I had never met anyone who had survived the Holocaust until I met Saba Feniger.
When I thought about asking Saba if I could interview her I was aware that it was a bit of an indulgence on my part. I mean, given all that's going in the world today, who's going to watch an interview with an elderly Jewish woman? A colleague told me it was "off brand" then added, "besides, you're not even Jewish!"
I went with my heart because I just knew that anyone who'd endured such a traumatic experience would have wisdom worth sharing that is relevant to the challenges we are facing around the globe today and in our own heartland. I found that in Saba. A survivor of Auschwitz, Saba lost all but one of her family members during this dark period of history.
Of course, most of us have heard so many stories of the Holocaust it's easy to become desensitized to them. So long ago. So remote from our lives today.
Yet we mustn't.
Because for all our progress of the last 75+ years, there's an awful lot of people today spouting hate, millions buying into it and many more suffering from it.
This isn't just happening in Syria or countries we consider foreign to our own. Hate and fear fueled xenophobic rhetoric has become so common place that people like Donald Trump, who speaks of banning Muslims and building walls to keep "rapists" out are being rewarded for it.
Closer to home and often far more subtle, a lack of humanity can infiltrate our workplaces, neighborhoods and even in our own homes. Sure, we may not be "guilty" of the inhumanity or bigotry we see play out on our screens, but whenever someone is left feeling unfairly judged, pushed aside or "less than" in some way, there is a lack of compassion and courage. Sometimes we just don't like to see it because that would require admitting our own complicity.
It's possible as you read this now that feel this is all far removed from your own life. Yet I would challenge you to think about who in your daily orbit may not feel fully valued, cared for or heard?
Of course it's easy to be kind to those you love or like. But what about those you don't? What about those you've little in common with? What about those you've measured up and found wanting?
Have the courage to stand up to the haters, but don't try to out-hate them.
"I refuse to hate," Saba said to me, after recounting how her aunt died in her arms "nothing but bones."
I took many things from our conversation but most valuable of all was not to become part of the problem; not to let the the small-mindedness thinking, hateful rhetoric and bigoted behavior of others be an excuse for my own.
Sometimes living bravely is simply refusing to buy into the fear, blame and small mindedness those around us. Other times it's having the guts to speak up and call people out on it. Because as Albert Einstein once said:
"The world is not dangerous because of those who do harm. It's dangerous because of those who watch and do nothing."
I hope you'll be as moved by Saba's experience as I was. You can see our full conversation on RawCourage.TV
Here's to acting with the courage, kindness and compassion you want to see more of in the world.
Here's to standing up to the haters who want to build walls, not bridges.
And here's to being the change we so dearly need to see in the world.