We currently live during the equivalent of the Holocaust.

And we have no idea of it.

In the depressing and persistent waves of crisis, there is one not many people seem to be aware of: North Korean prison camps. Usually when one thinks of North Korea, nuclear bombs, hunger, and the chubby pre-pubescent looking dictator come to mind. However, prison camps that have lasted twice as long as the Soviet gulags and five times as long as the Nazi concentration camps remain excluded in the game of word association.

In these far away prisons we don’t know of, Koreans are sent there as punishment for political crimes such as making outside calls, listening to a pop song, or creasing a picture of "the Great Leader." The punishment of political crimes are applied up to three generations of the perpetrator's family. In other words, if you had committed the crime; you and your spouse shall rot in prison, your children will grow up in that prison--if they survive-- and your children’s children will be born in that prison.

In these far away prisons we don’t think of, real people are starved to the point where they must hunt for snakes and rats for food. Some are made to race on cliffs for food while the guards stand back and laugh when someone falls to their death. Some die from diarrhea, from being forced to eat clumps of soil and grass.

In these distant prisons that are rarely mentioned, women and men are forced to have sex in order to breed children. Those children are taken away at birth and never see their parents again. If a mother’s infant cries, a guard will punish the mother by making her hold her child under water until the bubbles stop. Women are raped, children and adults are tortured and beaten until they vomit blood, some are forced to work in the mines while others are human experiments.

Bodies pile on top of the other. Those who survive look at their deceased friends and feel nothing when they see rats eat their eyes, nose and ears, because they have become numb with terror and pain.

This is the tip of the iceberg.

Why in all of these heinous atrocities against humanity have we not acted yet? The argument that "North Korea has nuclear weapons and does not cooperate with the United Nations, therefore making our hands tied militarily and politically" is certainly a valid one. Yet even in the overwhelming evil, we can still act. The grimness of an issue never excuses us from the responsibility of protecting and standing up for humanity. If we cannot act with weapons or great world leaders, we can act with information and words. The greatest weapon in history is information. Let’s use it and spread the word. We can either stand aside and fail humanity, or fight evil.