An Eastern professor will speak on campus Wednesday about the Holocaust and its potential future effects.

Dan McMillan, assistant professor in the history department, will present “Understanding the Holocaust” at 6:30 p.m. in Lumpkin Hall, Room 1031.

McMillan teaches an undergraduate course on Modern Germany, 1871 to the present, and a graduate level course on Nazi-Germany, 1933 to 1945, at Eastern.

McMillan said he wants to answer two important questions people often ask about the Holocaust.

“Many people ask why it happened, which is the big question,” McMillan said. “I can only give a partial answer to that question in an hour by presenting some important ideas.”

McMillan said many people also ask if the Holocaust is unique in comparison to other mass killings throughout history.

“I would argue that it’s very unique,” he commented.

McMillan also mentioned that the public understands the basic things about the Holocaust, but there are also common misconceptions.

“I think the average person on the street would know some things about it,” he said.

McMillan said one misconception “widely held” is that the broader German public knew little or nothing about the Holocaust while it was happening.

“It’s difficult to prove, but there is evidence that about one fourth of the Germans knew what was happening,” he said.

Another misconception is that a lot of people carried out the killings because they were afraid of being punished themselves, McMillan said.

“That is completely incorrect,” he stated. “It’s almost proven that no one was ever punished for refusing to kill Jews. They could have found a way of getting out of it.”

McMillan mentioned that while it is unlikely, the potential for the Holocaust to recur is always there. He said he wants the audience to think about the value of human life when attending the lecture.

“We can’t prove that we’re all entitled to human rights, and during the Holocaust, many powerful individuals rejected that belief,” McMillan said.

“Most accept that human life is valuable, but that belief is fragile, and we must work to preserve that,” he said.

The lecture is free and open to the public.