Today I will be talking about the Holocaust and The Stolen Generation and how the loss of one group is a loss to all. The Holocaust and the Stolen Generation are totally diverse historical events but have a very similar intent. They took place in different countries with totally different races but they are both classified as genocides. Genocide is the mass extermination or displacement of a whole group of people in an attempt to wipe them out of extinction.
The Stolen Generation started from the early days of British colonization in Australia. The Australian government and church organizations were taking Indigenous children from their families to bring them up in institutions. Most were fostered or adopted by white families. The intent was to thin out Aboriginal blood as the government thought they would be better off being brought up in white society. This broke important cultural and spiritual values as well as totally destroyed their family ancestry. This still has a lasting impact on Aboriginal people's lives today. Not only did this damage the race itself but it is also a loss to all. Aboriginal ancestors were very knowledgeable and as they didn’t have their children to share this information with, we lost this material during The Stolen Generation.
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The Holocaust began in Germany in the early 1930s. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled Germany which they transformed into a dictatorship. Hitler and the Nazi’s aim at first was to isolate and drive Jews out of the country. Millions of German citizens purchased Hitler’s book Mein Kempf, which called for the removal of the Jews. Through this Hitler managed to manipulate and influence people to believe the Jews were responsible for the Great Depression. This led to them slowly taking over and controlling the German public. Jews were sent to concentration camps where they forcibly participated in extreme labor. As many as 6 million Jews were murdered between 1941 and 1945. This has had an extensive impact on the Jewish race as they could not practice their faith and many of their family and friends were killed. There was a major loss of information, records, culture, religion, diversity, and civilization. This created fear among society as everyone had to be cautious, which is a loss for all.
Throughout The Stolen Generation, many of the children who were forcibly removed were physiologically, physically, and sexually abused while living with their white adoptive parents. This has led to lifelong trauma for many Indigenous people. When the children were forcibly removed, they were demanded to reject their culture and discontinue using their native language. This created a sense of shame and an immense disconnection from their culture. Countless children never knew who their biological families were. The children also received a very low level of education as they were expected to be domestic servants and laborers instead of going to school. This has created many problems for Indigenous people today as some struggle to find employment or keep a stable job.
This is Barbara Kickett shared her story online after being taken in 1950 at the age of 9 to Roelands Mission in Western Australia. This is her testimony “ Nine years of age and I was in primary school along with my other brothers and sisters and we had a headmaster come in and call us out of the classroom. When I went outside all 6 brothers and sisters were out there. And there was this van and then I looked and I saw welfare people and police. They came to escort us out of the school. We had to get in the van and we were taken to Roelands Mission. We never heard from our parents again and we were told they were abusive”. Barbara and her siblings along with thousands of other Indigenous children were displaced and unrooted. This has had devastating effects on their lives.
As seen in these primary sources, the Jews were crammed into railroad cars, with no water or food, traveling for days to concentration camps where there was very low hygiene and extremely unhealthy living conditions. Starvation was a persistent threat and claimed the lives of many inmates. All experienced extreme hunger. The Nazis punished inmates by depriving them of food altogether, this lead to the average life expectancy of a few weeks to months at concentration camps.
When the British colonized Australia they would have benefited a lot from the Indigenous people as they were knowledgeable about their land, seas, flora, and fauna. The Aboriginal people knew very valuable information. They knew how to live off the land which is something that most of us could not do. We had so much to learn from them but instead, we killed 90% of the Indigenous community and stole the remaining Aboriginies children. This totally transformed and destroyed their heritage. The forced removal of Aboriginal children also affects researchers today. Birthplaces, family history, and family trees are all crucial in finding the connection between people and bringing them back together. There was a huge loss of records and information when families were scattered all over Australia which makes it almost impossible to reconnect people and bring them back. This is an immense loss to researchers.
Before the holocaust, the Jewish people were highly successful financially and contributed greatly to the economy. Many believe this is what drove Hitler to murder this wealthy race. The Jewish produced, distributed, and traded many services and goods in Germany. This meant when the Jews were sent to concentration camps that there was a huge recession and that the economy was not growing nor thriving. This was a huge loss to Germany as a whole and many other countries involved in international trading.
The Jews and Aboriginies create diversity and variety among the public. Germany was multiracial until Hitler wiped out people who didn’t fit the ideal criteria. Both genocides destroyed uniqueness and any variation. The loss of the Jews and Aboriginals was a loss to all.
As the British stole the Indigenous people's chance of getting a good education, we may never know the contributions they could have made to society. We would benefit greatly from more doctors and scientists in Australia. We should have encouraged the Indigenous children to get a higher level of education instead we stole 100,000 children and took this opportunity away from them. One of these people may have even been able to find the cure for cancer. This has created a chain effect today as many of their children now feel discouraged to get a higher level of education. This is a major loss to our society and a disadvantage to our community as a whole.
Throughout Germany and Australia, there would have been a growing fear in society as people were being so easily manipulated and influenced by the higher power. Most of the population was abiding by all rules set in order to keep themselves safe. This became a rising concern among communities in Germany and Australia as people were worried about which race could be wiped out next. This is an example of blind obedience to authority. Where we do not question the motives of a government and remain silent to keep ourselves safe. This made communities frightened and cautious making it a loss for all.
Daisy Kadibill was an Aboriginal Australian child who was a member of the Stolen Generation. Daisy was 8 years old when she was forcibly removed from her home in the Jigalong community. She was sent to the Moore River Native Settlement by the Australian government. After spending only one night in the settlement, Daisy and her two half-sisters escaped and walked 1,600km back home to their family. Which is roughly the same as you walk from here to Melbourne. They followed a rabbit-proof fence and only traveled at night to avoid being seen. This trip took the girls almost 9 weeks, in which they had to survive on their own, sleeping in bushes and in rabbit burrows. The three girls were all under the age of 14. In 1996 a book was published about their experience. Later on, in 2002, this book was made into a film. This is a story of determination, strength, and knowledge. Daisy and her sisters are significant individuals in the Stolen Generation. These girls proved the Australian government at the time wrong. The movie “The Rabbit-Proof Fence” was made for educational purposes and has been viewed by thousands of people worldwide to make sure this tragic event is recognized in Australia’s history.
Oskar Schindler was a German catholic who owned a machinery factory during the war. Schindler sheltered and saved more than 1,000 Polish Jews from being sent to concentration camps. His attitude changed from being a pro-Nazi and spying for the German military to wanting to save his Jewish employees and doing everything he could to keep from being murdered. Whenever any of his workers were threatened with deportation to a concentration camp or execution, Schindler managed to provide a bribe to the Nazis to save their lives. His Jewish employees got to spend the remaining wartime safe at the factory in the hands of Schindler. Oskar was a significant individual in the Holocaust as he saved many Jewish people's lives and gave them job opportunities. Not only did Schindler save lives, but he also made defective and faulty products for the German war in his factory as he didn’t want to contribute to the war effort as he disliked the Nazi Party strongly. His contributions have also been recognized today in many movies and books today.
As history now tells us, the Jewish Holocaust and The Stolen Generation did not work. Both of these groups of people remain with us today and we benefit greatly from this. Can we imagine a society where Jewish people and Aboriginal people did not walk amongst us? If these races were wiped out we would not be able to watch some of our favorite athletes, actors, and influencers. Diversity makes our country a more interesting place to live in. As people from diverse cultures can contribute language skills, new ways of thinking, new knowledge, and different experiences. If the final solution succeeded, the loss of the Indigenous Australians and the Jews would be a loss to all.
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