ink on skin for holocaust?

 “A Tatto to Remember”  Upfront Magazine

this article is about the tradition of tattooing an assertor’s concentration camp during the holocaust. This article follows the story of a family through two generations that both have their grandfather’s/ father’s concentration camp tattooed on them. Many people in this generation know nothing about the holocaust. Because the holocaust was such a dark time, Israel as well is trying to figure out how to remember the holocaust. At the end of world war II, the Nazis killed 6million Jews as well as other “unacceptable people”.  Many are trying to put the holocaust behind them as a historical memory rather than a lived memory. Tattooing was a historical event, and all Jews in concentration camps were tattooed by the Nazis. Some people liked having their number because it showed strength, while other despised of them and after the war hid or removed them, but today ot shows care for the tragic historical event. Some people are against tattoos because of the fact that some Jews didn’t even get to live in a camp, but rather were just killed. A person should

I found this article really interesting. Personally, I think no mater the disputes around tattoos a person should have the right of remembering the awful things their family has gone through and be able to show that to the world. I think the holocaust is still a sensitive topic to many because some people are still here who lived it as children. Maybe, it’s because people have mixed feelings about the holocaust  and stuff, but there’s no question that Jews and other people that the Nazis considered “unacceptable people” were put in a very unfair position and that the Nazis were wrong for killing 6 million innocent people because they were Jews.

I also strongly believe in teaching students about the holocaust. I know that this may be a tough topic to teach because of sensitivity, but it is one of the most important events in our world’s history. We always hear as children that judging someone for their race, religion, sexual identity, gender etc, are wrong, but this really shows why. The holocaust represents a time when this world was just pure cruel.  I also think it’s important to learn about it because the world needs to get past the fact that it’s happened. What’s happened has happened and there’s no taking it back, but we can move forward and never forget it.  Some ways to do that is, get a tattoo for example. You show your pride in your family member, but at the same time just to remember the awful event in general.

What really struck me was the dispute between tattoos. It mentioned that tattoos are prohibited in Jewish law, but Jews are connected to the killings of Jews in this way, it sort of contradicts itself.

In conclusion, I think that that today’s generation needs to be taught about the holocaust no mater the sensitivity, and that Jew need to be more lenient on tattoos, many Jews chose to remember their family this way and I think it shouldn’t make them shunned.