Holocaust Memorial Day Service criticizes apathy in past, present [P]

04/17/07 - Hillel and about 25 members of the University of Rhode Island community remembered the Holocaust with poetry, songs, readings and comments from Alice Goldstein, who experienced the anti-Semitism of Nazi Germany firsthand.Goldstein, a professor emeritus of sociology at Brown University, shared her memories of becoming ostracized from the small village community where her family had lived for two centuries. Goldstein had lived in Germany until she was 8-years-old.

When Goldstein recalls the pain of seeing neighbors' doors and hearts closed against her and other Jewish people, and the closing of her family's store, she said she was struck by the apathy of people around her.

"The overarching fact of my family history in Germany is the silence of those around us who saw what was happening," she said. "There were so many homes where we had been welcomed with open arms, until Hitler came and the doors were closed and there was silence."

Goldstein said this silence was the main factor leading to the success of Hitler and his agenda.

"The silence and acquiescence was a key element in allowing Hitler and his Nazi compatriots to do what they did to so many people," Goldstein said. "The silence of Germans and the world at large should be an enormous lesson to us in a world where there is still too much killing."

Goldstein immigrated with her family to the United States a week before World War II began.

Hillel Director Amy Olson also spoke of the importance of active protest. She said the Holocaust serves as a constant reminder of the tragedy that can occur if people refuse to break the silence.

"There's a very famous quote that those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it," she said. "That is why it is important to keep telling the story."

Part of the service focused on the current genocide in Darfur, and those that occurred in Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia and Armenia. The service highlighted the importance of individual protest, rather than turning away and trusting politicians to sort the issues out.

"It's interesting to see how after the tsunami and after Hurricane Katrina there was such an enormous outpour of people rushing to help, sending money, who really from the bottom of their hearts wanted to make a difference," Olson said. "People tend to be more active following a natural disaster, but in man-created disasters for some reason it is harder to step up for what is right."

Olson said she has experienced this, occasionally writing letters to congressmen or signing petitions, but never really stepping outside her comfort zone to stand up for her beliefs.

"Manmade disasters are just so overwhelming," she said. "You just don't know what you could possibly do to stop these people. It's easier to send $3,000 for a boat for someone in Indonesia than try to change the way people think."

Hillel member Jacob Holzmann also spoke of the dangers of apathy, however he said it is important to remember not everyone was silently compliant during the Holocaust.

"The Holocaust is not merely a story of destruction and loss," he said. "It is a story of an apathetic world and a few rare individuals of extraordinary courage."

Holzmann, a freshman, also highlighted the importance of celebrating Yom HaShoah, a day of Holocaust remembrance.

"How a community remembers its past is the single most important element in determining its future," he said. "Therefore every year on this day we come together to remember the individuals, families and communities unjustly taken from this earth in order to retell their stories so that this will never happen again."

Tomorrow Hillel will plant a "Field of Flags" on the walkway between the Multicultural Center and the University Library. More than 2,000 flags will be planted in the ground in honor of Holocaust victims, as well as another 80 flags to remember the victims in Darfur.