I read the news today, another group of Syrian refugees was detained in Eastern Europe perhaps about to be forced back to near certain death in their home country. Other countries are creating more restrictions and added reasons to say no to helping.
Those who stand against the refugees claim the risk is too high.
The pictures before you are old but they are the same, the same as many we see now, children from Syria with looks of innocence, and like before we reject them again.
If you don’t immediately recognize the picture that’s probably because you haven’t seen it for a few years, the last time was when you read her book in school “The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank.
What not many people realize is she and her family attempted to get Refugee Visas to the United States and other countries to escape Nazi Germany, they were rejected. The reasons almost identical as today, security and safety and the simple desire of not wanting to get involved.
Otto Frank, Anne’s father made appeal after appeal, in one letter he wrote to the USA “It is for the sake of the children mainly that we have to care for. Our own fate is of less importance.” But if fell on deaf ears, then like now it was easy to turn your back on those in need when you could use fear to quantify your loss of humanity.
The Franks were eventually granted Visas to Cuba, but 10 days later Nazi Germany declared war on the USA, and with American political pressure the visas were cancelled.
The family went into hiding, eventually captured by the Nazi’s and sent to concentration camps, Anne would die there at just 15 years of age.
Her diary became mandatory reading material when I grew up, it was the first book to move me to tears. I could not understand then why a young girl, the same age as me had to suffer so, I still can’t understand that.
I wonder today as we see more deaths of beautiful young children how many Anne Frank’s we are losing, or Albert Einstein’s. Could we, by our own greed and avarice be losing a future scientist who finds the cure for Cancer, or the mind that discovers energy sources that don’t pollute the word. Or great artists, musicians or simply great friends.
What miracles are we losing as we turn our backs.
I wonder if Anne were alive what she would think today?
“It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
