Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Miep Gies
Miep Gies died yesterday at the age of 100.
A good friend, who is Jewish, once asked/assured me, "If we were living in the Nazi era, you would have hidden us, wouldn't you?"
The long pause before I answered was disconcerting, I'm sure.
The glib, easy answer is "Yes, of course I would." The difference between right and wrong is not usually so easy to discern.
But sometimes doing what is right takes incredible courage. Giving a glib, easy answer does not consider the sad fact that during the Holocaust, the number of people whose courage failed them vastly exceeded the number of people who, like Miep Gies, did what was right. To be honest, my courage has sometimes failed me for lesser things.
Consider how, when 9/11 had us so scared, we went so crazy. I had an employee who trembled with fear because she thought some pocket lint might be anthrax.
Politicians became cowards. They'd say things like "9/11 changed everything," and "My opponent has a pre-9/11 mindset." Interpretation: "I'm so scared I have lost my ability to do anything but react in fear."
Now consider the fear level with Nazi troops marching through our neighborhoods.
Giving the glib answer does not sufficiently honor those who said "Yes, of course I will hide you," when it was not a glib, easy answer at all.
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2 comments:
I think that was the same friend who sent an insurance agent your way after thirty seconds of interrogation about who he could contact. I would think twice about hiding him too.
We both know who he is. Thank you for hiding his identity in your post.
Well, Moshe, I guess the cat's out of the bag.
Of course, now that my potential for hiding Jews has been broadcast on the internet, my house will be one of the first places they look.
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