This video shows you just some of the horrors of the Holocaust that certain people would like to deny or claim wasn’t really as bad as it was. The Buchenwald concentration camp may not be as well-known as some of the others but it was still horrible. As the video goes on the speaker reminds you that while you can see some of the horrible things that happen you must remember that seeing alone isn’t enough to capture the experience. And you cannot smell through the camera. The stench of poor living conditions, disease, and death cannot be fully experienced from just seeing, only imagined.
Some may wonder why we would want anyone to think of this sort of thing. It isn’t that suffering is great but it is very important to remember such things and under what circumstances they can happen. Suppressing the acknowledgement of oppression also suppresses our ability to grow and learn from it as a society. But one thing that stands in the way of learning is pride.
It isn’t only personal pride but collective pride in identity that leads people to deny the negative impact of things or people they identify with. People don’t want to think that “their” people or culture are capable of wrong and if it can’t be denied altogether people want to comfort themselves by claiming any wrong that happen wasn’t so bad. People are also less likely to acknowledge the pain of those they think matter less than they do. I found it interesting that the German people were compelled to dig places to bury those who died in the camps after the war.
Sometimes we too need to be compelled to face things “our” people did and that we may have enabled by supporting or ignoring. When we feel the urge to deny and minimize the pain of others it is good to stop and reflect honestly on why. Love for others results in care, not the rationalization of harm. If you are only willing to acknowledge the legitimacy of the depth of pain inflicted certain groups of people but not others you still have work to do. Never forget it.
