Tomorrow is the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the most infamous of Nazi concentration camps. As world leaders arrive in Poland to pay their respects, the lessons of the Holocaust must be remembered by all of us.
We all learned about the horrors of the concentration camps in school, but it is hard to realize the severity of six million deaths. To put this into perspective, the greater Boston metro area population is five million people.
Every few years, leaders dedicate Holocaust museums, memorials or anniversaries and say that the world will never forget those lost, nor let such a tragedy happen again. Yet, we have witnessed genocide in Cambodia, Rwanda and former Yugoslavia in recent years. Perhaps the Holocaust stands out in our collective memory because it was an attempt to kill off anyone different, not simply those of a different ethnic group. Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, the mentally ill and political opponents were all targeted by the Nazis. The fact that anyone could have been a victim of the Nazis elevates the Holocaust from a regional conflict.
This is not to play down the effects of the genocides in Rwanda, Bosnia or elsewhere. Rather, we should use the universality of the Holocaust as an example of how unchecked power and hate can bring about disaster.
The world also needs to look at itself and ask why Cambodia, Rwanda and Bosnia happened, despite promises to the contrary. Is it because they were restricted to ethnic disputes? Because they happened outside of Western Europe? Whatever the excuse, it is unacceptable. At least these horrors are coming to light now, rather than remaining in relative obscurity forever.
A similar situation is occurring now in the Darfur region of Sudan, with the conflict between Arab and Black Sudanese escalating since it began in 2003. Sudan has caught the attention of the wider world, but we are still waiting to act. The United Nations is planning on sending troops from a variety of nations, including Malaysia, the United States, Egypt, and Kenya. The Security Council must first vote to take action, however, after hearing a U.N. report on the possible genocide in Darfur to be delivered this week.
On Monday, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said that indifference allowed the Holocaust to happen, lamenting that genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia and Rwanda could have been prevented. He also warned that the Security Council must be prepared to act, in order to prevent further tragedy in Darfur. Annan said that the results of the Darfur report will prove if the United Nations has learned its lesson from the Holocaust.
Exactly what lesson should we learn from the Holocaust? The answer is simple: world leaders must not turn a blind eye to disaster, simply because it would be messy to resolve. The Southeast Asia tsunami disaster has proven that the world is made of generous people who want to aid those who need help. The developed world, especially the United States, must apply this generosity to ensure that another genocide will not pass by unnoticed. Otherwise, the commemorations of the six million people killed at the hands of the Nazis will have been in vain.
