SURFING THE NET: Learn and remember
By Ahron Shapiro

(May 1) - What would the world be like if there hadn't had been a Holocaust? What would the Jewish people resemble?

These are rhetorical questions to which there are no right answers. In fact, I ask the question in order to demonstrate just how deeply the Holocaust has become rooted in our national consciousness. There was a Holocaust, and the effects of it will forever be felt in Jewish life, rippling though our collective future.

While the events of the Holocaust took place in Europe, the central archive for Holocaust study is and will always be at Yad Vashem (http://www.yad-vashem. org.il/). There are, perhaps, better Web sites in which to conduct on-line Holocaust research, but none is as vital, or with better resources, off-line. Like its real-world counterpart, Yad Vashem's site is a natural starting point for Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day studies.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center (http://www.wiesenthal.com/) is internationally recognized for its tireless efforts to locate and prosecute Nazi war criminals. Its Web site is everything you might expect from its name: Links to its multimedia learning center reveal comprehensive resources on World War II, with over 3,000 text files, and tens of thousands of photos.

There are fortunately many Web sites to select from for learning about the Holocaust, and choosing one to highlight is not intended as a put-down of the others. However, when it comes to presentation, the last thing a site should do is confuse people with flashy pages which are either short on information or hard to navigate.

I appreciate the simplicity of The Jewish Student Online Resource Center's Holocaust pages (http://www.us-israel. org/jsource/holo.html), which feature an easily manageable list of useful topics.

Informative and concise, this site demonstrates how low-graphic sites can be well suited for text-intensive applications.

In what way should the topic of the Holocaust be presented to young adults? There's a good Web site (http://www.euronet.nl/users/jubo/holocaust.html) which discusses that question, while keeping tabs on books on subjects of interest to younger readers.

SPEAKING OF books, I remember reading Art Spiegelman's excellent cartoon novel, Maus, in college.

At a Maus Web site (http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atlantis/2671/), I learned that the books are now available on CD-ROM.

Check for related links on the page. I confess, I don't own very many CD-ROMs, but this is one I wouldn't mind buying.

TO LEARN about the Holocaust in a classroom or over the Internet is one thing. To actually travel to Eastern Europe and see the concentration camps and the remnants of the Jewish communities is something else entirely. The March of the Living (http://www.motl.org/) is a program that has sent thousands of Jewish youth worldwide to study Holocaust sites close-up.

Afterwards, the groups spend time in Israel. It is a powerful, unforgettable experience, and the lessons learned are carried with the teens for a lifetime.

I was part of the first March of the Living, held in 1988. Today, the program's alumni are involved in all branches of Jewish activism, and they tell their stories on the Internet on dozens of Web sites. It's inspiring, and I'm proud to have been a part of the pilot group.

One of the concentration camps we visited was Majdanek http://www. scrapbookpages.com/Poland/Majdanek/Majdanek.html), which is situated on the edge of the city of Lublin in Poland. I remember the horrific realization that the Nazis had operated a camp such as this in a populated area, and I wondered how ordinary citizens living nearby could have not known what was happening. It is a sobering truth that for the Nazis to conduct a campaign of genocide against the Jews, they needed some assistance - or at least tacit complicity - of many non-Germans.

It is the Germans, however, who are the subject of Daniel Jonah Goldhagen's controversial book, Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust (http://www.randomhouse. com/vintage/read/executioners/).

The title alone sparks debate - that's why Random House's Web page for the book is so on-target. The publisher's study guide and suggested discussion topics are thought-provoking and, in my opinion, should be printed out and included with the book.

AT THE other end of the spectrum, Righteous Gentiles of all nationalities put themselves at risk to help and protect Jews during World War II. The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous (http://www.jfr.org/) is an organization that provides recognition and thanks to these special people. Commendably, the JFR goes the extra mile by providing monthly financial assistance to 1,700 aged and needy Righteous Gentiles in 30 countries. It's a nice site for apparently a fine organization.

Some of the Righteous Gentiles have become household names, like Oskar Schindler, made famous by the book Schindler's List, and the subsequent movie.

Personally, I most admire Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish humanitarian who helped protect thousands of Hungarian Jews (http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/2393/).

Perhaps I found his story all the more poignant because he paid dearly for his life-saving efforts when he was arrested by the Soviets after the war and subsequently disappeared, presumed killed by his captors.

THE NAZIS murdered and plundered - and their spoils have generally not been returned to the owners or their heirs. Recently, however, political pressure has finally begun to yield results in the form of reparations.

Several Web sites offer substantive resources to potential claimants. The Living Heirs Project (http://www.livingheirs.com/) has a comprehensive site intended to help heirs of Holocaust victims recover confiscated assets.

What may be confusing to some people is that there are actually several different claim initiatives. The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (http://www.claimscon.org/) has a guide to compensation which it says is designed to outline and clarify some of the major current programs.

While these resources are good, I think it would be smart to seek professional consultations off-line if you believe that you or someone you know may be eligible for a claim.

MONETARY ASSETS may be reclaimed, but the loss of human life can never be replaced. And as a people, we feel the pangs of our loss which will never fade. The Internet is the tool and resource of the present and the future. The Holocaust resources building within are an encouraging sign that the memory of those lost will carry into the next generation and beyond, and not be forgotten.

Send comments and suggestions to: ahron@jpost.co.il

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• SURFING THE NET: Learn and remember