“You will not be a victim. You will not be an executioner. Above all, you will not be a spectator.” (Berenbaum)Would you save other people's lives if you lost your own? Many people who were faced with this question during the Holocaust remained bystanders, while very few had the courage to put everything on the line to save others. As the Nazis terrorized others and erased their freedoms, others became spectators and accomplices of the Nazi Party. The Holocaust; an attempt to cleanse a country of its impurities, to create a master race, and to create a perfect civilization in a country of discrimination and hostility. A time of suffering for many, a time of hiding for others, but for most it was years spent watching genocide happen in their country, in their community, among their friends, their colleagues and their neighbors. Very few offered help to their desperate friends, instead they went on with their daily lives ignoring the tragedy unfolding around them. Those who helped gave all they could to protect those who suffered against the resulting crimes. Hitler's rise to power in 1939 marked the beginning of the Holocaust. It all started with the loss of Jewish rights, for example Jewish-owned shops were boycotted and Nazi books written by Jewish authors were burned. Jews also had to be easily distinguishable by wearing the yellow Star of David. They were not allowed to serve in the military, and the Jews were eventually stripped of their German citizenship. The first act of dehumanization imposed on the Jews was the movement into the ghettos. Life in the ghettos consisted of overcrowding and dirty living conditions; the ghettos became the beginning of the Holocaust experience for Jews. Fr...... middle of paper...... story. Such genocides could have easily been avoided if people had not looked the other way and remained silent. “Of course, indifference can be tempting, indeed, seductive. It is much easier to look away from the victims. It is much easier to avoid such abrupt interruptions to our work, to our dreams, to our hopes. After all, it is embarrassing, annoying, to be involved in another person's pain and despair." (Wiesel)When they asked you if you would save the lives of others even if you put your own life in danger, would you remain silent and indifferent? Would you choose to be a spectator of violence and terror and turn a blind eye? Or would you have a say and be involved? Would you make an attempt to push back against devastation, destruction and dehumanization? You would refuse to witness the death and discrimination of your closest friends, neighbors and family??