It is a matter of history that when the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight Eisenhower found the victims of the death camps, he ordered all possible photographs to be taken and for the German people from the surrounding villages to be ushered through the camps and even made to bury the dead. He did this he said, in words to this effect. 'Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the track of history some ******* will get up and say that this never happened.'UPDATE: I've done a little digging myself (now I've had the time) And it seems that this email is causing quite a lot of controversy. There are several people out there rubbishing its contents. However there are also articles reporting on the dropping of this subject on the major news paper websites. These can be found if you google - Holocaust school curriculum. I think that the email may well be misleading because it says that "the UK removed the Holocaust from it's school curriculum". That's not exactly true, it has not been removed from the curriculum. However some schools have dropped this subject and the Crusades for fear of causing offence.
'All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing' Edmund Burke
IN MEMORIAL This week, the UK removed the Holocaust from it's school curriculum because it 'offended' the Muslim population because they say it never occurred. This is a frightening portent of the fear that is gripping the world and how easy each country is giving into it. It is now more than 60 years since the 2nd. World War in Europe ended. This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the 6 million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, starved, burned and humiliated while German and Russian people looked the other way! Now more than ever, with Iran among others, claiming the Holocaust to be a myth, it is imperative to make sure the world never forgets.
This e-mail is intended to reach 40 million people worldwide! Be a link in the memorial chain and help distribute this around the world. Don't just delete this, it will only take a minute to pass it on...
In my opinion, if it happened (which it did), then it is history and must be taught. Teachers should not be afraid of causing offence for teaching the truth.
6 comments:
I was getting myself all riled up to leave a ranting response then i read your update.
The fact is as you said if it happened its history. No one should be offended but we should all learn about it.
Some recommended reading on this email, which has been thoroughly and repeatedly debunked, but which nevertheless continues to circulate in the USA, where the UK (United Kingdom) becomes the UK (University of Kentucky):
From the Urban Legends Reference Pages: http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/holocaust.asp
From the about.com Urban Legends pages: http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/historical/a/holocaust_u_ken.htm
On Dwight Eisenhower's efforts to publicize Buchenwald and Dachau in April 1945, see http://www.scrapbookpages.com/Ohrdruf/index.html as well as many other pages at this website.
Edmund Burke never used the words quoted in the email. See http://tartarus.org/martin/essays/burkequote.html
Wikipedia has fine articles on Holocaust denial at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_denial and on the Iranian "International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust" at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Conference_to_Review_the_Global_Vision_of_the_Holocaust.
Next Sunday, 27 Jan 2008, is the 63rd anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, and will be observed in many countries as "Yom Hashoah," Holocaust Remembrance Day: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Holocaust+Remembrance+Day&btnG=Google+Search
this is shameful. What are they trying to do convert us all into antisemites??
Take home messages from this are:
1) the email is an urban legend / hoax
2) always google vague / outrageous claims
3) don't pass on chain emails
Here endeth the lesson. :-)
Even if the E.mail is wrong in stating this teaching has been banned, it's still a fact that some schools are dropping this subject for fear of offending Muslims.
That in itself is WRONG.
It's still the same outcome our childrens education is being restricted by a group of people who don't give a fig about offending us.
After all to them we are infidels!
Our children have a right to know, it's part of their history too.
It happened
Teachers should never avoid teaching the truth no matter how upsetting a subject may be. However, this email is totally misleading, thin on facts and amounts to labelling the entire 'muslim population' as holocaust deniers. You should think very carefully and critically before sending it to 40 million people worldwide. Your email should focus on empowering teachers and schools to tackle difficult subjects head on.
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