Curiosity killed the cat

An Auschwitz Alphabet

I'm taking a class called Literature of the Holocaust this semester. I think that's why I read this site from start to finish when I stumbled upon it. The class is maybe half over now, and I have already been exposed to the raw horror that the human species is capable of in more ways than I would have imagined before now. More than just a survey of history or literature, I have stood up as another witness to what goes on worldwide: Bosnia, Rwanda, Sudan, and elsewhere. It has hit me in the heart that the politics of denial do not belong to the right or the left. There is no political policy that bolsters one who would launch a reversal of killing outside of economic or specific political interest.

It is up to us.

Each individual is responsible for paying attention when the slaughter is proclaimed. We can write letters, in force. We can try our very best to show our elected politicians that they too are accountable. Those with the means can speak up with money or advertising.

I have come to the conclusion that the blame for genocide rests on the heads of each and every individual the world over who stands by and does nothing just as surely as it rests in the hands of every militia man wielding a machete.