Holocaust’s historical importance

In a discussion about the education department’s plans to condense the hours school children spend learning about the Holocaust in history classes, I was told by a smart 20-year-old that it was necessary. 

His reasoning was clear; why should all South Africans be learning about something so European? We aren’t living in Europe, we are Africans, and our curriculum should focus on this continent, he said. He believed that while it was necessary for us Jews to learn about it, the Holocaust wasn’t that relevant to South Africa and Africa. 

We should rather be focusing on the Tutsi genocide by Hutus in Rwanda, and, obviously, what happened during apartheid here. He went on to say there are many important historic episodes from all over this continent that are generally ignored, and they would help us understand Africa and its peoples. 

I understand the concept of Africanising the curriculum. Perhaps we do learn too much Shakespeare, and learning about the French Revolution in such depth may not be as relevant to us here on the southern tip of Africa. 

However, the Holocaust happened in our very recent history. Yes, it happened to us, as Jews, and so is particularly significant for us. But it is vital for all the world to learn about it. 

The Holocaust was a deliberate, systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million human beings who happened to be Jewish by the Nazi regime and its allies. It was an evolving process that took place throughout Europe between 1933 and 1945. What happened to Jews then was a genocide, and the origin of this hateful word that is now bandied around by our enemies. It was based simply on the hatred of Jews. 

And this hatred had a slow but insidious growth. It didn’t start out violently. It started out with the constant and intensifying dehumanising of Jewish people. It started with the slow exclusion of Jews and then boycotting of Jewish businesses and public humiliation. It started with targeting and harassing Jewish individuals. We were seen as being “other”. We were to blame for everything bad in the world. We were seen as inferior, vermin even. 

This was not some historic European event, it was the worst atrocity in human history in terms of scale, intent, and method. So, we all need to learn just how bad humanity can get, and the only way to learn what not to do is to know what has been done in our history. 

Generally, people learn from the things they did wrong, not what they did right. We say we learn from our mistakes, only the Holocaust was no mistake. It was a deliberate, strategic extermination of six million of our people. The idea was to rid the world of Jews. And, more than 80 years later, following a slow and steady growth, there are still fewer Jews in the world than there were before the Holocaust. 

The Nazis were not fighting an armed enemy. They were annihilating unarmed civilians, including men, women, and children, just because they were born Jewish or had one Jewish grandparent. 

Today, it is even more important for people to learn about this as we witness a massive rise in antisemitism. I didn’t believe that in my lifetime we would be experiencing what we are in the world today. I assumed the world had learnt from the Holocaust what antisemitism can do and why it is unconscionable. However, antisemitic incidents have surged globally since 7 October in 2023. And last year, in 2025, there was the highest antisemitic fatality rate in more than 30 years. 

The worst attacks happened in Sydney; Washington DC and Boulder, Colorado in the United States; and Manchester in England. The last time we had such deadly attacks was in 1994 with the bombing of the AMIA Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people. 

Now, in the week of Yom HaShoah, when we hear the horrific testimonies of our remaining Holocaust survivors, we must really consider what we – as a world of nations – must do to stop antisemitism in its tracks before it gets worse. 

Consider what led up to the Holocaust. Boycotting of Jewish-owned businesses. We are seeing this right here in South Africa. Philip Krawitz and Cape Union Mart are just the tip of the iceberg and the most prominent case. Many of our haters would love to see all Jewish businesses closed. Stand up for being Jewish too often and see what happens … 

Jewish people should never have to hide their Jewishness, but I know of parents who stop their daughters and sons from wearing their Magen Davids on university campus or when they go out. They are afraid they will be harassed for simply being Jews. Only, today they are likely to be called “Zio-Nazis”, which is simply a cover for antisemitism. 

In the story about the people who stood up to the University of Cape Town (UCT) about conferring an honorary doctorate on Gift of the Givers’ Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, they are being harassed for standing up for Jews. They questioned UCT for recognising a man who has been outrageously antisemitic. For that, they are being lambasted. Can people not see how dangerous this is? 

Calling a veteran opera singer, Aviva Pelham, who is not a political being, an “ugly Jewess” and “a whore”? That is horrific, but too many people in our midst think nothing of this. 

I am horrified by the antisemitism I see on social media. It seems to get worse every day. 

As to whether this will be impacted by how many hours school children study the Holocaust, I don’t know. But I do believe every single person in the world needs to learn about what happened when human beings lost their sense of humanity, and how easily this can happen. 

As we commemorate Yom HaShoah this week, we need to be clear. We said “Never again” after the Holocaust, but then 1 200 people in Israel were brutally murdered and thousands more injured on 7 October. Israel is fighting for its survival, as are we. We must ensure we do not let antisemitism continue unabated. We have to stand up for who we are. 

Shabbat shalom! 

Peta Krost 

Editor