The Importance Of Getting History Right

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." This famous quote by philosopher George Santayana stresses an important aspect of history that is sometimes overlooked. History is a record of the cycle of human behavior, which will inevitably repeat itself if we do not learn from the past, in both its successes and failures. When studying history, it is important to not only view it as a timeline of events that marked the rise and fall of empires, civilizations, and religions, or the advancement in science, philosophy, technology, art, and education, but also as the development of society, in terms of human behavior, and the steps that led to the world we live in today.
Many times, in an effort to only focus on the grandness of our past and to celebrate how far we have come as a society, the darker parts of history are overlooked or pushed to the side. Despite the incredible advancements that our history marks, it is also riddled with discrimination, persecution, genocide, antisemitism, and more. Perhaps it is the shame that is associated with these less than complimentary periods, or a desire to pretend that it never occurred, but there is always some sort of shadow cast over these moments in history.
A prime example of history being skewed is the Holocaust, where deniers, such as the infamous David Irving, persisted that the Holocaust never actually happened, was a hoax conjured up by the Jews to achieve sympathy, cannot actually be proven and through supposed research can be disproven, and many other claims. The biting words of these deniers have misconstrued the true history of WWII and the atrocities of the Holocaust, making it acceptable to say that the Holocaust never happened, and disregarding the horrific events that occurred. The fear that arises when history is misrepresented in such a public way is that the true story is not being revealed and taught, and future generations could be raised to believe in a history that is not factually correct; one that hides the offenses of Nazi Germany and nonchalantly sweeps past the millions who were brutally murdered as nothing more than a conspiracy theory. If we as a society are not looking back on this genocide and studying how civilized citizens could turn into murderers, studying the mistakes and missteps that occurred, studying the essence of the human psyche in order to understand how wrong this was and how much better we need to be, it is possible for something like this to happen again. History is not meant to be just a storybook, but rather as a lesson on how we should move forward as a society for the future.

As a member of the Jewish nation, the importance of getting the history of the Holocaust right is also about perpetuating my religion and continuing the legacy of those who perished during this genocide. The fact that at one point in history most members of my religion were murdered in cold blood, and there were people who were literally trying to wipe us off of the face of the Earth, and people are saying that this is all made up, is not only deeply offensive but also terrifying. If we as a society are willing to simply ignore this incredible tragedy and huge lapse in morality and everything humane, what will happen in the future? History needs to be a learning point where we stop and actually analyze the events of the past to ensure that we are only moving in a positive direction for the future and do not repeat the mistakes of the past, and the Holocaust is only one example of this.




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