Rabbi Shvat, This is an excellent answer. Particularly as it pertains to Israeli students and their preparation for service in the military. Though psychologically, do you think these trips to Auschwitz might actually be teaching students to avoid having EMPATHY for other people??

We Jews have the opposite problem of most armies- we so much sympathize with the other side, that we sometimes forget that the Arabs would like to eradicate us. We approach them with rationale and morality, and sometimes forget that the laws of logic don't apply to Moslem fanatics and suicide bombers who even use their own children as "human shields", taking advantage of our niceness. I can tell you from personal experience that when I have to interrogate a suspicious person at a checkpoint, I pretend to be tough, and even have to wear reflective sunglasses, so that they can't see my eyes, or they'd realize it's just an act!