Young Germans Reflect on Holocaust Education amidst Rising Intolerance
Seeing a concentration camp with my own eyes and listening to a survivor who went through it all, that has truly brought it home. It's crucial for young people like me. We will soon have the opportunity to vote. The far-right is gaining increasing support in Germany, and we must learn from the past.
Xavier is a 17-year-old German student. He was met at a Holocaust education centre in Dachau, located in southern Germany, just around the corner from what was once a Nazi concentration camp of the same name. He and his classmates were spending two days there, learning about their country's Nazi history and debating its relevance in today’s world.
Eighteen-year-old Melike admitted she did not know much about the Holocaust prior to visiting Dachau. Listening to survivor Eva Umlauf speak about her experiences deeply affected her, she said.
She expressed a desire for racism and intolerance to be addressed more frequently. "I wear a headscarf, and people often react disapprovingly. We need to understand more about one another so we can all coexist peacefully."
Miguel cautioned against the growing racism and antisemitism prevalent on social media platforms, which includes jokes about the Holocaust. "We need to put a stop to that," his 17-year-old friend Ida added.
"We are the last generation who can meet and listen to people who survived that tragedy. We must ensure that everyone is educated to prevent anything like that from happening again."
They are earnest and hopeful. Some might consider them naive.
Here in Europe, 80 years after the end of the Holocaust, societies appear increasingly fragmented. There is a rising support for political parties, often but not exclusively on the far-right and far-left, that are quick to target the Other. The outsider. The unwanted. Whether they are migrants, Muslims, LGBTQ+ individuals, or Jews.
