6 Million- Or Not. What's The Difference?

thanks to melly mel gibson, we are once again revisiting the idea of holocaust deniers. whatever anti-semitic remarks he made (i still haven't heard exactly what he supposedly said, but that doesn't even matter), he has once again caused people to revisit his father's holocaust denials.

it seems that, of the golden holy issues which nobody can ever speak of, the primacy of having 6 million jews killed in the holocaust is the jewish untouchable issue. not that there is any serious scholarship to speak of concluding that the holocaust didn't happen at all. like 9/11, there are simply too many witnesses of too many events from disparate times, locations, backgrounds, and agendas to have totally made it up. that many random people just would not be complicit in such widescale fraud. that said, who cares if there were 6 million jews killed or 6,000 or even 6? it may lessen the impact on the jewish nation, but does it really lessen the horror or the implications for now?

yes, a man who can exterminate 6 million people has "accomplished" more than one who has killed a mere 6. but the implications for society are the same. a very compelling and persuasive man, who has a clearly laid out agenda for widescale murder and anihilation, was able to convince lots and lots of people that he had the right idea. that is scary any way you look at it.

usually, genocide is the result of some sort of vendetta. in africa, for example,the genocide of one tribe against another is the result of a loooooooooooooooong history of tit-for-tat and somewhat earned hatred. while no (or few?) rational people would support genocide as a means to end internecine conflict, it is at least somewhat understandable that the 'thorn in your side' would inspire you to want to get rid of it, once and for all.

but hitler's hatred of the jews wasn't like that. for all of the anti-semitism that has grown since hitler, and all of the anti-semitism that was around before him, nobody was actually personally affronted by the jews. some people justify their anti-jewish stance based on 'jewish control' of stuff. to me, that's kind of a chicken and egg argument- which came first, we'll never really know, so it's hard to sort out cause and effect. did people hate the jews because they imagined them in control of _________________________ (fill in the blank) or did people hate the jews and they needed a reason to hang it on other than, 'they just rub me the wrong way'? but hitler really made no such pretense. not with the jews, not with the gypsys, not with the homosexuals or catholics. hitler just spoke very persuasively about the inherent flaws of these people and persuaded hundreds of thousands of people that the world would be better off without them. and that is what is important.

what people need to focus on is the idea behind extermination of people. really at the end of the day, it doesn't make a bit of difference if hitler killed 6 million people or not. there is nothing holy about that number. to make that number somehow unassailable misses the whole point of what needs to be fought for. whether 6 million people were murdered or 3 million or 600, the point is that he had the will, the way, and the popular support. the point is that people need to quit apologizing for and softening and excusing the stance of manics like the guy in iran, or the leaders of hamas or hezbollah or al quaeda and wake up before it is too late. if we can't wrap our minds around the fact that some people have a completely different paradigm for viewing the world, it will be to our detriment. if we assume everyone to be 'good at heart' and simply misguided, we have sorley underestimated the potential for true evil in our midst. if we get so caught up in fighting for numbers and excuses that we forget to fight for principles and right, then we may as well start carving the headstones for the next 6 million.

just remember, next time it may not be the jews.