Why Liberals Really Don't Care About Genocide

Sam Bodell

April 9, 2009

An Inconvenient Exposure:

Why Liberals' Don't Really Care About Genocide

Although most people feel that genocide is an act of violence that cannot be tolerated, there are few that would be willing to put their lives on the line to stop it. In fact, there are many who are more concerned pushing an agenda or with talking points and propaganda than real acts of heroism and peace. I recently viewed a clip about a woman named Irena Sendler. This clip conveyed how Irena Sendler put her life on the line to help save thousands of children from being killed in concentration camps during World War II. At the end of the clip I learned that Irena was nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. She lost to Al Gore and the slideshow he made on global warming; a slide show based on propaganda, hidden agendas, and talking points that had nothing to do with real acts of world peace. While doing the research for this project I asked the question: Is the world ready to recognize real acts of heroism and peace, or are we addicted to talking points and propaganda?

In order to gain credibility, I need to explain global warming and what it is and is not. I will present information and facts, through research of my own, in order to debunk the claim that anthropogenic (human-caused) global warming exists. Fist, let me portray some examples of real acts of heroism and peace. Hopefully, by the end you should be able to draw your own conclusion as to whether or not you are one of those who are addicted to propaganda.

Oskar Schindle is a name that may ring a bell. The movie "Schindler's List" was based on his story and acts of true heroism. He was a brave man who genuinely cared about those around him, and knowingly risked his life to help rescue some of the victims of Nazi genocide. Dwight Furrow, author of many articles in American Philosophical Quarterly, said in one of his articles, "Schindler's Compulsion: An Essay on Practical Necessity", that "Despite enormous obstacles and at great cost and risk to himself, [Schindler] preserved the well-being and saved the lives of roughly 1,300 of his Jewish workers who were threatened by Nazi genocide. His actions are those of a moral hero..." (Furrow 209).

According to Furrow, Schindler was a successful German industrialist working in Poland during World War II. He was an important businessman and kept a good relationship with Nazi government and military officials. By doing so, it helped keep Schindler informed of the Nazis "increasingly repressive policies toward Jews, including the creation of the Jewish ghetto at Cracow (212).

Furrow continues to state that by keeping a good relationship with government officials, he is also given permission to hire Jews to work in his factories without having to pay them very much. But, when his Jewish office manager is taken by train to a labor camp, Schindler goes to great lengths to get him back. While doing so, he witnesses first hand the cruelty of how the Nazis were shipping human beings in railroad cars designed to ship cattle. Schindler then became suspicious of Nazi intentions (212).

According to Furrow, while Schindler was investigating the Nazi officials' plans, he witnesses Nazi guards brutally rounding up Jews and shooting those who tried to hide or didn't have the correct paperwork (212). Schindler states, "No thinking person could fail to see what would happen. I was now resolved to do everything in my power to defeat the system"(qtd. in Furrow 213).

In the article, "Remembering Irena Sendler", Joachim Wieler, a professor emeritus in the department of Social Work of the Fachhochschule at the University of Applied Sciences in Germany, tells a little of Irena Sendler's background. He states that Irena was born on February 15, 1910, and was an only child in a Catholic family in Poland. She later became a nurse and a social worker. Irena was not originally well-known as a social worker, but became so after she played a "vital, brave and very professional role in the rescue of 2,500 Jewish babies and young children from the Warsaw ghetto" (Wieler 835).

Wieler goes on to say that Irena Sendler and some co-workers were chosen by the contagious diseases department of the Warsaw Social and Health Administration to maintain good hygienic conditions in the ghetto. From there, she and her co-workers "secretly cooperated with the underground organization... in assisting Jewish families" (836).

Wieler states, when news of what the Nazis were doing to the Jews reached Irena inside the ghetto, she and her helpers started rescuing only orphaned children at first. Then, they started convincing Jewish parents and grandparents to let them take their children by explaining to them that they were going to be killed by the Nazis. One by one, Irena Sendler and her helpers were able to sneak the children past the Nazi guards. Then, they changed the children's names and placed them with Polish families or orphanages. Sendler made a list with all the real names and the new names of the children, put them in a jar and buried the jars in the garden. She did this so that she might be able to relocate the children after the war and tell them about their true identity (836).

Wieler talks about the many ways that Irena Sendler and her co-workers were able to smuggle the children out of the ghetto. He states that some were taken through the sewer pipes or other underground passages. "Other children were carried out hidden in a sack, a trunk, a suitcase or something similar, while others were hidden under a stretcher and taken out by ambulance. Still, others were actually ill or old enough to pretend to be sick, and they could be legally removed by ambulance" (836).

Wieler then states that on October 20, 1943, Irena was arrested and put in prison. She was questioned, tortured and given a death sentence; death by firing squad. Unknown to her at the time, the underground organization that she had been working with bribed the German executioner, and he helped her escape. She lived in hiding for the rest of the war and when it ended, she dug up the names, as promised, that she had hidden and began to find the children and try to trace living parents. Most of the parents, however, had been killed in death camps (836).

Irena Sendler was a courageous woman who was willing to put her life on the line to save the lives of thousands being victimized by genocide. Even after the war had ended and