7817ip+Holocaust+Essay

‍Memory of a Nightmare‍

Over the years, my grandma has been telling me small parts of her childhood and about World War II. I never really knew what she was talking about until sixth grade. My teachers have been talking about a horrible time in history when a man named Adolf Hitler blamed his country's troubles on the Jews. Jewish people were told they were being relocated and they could work if they wanted to in their new homes; no one knew, however, that they were really being sent to concentration camps where six million of them would be killed.‍ Grandma grew up on a peaceful beach, but then she was told to go a far distance away from home and find her long distance relatives to be safe. Her mother was one of the people who helped hide people and keep them safe. Grandma was not Jewish, but she was still very scared for her French father who was fighting in the war‍. The last time she saw him was when he came back to see her sister being born. When he returned to the war, he was captured by Germans and died as a prisoner of war. This is just one story of millions that we could be told about World War II and the Holocaust. To enhance their maturity, learn about this time in history, and understand Adolf Hitler's crime against humanity, sixth graders should learn about the Holocaust.

The first reason why sixth graders should learn about the Holocaust is because I have been hearing about this war from my grandma for a very long time and my grandma must have thought I was mature enough to hear about. All sixth graders are either 11, 12, or sometimes 13. We have already seen PG13 movies before which a little kid would call "scary." We have also heard things that have prepared us for something so terrible as this, but if we have never seen a leaf ever fall from a tree before, we will not be prepared for this. Also, if we start learning about it when we're 20, people might be talking about it when we're 19 and we will have no idea what they're talking about. If you are taught about the Holocaust when you are 5 though, you will always remember the horrible nightmares you had when you were 5. It is important to learn about the Holocaust when you are mature enough to.

The second reason why sixth graders should learn about the Holocaust is because it was a big part of history. The big problem with not learning about the Holocaust is that as you grow up, you can't make sure that this will never happen again. Learning about how Nazis killed Jews is a little too ‍traumatizing‍, but we should learn about how Adolf Hitler blamed innocent people and caused the death of six million Jews. Learning that Hitler wanted all the Jews in Europe exterminated should open our eyes to see how cruel the world can be. The Holocaust is actually still happening because kids are being bullied. People still even kill innocent people because they feel that they did something wrong. Everyone in Europe knew about the Holocaust and once free Jews came to America, we did too. If there were no more bullying, making fun of, and teasing, the Holocaust would finally be over.

The third and final reason why sixth graders should learn about the Holocaust is to learn about Adolf Hitler's crime against humanity. "The Holocaust was the most evil crime ever committed," was a quote by Stephen Ambrose. I agree with him. Adolf Hitler had failed at mostly everything in his lifetime and finally, he found people he could blame them on. Hitler was said to have a very strong voice so when people heard him speak, they didn't think about what he was really saying. He made the death of six million innocent people sound like a good thing. That's why people volunteered to be Nazis. If there are any more Nazis living today, they should regret being the people they chose to be. They chose to kill, they chose to torture, but worst of all, they chose to support "the most evil crime ever committed."

My grandma was a very strong person to have this happen in her life and share it with me. Her story is so moving, now I'd like to sit down and just talk to her all about it the next time I see her. As for all of the Holocaust survivors, they all have their stories that they will never forget. Sixth graders should learn about this to make us realize how cruel the world can be and how lucky we are. We take what we have for granted. Our possessions, our neighborhoods, even our families. If you went to a concentration camp, Nazis stole everything you owned that was valuable and disposed the rest. If you lived in Europe during the Holocaust, you would always see army tanks in the streets. The complete opposite of peaceful. Most Jews lost their entire families and were alone. Today we don't worry about tanks in the streets and people being ripped from their homes, but neither did Jews in 1933. ‍Sixth graders should learn about the Holocaust so we will never have to worry again.‍