Holocaust writing contest: Second and third place high school division winners

Sophomore Sicily Hawks, of East Valley High School, took second place in the the 17th-annual Eva Lassman Memorial Writing Contest with her essay, “The New World and its Old Ways: The Holocaust.” Sophomore Laina Harless, of East Valley High School, took third place with her essay, “The Cost of Indifference.”

‘The New World and its Old Ways: The Holocaust’

Indifference is a killer. It feels much easier than speaking up or taking action, but it can lead to terrible things. Even Holocaust survivor and activist Elie Wiesel says, “Of course, indifference can be tempting – more than that, seductive. It is so much easier to look away from victims. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person’s pain and despair. Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless.” One of the biggest examples of how indifference can be the line between life and death is the Holocaust. Many countries, specifically the United States, knew what was happening in German-occupied Europe but turned a blind eye because they didn’t want to get involved for one reason or another.

In America, laws were created for immigration that were biased and prejudiced. Although these laws weren’t only affecting Jewish people, they were especially harmful to them since Jews were seeking refuge in the United States from Hitler. The United States was only accepting a certain amount of immigrants and it was excessively difficult to obtain a visa. In 1943, reports of the everlasting extermination of Jews were being sent to the State Department so they could be passed on to American-Jewish leaders. Later in February, the State Department of the United States ordered that these reports be no longer accepted by the Swiss legation. As a result of this order, crucial information about the slaughter of tens of thousands of Jews was cut off for eleven torturous weeks (America and the Holocaust: Deceit and Indifference.) As a result of everything going on, the United States decided to meet for a conference with Great Britain in Bermuda to create plans to rescue Holocaust victims. Instead of creating these plans, the two nations were more focused on discussing what to do with the Jews they had rescued by then, showing what was happening in Europe was not one of their top priorities. Instead, the United States and Great Britain were more worried about not altering their immigrant quotas. At the end of the conference the press was told “significant progress” had been made despite there being no real progress. In hopes of forcing President Roosevelt to form ways to rescue the Jews in Europe, groups such as the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe held pageants, rallies, and created advertisements. Even though so many people were trying to push for higher immigrant quotas, the government wouldn’t budge. This meant millions of Jews were slaughtered because they weren’t able to make it to the safety and freedom that the United States said they would provide.

Not only was the United States not providing safety, citizens were inspired by Hitler and actively creating anti-Jewish groups. Specifically, German-born Fritz Kuhn created a pro-Nazi group called the German-American Bund, which was also called the Friends of the New Germany, after he became an American citizen in 1936. This group consisted mostly of Americans of German descent and even received guidance and money from the German government. Other than strongly admiring Hitler, they were anti-Semitic, heartily anti-Communist, and made great demands that the United States stay neutral in European conflicts. Youth camps run the same way as Hitler’s, along with propaganda such as magazines, brochures, and organized demonstrations, were some of the things carried out by the group. The activities of the German American Bund frequently led to clashes and even street battles with other groups, particularly with the Jewish veterans World War I. The German American Bund was working closely with anti-Semitic Father Charles Coughlin and his “Christian Front.” The actions of this group caused a great deal of fear among Jewish-Americans in a place that was supposed to be safe for them. Eventually, the German American Bund was investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee, and it was found they had ties to the Nazi government. Consequently, Fritz Kuhn was convicted of embezzling and was sent to prison with several other leaders sentenced for various other offenses in the following years (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.)

As of today, one of the biggest causes of indifference is the normalization of discrimination and oppression. Having these things be so normalized leads to things like the Proud Boys (a neo-fascist group that believes “6 million wasn’t enough” in reference to the amount of Jews killed in the Holocaust) being formed and anti-LGBTQ+ protests. Normalization of anti-Semitism was one of the biggest helping factors in the Holocaust. I feel that the biggest thing we can do to combat indifference is recognize that what is happening should not be happening and realize that we should not be so desensitized to everything. Recently, on March 31, our school received a threat against the queer and trans students. Nothing could be done about the threat itself (other than the offenders being arrested) besides closing down the school; however, on April 12, our school’s GSA (Gender-Sexuality Alliance) held a resource fair to help give support and a safe space to those who felt targeted by the threat or don’t have a good support system. In my more personal experience, some of my family members say some racist things and I have to tell them it is not okay and try to explain why. It is difficult, and I struggle sometimes, but they will know I don’t support what they think. This raises a new problem, though. You can speak up all you want, but that can just tell people not to talk like that in front of you, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will stop thinking like that entirely. The best way to combat this is to cut them off completely, which can also be difficult but shows you don’t support their ways of thinking. Another great way to get away from indifference is to offer support to people who experience it. Show them that you care and that they are safe with you, especially since not having someone to speak up with you, or even for you, can make you feel lonely. If you see something, say something. If you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem.

‘The Cost of Indifference’

When I think of terrible events in history, the first thing that comes to my mind is the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a devastating genocide in which over six million Jews were killed mercilessly for no reason other than their religion. They were forced by the Germans to live in the terrible conditions of the ghettos, overcrowded and fearful. Many Jews were deported to concentration camps, where families were brutally ripped apart, people saw things that no one should ever have to see, and it was common to go mad to get the tiniest bit of bread. It was, as the word genocide suggests, an unending stream of death, flowing furiously like the burning river of the underworld in ancient Greek myths, scorching a horribly tragic mark on the history of the human race. Death was present in the rancid smoke that rose from the chimneys of the crematoriums, permeating the senses of the hopeless prisoners who weren’t even sure if they could still think of a reason for living. It was also present in the death marches, where anyone who fell out of formation was shot, and anyone who stumbled was trampled to death. In all of this endless death, which would haunt the survivors for eternity, one of many questions arises: Wasn’t there someone there to help them? The answer, while complicated in its entirety, can be summed up in a statement: Not as many people as there should have been.

