It's almost amusing how often university courses overlap, providing a multifaceted account on an event or concept. In my Comparative Politics class we examine the institutional and political structures that drive events in varying countries. Recently we've analyzed the path that Germany took prior to WW1 and WW2 in its struggle to modernize and number of prerequisites German citizens undertook before succumbing to Adolf Hitler's hypnosis. Around the same time I was unraveling these series of events, I had the opportunity of hearing Agi Geva, a unbelievable Holocaust survivor speak of the same events through the eyes of someone labeled an enemy of her own state.
According to Geva, until March 19, 1944, "We were still very happy, not even dreaming of what would come." Just as President Hindenburg could not fathom the threat that Hitler presented as Chancellor, even those whose trust in the government remained shaky would not believe under they and their families were placed in some of the most desolate and dangerous places ever to exist.
Bravery and resolution characterized Geva and her family, careful not to appear to be together thereby running a greater risk of being torn apart; she, her sisters and her mother faced the surrounding threats together. Meanwhile, in the motherland, German Aryan citizens were forced to brainwash their consciences into believing in these unfathomable crimes. Professors and local police were replaced with Nazi supporters and parents watched as their children's worlds revolve around the Third Reich and its values.
"Everything was gray," Geva recounted as she remembered her experience entering Auschwitz. Stripped, shaved, tatooed and virtually naked, she and the remaining victims were deprived of every liberal value: their dignity, equality, and freedom to pursue happiness. Humility and devastation was all that remained, and for what purpose? To unite the German people after a massive economic recession following a devastating loss in the first world war? Or to satisfy one power-hungry man's need to control the lives of millions of innocent people.
Living in absolute uncertainty, Geva and her family were forced to cooperate with whatever was assigned by the Nazis that guarded them. never knowing if one day they would be free or if Germany would actually win the war and this would remain a reality forever. Waiting for foreign soldiers to rescue them, unable to keep account of which countries were even fighting for their freedom. Trips to and from Auschwitz to work on a number of projects eventually led to Geva and her group's escape and rescue. Although devoid of all human rights, she could not surrender her dignity. Geva remembered, "We were so dirty, so thin, so weak, so ugly, no hair. I didn't even recognize myself so I bought lip stick. I thought it could help."
One year after her nightmare began, Geva and her family resumed life. Freedom should not be decided by someone who sits in a large building in the capital of a country pointing fingers at who should live or die. Freedom is an innate human right that should be protected by one's government, never to be at risk. Listening to Geva's story makes me swell with gratitude and humility. Had any one of us been in her shoes, who is to say we could have handled these events or more importantly their memories.
