As I explained my thoughts to Yoda; I don't believe that because a person is Jewish that they have some inherent connection to all things holocaust. They are no more connected than blacks are today to slavery because they're black, and no more connected than I am connected to slave-ownership because I'm white.
Everything you're saying hinges on what you mean by "connected," doesn't it? If you mean that they are owed nothing in a moral or legal sense, and are not inherently "wronged" by virtue of being of the same race, then I'd agree. But I don't think I'd go any further than that.
Anyway, I think a Jewish person has an inherent connection to all things Jewish, which includes the Holocaust.
The movie isn't that sad, but the historical events are very sad, but it's one episode in the many where humans have treated themselves and each other cruely. In fact, I view it as a human issue and not a Jewish or whatever else issue.
Jewish issues are encompassed by "human issues," so there's no need to introduce the phrase as a replacement.
Also, as nebbit pointed out, the Holocaust was about Jews being targeted as a race. It's not a terrible crime that just happens to have happened to a certain group of people -- who they are is integral to why it happened. That's probably one of the reasons some feel more "connected" to it than other, similar tragedies. A Jewish person today knows that they've been fortunate enough to have been born during a time (and in a place) that is much more tolerant of their people than many places were just 70 years ago. I'm sure it's a very humbling thing to realize this. The idea that something terrible could have easily happened to us has a way of bringing it home and making it seem more real than it otherwise might have.
If I'd lived in Germany in the 30s, I'd have been fine; to be in danger I'd have to be in a different time, a different place,
and I'd have to be a different person. A Jewish person has one less factor to remove them from the event, and thus might feel closer to it as a result. I guess in a perfect world everyone would feel this kind of identity and kinship with all groups of people all the time, but as flawed beings we tend to respond more when the tragedy could have happened to us, and the degree to which we feel that has a lot to do with how far removed our current circumstances are from those that caused each respective tragedy.
Unless you knew someone - had talked to them, socialized, huged them whatever - who died in the Holocaust, you're no more sad than I am or have a special "right" to the historical events than anyone else.
I find this kind of interesting. You seem to be agreeing--despite everything you've said above--that being closer to the event really does give someone more of a "connection" to it. Does it, or not?
If it does, it seems a little arbitrary that this would disappear after that first degree of separation. What about the grandchild of a Holocaust survivor, for example? They might not have known much about their grandparents, but they're related to them, and the are the offspring that the Nazis were specifically trying to stop from coming into being. If the Holocaust had succeeded, they wouldn't exist; this is true of many Jewish people today.
Anyway, I'm not a fan of anyone trying to use their race or religion to lord some kind of "I'm sadder than you are" moral authority over anyone else, but I don't think we have to play down the link between Jewish people and the Holocaust to reject that.