Bob Salmond (Letters, February 2) misses the point about the Holocaust Museum. The Holocaust was unique in many ways, notwithstanding other horrific acts of genocide and mass murder through history.
The Holocaust was carried out by the democratically elected government of a Western nation. It was preceded by the formulation of a detailed ideology of hatred, and a long campaign of demonisation and dehumanisation of part of its own population.
The killing itself was industrialised and meticulously planned and organised. It was so central to the Nazi regime that important resources that could have been used to defend Germany against the Allied invasion were instead expended on killing Jews.
There are, therefore, very important lessons for us to learn from it.
Salmond claims that to build the museum is racist. Germany certainly wouldn’t agree – there is a similar centre, with a memorial, in Berlin. And Jews are still, sadly, vastly over-represented compared to their populations in statistics of racist incidents in many Western countries, including ours.
Salmond may think he made the case against the Holocaust Museum, but his letter actually helps demonstrate why one is needed.
Jamie Hyams, AIJAC Senior Policy Analyst
Read the letter in The Canberra Times.