Using what the Germans did is not intended to be a typical example of how mentally handicapped people are treated as part of the healthcare industry's approach, or the strategies taken by schools and other institutions under whose care emotionally troubled people have been placed. But it serves as an example in the sense that any mistreatment of mentally troubled citizens is a crime, not just the murderous bloodletting that the Nazis engaged in.
LESSON # 5:
Hatefulness, prejudice, bias and discrimination based on religion, culture, gender or skin color is wrong and this message must be forcefully presented to the world's populations. One of the most dramatic lessons that emerged from the wreckage and rubble and lost lives in the European theatre of WWI is that without strong moral leadership, unbelievably evil things are allowed to take place. Indeed, the necessity for strong political and social leadership worldwide has never been more urgent, in terms of the vital needs of the underdogs of the world. When this paper uses "underdogs" the reference is to all those who are powerless to protect themselves. That includes the people of Darfur, the people who suffered in Rwanda, those slaughtered in Kosovo by the Serbs - and all humans who suffer needlessly because of oppression at the hands of corrupt or incompetent leadership.
Whether it is discrimination...
Certainly, the Jewish people as a culture have survived the Holocaust. Millions of individual Jews however did not survive, and were part of the stain of this genocidal madness. Their sacrifice must never be forgotten or pushed aside in any way.
Meanwhile, the phrase used by the Nazis to justify killing the Jews was, "The Final Solution," as if there was some compelling reason to murder more than six million innocent people. There probably will never be a "final solution" in terms of fairness and justice for people who are in the minority, who are hungry, who have HIV or AIDS, who otherwise are being pushed from their homes or terrorized by ideologically-inspired factions. But there should be an ongoing attempt for a humanitarian "final solution" in terms of the world's people and their most pressing needs: nutritious food, clean water, shelter, health care, and the freedom to live, work and worship as each individual wishes.
Works Cited
Spitz, Vivien. Doctors from Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans.
Boulder, CO: Sentient Publications, LLC, 2005.
