First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.
Martin Niemoller
A genocide is a social action that intends to destroy, in whole or part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, with the infliction of physical and mental violence, limitation or eradication of rights and freedoms, the forcible removal of children and prevention of births and imposing insurmountably terrible conditions of life.
Genocides do not occur in a vacuum. There are signs, signals, no matter how small, that portend the evil that is just beyond the horizon.
What choice does one make? Protect the vulnerable at the risk of inflicting a terrible fate on one’s own family and loved ones? Pretend ignorance? Or be swayed by the rhetoric of the oppressor and be an active agent of the horror?
We all have a choice.
Join us as we discuss the role of the survivor and the importance of education with Dara Solomon, Executive Director of the exceptional Toronto Holocaust Museum.
Sources
“Rohingya Refugee Crisis Explained”
Resources