When I first learned about the Holocaust in elementary and Hebrew School we were given a horrific image. One of the world's most well known greatest acts of genocide committed against an entire religion. Millions upon millions dead throughout Europe as Nationalism and Fascism rose. While this all occurred for most of the genocide the United States of America stayed silent. We played no role in fighting Nazi's until we were bombed on December 7th at Pearl Harbor. Two years this atrocity had been taking place and our country stayed silent, refusing Jewish refugees into our country, shutting our doors while my ancestors continued to perish with no help in sight. When I learned about this in my early childhood education, I had to think how this happened. How did the holocaust get so much neglect and no attention from a super power like the United States. We say never again when in reference to the Holocaust, but as 2016 comes to an end we have forgotten. We have forgotten the cities, the men, women, and children. We have forgotten the people of Syria, and the war that still continues to kill innocent people daily.
When all is said and done the death toll of this war has reached close to a million people over the course of what is now five years and counting. one of the most iconic aspects of this war are the refugees. tens upon thousands of people have fled Syria looking to relocate. Greek islands take on thousands of people crammed into boats simply trying to flee the country every day. Hundreds have drowned attempting just to get to safer lands. Hospitals in cities such as Aleppo continue to be bombed by all sorts of military forces every day. There are 10 times the amount of bodies and injured people than there are doctors. Limbs and arms blown off, air strikes killing children, the definition of hell has made home in a country thousands of miles away and we have used the privileges we have as citizens of the United States to ignore this modern day Holocaust.
Over this summer a picture was posted of a little boy sitting on a hospital bed gerny. He was pulled from the rubble of an entire building that had collapsed on him. While he was sleeping. His family was most likely dead, and he was pictured alone. A true causality and a reality of this war we have the privilege to ignore. This boy, who looked no more than the age of 4 or 5 doesn't understand peace. He has been born into the only hell he knows. Violence, blood and death is the only environment he has ever grown custom to. Every day as a country we continue to not let refugees into this country, another day a similar young boy will die or have his family killed in an airstrike or gun battle.
We freak out as Americans at just the very thought of letting in 10,000 refugees into our country. Whether you agree or disagree, we are complicit in this genocide as a country. Syria's Holocaust has raged on for the better part of 5 years. We didn't intervene when Bashar Al-Assad dropped chemical weapons on his people, we didn't intervene when thousands of Syrian's fled and drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, but all of a sudden when rebels start burning children in cages and executing women in the streets of Aleppo we all burst into anger and voice our privileged American outrage.
