Thank you R' Shmiel. Your post is a masterpiece IMHO! I have copied it, and intend to keep it.

I am choosing to respond to what was already said regarding the possibility that the holocaust could have had a connection to assimilation.

Robo-
I am quoting part of a comment above by "Bill Hahn": "A disaster has befallen people and the question to me is why, if you believe in this almighty being, do you feel we have to be introspective?   Seems to me that both are horrible occurrences. One made my man [holocaust] One made by nature [tsunami]. Either way a disaster of great proportions.
If you say that God (note I left out the inane - ) (why not say Jawah) punished people in a Tsunami then it would have to follow--logically---that He (note the capital letter) also endorsed Adolf. One cannot have it both ways"

I am not promoting anti-semitism. Anti-semites do not need my help. People with an agenda, will use anything I say or do to prove their point. (If I'm rich I'm a thief, if I'm poor, I'm a leech, if I live near you, I am crowding you in, if I move away, I'm a snob, If I'm successful, I want to control the world, if I'm unsuccessful, I am lazy... the list goes on.) You may be uncomfortable with the idea that we as Jews may have a different path. It is irrelevant whether others respect that or condemn it. The path that is presented to us by the Torah, remains the same. Judaism is an all encompassing life system. It is not a popularity contest!
The Torah tells us, that when we Jews stray, G-d will remind us to come back to Him, and it will not be pleasant (It says this in the Shema, which is written on the parchment of a mezzuza). The perpetrators of the Holocaust did not intend to help the Jewish people improve their practice of Judaism! Their intent was to annihilate a people whom they deemed unworthy of existing. They were evil, and will give any excuse to say we "deserve" this. They worship themselves, not G-d. They may think, like the ancient Romans conquerors did, that their successes prove that they were right. But the ancient Romans are gone. The Jewish people are still here, and continue to survive.
We are taught that G-d sometimes 'uses' evil people when He chastises us in such a drastic way. That does not make them any less evil, or guilty.
The nations or individuals that are determined to learn from the past, and educate people about the evils of baseless hatred, are noble people. Their efforts to improve our society and prevent another Holocaust are noteworthy, and valuable. This is not a contradiction to what I have said about our personal reckoning as Jews.
The introspection I referred to is between us and G-d, not between us and Nazis. Assimilation is the concern of all Jews, including the ones who remain observant. We are not permitted to become ostriches when it comes to our brothers. Despite the fact that I have great pride that my great-grandparents did not assimilate in Europe or in this tolerant country, I can not rest on my laurels. If I do not care that other Jews are assimilating, if I do not hurt for the potential they are dismissing, if I do not do my utmost to expose them to the beauty and truth of their heritage, then I am partially liable for their loss. At times I may identify the anti-Torah actions of my brothers and sisters. This is an issue of integrity: to protest when G-d's word is trampled, and to prevent others from being misled. But I am supposed to remember that they are my brothers and sisters, and to act toward them as such. And as any family member would, I should set a proper example by living in a way that shows the beauty of Torah, and always be willing to teach it. I should be concerned with their well being in all humanitarian areas. And I should leave the door open... and never stop hoping and praying that they find their way home.