History or Hysteria??

How important is history when it comes to who you are today. Are things that happened 20 or so years before you were even born truly a factor in who and what you or I are today?? Should history be able to dictate your beliefs and our future forever? Should I hold on to luggage that my forefathers carried and check it in at every convenient moment during my lifes journey? Yea my father violated children and people, but I am I indebted to them? Am I marked by you forever by this?? Of course a bus load of French soldiers murdered and robbed my great grandparents but must I have some grudge or angry mission against them to prove something?? Are we responsible for occurrences in our life? Is it Karma? Is it evil? I once read that we as people have a strong desire to hold on to adversity and short comings because we believe it holds our identity and identity is severely important to us. If that is true, does that mean because some of my ancestors made horrible choices that these choices are key and hold the truth to my existence, worth, success, and relevance in this world today?? Do we hand down history to keep us divided or to as I am to understand,"stop it from repeating itself?" If you ask me, we really have not come that much further and if you watch the news history is repeated everyday no matter how much we are aware of past history. Maybe I live in a bubble, maybe I am just ignorant, or maybe I am one of the few who knows his history in the interest of learning and not for condemning and holding tying to it forever. ???????????