One man.
One man who wished to wipe an entire race off the face of the Earth.
6 years.
6 years of sorrow, suffering, torture and despair.
6 years of FEAR.
6 million lives.
6 million innocent lives lost in the most destructive war ever.
I think it is pretty clear that I am talking about the Second World War and the Holocaust.
No, I will not bring up a debate now. I believe everyone agrees that it is a dark period of human civilisation.
As it so happens, I watched Schindler's List today. It is the story of a man, Oskar Schindler, a member of the Nazi party who saved the lives of 1200 Jews during the Holocaust. He lost all his fortune in doing so but it earned him the good will of so many people. I realise that 1200 is a very insignificant number in comparison to the number of lives lost in the World War II. However, imagine the courage this man must have had to protect these people from one of the most cruel regimes of all time.
Oskar Schindler's story made me cry. At the same time, Oskar Schindler's story is a small glimmer of hope. It gives us the hope that humanity remains even in the cruelest of times.
However, the sorrow of the Jews is scarring. I have always held the opinion that the Holocaust is one of the most cruel events in history. I have read about the torture inflicted on the people and have tried to learn as much as possible about the war. However, watching this in a movie has left a profound effect on me. The fear, the terror, the agony, the desperation is something we should pray we'll never have to experience. They were driven to a point where they could go to any length to just survive. The trauma is something we will never understand and we should hope we'll never have to.
The World Wars, in my opinion, were wars with no victors. The humiliation and extermination of millions is inhumane and as the most evolved and intelligent species on the earth, we should ideally not commit such heinous acts. There needs to be a better world with no danger of war.

"Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts open."

Let it be so.