Reply to Jewish parents -- how and at what age did your kids learn about the Holocaust?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am not a Jewish parent.  I don’t mean any disrespect but non-Jews also have a difficult time approaching this topic with children. Maybe for different reasons but not really - it’s horrifying on every possible level. No my family was not murdered (that I know of) but every human being was and is impacted by the holocaust. 
My kids began learning about it in school so we went to the museum for the children’s program (David’s house or Daniels house? I don’t remember, it was a long time ago) - I felt like my kids lost their innocence. Please don’t think the Holocaust is not upsetting to non Jewish children. [/quote]

Nobody is saying that. I would hope that the Holocaust is difficult for all people, no matter the religion or ethnicity.

Speaking as a Jew, the fact that we have been persecuted for literally a couple of thousand years, the fact that our families were driven out of their countries of birth due to pogroms or were murdered in the Holocaust is a massive burden. Being Jewish is our lineage, our collective history. To learn that we, as a nation of people, have been persecuted for so long makes it very difficult for many Jews to feel proud and safe in our own heritage. The question “why the hell are we so despised” is always present. I have only come to feel more comfortable and more vocal about being Jewish in my 40s.

I won’t pretend to know how it feels to be a non Jew learning about the Holocaust, because I have zero clue. But I do know how it feels to know that my relatives died in Auschwitz, just by virtue of being Jewish.

I hope you take this as it is offered - a good faith attempt at explaining why this is such a complex issue for Jewish parents.  But please know that this is not a zero sum game...just because it is difficult for Jews does not mean that it isn’t difficult for others. It is just...different.[/quote]

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