In fact, our very own United States of America, which is supposed to be the land of liberty and equality, turned a blind eye, and it continued to turn a blind eye for far too long. Our government, which we would expect to protect people from such horrors as this, refused to let nearly enough Jews immigrate here. Jewish people—not just people, but loved ones, family members—waited for a seemingly endless amount of time to be allowed to go to America, to be free of the constant fear. Sadly, despite their patience, many of those Jewish people ended up being deported to concentration camps and killed, all because America was too selfish, stubborn, and often downright anti-Semitic to aid them in their time of need.

Our people, the American citizens, who we’d hope to have the virtue of empathy for their fellow humans and the bravery to speak out against the wrongdoings of Hitler and his Nazis, did no such thing. Of course, some took action, and some did speak out, but not enough. The majority of the American population would have rather pretended the problems never existed. At the time, 94% of Americans said they disapproved of the events taking place in Germany, but 70% of those same Americans also said that they should not let the Jews immigrate to America (Burns). And so, while Jews and other minorities suffered devastating loss and destruction, Americans went about their days, ignoring the small tidbits of Holocaust information tucked away in the unimportant pages of their newspapers, and possibly even hating Jews because of the propaganda and misinformation they’d been fed. 

A large part of that misinformation was owed to the president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In fact, not only did he spread misinformation, he censored real information as well. Roosevelt had been warned about the mass killing happening in Europe, yet ordered the suppression of the information, despite his Jewish friend Stephen Wise’s urging to make it public knowledge (“American Experience”). He and the State Department purposefully stopped the flow of both information and Jewish people into the United States. Roosevelt instead focused on enacting the Neutrality Act of 1939, ignoring the pleas from Jews who had been rejected from a very anti-Semitic Cuba. His lack of action caused the massacre of Jews and separation of Jewish families to continue longer than it would have if he had come to their aid.

Just like the government, far too many groups in America opposed the immigration of the Jews. One group in particular, the America First Committee, represents the concept of indifference particularly well. It was a group of isolationists—people who support ignoring the problems of countries other than their own—led by Nazi sympathizer Charles Lindbergh. A very famous aviator, Lindbergh had visited Germany three times by invitation. He admired Hitler, and though he didn’t approve of his extermination of Jews, he definitely did not support Jews or feel sympathy for them (“Lindbergh Accuses Jews”). Lindbergh was disgusted at the arrival of Jews to America, saying, “A few Jews add strength and character to a country, but too many create chaos, and we are getting too many” (qtd. in Burns). 

When war broke out, Lindbergh strongly opposed the Neutrality Act of 1939, Roosevelt’s Lease-Lend Bill, and any other actions the government took to help with the war effort or helping the Jews. Lindbergh thought America should have nothing to do with the war. Remaining neutral wasn’t enough in his opinion; he didn’t even want America to supply the countries fighting against Germany, saying he didn’t care who won the war. He then formed the America First Committee, which gained a large following due to his fame, and had about 800,000 members and 450 chapters (Burns). Lindbergh believed that the Jewish suffering was not America’s problem, supporting ignorance and indifference toward the Holocaust. On the radio, he said, “We must not permit our sentiment, our pity, or our personal feeling of sympathy to obscure the issue, to affect our children’s lives. We must be as impersonal as a surgeon with his knife” (Burns). Using his fame and influence to promote apathy in the general public was a horrible misuse of power. He had no problem with leaving the Jewish people to die horrendous deaths without batting an eyelash.

People like Lindbergh, advocating for hate-filled and apathetic causes, still exist in present times. Anti-Semitism, racism, terrorism, sexism, and many more terrible movements specifically target groups of people or result in needless killing. The fact that these still occur today is devastating to consider, and general hesitance to acknowledge bad things happening is why so much ignorance still exists alongside the hate. The world is in turmoil because many people don’t listen to one another without judgment. There are also things happening in other countries that we in America are severely uninformed about. We often don’t know enough about the suffering of other parts of the world because we are trapped in our own little bubble of media and drama.

One thing that really resonated with me when I read Night by Elie Wiesel was when his father died of dysentery, slowly losing all of his body’s functions until there was nothing left of him. I experienced a similar trauma when I lost my own father to cancer. It was an absolutely horrific experience, to see the deterioration of a man that I loved and admired so much happening right before my eyes. I would never want anyone else to have to experience that. My dad’s death could not have been avoided due to the nature of the cancer, but in Wiesel’s father’s case, all of his pain and suffering wouldn’t have existed if the Holocaust had been stopped. In the future, preventing this from happening is imperative. Change starts with educating yourself about subjects before making assumptions about other cultures or minority groups, and spreading kindness and empathy where you can. Make sure you are inclusive to everyone, no matter their skin color, religious beliefs, gender identification, sexual orientation, or political beliefs. The world does not need to be as divided as it is; it would do us well to stop causing more problems and focus on the ones that already exist. If you find a cause that speaks to you, don’t hesitate to help out by donating or volunteering. In honor of Elie Weisel’s father, and all of the other people who died or suffered during the Holocaust, we must never forget what happened, and we must work diligently to make sure it never happens again.