A NEW BOOK FOR YOUNG READERS

The Holocaust was a time — now over 80 years ago — when people were very mean to the Jews in their communities…only because they were Jews. 

The Jews weren’t stealing. They weren’t destroying anyone else’s property. They weren’t hurting others. They were just Jews, living their lives…but the powerful German chancellor during the 1930s, Adolf Hitler, told the German people that getting rid of the Jews and others—including homosexuals, Jehovah's witnesses, Roma (gypsies), and others who openly disagreed with him— would make their lives better. Millions of people were convinced that they too should join him in his hatred of Jews. And they did.

While it is true that this all started in Germany, this idea of "Jew hatred" spread throughout the area of the world known as Eastern Europe. Soon, it became clear that the Jews of Eastern Europe were not safe anymore in their own homes and communities. Hitler's soldiers, called "Nazis", were destroying Jewish businesses and synagogues and burning Jewish books. They were forcibly removing Jews from their homes and placing them in small, walled-off sections of cities called "ghettos." Often up to 3 or 4 families would be forced to live in one small apartment together. There was little food, water or medicine for them in the ghettos. Life in the ghettos was horrid. People became ill and many did not survive.

When Jews became aware of what was happening to them, many tried to flee to other countries to protect themselves from what was happening around them. Some did make it out safely, but others were not so fortunate. Placing the Jews in ghettos made it easier for Hitler and the Nazis to deport millions of them to concentration or labor camps—where they suffered terribly and where millions perished. 

But you know what? There were some non-Jewish people who did not like what was happening to the Jews. They thought that treating the Jews so badly was terrible. Many thought, "What if what is happening to the Jews was happening to me and my family? We would want someone to help us!" So they did some pretty brave and amazing things to help their Jewish friends hide from the people who were being so cruel to them.

It wasn’t an easy thing for them to do because anyone who was discovered to be helping the Jews could also be treated just as badly as the Jews themselves. They knew that, but they helped anyway. What amazing, courageous people!

But here's the thing: Not everyone who disliked what has happening to the Jews was willing to help. These people were simply bystanders. 

A bystander is anyone who sees bad behavior or terrible things happening to other people but does nothing about it. They don’t help at all. They just watch silently as terrible things happen to others. That is sad.

But remember the people who were brave and risked their own safety to help the Jews? They were Upstanders.  And they were really great people.

An Upstander is anyone who sees these awful things happening and decides to step in and safely do something to help. For example, if you see someone bullying another person, you can speak up to help stop the bullying and then comfort the person who was bullied. That’s being an Upstander, and that’s a great thing.

It is important for us to remember what happened during the Holocaust so we can make sure it never happens again. We can do that by becoming Upstanders right now.

That’s the great thing about being an Upstander. Anyone can do it! Many people have been Upstanders before, but perhaps they did not know that their acts of kindness made them Upstanders. You might already be an Upstander! If you are already an upstander, thank you for helping others in difficult or troubling situations.

There’s one more thing you can do: Talk to others about what it means to you to be an Upstander. That will make others want to be Upstanders too. And that’s the very best thing any of us can ever be.