Why I choose to do holocaust studies

 
There is no question as to why the subject of how my nation was once chosen to be annihilated is of such great interest to me. I was born and raised in one of the most Jewish cities in the former Soviet Union – Odesa, Ukraine. As a child, I recall my mother telling us stories about her three siblings who were killed in the Holocaust. I remember my grandmother’s horrifying stories of things that were done to her and her family. They always taught me that we must never forget and continue to retell these stories so that these actions – behaviors – do not return.
 
   Most people believe that the Holocaust is the only extermination of European Jews by Nazi Germany in the period of 1940-1945 when about 6 million Jews were brutally deprived of their lives. But were the Nazis the only ones who carried out the Holocaust? No, not only them. Stalin also tried to organize a similar form of genocide, but fortunately did not live to see the implementation of his vile plan. Nonetheless, he left a great stamp on his people and country, which led to constant antisemitism, which many believed could easily have led to another holocaust if given another leader, such as Stalin or Hitler.
 
To no surprise, Jews living in the former USSR lived in constant fear. During the period of outbreaks of anti-Semitism, Jews left my hometown Odessa for a while, dispersing to nearby villages to wait out troubled times. I am a witness to all these events. I have never hidden my nationality, and because of this, I have constantly experienced antisemitic remarks addressed to me.  Based on my life experience, I realized that revealing the tragedy of the Holocaust could and should be the goal of my future life.
One of the most remarkable things that I have experienced in relevance to the Holocaust and its impact on the world was when my brother met with Nobel Peace Prize winner, Elie Wiesel. He told my brother that “to be a Jew is not only to have a Jewish mother, but it is also to be completely immersed in the culture, history, and traditions of your people and in their tragic fate." Being a grandson of the Holocaust survivors and openly Jewish, my brother’s conversation with Elie Wiesel was an incredible inspiration for him, and for me, as well.
 
What have I done to date toward my goal? While in college I took a course in Hebrew literature, in English translation. Being interested in the history of the Jewish nation, I wrote and published two novels describing the fate of the Jews in America. In addition, my ability to speak Russian and Ukrainian fluently allowed me to study materials about the Holocaust in the original language, both in archives and in open sources.
After recently studying the science of behavior analysis, I learned to identify the things that trigger or cause the onset of specific behaviors – antecedents - and the things that occur directly after a behavior – consequences - that maintain a specific behavior. Learning this form of analysis made me think that perhaps like any unwanted or socially inappropriate behavior, antisemitism may have its antecedents and consequences that trigger and maintain this atrocious and completely unacceptable behavior. Even behavior that has been fully decreased and is no longer under specific intervention, should be consistently maintained for the behavior to not recur. It is my belief that it is no different from the antisemitism that once led to the Holocaust. Although there is no official formation of concentration camps or gas chambers at this very moment, the behavior can and will occur if we do not maintain the “intervention” of remembering who we are. By consistently reminding the world that we are strong, and proud and will never allow this to happen to us again, we ensure that this behavior toward our nation will not occur. Nevertheless, as in any science, the only way to properly maintain is to know all the details of what has occurred as well as what is occurring. We must make sure our children continue to learn about the Holocaust, to learn what triggered and maintained this behavior, and to ensure that their generation and the generations to follow never forget this as well.
 
       In the book of the Belgian writer Charles de Coster  “The Legend of Thyl Ulenspiegel and Lamme Goedzak”,  the protagonist says the words: "on my chest throb the ashes of Klaas." In my paraphrase, his words sound as follows, “ the ashes of the victims of the Holocaust throb in my heart.” Some might say that my drive to learn and analyze the things that occurred to my people is on a level higher than that of academic interest, but more genetic. Being immersed in the Jewish religion, history, and culture, knowing about anti-Semitism firsthand, and having already two Master’s Degrees encouraged me to continue studying for the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Ph. D program.