COMMENTARY
Stop, think about effects of hatred

By Mary Catherine Lennon

Those words, spoken by Holocaust survivor Nesse Godin during a presentation at Kamehameha Schools recently, brought home to me the pain and suffering she and other Holocaust survivors were forced to endure more than 60 years ago.

For a teen living in the 21st century, the Holocaust can seem almost surreal.

An inconceivable number of lives were lost. Six million Jewish people were killed; mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, cousins, friends. It is unfathomable.

Adolf Hitler's government planned and organized the killings of all the Jewish people. Everything was taken from them i their belongings, families, names, lives.

People were brutally killed. In addition, Godin said that in the work camps, "the labor was so hard. They didn't have to kill us there; we died of starvation and diseases."

Millions of lives were lost because of hate and ignorance.

Survivors such as Godin travel the country, sponsored by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., to tell us of the horrors and scars that remain after more than a half-century.

I'm not sure young people today can ever know and understand the horrors faced during the Holocaust.

Teens are much like their parents — so busy that I'm sure, for some, the Holocaust is something rarely thought about.

It took place so long ago, and many consider it very unlikely that something so extreme and tragic will happen again.

But how do we know?

News about fighting and killing in the Middle East fills newspapers, magazines and television in today's world.

Yet, it still is almost impossible to conceive all that is going on. In Iraq, Afghanistan and other war-torn countries worldwide, people's lives are being taken from them for no justifiable reasons.

And how often do we actually stop and think about these people?

I still wait naively for the day the entire world will live in peace. Yet, a vision of a peaceful world seems to drift further and further into a realm of fantasy and false hopes, and it will remain this way until more people begin to act, working to achieving peace.

Until then, history will probably continue to repeat itself. If we don't want to experience anything even remotely close to the Holocaust, we must work at bringing positive change to the world.

Godin was close to my age when she was taken from her home. I can't even begin to conceive of such an upheaval, let alone the pain she endured for few years that followed.

However, I never want to forget her words because they represent everything that people should never have to face, everything that should be banned from human existence.

"We chose to remember, but not to hate," said Godin.

If she, who was so viciously mistreated, has the courage to reject hate, shouldn't we all? Shouldn't we all work to erase the hate that seems to have so much power in our world?

Godin once made a promise that if she survived, she would "tell others what hatred and indifference can do."

She, and other survivors like her, choose to share their experiences with others, in hopes that they can inspire people to make a better world.

It is so important for people to learn about the Holocaust and realize the extent of harm that hatred can bring. People must realize that hatred takes lives, and find the strength to act toward a better future by rejecting it.

Most of us can't travel to foreign countries in hopes of relieving suffering, but we can work at achieving peace here at home.

Speak out when you have the chance, get involved in community service. Become "political" and work to change bad laws. Become more aware of social issues around you, and write letters to politicians. Above all, be kind to others. Our world is in desperate need of kindness, love and peace. Let the strength and moral courage of Holocaust survivors like Godin be an inspiration to us all.

Mary Catherine Lennon is a junior at Sacred Hearts Academy. If you're a teen and would like to speak out about issues, trends, pressures and perceptions teens deal with, submit an article or topic to Island Life Assistant Editor Dave Dondoneau at ddondoneau@honoluluadvertiser.com.