At the moment the serpent seduced Adam and Eve into their fall, man became capable of the greatest good and the greatest evil. With the knowledge went the capability, and since then man has demonstrated time and time again that it is more in his nature to be evil than good. On the one hand, people could produce high culture, magnificent artwork, fantastically subtle literature. On the other hand, they could sink to a barbarism which would put the animal kingdom to shame.

It is almost impossible to imagine that six million Jews were killed by the Nazis during World War II. The number alone is difficult to visualize, but that one part of mankind could so devastate another is unthinkable. So, we have some people who deny that it ever happened, that all of the evidence is part of some giant hoax to defraud the German people. This is the kind of thinking which facilitated the Nazis’ plan. As Jews were being taken from their homes in Berlin, German civilians stayed indoors, shut their windows and curtains so they wouldn’t see and hear, so they could deny, at least to themselves, what was happening. But by systematically ignoring what could not be ignored, these people did not cleanse themselves of guilt but only became guiltier.

That is why, although it is painful to remember and to go over the images and the accounts of what happened during the Nazi reign of terror, Jews are determined never to forget and never to let the world forget. Other victims of massacres in the name of purity, racial or ideological, do not have such a clear voice. We do not hear nearly as much about the Cambodians who were slaughtered under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Stalin’s purges will never obtain as much infamy, nor will the Chinese cultural revolution. The decimation of entire civilizations in South America and of indigenous populations in North America are almost forgotten. Either these people live under a government which will not let them remember or they are extinct or in such small numbers that no one will listen to them.

In this respect, the Jews have filled a role which no one else quite can. They have been victims and they can speak openly of their victimization. We must continue to listen to them because they tell us of our dark side, that side which is evil beyond even what we can imagine. And when I say “we”, I mean all of us, each individual. Although each of us likes to say that in such situations he or she would never be capable of such horrific thoughts, let alone acts, such things have happened time and time again in every type of culture and civilization. The Nazi genocide only marks high point in systematic, undiluted racism.

Why is it that many people would rather die than become cannibals in a situation of complete starvation, but under certain political situations feel justified in killing millions of people? The difference is that in the latter case, people are moved by ideas, by abstract notions and theories, such as racial purity, perfect agrarian socialism or communism, the destiny or superiority of one way of life over another. Somehow we are able to see some people as less than human and thus expendable. The movement is swept along by the belief that everyone else thinks that it is true, so it must be true.

The belief that life can be perfected here on earth has justified any amount of “temporary” cruelty. The belief that one part of mankind has all the right answers and is the sole keeper of the truth has led to mass murder, in the name of Christianity as well as Nazism. We must learn that there is a difference between thinking that you are right and trying to make the world over in your own image.

The Jewish people have become the beacon of our conscience. Without them, the world might sink back easily into forgetfulness. Even with their reminder, systematic racism, abuse and torture continue. But without their voice, the victims of this world would lose their last, and only real champion.