Post WWII concern with Human Rights.

There are many reasons why the Holocaust is central to the post World War II concern with human rights. The Holocaust used propaganda to induce systematic mass murdering of millions of human beings. Also because it occurred in a developed country and all throughout Europe and was so “hidden” from the rest of the world. Personally I think that human rights became such a big deal because people needed an excuse to justify not responding to the urgency of the holocaust since there were many countries and world leaders that new about the concentration and extermination camps. After the Holocaust, everyone focused on “never again” and so human rights concerns developed rapidly.

One of the quotes used in the Shoal memorial was "Let us make it our own, live and build upon this crime and despite this crime". Despite the many genocides in the last century, the one that brought human rights to the surface was the World War II Holocaust. This genocide was one of the most systematic ever, and was carried out not only by civilians, but was organized by educated persons that held degree's. Most genocides have a certain amount of propaganda that organize people against a certain group, often using past conflicts to help rationalize it. The holocaust used centuries of anti-Semitism to organize mass murders. In 1943 in Birkenau, it became possible to gas 3,000 people simultaneously and burn nearly 4,800 bodies, all within twenty-four hours.

"They shed their blood for France in 1870 and again in 1841, as faith of their unfailing attachment to this country. Despite the humiliation and constant threats of roundup during World War II, french and immigrant Jews shared an unwavering attachment to France, to the revolution and to human rights."