//Annabelle Kiely, Cami Fowler//

Jack Adler, a 90 year old Holocaust survivor, speaks to people about his experience with mankind. At Vista, he specifically targeted the Sophomore Honors English classes. Instead of being lectured on the importance of commas and literature, students get to experience a speech built around life lessons and the importance of respecting one another in the face of insurmountable odds. Jack Adler is a Holocaust survivor and he’s determined that the horrors he faced never happen again.

“Mutual respect is the key to the survival of the human race,” Adler said as he spoke about the dangers of racism and bigotry. “No matter how we identify ourselves we are all part of one race … the human race”

Adler preaches the same ideology we’ve been hearing since elementary school, treat others as you want to be treated, but the context of the Holocaust sheds new light on the old phrase. Not only applying to the playground bullies, but to the bullies of the world.

“The worst bullies are the ones with a following,” Adler said.

The biggest bully of the Holocaust, Hitler, especially fits with this phrase for Hitler was indeed a man with a following. Citizens were convinced to abandon their previous lifestyles and devote themselves to fascism. Fear and brainwashing led to hundreds of good German people becoming Nazi soldiers because they thought they were supposed to and believed that if they didn’t they would be putting their family’s life on the line, but thousands more joined the fascist movement because they were afraid for different reasons.  Afraid of people who were different. And especially afraid of people who overcame those differences to be more successful members of society than they would ever be.