Injustice is personal!

The injustices of the world typically don’t get our attention until it becomes personal! We are surrounded by racism and prejudice, yet too often we look the other way until someone shares a memory of their life story. It’s the power of a personal life story that unfolds our emotions and we cry out in rage, WHY? It was this feeling that I had last night as my wife and I watched the movie, ‘Woman in Gold’. This is the story of Maria Altman (Bloch-Bauer) who was an Austrian born Jew whose family were attacked and murdered by the Nazis and their incredible art works were plundered.

It was the painting of Maria’s aunt, Adele Bloch-Bauer which was dubbed, ‘Woman in Gold’, that became the center of Altman’s battle with the Austrian Government. Maria’s passion was to see paintings that had been stolen by the Nazis Austrians be returned to their rightful family owners.  The challenge was that this incredible picture of her Aunt Adele had become the national image of the country.  It was clear that any real talk of the government allowing the reclaiming of her families’ stolen prints was never going to happen, especially in regards to the ‘Woman in Gold’.

The incredible aspect of this movie is when Maria’s close friend’s grandson, Randy Schoenberg her attorney, visits Vienna and discovers the names of his relatives on a memorial wall from WW II. All of a sudden what had been very impersonal becomes real to the young lawyer who now takes on the Austrian government to pursue justice not just for Maria but also for himself!  Until I’m personally touched by my own injustice the injustice of others doesn’t really matter. It was through the gift of Maria’s memories from her childhood with her parents and her aunt that pushes her never to stop pursuing justice for the war crimes of the Nazis.

It’s so easy to stand on the sidelines in life and not allow the heartache and tragedy of others to touch you! We all live in the midst of racial injustice, sexism in the workplace, continued exploitation of the poor, educational inequality and ongoing collapse of Third World Countries. It’s time today to be a voice and bring a hand to standing against the injustices in and around you! One of the ways to do this is to ask your grandparents and older friends to tell you about their life stories.  

I know that it is so easy to shield yourself from the injustice of the world in your own city by isolating yourself and making the false assumption that none of this has little if anything to do with me! It’s the ongoing silence of the masses that allows racism, terrorism and other injustices to be ignored and allow the murder of individuals and genocide of races to continue.  What if Maria Altman had chosen to be silent and make the false assumption that she could never win against the Austrian Government?

The only thing necessary of the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing!