On Wednesday 27th January, IBDP Philosophy students celebrated the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust by attempting to answer the question, “What made the Holocaust possible?” from a philosophical point of view. In the activity, they searched for articles and texts that gave a perspective on the very different world in which the Shoah originated. Although we did agree that we are lucky to leave in times when we acknowledge human rights as universal and inalienable, we also concluded that “the cost of freedom is eternal vigilance”.
And yes, vigilant we remain and we shall remain.
They first came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
(Martin Niemoller)
