the actual best moment in all ANTM history
I am absolutely begging non-Jews to stop framing the Holocaust as a “more respected” tragedy in comparison to other genocides and atrocities. There seems to be a general belief amongst non-Jews that everyone knows a lot about the Holocaust and is respectful of it. In reality multiple studies have shown that this is not the case. The general public in many places (yes including America) know little about the Holocaust and a shocking number hold antisemitic beliefs about it. Personally in America the education I received on it went only so far as to paint America as a heroic nation while glossing over its own rampant antisemitism including its refusal of Jewish refugees all while showing me graphic images of dead and tortured Jewish people.
I think it’s also important to acknowledge that a lot of meaningful awareness, documentation, etc. of the Holocaust has been fueled by Jewish people in spite of how society has treated our history and not because of it. Nations have minimized their involvement, history has been avoided, justice has often been denied us. We, like every other marginalized group who’s faced similar atrocities, have had to fight to keep our history alive when oppressive systems have done their best to erase it. To believe otherwise is to minimize the effects of both past and present antisemitism on the treatment of our voices.
I also often see non-Jews say things like “well [x] insensitive thing would never be said/believed if it was about the Holocaust” and every time it’s something I absolutely have heard said/believed about the Holocaust. I have had people defend their nazi soldier grandparents to me, been casually told the Holocaust was for the best, met my fair share of Holocaust deniers. Not to mention the general insensitive misconceptions I regularly hear tossed about.
All this to say that y’all need to stop treating Jewish people like some OppressedLite™️ group. Stop talking about antisemitism in the past tense and talking about our history in a way that erases our continuing struggles to keep it alive. Don’t bring us up as a coddled minority. It’ not only inaccurate but fucking dangerous for us when you completely ignore the oppression we’re still facing.
