Auschwitz 70 Years Later

Many of us were not alive 70 years ago, when a group of Soviet soldiers walked into a camp and found the horrors of what Nazi Germany had done to millions of people, Jews, Gypsies, Gays. They found walking skeletons, men & women starved almost to death. Then and only then did we learn that there were other camps: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Bergen-Belsen, Dauchau[1],  just to name a few of the 20,000[2] camps that Adolf Hitler used to try and wipe out whole races, primarily the Jewish race. I know that my knowledge of this subject is spotty, and not what it should be, but I do know I never want my children to live to see this again.  

Many of us are familiar with the name Anne Frank[3] whose diary was made into a play and movie "The Diary of Anne Frank", which told the story her family that hid in an attic in Amsterdam, during World War II. While many teachers and professors assign this for class, as a "reading/literature" assignment should it be used in a "history" class as a living diary of a young woman's vision of war? The world became familiar with the name Oskar Schindler[4], whom was a ethnic German spy, whom save 1,200 Jewish lives by employing them in his enamelware factory during WWII, his story was told in the movie, "Schindler's List". The first thing that struck me was the photography of this movie (being a photographer it would). But as this movie plays out, it shows the cruelty of the soldiers, the hope of those working in Mr. Schindler's factory, and the resolve of him to "rescue" as many men and women as he could. At the end of the movie, we see the families of the survivors lying stones upon the grave stone of the Schindler's. This touched me more deeply than anything else in the movie, it showed the lives not only that he saved but the families that grew out of his sacrifice. Another name many know, is Elie Wiesel [5], whom survived Auschwitz, went on to write many books including, "Night" which told of his survival at Auschwitz. Mr. Wiesel was awarded many honors including a Nobel Peace Prize, A Congressional Gold Medal, Presidential Medal of Freedom, among many other honors. 

I know that my life has been changed radically after having read some testimonies on file with the USC Shoah Foundation[6]. I also visited a local Jewish Community Center here within my city to ask for a list of reading material, only to find a memorial wall to those whom survived the Holocaust and came to live here in Columbus, OH. That day I was touched by something that I cannot to this day explain.  I find that whenever I hear or read the testimony of those whom lived through the hell of these camps, but went on with their lives because of their faith in God that He would rescue them, that He would make everything "right". How does one have that much faith, when they are in places where so much death was around them. I can only pray that I have one-tenth of their faith daily in my life. 

Have we learned anything from this period of time in our history? I am finding that the answer to this question is, "No", and maybe even a shouting of, "NO!". While we do not have one man, we have thousands trying to rid our world of those whom do not believe as they do, but we allow them to trample countries where Adolf Hitler once before trampled upon them. How can people say in one breath, "Never again," but with the next breath allow themselves to live next door to someone whom openly hates them for their faith. Is it a question of "faith"? Or just a question of "hatred"? While I am taught by my faith not to "hate" anyone, I find myself truly beginning to hate those whom use terror (bombings, be-headings, shootings, etc) to get their way.  

On Tuesday, as our world stops to lay wreaths, bow heads to pray, take time to check out one of the footnotes I have included below. 

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[1]  http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/cclist.html

[2]  http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005144
[3]  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Frank
[4]  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oskar_Schindler
[5]  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Wiesel

[6]  http://www.ushmm.org/research/research-in-collections/search-the-collections/shoah-foundation