I went to the Holocaust Museum while in DC this week, in part to bear witness, because I think we fortunate ones owe that to those who have been dealt a different path in life.
I knew it would be wrenching, and I was mentally prepared for that. But oh, the evilness that humans are capable of. Let anyone open the door a crack, and we seem to have a limitless capacity for greed, cruelty and debasement of our fellow humans. And just looking at the world we live in today, there are unending examples of this being repeated on a smaller scale, in just about all parts of the world. I just finished reading a book about the early 1900's in Mongolia/China/Russia, wherein humankind did not hesitate to wage war, to enslave and plunder, to kill and take that which belonged to their neighbors, just because they could, and wanted to. It's not that simple, of course, and yet it is. All too simple, the dark side of humanity.
Occasionally there is a bright beacon, a kindness, a dignity bestowed where it was not required, just as there were those who risked their lives to help the victims of the Holocaust. But that list is so much shorter than those who acquiesced. And I can't help but wonder which list I would be on in the event of such pressure, such risk. We all hope and believe we would stand up, would make a difference. But how many of us do that now, in everyday life? If not now, when will we?
There are worse things than dying, and living a lie, a stolen life may be one of them. It is easy to heap shame and blame on the Germans of the Nazi era. But who among us has clean hands? Who defends the person looked down upon by our peers? Who is patient with the hopelessly broken? Who gives when there is no one to see?
No comments:
Post a Comment