The Holocaust. If the world had known, would it have intervened? That is, if anyone had sat down and tried to figure out what Hitler was up to, would they have given Jews the time of day? To quote Elie Wiesel’s noble acceptance speech, “The world did know and remained silent.”
To sit still and watch someone suffer in anguish is inhuman. Up to the point of liberation, most Germans had no clue what was happening behind those barbed wire fences, but they had an idea. Some argue that Germans are hardly to blame, that the finger should be pointed at Hitler himself. But what about the people Wiesel described in his memoir, Night, the ones that threw bread into the open cattle cars, so they could watch the Jews fight? Of course they’re not to blame either.
It’s been brought up many times that the people that did know were too scared to confront the situation. For this reason they did nothing, said nothing. “Silence encourages the tormenter, never the tormented” (Wiesel’s Noble Acceptance Speech). This is very true. No one stood up to Hitler and he grew stronger. No one questioned his authority and he became the leader of Germany and creator (and founder) of the county’s lone political party, giving Hitler more and more power.
If, at the very beginning, anyone had spoken up and said something as simple as, “The Jews are our friends.” where would we be now? To answer that question, most likely in a place with less prejudice and hatred towards our fellow man.
Now-a-days we have