Time is running out. Fewer and fewer individuals that were old enough in World War II are around. Steven Spielberg in his Shoa project, together with Yad Vasehm in Israel have been racing against the clock to tape and interview as many Holocaust survivors as they could find. This pinnacle of human cruelty must forever be studied and dwelled upon, as our only hope for a non-repeat. For this purpose of comprehending how it could happen, we also need to talk to those who carried it out, or cheered and encouraged those who did, and even talk and interview those who did not care too much when it happened in front of their eyes. These three categories of people are as old as the survivors. And their stories should be recorded and captured in maximum detail. It may be time to grant everyone involved immunity from prosecution for the price of a candid account of what went in their mind during those years of unprecedented horror.
Steven Spielberg — I have no way to reach you directly — so I call upon you via these lines: complement your great work of documenting the survivors with documenting the perpetrators. It would be nice if a German source will take up this initiative. There is not much time to think about it. The people and their stories are dying every day. The lesson from the Holocaust should be upheld now and in every day to be.
Gideon Writes 