The huge Arizona sky is universally grey and has been so for
two days, interrupting its raincloud bursts only to permit a magnificent sunset
last evening which never ceases to amaze me. I am also astounded by the
attendance Thursday night at a book reading and this morning at a lecture
of so many people where the topic was the Holocaust.
The author of a book Two
of the Righteous Few is pulling in audiences of 50 and more at four venues
this week and 150 tried to attend a Holocaust survivor’s lecture at the
library. I didn’t get in.
I feel gratified that folks want to remember the atrocities
of the Holocaust; the author asked many World War II history questions to which
only the elders of the audience knew the answers, but there were people of all
ages present at the church. The library was full of adolescents who had been
given a school assignment to be present.
The key to survival is of basic interest which was revealed
by the questions asked of the audience. Indeed this is a question we ponder in
our lives daily. How do we cope with never knowing how long or how well we each
will live? What motivates us to persevere through losses of loved ones, through
disappointments in ourselves or in others? Do these folks have an answer to
these universal questions?
Basically we all survive serious catastrophe with luck,
being in the right place at the right time and with the loving assistance of a
few righteous people who risk their lives to help rescue the unloved, vilified,
even feared victims of discrimination and abuse. The sign in the New York
Subways says “If you see something, say something.” These folks who helped
Holocaust victims survive didn’t merely say something, they did something. They
protected people from harm by caring deeply for others.
If you see someone being bullied or abused or taunted,
especially someone who does not belong to your community, would you step in to
the rescue?
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