Today is the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
A small group of survivors braved the bone chilling cold to remember and give a human face to the past.
And at the opening in 1940:
And how was it that men could do this? Because they had the power. The evil in their hearts could roam free. It was just this type of government that the Constitution was meant to prevent (“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.”-George Washington).
After the war, Germans were horrified at what they loosed on the world. Their protests were that this was not possible. After all, they were richly civilized people. They were the people of Beethoven, Bach, Handel and Goethe. Even Luther! But…
The best quote as a warning I can come up with today comes from none other than Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain)-“History doesn’t repeat itself. But it sure does rhyme!“
“It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt.” John Philpot Curran
