On Thursday, October 27^th, I attended the seminar on Holocaust Studies and Happiness, which is part of the MAHG Lecture Series. The speaker was the Dean of the School of General Studies, Dr. Jan Colijn. It was incredibly fascinating to ponder the concept of whether intensely examining the Holocaust on an everyday basis makes one depressed, but his argument was that all of the faculty in that department are very good-humored people. He also inspired his audience to step up and get involved in anti-genocidal movements. One example of this was a girl in the times of the Holocaust who shot a Gestapo member in the head to save the lives of the Jewish refugees that were hiding on her property. That is an extreme act of taking a stand against genocide, but it is still a touching account. It causes one to feel the need to step up against menacing oppressors who prey on innocent victims.

Perhaps that is why those faculty members and countless others study the Holocaust and other genocides; not to stop genocide completely, but to help improve the world one little step at a time. Every person counts in this ongoing battle. Another woman the Dean mentioned had grandparents who were Nazi sympathizers. After a few weeks of studying the Holocaust, she risked losing her witnessing job as she told her manager that his entire kitchen staff was making anti-Semitic remarks. Knowledge in genocidal studies brings about a unique kind of grit, the stuff that true heroes are made of. These everyday people are consumed by the injustice that those victims have faced and have longed to do something, anything to help them, even if it is really small and seemingly inconsequential. These kinds of people are who I admire, and I hope that I will be able to make even the slightest difference for the good of others. The real benefit of this lecture came not from the ultra credit I received for attending, but rather in the inspiration to minor in Holocaust and Genocide Studies in my time here at Stockton.