Not All Losses Are Morally Equivalent:A Response To Dr. Levitt

How does one persons' loss,whatever it may be, enable him/her to understand the mass losses of the Holocaust when not all losses are the same? And if all losses are not the same,how can one persons' loss possibly be compared to that of someone who experienced loss from the Holocaust?These were some of the questions floating in my head after hearing Dr. Laura Levitt's lecture.

Overall, she spoke beautifully of the significance of telling stories about ordinary people.All the while she spoke, I found myself wondering about my own family's background and how little I really know.This is precisely what she wanted to ignite in us.For her, the way to "never forget" is to delve into our own losses,feel their pain,then link the events back to the Holocaust to understand .Quite far-fetched I'll say! Also,she didn't share much about her own personal familial losses-I would have like to hear the circumstances surrounding the death of her paternal grandmother. Still, she had some good insights.For example, I liked what she said about each person having their own, particular emotional response to the Holocaust.While reverence and respect are customarily the feelings attached to the Holocaust,she spoke about engaging the feelings of inner city kids who had seen Schnidler's List.

Finally,I do not believe all losses are or should be placed on the same level.I think a measure of morality needs to be incorporated into any loss.For example,the loss of life in a concentration camp is not morally equivalent to to the loss of life by natural cause.Yet,Dr.Levitt did not attach any moral repercussions to the losses of the "ordinary people" she spoke about.Instead, she said all losses touch at the core.Indeed Holocaust discourse is emotional,but what we must "never forget" are the senseless acts of immorality perpetrated against the Jews.Anyway,I think as the generation of the Holocaust passes away,we are less likely to remember these individual stories because as Director of the American Committee,Steve Bayme writes,"the Holocaust is no longer central to identifying as a Jew.The Holocaust occupies a rightful place as a dominant event of our time,[however]constructing a Jewish identity upon a narrative of Jewish destruction [is not]who and what the Jews are."