The Wall_Spring 2023_Issue 9

Isabel Kane , (she/her), S11, debates the exploitation and

upon ourselves to educate the future generations, because if we fail to do so, we will suffer the consequences of our collective complicity.Anne never would have wanted to be used to provide the comfort of people that never would have tried to help her – had they had the chance.Anne would not have wanted schoolchildren to have to deal with the same ideologies that led to her death. Anne would not have wanted children to be ignored and bullied into conforming, just as she was forced to do.Anne most certainly would not have wanted to be exploited for the sake of so called ‘education.’

It is no secret the quality and quantity of Holocaust education in society is floundering. Schools and institutions often rely on inaccurate movies and the exploitation of well-known individuals to ‘educate’ their pupils, effectively leaving out the horror and reality of the Holocaust. Many seem to be under the impression that young people will take it upon themselves to learn, but that is unfortunately not the case. Neo-Nazi terrorism, ideology and rallies are all on the rise – a disturbing fact that most in society are not impacted by and therefore, do not care about. It should not be rare to recognise that antisemitism is built into society’s foundation, due to its ancient origins. It is shocking how the world dismisses this and permits people with more followers than there are Jews in the world, to spew their disgusting ideology with little to no repercussions.Today I will be discussing the exploitation of Anne Frank – and the Nazi sympathising movie The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. There is no denying that Anne Frank is a household name. Her diary is advertised by millions of people as the best resource to understand life for Jews under Nazi occupation. However, very few people know more about her than her diary – which she never gave us permission to read – and therefore I see it purely as a tool.The contents of her di ary are of course tragic, but they do not address what happened to Anne once she arrived at Bergen-Belsen.The world is shielded from the horror she had to endure, and many sit in relative comfort, believing that in reading her misinformation present in Holocaust education, and what more must be done to ensure the world is educated on the issue. diary, they have completed their education.The truth is, what Anne witnessed at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen is incomparable in the modern world, and the further away we get from the Holocaust, the less people will feel obliged to care. It is of the upmost importance that we take it

Artwork: Holly Taskis, S9

Many who watch this movie will report that the scene that saddened them the most was when the Nazis lost their son who managed to find his way into the camp. Given that this sound went viral on TikTok, people felt more for the Nazi than they did for the actual victims. It is absolutely revolting that movies such as this one make the normalisation of sympathy for Nazis acceptable, and encouraged. It must stop. And it is we who must stop it. Anne Frank and the victims of the Holocaust, as well as the other 14 million innocent civilians killed by the Nazis, deserve more respect than they are currently given. If you are one who claims to ‘Never forget’ on Holocaust Memorial Day, educate yourself. If you are not, educate yourself. Stand up for what you believe in, even if you are standing alone. Never again is now.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is an immensely popular movie – so much so that they are filming a sequel. However, in the Jewish community it is widely recognised to be a problematic, inaccurate depiction of Jewish trauma, and a perfect example of Holocaust distortion.According to the Holocaust Remembrance Alliance,“distortion of the Holocaust is rhetoric, written work, or other media that is used to excuse, minimize, or misrepresent the known minimize the Holocaust or its elements”. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas clearly implies that Jews went like lambs to the slaughter (a popular antisemitic belief) through its undermining of camp inmates. For example, when the Nazi boy climbed through the barbed wire into the camp, it wrongly teaches children that the victims were too stupid to try and escape when realistically, thousands of people died trying.There is a reason it took months to devise escape plans – because escape was near impossible, and attempts were punishable by unimageable and sadistic torture. historical record”.This includes, “Intentional efforts to excuse or

Artwork Jesse Rivero, LVI

Interested in finding out more? Read the editors supplementa ry content by scanning the QR code!

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