Can the Holocaust Be Understood? |
"Holocaust"
Survivor
Eli
Wiesel repeatedly said that he was sorry to have used the word Holocaust to
describe the mass slaughter of the European Jews. Wiesel thought that the word
had become commonplace and was being used to describe almost any discomfort,
disaster, military action, or anything else that the user might find obnoxious.
As a result of making everything a holocaust, the unique and unprecedented crime
which the Europeans inflicted on their Jewish population seemed to lose its
meaning. This
is also true of the phrase Holocaust Survivor. This phrase has been used so
often that it has lost its meaning. Moreover, those who truly experienced the
Nazi horrors are in the end the only ones who know what is meant by the word
holocaust. Like
people who tell others about their cardiac bypass or other operations only to
find that the listener interrupts the “organ recital” by talking about his
own medical condition, those who seek to describe their experiences during the
Holocaust soon discover that no one wants to hear this and that the listener is
likely to start talking about the suffering of his grandparents, third cousin
twice removed, or other relatives. In short, Jewish listeners to Holocaust
recitals seek to make victims of themselves by referring to these distant
relatives. It
is of course understandable that someone who suffers from cancer, or lost his
job, or was recently divorced or was otherwise discomforted is in no mood to
listen to descriptions of the Nazi horrors. There
is yet another reason why “Holocaust Survivor” is an unpopular label. Those
of us who truly merit that term are now old. It has been 71 years since the end
of the Second World War and many members of the subsequent generations find it
obnoxious to have to listen to stories relating to times so long ago.
Furthermore, American ageism dictates that old people are bores and congenital
idiots whom one best avoids. And
so in the end, those of us who live with these nightmares every day of our lives
need to keep all of this to ourselves. Indeed, other Holocaust survivors
understand this, but we need not talk to them about what they already know. Today,
three generations after that great crime, the Holocaust is commemorated once a
year by having “important” members of the American Jewish community hold
speeches about something they know nothing about, mainly to gain publicity. And
yet, we cannot ignore that aspect of Jewish history, however it may be
commemorated. In some synagogues, “Kaddish” is recited every Shabbat morning
in memory of the six million slaughtered in the European gas ovens. This is
important and is all that can be expected of American Jews. Therefore,
it is best if Holocaust survivors keep their memories to themselves and live
with that which history has imposed on them. They must carry their burden alone,
for there is no one else who cares. Shalom u’vracha. Dr. Gerhard Falk is the author of numerous publications, including End of the Patriarchy (2015). |