Holocaust History

BY LILLIAN BRUHN AND LUCIE LIPPENS

The Holocaust was a genocide of Jews, that took place during World War II (WWll). Between 1941-1945, the Nazi Party in Germany purposely killed 6 million Jews (around two-thirds of the Jewish population in Europe) because of their religion. The motives of the Holocaust were anti-semitism (which is prejudice, or unfair treatment, against Jews), racism, and pan-Germanism (trying to make everyone in Germany speak German). Jews would be taken to concentration camps (which is like a prison) such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Belzec, Sobibor, and Chelmno.

In these concentration camps, many people died because of the horrible conditions.

Though the Holocaust ended over 80 years ago, it is still important to remember what happened and to support Jews. We believe it’s important because we don’t want history repeating itself so you have to remember, and help anyway you can with anti-semitism.

In Massachusetts in the past year there were high levels of white supremacist, antisemitic and antiLGBTQ+ activity. Massachusetts had nearly 500 propaganda incidents, which is sadly the second highest in the country.

Important local places that you can go to learn more are The New England Holocaust Memorial in downtown Boston and the Bristol Holocaust and Genocide Center in Fall River.

Here are some of the things you can do to help stop anti-semitism: we can do is build up to perfect.

• Speak up if you hear anti-semitic language!

• Don’t just say “Merry Christmas!” to people. Instead, try “Happy Holidays!” so that you’re being inclusive of all beliefs.

• Follow Jewish influencers! You should do this because it can help widen your perspective, and it’s good when you follow different people then you normally do!

AI has made remarkable progress in recent years, but how can we ensure its ethical use? One possible step is to adopt carbon-friendly AI models that can significantly reduce carbon emissions. Another is to keep learning and improving from our mistakes, since we cannot avoid incorrect answers. However, we cannot eliminate bias completely, as humans are the ones who create and shape AI. AI will never be flawless, but we can strive for excellence. c

Key people:

Anne Frank was born in 1929 and died in 1945. When she was 13 years old, her parents gifted her a diary which she started writing about her life in hiding during the Holocaust. Her diary was published and that’s how she became very famous, to date 30 million copies have been sold.

Elie Weisel is a Romanian-born, American writer who is most famous for his book Night, which is about Elie’s experience in two concentration camps, Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Elie Weisel is a professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor.

Adolf Hitler lived from April 20, 1889, to April 30, 1945. He was the leader of the Nazi Party and the Chancellor of Germany. Hitler hated Jews and because of his wrath, 6 million Jews were killed in WWll.