“You are my witnesses,”declares the LORD,”And my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He. Before me there was no God formed, and there will be none after me.
— Isaiah 43:10
This wall sits at the entrance to the Holocaust Museum. The scripture is from the Old Testament, a scene God consoles the exiled Jews while assuring them that their faith is not misplaced. As an outsider, I can imagine no time where a people’s faith in God, in humanity, is tested more than World War II. Not only for the Jews, but for people in general.
I have an unnatural fascination of World War II. It stems from my fascination with humanity in general, why we are here, why we do what we do. Having spent most of my twenties struggling with religion, I finally settled on being agnostic, a compromise between my desire for faith and disdain for monotheism. The power of faith has created empires and toppled them, whether that faith was in a man, a god, or an idea. It has united strangers into families and made enemy of fathers and sons. Many will argue that religion has brought more destruction than good to the world, but perhaps humanity would not have survived and flourished without the help of a common belief that bound them to one another. Today, being Jewish is as much (or more of) a cultural identity than religious one. Perhaps for many, it’s no longer because they bore witness to God’s power, but because they bore witness to the Holocaust, that unites them today.
Today people are losing faith in God. True, the vast majority of people still identify with a religious group, but religion has declined as an important aspect of people’s lives. There are so many distractions in the world today, and so many other ways to find common ground, from the food you choose to eat to the pop star you choose to follow, you no longer have to attach yourself to a church to belong. Back in the days when people lived in one village with one pastor, life was simpler — at least you have pretty clear guidance in terms of living a good life. Today, there’s so much contradictory information, it’s so much harder to decide which one is true and choose which one to follow, many people just choose to “follow their hearts.”
Except we are not good leaders. Left to our own devices, we are often selfish, lazy, undisciplined. We want to choose the easy way out and only plan for the short term. Sometimes those people are called optimists. Later many of them will be called failures. While it’s true that we can’t see too far into the future, it does help to look at the past. Studying the past is how we learn to not make the same mistakes, both in our personal lives, and as a people. Another reason why I’m fascinated with World War II more than any other wars is because its recency led to a plethora of documentation that makes it difficult to ignore or change the facts. It is unfortunate that plenty of people still try.
I believe a second layer of meaning to the quote of the Holocaust Museum is meant for those of us who are not Jewish. We are all witnesses to the history.
There was another wall of words that never left my mind. It was the famous poem by Martin Niemöller:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
I guess this is why I find it difficult when people I know and love speak so nonchalantly about the inequalities we see in the world today. If we bear witness and choose to ignore what is happening in the world, does it really mean we are innocent? We may not be able to do much, but is it right to do nothing at all?
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