Silence can kill

This week marks the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

There have been many episodes over the course of history of our inhumanity to each other. Some actions are more horrifying than others are. Unfortunately as the world marks the 60th anniversary, all the demons of this episode have been laid at the feet of the Nazis. For any act of consequence and moral implication to proceed unabated, there also has to be a lack of action to counterbalance. Let it not be said that this is an attempt to absolve any of the blame for Nazis’ acts of genocide. But somehow we have lightened the load that should be carried by those who allowed their inaction to speak, the global community.

As the Germans set out to systematically implement their massive plan of exterminating the Jews in Europe, the rest of the world turned its back and choose instead to doubt the reports of "labor camps". The events of the Holocaust began before any formal declaration of war in Europe. As evidence and news began to mount on these concentration camps in the course of WWII, the level of action did not match stride. It would not be until the Allies neared the end of the war that the full horror would be seen for the rest of the world.

Hitler’s rise to power in Germany and the persecution of mostly Jews started in 1934. The liberation of Auschwitz would not come until 1945. . . an 11-year span without a major or direct response to these death camps. The final total of 6 million Jews and 1 million others exterminated sheds a shameful light on the family of nations and their inability to act.

Throughout human history our cruelty with each other has been justified in the name of religion, nationalism, or race. And so for most of our past, ours is a grand story filled with chapters of physical conquests. In its lightest expression it is a case of subversion, and in its harshest reality there is genocide.

May the Lord be more merciful with us than we can be with each other.