Though the exact number of lives taken by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust will never be known, their record-keeping was scrupulous enough for us to make a fair estimate. Upwards of 17 million people were systematically murdered in ghettos, labor camps, and death camps, among them over 6 million Jews.
Since World War II, there have been over a dozen large-scale genocides perpetrated by both terror organizations and governments, some of the latter being sitting members of the UN. Of all these many acts of unspeakable evil, the UN establishment has not meaningfully intervened in a single one, despite the efforts of many principled people under its command.
Such actions which have been taken to prevent these atrocities can be credited only to individual countries, private organizations, and the personal integrity and courage of men and women making the decision to place justice and honor above politics.
In the end, evil is not stopped by governments. It is stopped by the actions of individuals who face injustice and say, “No.” Those actions begin in the little moments of goodness and integrity that we live in our daily lives – acts of compassion, justice, and courtesy that can be as small as wishing an unpleasant coworker ‘good morning’ or giving up your seat on the bus.
The habit of integrity is built in the little ways we live our lives and the tiny battles of right and wrong that we fight in the privacy of our own hearts. These serve as our proving ground so that, when we are faced with great evils, choosing to do good is as natural as breathing.
There will always be wolves in the world. Train yourselves in goodness, so that, when the wolf comes to the door, whether yours or your neighbors, you will be the sheepdog.