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nation, a political force or party or a
unified armed enemy of Germany, and
also because the Allies might not have
been completely aware of the terrible
atrocities occurring in the prison camps,
the Allied powers did not end the
Holocaust or inhibit the Nazi effort by
bombing Auschwitz.
America's president stated that by
the sole act of fighting Hitler and his
-German
troops, we
were auto-
matically
helping the
Jews. This
attitude
eased the
consciences
of many
people, but
did not
stop the
murder of
thousands
of people
daily. Some researchers of the
Holocaust state that perhaps the most
threatening fact about the leaders of
the Allied powers is that some bureau-
crats did not need to ease their con-
sciences, as their morality was not
unlike the morality of some German
bureaucrats.
Aside from the German acceptance
of genocide and the apathy of the
Allies, the incredible silence from the
world allowed the Holocaust to con-
-tinue for years. Germans and neigh-
boring European citizens assumed a
"business as usual" attitude. People
went about their everyday lives
wrapped up in the concerns of their
own families, careers and incomes.
They were too afraid, too indifferent
or too selfish to care about the fate of
fellow human beings. If the silent atti-
tude of thousands of world nations
hand
and individual citizens could be
reversed, perhaps millions of lives
could have been saved.
Students in the world today must
have an understanding of these events
because our future depends on the
leaders of the world not making the
same mistakes as the leaders in the
past. In the near future, students will
=have the capacity to become profes-
sors, doctors, politicians, army com-
manders, capitalists and, if the
Holocaust is ever forgotten, Nazis, fas-
cist dictators and believers of racial
and ethnic superiority. Education and
the study of the Holocaust are so
important for this very reason. Those
who are concerned with the well being
of humanity are justly convinced of

the relevance of the Holocaust to stu-
dents and continue to include the
study of it as a crucial element in the
education of the world's youth.
Not only are some students of
today going to be world leaders, most
are going to become average citizens,
people who have more power than is
recognized by the world. The ordi-
nary citizens of Germany and of other
European
countries
had the
power in
their hands
to unify and
speak out
against the
terrible
injustices
that were
occurring.
These citi-
zens might
have had
compassion
for the Jews, but they did not have
the courage to speak out and did not
realize the amount of true power they
had because they did not try. In pro-
ducing strong leaders and equally
important, average citizens who are
strong speakers and defenders of jus-
tice, the world can begin to speak out
against this type of assault on the
human race.
Finally, the study of the Holocaust
is imperative because genocide
occurred in an industrialized world; it
still does occur today. Though the
horror of the Holocaust in Germany
was one of the most extreme examples
of mass murder — the death toll esti-
mated at 11 million — this was not
the beginning or the end of genocide;
the world has not seen the last of
these violations on human lives.
Cambodia in the 1970s, Rwanda,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, and now in
Yugoslavia are all places where geno-
cide, racial elimination and mass mur-
der have occurred or are still occur-
ring today. We hope that increased
awareness of the Holocaust may be a
step toward prevention of this outra-
geous cruelty.
"The Holocaust is over, but the
nature of the society that carried it out
exists here and now," according to
Sidney Bolkosky. It is up to us, the
students and future world citizens, to
learn from the past and to protect the
life and dignity of every human being
in our society. ❑

The Singles event of theyear!!!

1 ST OFFICIAL
UNATTACH ED AND

UNMATCHED BALL

Hitler was able to
manipulate German
opinion and turn
genocide into a legal,
socially acceptable act.

Kathryn Lindsey is a Williamston
High School llth grader.

Hills

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21 and Over

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Catered by Jeffrey Rosenberg Kosher Catering
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Detroit Jewish News

4/9
1999

37