.

Perpetrators.

Hitler created an atmosphere of terror that was maintained by force.

Bystanders.

Throughout the world, many stood by and watched as the atrocities mounted.

Resisters.

Resistance took many forms, from individual acts to organized armed resistance against the Nazi terror.

Rescuers.

Rescuers, by hiding victims in attics or by helping them to escape to other countries, saved many who would have perished.

Liberators.

The Allies liberated the concentration camps in 1945 and became unwilling witnesses to the horror.

Survivors.

Survivors relate their thoughts and feelings about living through such a terrible period of human history.

Children.

Children were especially vulnerable in this tragic period.

Hitler's Final Solution

• Hitler's Nazi government planned a "Final Solution" to the "Jewish question." After experimenting with different methods of mass extermination, Nazis settled on the gas chamber as the most efficient
• Death camp operations began in December 1941 at Semlin in Serbia and at Chelmno in Poland
• More camps opened in the spring and summer of 1942

Simplified timeline

Rise of the Nazi Party (1918-1933).

During the fourteen years following the end of World War I, the Nazi party grew from a small political group to the most powerful party in Germany.

Nazification (1933-1939).

Once Hitler became Chancellor and later Reichsführer, the Nazi party quickly changed Germany's political, social, and economic structure.

The Ghettos (1939-1941).

Confining Jews to ghettos was another critical step in Hitler's Final Solution.

The Camps (1941-1942).

The concentration camps were Hitler's final step in the annihilation of the Jews.

Resistance (1942-1944).

People resisted by any means possible, from stealing a slice of bread to sabotaging Nazi installations.

Rescue and Liberation (1944-1945).

Some survived through the heroics of neighbors; others were liberated by the Allies.

Aftermath (1945-2000).

After the war, Nazi perpetrators faced punishment for their war crimes and survivors began rebuilding their lives.

The victims

Jews and antisemitism

• Jews had long been victims of persecution
• Hitler rose to prominence as a charismatic demagogue in 1920's
• He lost an election for president in 1932
• in 1933 he became chancellor and set in motion the destruction of democracy in Germany

Some major events in history of antisemitism

Antisemitism

"Antisemitism and all other forms of racism present a danger not only to Jews but also to the community of nations. These days the 'new antisemitism' is directed simultaneously against Jews, against Israel and against Zionism. By equating these terms the danger for Jews as a whole is exacerbated. This phenomenon is also common in propaganda emanating from the Arab world. The Holocaust showed the world the extent of the destructive power of antisemitism and racism. Holocaust denial, as well as minimization and banalization of the Holocaust provide a means of avoiding the evident conclusions and learning the lessons for the future. We, the survivors, call upon the world to wipe out these phenomena and to combat them relentlessly." – statement by survivors of Shoah