'Peace upon earth!' was said. We sing it,
And pay a million priests to bring it.
After two thousand years of mass
We've got as far as poison gas.
-Thomas Hardy


"Holocaust,” word of Greek origin means, "sacrifice by fire." Hitler and the Nazis were not only executing innocent lives by burning them alive with fire, but they used any way that they could think of to exterminate anyone who was not perfect. For example, the first to be killed were people with disabilities; most of the people who were killed were Jews, about 6 million were killed. For such a slaughter, it was shocking to me that they were able to keep it a secret until the end of the World War II in 1945. Hitler took power in 1933.


After World War I, there was the Great Depression all over the world. Germany and its allies were being punished for the losses of the war. The Germans were forced to pay a debt and give back the land they had taken during WWI.
This put Germany in a greater depression than the rest of the world, this opened the people of Germany up to a new dictator, Adolf Hitler, who offered what they thought were greater possibilities. Hitler’s book Mein Kampf published in July 1925. Was written when he was pacing in his prison cell capturing his own opinion of who was to blame for Germany’s loss in WWI. When Hitler got out of prison, he was able to convince the German people that Jewish people were to blame for the loss of WWI. The people of Germany believed him, some truly and some through fear. From then on, Hitler, the Nazis, and the German army were able to imperialize several other counties, some of which just surrendered through fear for their own people. By that time, Hitler was making further plans of someday ruling the world, and conquering communism from the Soviet Union.
Towards the end of the war, Hitler was recovering from a chlorine gas attack; he had heard that the German government had surrendered. He soon committed suicide by shooting himself after taking a cyanide pill. In his last will, he stated that he and his wife at the time were committing suicide and they wished to be burned right after they were dead.
In harsh economic times like these, now and in World War II, there are the people who care not only for themselves, but for other people as well. Then there are the people who just want to control or exterminate those who they think are liable for something almost impossible, and will stop at nothing to make sure that their target is hit. We as a people should always remember the Holocaust, as a series of tragic events caused mislead people, but as reminder of what just one man, like Adolf Hitler, can do, next time a man made tragic event happens, Hitler, will not be the reason.
One person can change the result of history, not just in a bad way, but in the positive perspective. Now that does not mean that the richest man in the world can divide most of his money among hunger charities. No, there is not enough to go around helping everybody, but it is the little things that really matter, that make a difference.
Like for instance, a few years ago, my English teacher read the class a folklore story, about an old man walking along a beach picking a starfish and throwing it back into the ocean one by one repeatedly. Then the person telling the story finally asked him, why he would go through all the trouble and not be able to help all of the starfish on all the beaches. Then the old man answered him holding a starfish, “I make a difference for this one,” throwing it back into the ocean.
It only takes one man, such as Hitler, to change the minds of others and persuade them to blame a particular religion for something that could be hard to believe from an outside perspective. That one person can put a target on any specific group of people who are innocent, like people who are high school dropouts, or even homeless people. How would it feel if you were part of a group who was separated from society?
In the cold bitter winter, there are people that feel sorrow for others that they don’t ever know. Have you ever seen somebody do something very caring for another unknown person? What would you do if you saw somebody sleeping by a tree? As you can see with this situation, there can be many different outcomes. You could just walk on and act like you never saw them. On the other hand, another possibility is, you could cover that person with a blanket through the goodness of your heart, or, if you don’t have a blanket on hand you can give them money, or give them food. You just have to show that you care, which could give them hope to carry on strong and try one more time to get a job and get a roof over their head, and some food in their mouths.

A few years ago, I saw a similar thing happen on a very cold night in January. I was on a band trip to Denver. I and a few other girls’ were on one of the upper floors in the Holiday hotel. We were all having a great time, when we looked out the window, and we saw a bundled up man resting on the sidewalk across the street. Our joy was ruined, we felt bad for the man, and we thought, that there was nothing we could do to help the man. Soon we realized that somebody else felt bad for the man as well.
That other person brought out a large pizza to share with the homeless man. When they were finished with the pizza, the man went back inside the hotel. Then the man went back out to the homeless man with a blanket and they both shared the blanket for the rest of the night.
When I feel that I have been greedy, I always think of that moment of someone caring for another in the dead cold of winter. After a while I came up with a saying, “when life gives you greed, feed it sorrow.” Now, when I feel that I have been greedy, I just think of my saying so I can avoid being greedy.

As it says in the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights,” yet, after it was written, there are still people who dislike any religion but their own. That does not mean that there cannot be peace on earth, that all men women, and religion can get along with one another, without exchanging blows, fighting over our their differences and their beliefs.
What would you think of the world if every person was all the same, blond hair, and blue eyes and was said to be a perfect race of people? The world can still have peace between all the various kinds of people and every religion, to have harmony on this wonderful planet, instead of a dry place full of hostilities and military competitions between other nations.
In order to accomplish this mission of making the world a better place, which seems like an impossible task. No, that does not mean that you have to change everyone to the same religion and beliefs, or make everyone communist, those ideas would just start another conflict that we don’t need. It is little things can make the big differences, people can change the way they view, and think of, diverse people. All it takes is opening a door to anyone, to make them feel like they are appreciated; and then when they feel that you have changed their lives completely on the positive side, they can give you the same kind of respect you deserve for opening that door.