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“In the end, we will
remember not the words of our enemies,
but the silence of our friends.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Holocaust... it's the term that is often tucked away in the back of
people's minds. Some are indifferent to it, and to some others it is but
a historical event that took place in the past. But beneath the mounds
of corpses, beyond the numbers and facts, lies devastating truth. Many
are informed of the names “Hitler” and “Nazi”; many know that millions
of Jews were murdered. But do they all know the causes, the reasons, the
meaning of it all?
I remember first learning about the Holocaust in middle school, and then
writing an essay about it in English class. Later on, I found the essay
crumpled up among other old school papers. As I read it, shame was drawn
upon me, for it was composed of mere numbers and thoughtless opinions.
The emptiness, the hollowness of my essay caused my heart to sink, and I
knew that I had betrayed the victims with a poor attempt to define the
Holocaust. I realized that many people learn about the Holocaust, but
soon after they tuck the information away, just as I had done with my
paper. I had listened to the Holocaust lecture, yet I had not absorbed
it; I had written a paper about it, yet I had not even understood it.
And this is why the Holocaust must continue to be taught and remembered
– not simply as a historical event filled with statistics, but as a
tragedy that has affected millions, and that will continue to affect us
all. Every detail of it must be not only remembered but understood, and
every image must be branded in our minds. By being indifferent or
putting the information away, we become closer to the dangers of apathy
– the ingredient for a perpetrator's success. An even greater danger,
however, would be the denial of the Holocaust. There should never be a
second of doubt or challenge upon the reality of it. The Holocaust
happened. The concentration camps, the gas chambers, the brutal deaths –
they are all undeniable facts that shall remain with us forever, giving
us more than enough reasons to prevent genocide from taking place in
this world again.
The deaths of countless victims did not occur in one day; the Nazi
regime went on through twelve years. Every week, every month, and every
year, the world was given a chance to stop this inhumanity. Some chose
to stand up against the atrocities, but most chose to look away. Others
even chose to participate and fall into the pits of anti-Semitism. As
Holocaust survivor Eva Galler recalls, “When we looked up we saw that
each of our town's three synagogues was on fire. All around us our
neighbors and friends were watching and laughing at us like they were at
a show. This hurt us more than what the Germans did. After the fire
burned down they told us to line up and parade through the whole town so
everyone could see us. This I will never forget” (Holocaust Survivors).
The rest of the world became aware of the situation, through witnesses
or reports, yet they did not take full measures to put an end to it. In
August 1942, the State Department in Washington received the Riegner
telegram, becoming informed of the “Final Solution” – the plan to
exterminate all Jews. The information was confirmed, yet public
announcement was refrained, and any response was delayed (USHMM). In his
memoirs, Riegner wrote: "Since my first telegram, 18 months had passed
during which time the inexorable massacre continued and millions of Jews
were sacrificed” (Nullis).
It was because of this indifference that the Nazis were able to murder
millions of Jews; it was because the world looked away that the process
was carried through. The bystanders had chosen the easier option, for it
was more convenient to look away from the victims' problems and remain
silent. The Holocaust will forever remind us of the dangers that silent
consent brings, but on the other hand, it will also continue to inspire
us through the stories of the courageous few. Irena Sendler was one of
these individuals, and her refusal to remain silent and uninvolved saved
2,500 Jewish children's lives. She risked her own life by smuggling them
out of the Warsaw Ghetto, by giving them temporary new identities, and
furthermore, by remaining loyal and resisting torture at the hands of
the Gestapo. After the war ended, she sought to return the identities of
the children whose lives and futures she had so selflessly saved
(Bulow).
Though it is said that the Holocaust ended in 1945, Hitler's ideals
still lie among us. Thousands of Mayan Indians were killed during the
genocide in Guatemala (Guatemala 1982), and today, at least 400,000
people have been killed in Darfur (Save Darfur). These staggering
numbers show that we have yet to learn from the lessons of the
Holocaust. Prejudice and intolerance continue to lurk everywhere, and
they pose as threats as long as they are treated with silence. Because
prejudice can affect anyone at any given moment, it is vital that
everyone be involved in the movement towards tolerance. As students, we
can plan lectures, join culture clubs, write to our representatives, and
refuse to give silent consent at the sight of discrimination. By
learning about different cultures and perspectives, we can gain
appreciation for the beauty of diversity. We must inform those who do
not yet know, and remind those who have forgotten. Spreading awareness
is just as important as inspiring others to take action. Personal
accounts outweigh simple statistics; numbers may reach minds, but the
stories of the witnesses can truly reach hearts. When the witnesses pass
the torch to my generation, it will become our duty to never allow the
truth to be tucked away. We must tell their stories to future
generations, and we must resist the urge to remain uninvolved. We must
make sure that we are not remembered for our silence.
Works
Cited :
“Silence Quotes” Wisdom Quotes. February 2008
<http://www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_silence.html>
Holocaust Survivors. “Eva Galler's Story” February 2008 <http://www.holocaustsurvivors.org/data.show.php?di=record&da=survivors&ke=6>
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “The United States and the
Holocaust.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. February 2008 <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005182>
Nullis, Glare. “Gerhart Riegner, warned of Holocaust.” The Miami Herald.
5 Dec. 2001. Focal Point Publications. February 2008 <http://www.fpp.co.uk/Auschwitz/docs/Riegner/obituary051201.html>
Bulow, Louis. “Irena Sendler” The Holocaust Project. February 2008
<http://www.auschwitz.dk/Sendler.htm>
“Guatemala 1982” Peace Pledge Union. March 2008 <http://www.ppu.org.uk/genocide/g_guatemala1.html>
Save Darfur. “The Genocide in Darfur – Briefing Paper” March 2008
<http://www.savedarfur.org/pages/background>
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