Auschwitz can happen anywhere

Auschwitz is synonymous with the cruelty of the human race itself. It is fascinating to see how simple humans can become beasts. Auschwitz was an effective factory for mass destruction.

Anyone who still believed in the good in people was wrong here. This ran through families. While my maternal grandfather belonged to the SS, my paternal grandfather as a persecuted communist fled to Moscow, where he received political asylum.

In May 1945, he entered the Red Army against the German Wehrmacht in Berlin. Many Jews became atheists after Auschwitz (like Albert Einstein or Fritz Haber before), because they did not believe in a god who allowed such mass murder. Others who never had faith before became real Jews.

One wonders how it is possible that people could do something like it to other people. And once it happens, it can happen again — anywhere in the world, because people are easy to manipulate.

As a German, I am aware of my responsibility and I am ashamed of Auschwitz, but as a scientist and realist, I am only too well aware that it can happen again anywhere. Because among all the beasts, humans are the perfect predator. Sad but true.

JÜRGEN SCHÖFER, PH.D.
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