Running head: HOLOCAUST AWARENESS IN AMERICA

Holocaust Awareness in American Education Systems

Nereiah, Leeann Herrera
University of Texas at El Paso
Professor Cruz
RWS 1302

HOLOCAUST AWARENESS IN AMERICA

Holocaust Awareness in American Education Systems

In 1933-1945 (WWII), the Holocaust also known as the Shoah hit, an era of gruesome
events that lead to corruption, suffrage, demise, and much more. Mass murder under the German
Nazi Regime and pernicious leader, Adolf Hitler. The Nazis believed that the perfect German
was considered Aryan, which was racially superior according to them. Consequently, Jews and
other victims such as homosexuals, Gypsies, Christians, Jehovahs Witnesses, outspoken
resistors and political dissidents, the handicapped, Poles, and Soviet prisoners of war were
targeted victims due to their racial inferiority. The Nazis took their rights, property, freedom, and
left them with nothing to live for. When the war was over and some victims were liberated by
allies (U.S, British, and the Soviets); few German-Nazis were punished for their evil acts, but
some successfully escaped or committed suicide due to the guilt they took in. An event in history
being forgotten by the newest of years allowing similar to happen. An issue advocated through
two genres that support the efforts to educate the Holocaust to new generations in our society.
Paul Lyons, Historically Speaking journal, Teaching the Holocaust in America, elucidates the
behaviors of humanity leading to historical reconstruction (Lyons, 2001) through the
understanding of the Shoah and other moments of human criminality (Lyons, 2001), and The
United States Holocaust Museum YouTube video, Why We Remember the Holocaust, delineates
the horrors of the Shoah to ensure its audience remember[s] the humanity that is in all of us to
lead the world better for [future generations] (USHMM, 2010). Genres which will be discussed
through the remainder of this analysis.

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Audience and Purpose

In Why We Remember the Holocaust the intended audience is the youthful generation to
commemorate a solecism done in the past and circumvent it for the future. Therefore, a discourse
community of humanity. While, Teaching the Holocaust in America has an intended audience
of school districts, professors, students, and educators with a discourse community of history
professionals for a variety of occasions similar to the Holocaust. Most readers in both Why We
Remember the Holocaust and Teaching the Holocaust in America already know little about the
Shoah such as the existence, the leader behind it, and the loss of many lives. Similar events that
are discussed to explain why teaching them is essential to our new generations. Readers want to
know why we should be remembering such a gruesome event in humanity and why it is so
essential to do so.
Language used in Why We Remember the Holocaust is formal and serious with an
emotional voice in all its speakers which is a reputable connection to the writers purpose due to
the sensitive topic being discuss with usage of words like Aryan, annihilate, redemption,
systematic, genocide, and insensitive. On the other hand, Teaching the Holocaust in America is
formal yet demanding towards educators or other intended audience with vocabulary such as
hierarchy, axiom, ethnocentrism, bigotry, anti-Semitism, genocide, and oppressed to describe the
criminality allowed by humanity.
Time spent in visual document, Why We Remember the Holocaust, acquires eight
minutes and fifty five seconds from the reader time seeing as thats the length of the YouTube
video. Teaching the Holocaust in America takes more of the readers time because it would be
beneficial to research other events mentioned to give a better understanding of the course the

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author teaches, The Holocaust and the American Experience(Lyons, 2001). Then again, when
analyzing time is limitless for these genres.
The purpose for the visual Why We Remember the Holocaust is to advocate why
remembering can save humanity because eras like the Holocaust are still happening, but can still
be prevented with the help of remembering our past mistakes. The authors purpose in Teaching
the Holocaust in America is to advocate educators to tech students or in better words the new
generation to have good moral values, to know when something bad is happening, and to know
when not to be silent because without these things acts of horror will continue to happen. While,
both genres use text to explain the Shoah, Why We Remember the Holocaust also contains visuals
of places, suffrage, propaganda, dictatorship, and demise, and sound to explain the sad events in
the visuals to convey its message to its audience (humanity).
Rhetorical Issues
Both genres show a resemblance in rhetorical appeals which go about the same road of getting
the readers attention and giving a better understanding of what their purpose is through the
usage of logos, ethos, and pathos.
Logos. In Why We Remember the Holocaust logos is used through inductive reasoning
with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as their reliable and powerful evidence
when presenting to the audience with speakers who are professionals in the studies of the
Holocaust, survivors of the Holocaust, military personal who speak of representative facts of the
Shoah drawn towards their purpose to persuade the remembrance of the event. There is also
Day of Remembrance (USHMM, 2010) where we remember the many we lost, the ones who
saved, and the ones who survived. A day which humanity can commemorate the Holocaust for its
scaring memories. Moreover, in Teaching the Holocaust in America the author uses deductive

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reasoning where he begins with discussing the events similar to the Holocaust like American
aggressions against Native American Indians .African American slavery and racism,
considerations of anti-immigrant nativism, the Klan of the 1920s, McCarthy era, internment of
Japanese Americans during WWII, My Lai Massacre (Lyons, 2001) and more which involve the
dilemma of culture and ethnicity. The author then continues towards his purpose to educate
moral values seeing as the lack of it is what caused most of these petrifying events.
Ethos. The author in Teaching the Holocaust in America uses ethos when he mentions
his experience in teaching about discrimination, genocide, anti-Semitism, etc. in his course The
Holocaust and the American Experience(Lyons, 2001) while basing it to many times humanitys
mistakes caused the worst events. He compares the people in similar events to students today for
example when entering a club or class which covers specifics such as Jewish studies, AfricanAmerican studies, womans studies, gay and lesbian studies, etc.(Lyons, 2001) where many
bystanders followed the same road of sticking to their specific groups and doing only what that
group thinks is right. Forgetting that the so called enemy is also human showing that
sometimes a certain leader of that certain group can lead decent human beings to slide down a
slippery slope of committing evil acts of genocide (Lyons, 2001). While watching Why We
Remember the Holocaust the audience can be persuaded faster with the credibility in the visual
being the speakers who are Holocaust survivors who not only know about the Holocaust but they
experienced and survived it and the fact that they can tell their story is a reason to listen to the
speaker when they expect an event to occur again just like before with the Holocaust, and the
ways to avoid it.
Pathos. Paul Lyons uses emotion towards the reader when comparing possible things
such as groups we follow just like those who followed the wrong person and did nothing in the

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time of mercy for others. He speaks to teach the younger generations because that is the stage
where humanity chooses its path and its leader to follow do they go along with peers, or do they
join or confront the bullies of the world? (Lyons, 2001). In the video Why We Remember the
Holocaust emotion is used in the visuals while focusing the reader in facts like names, dates, and
places the author uses images to show what the Shoah caused people in times of suffrage with
their tattooed numbers, faces behind fences, thin boned, and the grateful feeling while being
liberated, which gives the viewer a feeling of sadness when being exposed to the Holocaust, and
remembering what it did.
Structure and Delivery
The structure in both genres serves the writers purpose with the usage of logos,
ethos, and pathos seeing as the reader is influenced to remember the Shoah and to avoid being
the silent bystander. Events mentioned support the genres of teaching history and moral values to
the new generations. The genres follow a constant timeline of when the Shoah happened
continuing with similar events that have recently happened. The typical sequence for information
in Teaching the Holocaust in America follows a pattern of the writers personal experience of
teaching a course involving those events. Therefore, both genres deliver a clear message to its
audience.
Conclusion
The Shoah, an absolutly petrifying event that affected numerous lifes in history.
However, history tends to repeat itself especially if not acknowledged. For instance, various
generations are growing up unaware of the importance of educationg ones self on past events.
Germanys story needs to remain away from the dark.

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References
Bloomfield, S. (April, 2010). Why We Remember the Holocaust [YouTube video]. United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FbxnWrBaDw
Lyons, Paul (November, 2001). Teaching the Holocaust in America. Historically Speaking,
Volume 3. pp. 19-21. Retrieved from
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/hsp/summary/v003/3.2.lyons.html