Moral Fibre

Edwin’s nerves were totally on edge and the last thing he needed was to hear rabid racist remarks from his own sister — although problems with Lucy were nothing new. Amanda would sing for joy, if he told her he’d thrown Lucy out of the house for good. Yet a part of him also believed a churchman ought to be patient and forgiving.

Then again, there was a time for anger, too, and a time for righteous indignation. A time to say “enough!” Hadn’t Christ had been angry with the moneylenders in the temple? With this thought, Edwin turned to Lucy and asked in a voice that set the air to vibrating with righteousness, “Did it never occur to you, Miss Lucy Reddings, that one objective of this war is to stop people being persecuted for their race? The Russian reports about Auschwitz Concentration Camp have exceeded even the worst rumours — all those allegations we dismissed as ‘propaganda’ and ‘exaggeration.’ What the Nazis have been doing is nothing short of genocide. They have literally been trying to exterminate the entire Jewish population of Europe.”

“Well, it doesn’t surprise me that the Germans are capable of atrocities,” Lucy replied in a know-all voice. “I’ve known what the Germans were like since the last war. I don’t know why the rest of you are so shocked.”

“There is nothing inherently ‘German’ about these atrocities, you fool! They are the product of an ideology, an ideology founded in hatred, racism, greed, and grievance wrapped up in nationalist colours. You can change the wrapping to match any national flag — including our own — and the results would be same!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Lucy protested hotly. “The Germans are the ones who have committed these crimes, no one else.”

Edwin ignored her. “What Auschwitz represents is the power of modern technology to magnify the effects of hateful ideology to unprecedented dimensions. Auschwitz is nothing less than industrialised murder, mass-produced murder! The issue is that people — regardless of what nationality they happen to have — are capable of such gross inhumanity. What Auschwitz represents is the systematic murder of people simply for being. And before you try to change the subject,” Edwin’s eyes bored into his sister, “your remarks about ‘coloured’ people are the genesis of such policies! If you judge people simply by their race, their religion, or nationality, rather than by what they say and do as individuals, then you lay the foundations for a new, British Auschwitz!”