8 November 1998
Denying the Holocaust is dangerous for society
By Lucas Neece
I support The University Daily Kansan´s decision to run an
advertisement from the Committee for the Open Debate of the Holocaust (CODOH).
However, those of us who know the truth about the Holocaust must respond.
That is our responsibility as members of a society that places such a high
value on free speech.
To evaluate the claims of the CODOH, I went
to the organization´s Web site (http://www.codoh.com). Not
only does the site propound upon this idea that gas chambers were never
used, it puts forth the idea that Hitler wasn´t planning the extinction
of the Jewish people. The Final Solution was Û according
to the site Û a phrase invented since his
suicide. What were all the Nazi concentration
camps for according to CODOH? It was simply a misuse of power,
a utilization of slave labor. Genocide did not occur during World War II.
I´ve stood in a gas chamber in Auschwitz. I´ve seen
part of the crematories. I spoke with a man who, as a young man, was forced
to do hard labor around the camps because he was Polish. His aunt, a nurse
in the S.S. Hospitals, tried to call attention to the horrible ÏexperimentsÓ
they were performing. She sent out X-rays from the hospitals, evidence
of the Nazi crimes against humanity.
I´ve read the diary of one of the S.S. men in charge of Auschwitz.
There is no question in my mind that this atrocity was indeed a planned
genocide.
I´m confused about what the CODOH hopes an open debate will
bring. Germany has been made stronger by admitting its responsibility for
the Holocaust and in seeking to make some sort of reparation. By accepting
the guilt, and seeking forgiveness, rather than attempting to explain things
away, they have made progress. Certainly, an ÏenlightenedÓ understanding
of the Holocaust Û by CODOH standards Û benefits neither those who died
nor the survivors and their children. Nobody involved in the Holocaust
profits from a debate on the Ïgenocide question.Ó
The only reason that I can come up with for the CODOH to Ïfoster
open debate on the HolocaustÓ is that perhaps, it wants to promote the
idea that the Holocaust didn't happen. That's fine. Its members have the
right in America to believe whatever they choose. But we have a responsibility
to evaluate its claims and speak truth. We must understand the repercussions
of denying that the Holocaust occurred. It is my fear that we will forget
what genocide looks like and that we, as humanity, will fail again.
Hitler´s Germany labeled the Jews, the handicapped and infirm,
gays, the elderly, Gypsies, and people from all around Europe who worked
to save lives, as obstacles to the perfect society.
