The Demon Within By Billie Marie Matteo

Prior to World War II, Adolph Hitler gave the German people a very simple answer to all their misery. They did not have to look at themselves for the answers to all their problems, it was the Jewish population's fault. In his accord, eliminate the Jewish population and all the problems that Germany was experiencing would go away. Its just so easy to look back today and ask how could any reasonable person go along with that? Hitler preached that the very survival of the population was in peril due to this Jewish threat and the people who didn't buy it hook, line, and sinker, just sat back with the wait and see attitude. Although all this happened some fifty years ago, the holocaust is important as a vital lesson in human understanding today, as it ever was.

It addresses one of the central tenets of education in the United States which is to examine what it means to be a responsible citizen, that democratic institutions and values are not automatically sustained, but need to be appreciated, nurtured, and protected. It teaches that silence and indifference to the suffering of others, or to the infringement of civil rights in any society, can -- however, unintentionally -- serve to perpetuate the problems; and the Holocaust was not an accident in history -- it occurred because individuals, organizations, and governments made choices which not only legalized discrimination, but which allowed prejudice, hatred, and ultimately, mass murder to occur.

In 1933 approximately nine million Jews lived in the 21 countries of Europe that would be occupied by Germany during the war. By 1945 two out of every three European Jews had been killed. Although Jews were the primary victims, up to one half million Gypsies and at least 250,000 mentally or physically disabled persons were also victims of genocide. As Nazi tyranny spread across Europe from 1933 to 1945, millions of other innocent people were persecuted and murdered. More than three million Soviet prisoners of war were killed because of their nationality. Poles, as well as other Slavs, were targeted for slave labor, and as a result of the Nazi terror, almost two million perished. Homosexuals and others deemed "anti-social" were also persecuted and often murdered. In addition, thousands of political and religious dissidents such as communists, socialists, trade unionists, and Jehovah's Witnesses were persecuted for their beliefs and behavior and many of these individuals died as a result of maltreatment. In simple, people who were "different" in one way or the other, or a percieved "threat" were murdered.

Fifty years ago people and society as a whole, acted different, it could never happen again, right? Wrong? Come to think of it, fifty years isn't such a long time. I'm sure I'm different enough from the next person, that someone out there in society would perhaps want to see me as a threat to their existence. They don't even know me. Perhaps I might look different, or spend my time with someone of the same sex, or maybe be the "wrong" color, or practice the "wrong" religion. Does history teach us paranoia? Should we keep our shades drawn or be wary of a coming gunshot in the dark?

I think not, but then I'm the eternal optimist with faith in our human race to learn from the past and perhaps not repeat our past atrocities. But I don't sit still when I hear hate being preached and try to address it when I can. I would hope that others do the same and that I am not alone. The demons of the world are within us all. Hopefully we are intelligent enough to recognize them, so we as the human race, don't add to our history books something else as atrocious and embarrassing as the holocaust. I think living in a world where everyone thought the same things, and acted the same way would be very dull indeed. I welcome the diversity our world has to offer. This is the lesson history taught me.

The Road to Auschwitz was built by hate, but paved with indifference. -Ian Kershaw