Growing up WWII and the Holocaust were never big topics in school or at home.
It wasn't until I read the "Diary Of Anne Frank" a few years ago that I learned some details about Nazi Germany, and the holocaust.
The beginning of 2010 I found myself searching for something that would make sense of life, and myself.
I came across some very general holocaust statistics, and they shook me to the core.
I had known the stats regarding 6 million "Jews" as it's always eloquently stated, but there were others, like the 14 million "non Jews" and the additional 30 million others who died during WWII.
The Holocaust of WWII wasn't the first case of genocide, the Armenian genocide of the late 1800's and the murder of 4000 Polish pow's by the Russian government in the early 1900's came first, but the scale of the WWII holocaust is beyond anything history has ever seen.
I have become obsessed with learning every detail about WWII, the holocaust, and genocide...I've watched over 300 Documentaries, read dozens of books, and countless articles searching for answers.
It really boils down to Racism, Nationalism,"Living space" and HATE. Religion has been used as reasons for many wars, but WWII was almost devoid of religion...There seemed to be a total absence of God, and religion during that time.
The Vatican was VERY MUCH Nazi sympathisers, and assisted in many war criminals resettlement after the end of the war. Italy, having been under the rule of fascism played the same dirty hand that Hitler did. Mussolini and his regime were guilty of many atrocities before and during WWII that history wants to forget. Mussolini was just as guilty as Hitler and Stalin no matter how anybody wants to look at it.
There was something in the air back in the early 1900's that everybody seemed to be infected by. I often wonder what I would have done had I lived during that time.
Today, we are all effected by what took place during WWII... It changed the world in such a large way, and so many people lost their lives, that it is impossible to imagine how the world would be today if it never happened. I can tell you, it would be VERY VERY different.
God was always there, even in the darkest times, but when you have so many horrible things happening, it's hard to see anything good.
Life is a stage, and a school for humanity, and we all want freedom, and individuality, but we also want God to appear anytime we find ourselves in trouble???
We can't have it both ways...
Learning about the Holocaust, and the bravery of the many people who fought for freedom, and liberation has changed me, and the way I think, and feel forever.
I am humbled, and more realistic about my life, and the world around me now.
There is so much that still needs to be done in this world to further unite people, and prevent anything like that from happening again...But also, we must ALL know the horrors that 50 million people faced, and never forget there suffering.
People, no matter their race, or nationality, sex, sexuality, or beliefs, are all equally important. This is ultimately the lesson we ALL NEED TO LEARN, and ACCEPT, if we don't, it will lead to our UN-doing.
If we have a repeat of WWII, it will be for these reasons, and that is why we all must change. We all must stop the hate, and discrimination at every point, and every turn. We have to be loud, and equally accepting of everybody without exception. This is the only way we can save the world.
Do you want to save the world? Do you want to change the world?
Start by knowing where you came from. Change starts with each and every one of us.
