Читать книгу The Courage to Care - Carol Rittner - Страница 6

In those times there was darkness everywhere. In heaven and on earth, all the gates of compassion seemed to have been closed. The killer killed and the Jews died and the outside world adopted an attitude either of complicity or of indifference. Only a few had the courage to care.

These few men and women were vulnerable, afraid, helpless—what made them different from their fellow citizens? What compelled them to disregard danger and torture—even death—and choose humanity? What moved them to put their lives in jeopardy for the sake of saving one Jewish child, one Jewish mother?

These few evoke our profound respect and wonder. They challenge us to ask ourselves questions. Above all—Why were there so few? Was it that perilous to oppose evil? Was it really impossible to help? Was it really impossible to resist organized, systematized, legalized cruelty and murder by showing concern for the victims, for one victim? Let us remember: What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the opppressor but the silence of the bystander.

And what of ourselves? What would we have done? Would we have had the courage to care? Who knows? We can only hope that our humanity would not have forsaken us.

In remembering the Holocaust we must not be numbed by the magnitude of its horrors. We must allow ourselves to be moved by the humanity the victims succeeded in preserving at all times. And we must humbly and gratefully look at these few individuals who, out of their religious beliefs or their humanistic education, with a simple gesture, often acting on impulse, became our protectors—better yet: our allies and friends. Each and every one of them is a reminder of what so many others could have done, of what so many others did not do.

Let us not forget, after all, that there is always a moment when the moral choice is made. Often because of one story or one book or one person, we are able to make a different choice, a choice for humanity, for life. And so we must know these good people who helped Jews during the Holocaust. We must learn from them, and in gratitude and hope, we must remember them.

“Remember that it is easy to save human lives. One did not need to be heroic or crazy to feel pity for an abandoned child. It was enough to open a door, to throw a piece of bread, a shirt, a coin; it was enough to feel compassion... In those times, one climbed to the summit of humanity by simply remaining human.”