The Holocaust is a frightening example of what can happen if we do not constantly talk about democracy and the equal value of all human beings.
- Perpetrator – means “a person who committed a particular crime”. In the Holocaust, the perpetrators were the people responsible for the genocide – the Nazis. But they were not the only ones who made the Holocaust possible, or who carried out all of the persecution and murders. Governments in other countries who murdered or sent Jews and Roma to concentration and extermination camps and were allies of the Nazis were also perpetrators. Individuals could also be perpetrators.
- Victim – means one or more people who have been subjected to persecution or violence. The word victim could lead you to believe that there was no resistance to the perpetrators, which is not true. People who belonged to the ethnic groups of Jews and Roma fell victim to the killing by the Nazis and their allies. The Nazis also murdered groups like political opponents, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and people with disabilities.
- Bystander – a bystander is someone who looks on while something happens and does nothing to stop it. This could refer to people or the government of a country. The bystanders may have different reasons for not stepping in. It could be out of fear, not caring about what is happening, or some other reason. But many bystanders in Nazi Germany were involved in the Holocaust in some way through, for example, their work or by buying a home that once belonged to a Jew but was seized by the Nazis.
