Be an UPSTANDER NOT A BYSTANDER! These were the words from Oscar, a Holocaust survivor, to the students at Desert Ridge Junior High.
He told them about respect and having respect for everyone, including your enemies.
Oscar was born in Germany and was seven years old in 1932 when Hitler's rise started. He spoke about his normal childhood with friends and school and how all of a sudden everything changed.
He told about how his family moved to Poland and he learned Polish and then Germany invaded Poland and everything changed. He shared what happened when he had to start wearing the Star of David and how his tranquil life changed as bullies went after them. The powerful part to me was how he shared about the "bystanders" just watching and not getting involved and that bystanders are the worst.
It was an amazing 90 minutes. The kids were listening and were very touched. It was obvious.
The year that we lived in Germany in the late 70's, I was able to visit Dachau, which was a concentration camp near Munich. It was so sad and disturbing. I actually could feel the evil there. It is hard to explain what that felt like. The only other time I felt evil at a place was when I went into the drug tunnel in Douglas in the early 90's. Both were evil in very different ways. It is mind blowing to me that something like this could have ever occurred.
The year that we lived in Germany in the late 70's, I was able to visit Dachau, which was a concentration camp near Munich. It was so sad and disturbing. I actually could feel the evil there. It is hard to explain what that felt like. The only other time I felt evil at a place was when I went into the drug tunnel in Douglas in the early 90's. Both were evil in very different ways. It is mind blowing to me that something like this could have ever occurred.
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