When I was younger, I thought the Holocaust was fascinating. That sounds really bad, bus from a psychological point of view I was horrified and intrigued: how could people live through those horrors and not become mass murders, or die mentally? How can people, at the same time, sit back and watch? Camps like Dachau were set in relatively residential areas. How did people condone the mass murder and exile of 12 million people? After visiting Dachau and seeing a mural with no black, brown, or pink triangles (the Roma and homosexuals), and finding out that the Jewish group presiding over the camp had vetoed their inclusion, I was left to wonder how those who had been discriminated against could turn around and judge others in the same way, and marginalized their experience.
Frankl answers these questions, and to a lesser extent so does "Life is Beautiful". The Holocaust brought out the best and worst of humanity, and changed people fundamentally. I think learning about it in a book that isn't a textbook, or a book that isn't explicitly about the holocaust is the best way to get some of those answers.
