Rescuers

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One of the reoccurring themes in events involving human atrocities is that of rescuers. Ppl who tried to help, assist or successfully rescued victims of the atrocities & made all the difference for who was a victim or survivor.

The most numerous examples documented are probably of those ppl who assisted jews during the Holocaust in Europe. But there are also the stories of those who assisted in the Underground Railroad etc.

It may sound simple..."hiding" someone in your home or helping someone on their run to freedom or helping someone to escape certain death @ the hands of a fascist gov't but it wasn't .

If something like the Holocaust or an attempt to reinstitute slavery were to happen in your lifetime, do you think you'd be a bystander? or a rescuer? even if it meant your own life was in peril?

Why or why not?
 
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Well I think we'd all like to say we would be a rescuer, but until we're faced with the situation, we probably don't really know. I do know that I think it's important that the people with the ability to protect others should do so.

:)
 
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Good point
I'll admit that I had the perception that germans in general were complicit or bynstanders in Nazi Germany but i learned during studies in college (& still discover more details w/ reading today) that wasn't necessarily the case.

there WERE many bystanders, many of these ppl have since said that they just assumed the nazis were a ridiculous "craze" that would go away & they didnt realize by not speaking up or paying attention, that they unwittingly cleared the way for "the end of the world" (as one german was recently quoted).

but the rescuers in germany & around europe...the stories (beyond Miep Giess & Osker Shindler) really do show that ppl will stand up & do the right thing in times of true terror.

There are stories similar when it came to slaves escaping plantations via the underground railroad to the north or even to canada.

Knowing myself as I do, I dont believe I could be a bystander if something like this were occurring in my lifetime. I don't know how I could live w/ myself knowing that I could have helped or saved someone that I knew was in danger & did not.
 
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My maternal grandfather hid Jews in the attic of his house. He didn't tell a single person, not even my grandmother because he knew that she were to open the door and the Nazis were there, she would not have been able to lie. She wasn't a liar.

If something to that effect happened in my lifetime, I would hope I wouldn't be a bystander. I like to think that that same rescuing spirit my grandfather had is now in me. :)


That said, we could look at this differently. What if we see somebody on the street being bullied? If we knew that after that particular event, the person who was bullied were to commit suicide we would. I have the good fortune to have not witnessed any bullying outright but I'd like to think that if I were to have seen something like that, I would step in. Realistically, though, I probably wouldn't. Why? Because I'm 5'0" and I wouldn't want them to start bullying ME. Right now, I'm selfish that way I'm sorry to say. :(


That said, I would love to be a rescuer but most likely I'd just be a selfish bystander. :(
 
Screen Legend said:
My maternal grandfather hid Jews in the attic of his house. He didn't tell a single person, not even my grandmother because he knew that she were to open the door and the Nazis were there, she would not have been able to lie. She wasn't a liar.

If something to that effect happened in my lifetime, I would hope I wouldn't be a bystander. I like to think that that same rescuing spirit my grandfather had is now in me. :)
Click to expand...

wow. what became of the jews your grandfather helped?


That said, we could look at this differently. What if we see somebody on the street being bullied? If we knew that after that particular event, the person who was bullied were to commit suicide we would. I have the good fortune to have not witnessed any bullying outright but I'd like to think that if I were to have seen something like that, I would step in. Realistically, though, I probably wouldn't. Why? Because I'm 5'0" and I wouldn't want them to start bullying ME. Right now, I'm selfish that way I'm sorry to say. :(


That said, I would love to be a rescuer but most likely I'd just be a selfish bystander. :(
Click to expand...

That part i highlighted is actually what i was thinking about when i spoke about myself. I HAVE been in this position where I broke from the group to stand up for someone being bullied. This person was bullied...ABUSED. It's terrible to me how ppl think its okay to treat someone like that but its something we've all seen or perhaps experienced in our childhood.

It's NOT easy breaking from the group to stand up for the victim against ppl who truly don't see why what they're doing is wrong. for me it was infuriating that more ppl didnt see why the need to help the person was the right thing to do, but I couldnt wait for them. I had to do what I felt was right before it was too late. I actually got into a FIST FIGHT @ one point when things came to a head but @ that point I was not backing down.


& YEARS after highschool, I encountered the person whom I defended & they THANKED ME, telling me that they never forgot my kindness & protection. they told me that my help was one of the reasons why they didn't kill themselves in our junior yeare of highschool.

i was shocked & moved to tears.

there are ppl like this everywhere & for everyone we read about in the news, there are many others who die b/c they had no hope, no support from ANYONE not even their family.

sorry...i just get kind of passionate about this & that's why i feel that I would be a rescuer rather than a bystander.
 
I have stood up for others when no one else really cared to do so, but then again the only thing i really "risked" was my rep (not much to begin with either) so it's not really compareable.

Im suspecting that i would try do my best to protect and do what would be right, but i can't really say that that's how it would be for sure.
 
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