I Will Not Sit Back And Do Nothing
My grandma and grandpa were in Siberia after suffering through a Bolshevik pogrom around 1918-1919. They were strong, and they were lucky as they were able to flee the harsh winter conditions and brutal anti-semitism. After having a baby in Poland, my father, the three emigrated to America in 1923 on a White Star ship, the same company that had built the Titanic a decade earlier. My grandparents forged the foundation I would come to be nurtured under. I never told them thank you for their strength and for creating our beautiful family, but they knew how much I loved them. Today, because of them, I will not sit back and do nothing in the face of tyranny.
I will not.
My mother’s parents fled the Ukraine in 1918 with children in tow after WWI. The next four years were spent in Havana, Cuba before they eventually emigrated to America in 1922. Bubbie and Zadie started life over in Cleveland with their four children until they passed in the 1960s. Though I was a teenager, I was too young to understand the hardships they went through as they lived that life, and I never thanked them for creating the family they so cherished after fleeing oppression, or for raising my beautiful mother who, though deceased, shares my heart to this the day. Because of them, I will not sit back and do nothing in the face of tyranny.
I will not.
My mother-in -law and father-in-law were born in different countries, Czechoslovakia and Poland respectively. They lived what I believe to be a relatively normal life in relatively large families until Hitler took power, who then ran roughshod over Europe. While many in their family perished at the hands of the Nazis, my in-laws were lucky. They were taken to concentration camps where they suffered yet miraculously survived. After meeting in the last of many camps they were ushered to, and after liberation, they eventually married, had a baby, then emigrated to Cleveland, and raised a beautiful family, including my gorgeous and loving wife. I thank you, dear in-laws, for loving me like your own son. And I’m sorry, Sidi and Ben, for never sitting down with you and documenting every detail in your life, but I know that would have been too hard for you to relive. And today, because of them, and the memory of every person that perished in the Holocaust, I will not sit back and do nothing in the face of tyranny.
I will not.
My father fought in WWII. He shipped out in October of 1944, and was in the Ardennes Forest December 16th when the German army attacked at dawn. So it was that he fought in the Battle of the Bulge, where Hitler’s last gasp attempt to win the war failed. By May of ‘45, the Fuhrer was among the 20 million that were dead. Dad and Mom raised 3 sons with all the love a child could ever hope for. Though many kids have said it, I truly had the best parents a kid could ever have. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for your love. And thank you, Dad, for your service. I’m sorry I never told you that when you were alive, even though you knew how much I idolized you, how much I respected you, how much I loved you. Because of his strength, because of what he instilled in me and my brothers, I will not sit back and do nothing in the face of tyranny.
I will not.
My uncle, my Dads’s younger brother, fought in World War Two as well. He found himself in the Belgium Ardennes Forest that same December winter night when Hitler’s troops attacked. His fate was different than his older sibling, however. He was captured by the Germans, becoming a POW for about six months. If it hadn’t been for the bravery of the commanding officer in his stalag, my uncle would have been shot along with other Jewish soldiers. I never told my uncle thank you for your service, but he knew how much I admired him and loved him before he died 8 years ago. Because of my uncle, and the memory of all the veterans of every war that fought for American freedom, I will not sit back and do nothing in the face of tyranny.
I will not.
I am not unique. Every living American has their own history that brought them to where we are now. It could very well be that the divide we find ourselves in today has its roots in our ancestry. Those of us opposing Trump’s push to authoritarianism and tyranny are in touch with our past. We know the difference between good and evil. It lives in our DNA. It lives in every breath. I do not pretend to know what happened to the other half of the country that see’s Trump as a living god rather than the evil, narcissistic, self-absorbed hate monger that he is. I’d be willing to bet they too had a wonderful heritage, but somehow developed a disconnect along the way.
I will not lose hope, however, that most of the people backing Trump will be able to rekindle their connection to the past before it is too late. I will not lose hope in the face of tyranny.
I will not.