Dr Alex Hershaft, a Holocaust survivor and vegan activist, sheds light on our cognitive dissonance and our reluctance to question our belief in carnism. Hershaft draws parallels between the treatment of livestock and the Holocaust, stating that ''we're focusing on the victims rather than the cancer of oppression itself''. He notes ''the striking similarities between what the Nazis did to my family and my people and what we do to animals we raise for food: the branding or tattooing of serial numbers to identify victims, the use of cattle cars to transport victims to their death, the crowded housing of victims in wood crates, the arbitrary designation of who lives and who dies – the Christian lives, the Jew dies; the dog lives, the pig dies.''

Hershaft recounts a visit to a slaughterhouse in 1975, where he witnessed terrified animals subjected to horrific crowding conditions as they awaited their deaths, mirroring the experiences of his family members in the Treblinka death camp. He observed the same efficient and emotionless killing routine, the neat piles of hearts, hooves, and other body parts, reminiscent of the piles of Jewish hair, glasses, and shoes in Treblinka.

https://alexhershaft.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Hershaft

https://youtu.be/0UQYw11OBkU?si=h0imArSwxktF7Jln

https://youtu.be/DHzs2DFXSs0?si=NrqrGqSPKjDch-yC

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