The Holocaust Dystopia

           

I recently started a TV series called “The Man on The High Castle.” In the first season, it introduces an alternative world set in 1962 in which the axis powers won WW2. This series takes a huge bit of fictional liberty but the effort they put into this alternate timeline is fascinating. I expected the show to follow a prototypical arc of a rebel against the oppressive regime, like Star Wars, but the show has been more nuanced. In addition to resistance members, the main characters include an American SS official, and Japanese inspector. Some characters could be written as evil but are truly human. Similarly, the “heroes” of the story are neither perfect nor certain in their resistance. A viewer’s reaction might be “How could you live in this dystopia without rebelling” but we must remember that people did live under Nazi rule without resistance.  Nazism is perhaps the most cited historical dystopia¹, and I’d like to address a common question. Why wasn’t there more resistance to the Holocaust?

            In “The Man on The High Castle” very few people are happy with the status quo. A main character’s family is executed, a Nazi official’s family is threatened, and a Japanese trade minister fears war. These characters must grapple with what action is justified.  One character sees any protest, fighting, or helping others to likely kill his family. This is directly applicable to the holocaust. What is a moral goal for an oppressed group during the holocaust? If you were an individual living in the holocaust and an action could cost your family’s life, is it just? Could the goal merely be to survive? I say merely, but surviving was no mere feat. I am not advocating against action, only that any form of resistance is a personal judgment with consequences we may not understand. As an example, imagine you are a Jew in April of 1945, one of the most dangerous times during the holocaust, yet you can tell the Nazi Reich is crumbling. Perhaps any fighting, or protest you do would not alter the course of oppression against Jews. In this vein, I’d like to suggest that surviving is itself resistance. In that way millions of living Jews today did resist!

            Next, people often overestimate themselves when discussing the holocaust or other dystopian events. We are looking at the holocaust from a safe distance. We judge people’s actions from a place of privilege knowing we can voice our opinions in safety. Many people did turn a blind eye to persecution, or do “unjust” things but in their shoes, I’m guessing we would have too. When talking about historical dystopias we must remember that people are not perfect and attempt to sympathize to a different situation than our own.

            Lastly, we might just be teaching the holocaust wrong! Riots, protest, and resistance groups did happen. With Mr. Leff we sometimes discuss the historiography of different events, like Native American-European relations or the Civil War. The holocaust is an example of history very difficult to teach. On one hand, there were groups of people who were statistically victims of terrible persecution and death, making it vital to sympathize and understand the odds put against them. On the other hand, we run the risk of viewing people solely as victims and not as mobile humans². If the holocaust is so hard to talk about why do we bother? Surely it’s not fun to teach middle schoolers about the holocaust. The common justification is “never again”. If our goal is “never again” then it’s vital to teach what should have happened! The holocaust was undoubtedly not a success, yet there are stories of kindness or resistance which need to be told. Some examples of documented resistance that come to mind are the Warsaw Ghetto uprisings, underground resistance groups such as the Czech assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, or stories of smuggling Jews to safety. Tis history of protest, violence, and kindness prompts worthwhile leaning or debate. A wonderful example is the story of Jews in Albania during World War 2. Long story short Albania was occupied by Italy and Germany yet some estimate no Jews died. This is attributed to an Albanian concept of “besa” encouraging hospitality and kindness. While the story of Albania is more nuanced than two sentences³ it represents something we should learn from. Holocaust education exemplifies the value in considering how to address dystopias in a moral way. Perhaps the story of Albania represents a utopian way to address a dystopia.

Footnotes:

1.     It’s also important to consider other historical dystopias and current injustices besides the holocaust.

2.     I think this problem of victimizing is related to Eve Ewing’s discussion of desire based thinking vs fear based to appreciate and help different groups of people.

3.     There are many other factors such as the Nazi officials in Albania, or the very small number of jews. But none of these diminish the kindness!

-Ethan M!