sTep 1
There are measures we can take in preventing another holocaust that may have been used to prevent the first one from happening. The first is to realize that the term “holocaust” is synonymous with genocide, which means that one has taken place in countries like Rwanda and Armenia, both before and after the Jewish Holocaust of World War II. Once recognized for what it is, people are more apt to take action against the powers who would enact such atrocities.
The reason this realization did not make many Allied nations call to arms immediately in defense of the Jewish people is because they had been guilty of it themselves within a reasonably short time prior to World War II; like the British towards the Chinese during the Opium Wars and the United States forcing a majority of Native American tribes along the Trail of Tears. By the 1930s, these “free world” countries actually provided Hitler with a recent and historical excuse for his actions, especially in terms of Lebensraum – which was similar to Manifest Destiny in America.
step 2
Now that “human” rights legally envelopes all of humanity because of accords like the Geneva Convention, the second tactic is to hold entire bodies of government accountable for acts of genocide. Before the need for reparations, it is the duty of all mankind to be diligent enough to act when impending signs of a holocaust become prevalent. As a global community that has access to all corners of the planet, no one can claim naïveté to the loss of innocent lives, especially on a mass scale like “ethnic cleansing.” Prior to the holocaust of World War II, many nations refrained from action under the reasoning that they did not want to stress diplomatic relations.
As a newly minted global community, people in the modern era now feel a personal stake when injustice takes place anywhere in the world. Out of the three possible measures to prevent a future holocaust, human integrity and interaction are perhaps the biggest preventative weapons humanity has in its arsenal.
step 3
The final asset the word has in preventing another holocaust is a feature that is singular to our times – social media. Never before in history can events that happen on opposite ends of the globe be immediately broadcast to everyone before any type of government propaganda can filter it to their advantage. The Arab Spring of 2011 illustrated the power of social media in government-oppressed countries, which is a far cry from the showcase Nazi Germany put on for the world during the 1936 Olympics in which many visiting nations were completely unaware of the specific racial tensions that were brewing there. At the time discrimination against women and people of color was the global status quo, and this only provided the Germans with more “legitimacy” to single out yet another demographic.
In the modern world we are currently trying to ease racial tensions and increase cultural understanding across the board because overall, it is a lack of ethnic unity that provides the atmosphere for a holocaust to take place. So far, the greatest cultural connector we have to date has been the conduit of social media, which operates outside the bias of government interpretation.