'This quote was very interesting to see walking into Auschwitz as it related to many of my thoughts while we were in Berlin (see post). It is the easy way out to be ignorant of the many horrible things which have been and are occurring in our world. It is emotionally and spiritually very difficult to learn about these events. After Auscwitz I felt very empty, not depressed, but full of questions about how this could have happened.
I think it was Edmund Burke that said evil happens in the world because good people do nothing. Did the holocaust happen because good people sat by and didn't stop it? I think this is partly true, but I'm not convinced that the thousands of SS troops leading people into gas chambers were simply bad people. I think we fool ourselves to explain it by saying they were different than us, and we would NEVER do such a thing. I am not excusing at all what they did, but I'm sure most SS were not ruthless thugs happy to kill and torture people, as they have been portrayed. If you don't agree with me, look up the "Stanley Milgram experiment" on obedience to authorities.
In thinking about this, I realized that the importance in remembering history is that we are not immune to its re-occurrence. I don't think anything quite like the Holocaust will happen again, but genocides are not extremely rare in our world. And "evil" things happen around us every day. By remembering these events and why otherwise "normal" people took part in them, we can make sure we do not give in to evil when it occurs around us.
- Andy
I have learned about the history of World War Two and the Holocaust from textbooks, teachers, professors, novels, museums and movies. Being at Auschwitz is not really comparable to any of these. The reality of such an inconceivably horrific past becomes tangible. All the tour groups (1.5 million visit each year) seemed to shuffle in quiet shock and sadness between exhibits. How are we to process this?
During the tour, I almost felt as though I couldn't take anymore of it. It was too much... walking the property and buildings designed for the sole purpose of extinguishing a race, standing where men, women and children were "sorted" to different camps or the gas chambers, trying to understand how parents would want to somehow protect their children but could not, taking in just a glimpse of the approximate 6 million killed, hearing the desperation in survivor accounts, seeing how huge the camps were, walking from the dressing room into the gas chamber, knowing it was prisoners who were commanded to cut off hair and take gold teeth from those dead, etc, etc... it was overwhelming, emotional and disturbing.
Going forward, I am uncertain of how to personally process this extreme tragedy. Actually, I won't ever be able to process it but I don't want to ignore or push it aside without more reflection. There are a few things I know for sure... we need to allow the past to inform our present, humans can be easily snared in evil/sin, critical thinking is powerful and my faith cannot be in humanity but in a just God. It's a start!
- Julia
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