Discrimination and Fascination

Within the past few years, I have had the opportunity to study those issues and topics which I actually find interesting. Strangely enough, I have gravitated towards books, columns and essays on World War II and the Holocaust. Though this may seem like a simple enough topic and once which would catch the attention of someone who also studies torture methods, it disturbed me as a Jew. Similarly, a good friend recently disclosed to me that the only time in history that fascinated him was the Irish Immigration and the subsequent discrimination they faced. This is a very Irish person. A friend of mine who is a Wiccan told me that within the few years that he has studied the Craft, he has also studied the persecution of witches through the ages. All this made me begin to come up with theories on why people tend to study hatred against people such as themselves.
Due to my experiences within the Jewish faith, I am inclined to say that Jews tend to study the Holocaust because we must prevent it from happening again. This can only be accomplished if we know what occurred and vehemently oppose it. Part of this knowledge must be acquired outside of the traditional classroom as it is too controversial or even personal to be taught in a public school. Such things might include accounts of the torture inflicted on victims or the parties which remained after the liberation who still wanted to establish the Nazi regime all over the world. Even if teachers could breach these subjects, many would find themselves in an awkward position trying to teach them. Though most teachers I've encountered do not believe in the principles of the Nazis it has become essential to teach both sides of conflicts. This leads to yet another reason why people study those who hate them, so that they may say that they do not fit the stereotypes that their oppressors disliked about them.
Whether discussing the Irish in America in the 19th century, the Holocaust, the Albanian-Serbian conflict or even the chronic Christian-Islamic problems, you must examine the stereotypes which each group develops about their enemies.
The majority of the American people viewed the Irish simply as drunken Catholics. It did not matter that they were a hard-working and forcibly impoverished people. The same image with which the British viewed them was carried to the New World with the first Protestants who came over. Based on these assumptions regarding the Irish it is no wonder that signs saying things like, "No Irish or Dogs Allowed" or "No Irish Need Apply" appeared in store windows. Those Irishmen who know of this part of their history make a conscious decision to not fit the mold with which they had previously been presented.
If properly informed, oppressed people may be able to prove to those believing propagandized stereotypes that their beliefs do not fit reality. The information they need is not to be found in the textbooks which are used in schools today though, it must be taught by people of their own culture and researched by those oppressed persons wishing to effect change. Along with a will to change conditions, these "revolutionary thinkers" must insist upon the education of all persons on the horrors of oppression. This not only prevents the events from happening again but also turns people against those who would have it happen again. By the same token, we must be careful not to create hatred of groups of people solely for the purpose of having someone to hate.
The more I read about the Nazi Party and Hitler's ideas the more rage I build against what they did. Though I can look at all the knowledge I've collected about the ways in which they treated my people for justification, I fear that I may be forcing myself to hate them. This inevitably occurs to some degree when you study those who have oppressed you. When you know that you do not fit the stereotypes that they have created and that there is no way in which you can change their view or make them see the truth, you develop a frustration and rage unparalleled. Add to this the need to have an enemy, a Grendel, if you will, and you have a powerfully destructive combination.You become no better than them. In order to truly know the horrors of genocide and/or oppression, you must be able to sympathize with the victim, not the perpetrator. It is much easier to sympathize with the victim when you are, in some way, like the victim.
This is the core of why I believe that people become fascinated by the oppression of people like themselves. In the Jewish religion there is a holiday called Pesach (Passover). During the traditional meal at Pesach, the seder, we read about the story of the release of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. Part of the service, because this is a religious service, includes a son asking his father questions and his father responding to them.

On all other nights we may eat leavened or unleavened bread. Why, on this night, must we eat only unleavened bread?
We eat unleavened bread because when our forefathers came forth from the land of Egypt they had no time to bake the bread. I remember the hardship that my father faced when he left.
On all other nights we eat sitting up. Why, on this night, do we recline?
We are not in Egypt and we do not have to sit up. This freedom, won by my father for me, allows us to recline and be comfortable.
On all other nights we dip our herbs only once. Why, on this night, do we dip them twice?
The salt water represents the tears that our forefathers shed while they were in bondage. My father cried tears of pain in bondage and tears of joy when he left Egypt so we dip twice.
On all other nights we eat any vegetable we choose. Why, on this night, do we eat only bitter herbs?
This bitter herb represents the bitterness of bondage. I eat this herb for what my father did for me.