They came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for me and by that time no one was left to speak up.
-Pastor Martin Niemoller
A few weeks ago while I was on vacation in Florida, I decided to go see the Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg. The museum was haunting and honest in its portrayal of the horrors humans will inflict upon one another and our ability to overlook the suffering of others. The lesson I took away in my hours in the museum was that the Holocaust was not accomplished in one day. The Nazi party took years to establish itself and gain control of Germany. Even their initial acts to silence dissenters were done on a small scale and to consolidate power. Other world powers turned a blind eye because it was an internal matter. When Germany began invading other countries, the French and English placated them because their populations were unwilling to get involved and risk the uneasy peace that has existed since World War I. As time passed, atrocities grew. The mentally and physically disabled, Jews, ‘Gypsies’ and many more were victims of the Holocaust.
I began this post with a quote from Pastor Martin Niemoller, a Lutheran minister and survivor of the concentration camps. It perfectly captures the risk of not standing up for others. The price of apathy in Germany, Europe and the world was paid in the blood of millions, and the world has not yet truly learned its lesson.
Let us remain vigilant…