I was thinking about writing about the Holocaust, but I am not sure if it's a good idea since I am not sure if people would feel offended if I exaggerate certain events or facts even if it makes the tragedy look more horrible. How can I go about setting my story in the midst of this event without causing too much offense (and assuming I don't want to do a lot of research first)? Are the considerations the same for other historical events?
Answer
Research is vital if you want your story to succeed emotionally
Imagine that you're writing a story about a horse race. Your protagonist's horse is in second place, just barely behind their arch-nemesis. Right as they approach the finish line, the protagonist's horse gathers itself for a mighty leap and propels itself into the air over the other horse to claim victory.
This is a very dramatic and exciting moment - or it could be, if it weren't for the fact that it is completely impossible. Horse races don't involve leaping. This scene will fall completely flat for any reader who recognizes its impossibility. The readers most likely to know about how horse races work are people who care about horse races. These are also the readers who are most likely to be emotionally invested in a story about horse racing.
EDIT: For another example of a scene being cheapened by its lack of realism, I give you: NCIS: Two idiots, one keyboard
Poorly researched inaccuracies alienate the readers who are the most emotionally invested in your story.
That's not a good thing.
The more emotionally attached people are to an event, the more important it is to portray that event correctly.
The more recent an event is, the more attached people will be to it.
The more important an event is, the more attached people will be to it.
The Holocaust is both in living memory (if only barely), and HUGELY important. You don't want to screw it up, and you will if you don't research it.
Research will make your story better
Even if you weren't worried about alienating your readers you should research anyways, because the details you will learn will enhance your story.
Learning about the way people lived, how they acted, and how they survived will inspire countless details that will allow you to move your story in new and interesting ways. Truth is stranger than fiction in many dramatic and exciting ways, but you can't take advantage of that unless you have researched those details.
Finally,
You will never be perfect
While watching Spiderman: Homecoming, I was briefly thrown out of the story because I happen to know that there are only two different schools who have won the Academic Decathlon in the past 8 years, and neither of them is anywhere close to New York. Peter Parker's school winning AcaDeca had to be fictional because the school doesn't exist, and it still briefly threw me out of the story. No matter what you do, you will not be able to perfectly recreate the events you are describing. That's okay. But you still need to get close enough that readers familiar with the subject aren't constantly being distracted by your inaccuracies. A blip here or there is fine.
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