Interview on Holocaust - Assignment Example

Your Full Your 25 February Reaction Paper David Cole’s interview with the Director of the Auschwitz State Museum, German, was conducted to obtain facts about the Holocaust. Conducted by the Nazi Germans during the Second World War, the Holocaust is the term given to the mass murder of about 11 million people, half of whom were Jews (although as the movie also points out, this term has been adopted exclusively by the Jewish). The film attempts to ask questions about the evidence presented by the Allied Forces in favor of their thesis regarding the Holocaust.

What struck me the most about this movie was that it exposed the double standards of our society. It is considered taboo to question the Holocaust, or the evidence presented in favor thereof even in societies where free speech is said to be a corner stone of everyday life. You can make light of anyone’s faith and belief, including Judaism, and yet you will not be called to task. Ask anyone critical questions about the Holocaust, however, and you are automatically perceived to be an anti-Semitic, right down to even if you question the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust.

In a society that prides itself on freedom of speech and freedom of belief, it is very ironic that there are certain topics that are outside the purview of this guarantee, if not in writing, then at least in practice. If we are to consider our society one which fosters freedom of speech and expression, then we have to truly put those ideals in practice – no matter what the subject, it should be open to discussion and critical thinking. Works Cited David Cole Interviews Dr. Franciszek Piper, Director Auschwitz State Museum.

David Cole. 1992. Web. 25 Feb. 2011.