The Holocaust claimed roughly between 11 and 17 million lives of innocent people, around a quarter of which were children under 15. They were starved, abused, tortured, and murdered for no other reason than others believed that their race was superior to others. The horrors that occurred during Hitler’s rule had been like no other ever seen. They were so terrible beyond anything the human race had ever experienced before, a new word was born. Genocide. The planned killing of an entire race or ethnic group. When Nazi rule came to end, and the world began to look back on the events that defined the Holocaust, they decided one thing. Never again. Never again would man repeat the horrors experienced in World War Two. But now in the African country of Darfur, “never again” is happening today.
A genocide against mainly Black Muslims is currently occupying Darfur. The Janjaweed, or “devils on horseback” use methods in the genocide such as rape, displacement, mass murder, and starvation. Already, 400,000 have been murdered, and 2,500,000 more are left homeless. Had this not been bad enough, the Janjaweed are not only practicing, but focusing their torture on youth: get rid of today’s youth, get rid of tomorrow entirely. And do the Janjaweed have a reason for carrying out this torture? Any kind of an excuse for the genocide? No. Nothing but the want for a lighter skinned society. In other words, racial superiority. Sound familiar?
How can we let the what happened less than 70 short years ago repeat itself today? Can any human being truly look at what is happening overseas and think that just because this is all far away on another continent, we really do not have the moral commitment to help? Darfur needs an ally now more than ever. I think this is rather ironic. In almost every school there is a unit on tolerance based off the Holocaust, and kids will hear that famous quote “never again” over and over as they look back on the horrors that unfolded during World War Two. They will shake their heads at the terrible deeds and wonder how something so unjust, so plain cruel could even happen on this Earth. Most of them will never forget the things they learned about how horrible the Holocaust was. But what they will or won’t remember isn’t what’s most important. What they don’t know is that an almost exact repeat of the Holocaust is happening today. People here, in America, need to know what is going on overseas. No human would look at what is happening in Darfur and be able to just forget. Darfur needs an ally. If we could educate ourselves on what is happening to Darfur, we could get the resources to end it. And maybe this time we’d make sure “never again” stays that way.
~Brenna Reach
