We tend to look at history through a lens of self-righteousness.
I grew up a thirty minute drive from Fort Breendonk, a military fort that was converted into a concentration camp during World War II. I didn’t walk through its gates until I was twenty-three.
In my defense: when is it a good time to visit a concentration camp?
Never.
Breendonk was unsettling. I walked in with my camera, determined that if I were to violate the privacy of a place where so many gave their lives, I would try to create something meaningful from my pictures.
This week we have celebrated the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. When the soldiers came in and uncovered some of history’s most unimaginable horrors. We proclaim “never again” and wonder why people didn’t do something.
“Never again” has not arrived yet.
As I came to the end of my walk around the fort, I was full of the knowledge that I am no less guilty than the people who lived in the farmhouse across the road and could see the cattle cars coming in.
When we talk about concentration camps we all pretend like we would have done something. We are a generation that lives vindicated in our distance from the tragedy.
I spent most of my undergraduate studies examining the Democratic Republic of Congo. A country that has been wrapped in violent conflict for years, the death toll there now approaches or perhaps exceeds the number of people who were lost in World War II. Whether it happens in a camp with gas or in a village with a machete, people are still dying. Millions of them.
They’re not the only ones. We think about places like Syria and Somalia when they make a headline, but then we let them settle back into that place in our brain with all the other things we would rather ignore. Instead we focus on what TV shows are available for online streaming, or what adorable crafty creation will make our desk look that much better.
There is abundant goodness in the simple joys of life. I’m not arguing against them. I am saying if we are honestly going to dismiss ourselves from the burden of guilt of those who built places like Breendonk, we must work to destroy those places in our world today. We must toil to dismantle the fortresses of darkness and evil.
That evil comes in many forms. It’s true, you can’t fight all of them, but you can start with one.
We all have time and money we waste. Next time you face a choice to use your resources for something that doesn’t matter, consider investing in something that does.
An easy first step is to become more informed. The internet gives us access to loads of information, often presented in fun, digestible pieces. Maybe instead of streaming an entire season of your favorite show, go look up some TEDtalks or see what documentaries PBS is offering online for free.
You may not agree with every ideology or process of these organizations, but they are doing you a great service by providing you with a ton of free information about the world. Don’t waste your privilege on Netflix.
There are tons of organizations around the world doing amazing things, and they need your support and encouragement. Places like Convoy of Hope are reaching people in crisis and creating sustainable support. You could start feeding a child through their FeedOne program. Or you could partner with Compassion International to provide access to education and other essentials for children all over the world.
If you do a search for churches, schools, and food banks in your area, they are always looking for volunteers as they support the disenfranchised in your community.
Tonight I watched the first part of “A Path Appears,” a documentary in three parts that is airing on PBS (you can also stream it for a limited time). The first installment is all about sex-trafficking in the United States. What amazed me the most is how many young girls could be saved from a horrible and traumatic life if someone in their community would reach out in love before a pimp does.
The title is based on the idea that hope is like a path appearing in a field. At first there is nothing there, but as more and more people keep walking in the same direction, a path appears.
My act of watching this documentary tonight is not going to end sex-trafficking. Your donation to an organization will not end world hunger. However as more of us walk this path of redemption, we can have an effect on the world.
I hope Breendonk continues to haunt me. I don’t think we can honestly say “never again” about our world, but I hope those words keep ringing in my life, keep pushing me to fight injustice when I feel lazy, to help the oppressed when it is inconvenient and uncomfortable to me.
While the Breendonks of our world still stand tall, our work is not done, and it comes in all shapes and sizes. There are bastions of despair in your own backyard. Go find them, and don’t let the people imprisoned inside slip away before you try to help.
May future generations not look back at the tragedies of our time and ask why we didn’t do something.