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Humanist Sociology and Holocaust Memorialization: On Accenting the Positive
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Humanist Sociology and Holocaust Memorialization: On Accenting the Positive

Arthur B. Shostak
Humanity & society, v 31(1)
Feb 2007

Abstract

The inevitable passing of all direct Holocaust participants (victims and perpetrators alike) makes the perspective of empathetic others all the more significant. Humanist sociologists can help in the memorialization effort by processing their own related consequential memories. They can share resulting insights into the human condition, and they can recommend this demanding exercise to others. As well, by using the new methodology of Appreciative Inquiry they can help assess the current balance of attention to Good and Evil in the Holocaust narrative. New attention could be paid to efforts made by many victims to not surrender to victimization, along with related efforts of onlookers to lend them assistance. This accenting of the positive might earn fresh and supportive attention to the Holocaust in the future from non-Jews and Jews alike who are unknowing, indifferent, or at arm's length. Success in promoting vicarious memories in those born long after the Holocaust, memories that draw more on Good than on Evil, could help assure all of us a finer twenty-first century.

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