David Cole Interviews Dr Franciscek Piper - Research Paper Example

David Cole Interviews Dr. Franciscek Piper" My Personal Reaction If there’s anything I know about memory, it’s that it is fallible. How many things over my lifetime have I simply forgotten and don’t even know it? Even my most precious memories are not nearly as accurate as I think they are. Sociologists have done studies about how memories can’t be trusted. I heard of a study once where they showed a bunch of different people the same video then asked each participant simple, basic questions about the video.

Each answer they got was different. What color was the runner’s shirt? Some said blue, some said yellow, some said green, etc. The way something is perceived varies from person to person. For this reason, the basic fact that memory can’t be trusted; I am personally horrified by David Cole’s interview. Of course details are going to be missing. Of course facts will be misconstrued. The greatest tragedy, however, continues to be the conspiracy that the Holocaust never occurred. In my personal opinion, I don’t know how anyone in their right mind could think for a second that a million people were murdered in concentration camps.

It seems David Cole’s facts are based on memories of Holocaust victims, fuzzy memories that are rough around the edges. If I met David Cole, I would ask him, “What is your worst memory? Please describe it in excruciating detail. I’ll take you to the location and you can tell me each detail exactly. If you can’t do that, then I won’t believe that ever happened to you. I’ll assume you’re making the whole thing up.” How does a society measure the number of deaths that occurred after a horrifying holocaust when the majority of victims lie in mass, un-numbered graves?

To base the existence of a horrific event on facts that cannot be proven seems a little unfair. Sure, the initial estimate by the Russians was four million then later changed to one million. That’s still one million innocent people. We’ll never know the true number of victims, there’s no way to know that. David Cole claims that Dr. Piper’s memory of the gas chamber appears to be sketchy. Perhaps it is a fuzzy memory, but I’m sure there’s a reason behind that. Why would someone want to remember such a horrifying place?

Wouldn’t the human brain involuntarily block that memory for survival purposes? Could a human being continue to live a happy life if he wasn’t able to suppress those memories? I don’t think so. Also, why would millions of other Jews make up such a story? I guess, personally, I am horrified by David Cole. However, I understand that there will always be other people who disagree on what I believe to be true. I wasn’t alive during the Holocaust, therefore I can’t say conclusively that it did or did not happen.

I have read a lot on the subject, though, and based on other people’s accounts I believe that there was a gas chamber. I believe that millions of innocent people were tortured and murdered. And I believe that human beings need to learn from their mistakes, remember, and never let it happen again.