Never Forget The Holocaust

Forgetting Is Not An Option

The holocaust is a incredibly difficult for some people to discuss with others depending on their extent of connection to the event. It is believed to be the worst genocide known to man by many people. This explains discomfort many people experience when discussing the subject. People debate if the absolutely horrific events of World War II will be forgotten as generations pass. Survivors have many different ways of never forgetting the events that happened to them. Some people feel that it is better to completely wipe these events from memory because they do not want to remember what happened to them, while others want to tell all of society of tragic events hoping to prevent similar events from occurring in the future. Many people debate which method is best to never

forget the awful events that occurred during the Holocaust.

In the New York Times Article, Proudly Bearing Elders’ Scars, Their Skin Says ‘Never Forget’,  Eli Sagir got a tattoo on his left forearm of his grandfather’s tattoo.  Eli’s idea of “never forget” is carried down from his grandfather to himself. Eli got a tattoo on his forearm because he does not want to forget the horrific incidents that happened to his grandfather during the Holocaust. Eli’s idea and way of “never forget” is trivializing what actually happened during the Holocaust. Eli does not want the holocaust to be subordinated and for all the future generations to think that these horrific events never happened. However, Eli's way of trying to convey this message to younger generations is the wrong message about the holocaust and the great impact that it had on society.

There are numerous ways to better memorialize what his grandfather experienced than by getting a permanent tattoo. In the article they discussed the best way to memorialize the Holocaust. By getting a tattoo, Eli is trivializing the actual significance of the events of the Holocaust.

One of the many ways that a tattoo trivializes the events of the Holocaust is because it only highlights the negatives of the Holocaust and does not show the main significance for the events that actually happened. Many people would agree that the best way to memorialize your grandfather and his beliefs of being a strong, confident Jewish individual would be by supporting your religion to the best of your ability. The most important lesson that people can take away from the Holocaust is the strength of the Jewish nation. It would be more helpful for Eli to try to forget the horrendous events that happened to many Jews in the genocide, rather than obsess over them to the point of getting similar markings on his body. although one can defiantly understand the point he is trying to get across by getting the tattoo it would be more effective for Eli to try to remember and memorialize the independent Jewish nation that was able to persevere through a notorious genocide. Survivors feel that the tattoo is a mental and physical scar more than anything else, "'To me, it’s a scar,' said Ms. Doron, who grew interested in the numbering while drawing blood from a tattooed arm in an emergency room. 'The fact that young people are choosing to get the tattoos is, in my eyes, a sign that we’re still carrying the scar of the Holocaust.'" Carrying the scar of the Holocaust should not be the main lesson that we are teaching the younger generations. We should be teaching future Jewish children that the Jewish nation was strong enough to withstand a mass genocide and still be a proud country. We should be teaching them our religion, beliefs and strength.
The novella Rosa is the story of a Holocaust survivor who moved to Florida after the events of the Holocaust. In the novella, the main characters Persky, Stella, and Rosa each have their own special ways of never forgetting the events of the holocaust. Each individual was affected by the events of the Holocaust in different ways. What they share in common, though, is that they have all lived through it and as a result, have lived memories that they are unable to forget no matter how hard they could possibly try. Rosa's remembrance of the Holocaust greatly differs from Persky's remembrance of the holocaust. When they met each other in the Laundromat, Persky's was being flirtatious with Rosa and brought up the article he was reading on the newspaper. He then begins to have a discussion with Rosa about how both of them growing up in Poland, Warsaw. However, Rosa began to become angry with Persky because he did not understand any of the turmoil that Rosa had gone though in the concentration camps. Her emotions are completely understandable, as many people would feel similar emotions if they were to be in her situation. Persky doesn't know what Rosa had lost in the Holocaust. He had no idea of the horrific, heart wrenching events Rosa had gone through in these ghastly years. Rosa lost her youngest child, Magda, during her time at the concentration camps. She then remarks to Perksy "Your Warsaw isn't my Warsaw (pg 22)" because he dimly was not understanding the endless pain and torment that she went through in Warsaw. Persky continues to almost make what they were saying a competition by saying "on the other hand here is no paradise either (pg 18)." Rosa could never dream of forgetting the events of the Holocaust because of her daughter, Magda. Throughout the remainder of the novella she continues to give her daughter life, in a way, by acting and speaking as if her deceased daughter is still alive and continues to write letters to her. Rosa is not able to emotionally disconnect herself from the Holocaust until the end of the novel. Persky then replaces Rosa’s vision of her daughter Magda with himself.
Persky’s way of never forgetting is spending as much time as possible with Rosa. Earlier in the novella, we learn that Persky’s wife is in a mental asylum in Great Neck. When Persky was describing the newspaper article with Rosa, he realized that they had many things in common. When he spent time with Rosa he recalled the events of the holocaust. Similarly, Stella is also connected to Rosa with her vision of “Never Forget”. Although Rosa had regarded her as evil in the novella, Stella and Persky are both emotionally invested and connected to the Holocaust through Rosa.