Holocaust Remembrance and the Nature of Evil

Today is the day when Israel remembers the Holocaust, its victims and those who risked their lives to save as many Jews as possible from death. Tonight at Yad Vashem (the national Holocaust memorial and museum), a service took place in which the Prime Minister, President of Israel, and various dignitaries and religious leaders all took part. It was held in the square commemorating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, in which the Jews rebelled against their Nazi captors and fought them for a month before they were defeated and lead off to the gas chambers. The memorial is broken into two parts: the people being lead meekly to their deaths, and those who chose to resist and fight their oppressors. During the service, in front of the memorial to the resistance, 6 paratroopers stood as mute tribute to the fallen warriors and to remind the world that they were there to ensure that another Holocaust never occurs. Sadly, I was not able to go to this service because of classes, but we looked at pictures and video clips of past services. The International Date of Commemoration for the remembrance of the Holocaust is January 27th, the date Auschwitz was liberated. In Poland, the annual march of the living takes place, with survivors walking the road to Auschwitz to commemorate the walk of death, when countless Jews and other peoples were herded down that road to their deaths in the gas chambers. The walk is lead by the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, to remind the world that the IDF always stands between the Jewish people and the threat of another Holocaust. There is a famous picture, that I'm sure many of you have seen, of Israeli fighter jets flying over Auschwitz, to give the world this same message. Tomorrow, the memorial continues, with a siren sounding at 10 in the morning and lasting for two minutes. During the time that the siren sounds, everything comes to a halt. People walking on the street stop and bow their heads. Cars on the roads stop and people get out. The radio and television interrupt their broadcasts. The country shuts down, and everyone pauses. I will take part in this tomorrow, as Gentile and Jew unite in mourning a barbaric act of mass murder and hatred against an innocent people. A favorite literary character of mine, Dr. Mordechai, said "The problem with you Americans is that you don't believe in evil. Your nation cannot conceive that evil men will do evil things, while my nation was born out of the ashes of the Holocaust." He is right: my country, even after all we have faced, still cannot bring itself to believe that evil is present and at work in this world. Sure, some Americans have perceived its existence: Didn't President Reagan call the Soviet Union the "Evil Empire"? And didn't President Bush say on 9/11 "Today, our nation saw evil," and then go on to brand Iraq, Iran, and North Korea the "Axis of Evil"? But by and large, we just can't seem to make ourselves believe that there is an unseen force on this earth that makes men do the unspeakable. We hide from it by branding these dictators, tyrants, and others who do such despicable things as "unstable", "unhinged", "psychotic", and other academic terms, and no doubt those who commit such acts are all of these things. But there is more to it than that, something beneath the surface, that makes these people go beyond the usual acts of madness. I believe that evil exists, and is alive and well in our world today. What was Newtown, if not an incredible act of evil? What about Aurora? 9/11? Columbine? The list goes on and on, and yet we will still not face the truth. Remember that iconic scene in the Dark Knight when a disbelieving mob boss says to the Joker "You're crazy!" The Joker looks back and states quite calmly "I'm not. No, I'm not." And he was right; he wasn't. Something else drove him. As Michael Caine wisely said "Some men just want to watch the world burn." The Jewish people acknowledge the existence of evil; they've had to live through more evil dictators and evil acts of attempted genocide than any other people in recorded history. This country was founded out of the ashes of the most evil event in history. We all know the famous Edmund Burke quote: "All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing." We've all stood together at Holocaust memorials and shouted passionately "Never Again!" When the chips are down though, and when the next Holocaust looms on the horizon, as it does now, will we keep our word? Will we stand with the Jews this time? Or will we cower, and attempt to "Appease" evil, as Chamberlain tried to do at Munich? I do not know what the future holds, but I do know this: the lessons of history are brutally clear. Appeasement has been tried, and we all know of its result. Just imagine what might have happened if Chamberlain had said "No" at Munich? How different history might have been! I don't have all the answers, and I don't know what tomorrow will bring. What I do know is this: evil exists, it is real, and it has left a trail of blood across the pages of history. Joel Rosenberg said "To misunderstand the nature and threat of evil is to risk being blindsided by it." On this day, the memorial to the most evil act in history, let us acknowledge evil's existence, and resolve to fight rather than appease it.