What would you do?

Yesterday a German artist released his exhibition of Nazi Gnomes in a square that was once used for pro-Hitler parades. The exhibition has 1250 gnomes moulded into a typical Nazi salute. This salute, and any other pro-Hitler rhetoric is illegal (for humans) in Germany. Some gnomes are golden and others are black. The artist claims to be representing the “master race” as garden gnomes which he argues is satirical. They are part of a larger exhibition entitled “dance with the devil”.

The exhibition is quite creepy — not only because there are a large number of garden gnomes in one place. It is unnerving because it seems to indicate the complete randomness of the categories of difference that Nazism places or placed emphasis on. Some of these gnomes are golden, and bear with me in my limited artistic analysis, but I think they might be indicative of the Aryan race. There are only a few of these, and there were only a few shiny golden haired Germans back then too.

More unnerving is that thousands of people stood behind a leader who was exterminating other people based on a mythological idea of the “ideal”. They tortured and gassed others because “they were told to”. Looking at these gnomes made me realise how quick people are to do what they’re told. This can sometimes have really scary effects.

I watched a documentary a while back where four survivors of torture and four torturers were interviewed. The torturers spoke with clarity about the acts that they had carried out on many (often completely innocent) people in the name of a cause. All four of these torturers expressed little remorse about what they had done and said that it was all “in the name of a cause” and often they just did “what they were told to”. It really freaked me out. Like Jon Cayzer’s blog this week I wondered about my own capabilities to hurt others, or to perform any action because “I was told to”. I hate to think that I could be involved in atrocities like this.

I like to think that I’m a person of conviction who responds and makes it clear when I think a situation or comment is not right (sexist/racist jokes) and will act against abuse whenever I can. I like to think that I’m a person who thinks and then acts, and who thinks for myself above that. But a simple incident yesterday made me think that perhaps I’m sometimes quite happy to follow the crowd.

I take the train to and from work every day and it normally runs on time. Yesterday, just one stop away from my home, the train suddenly came to a standstill. No announcements were made to explain what was going on. We were stopped at a station, and everyone just remained seated as other trains passed us by. We watched as the rain fell, and there was hardly even a murmur that we should perhaps get up and get on another train. Until, all of a sudden, someone said “I’m getting on that one”, and (to sound South African ) true’s Bob we all stood up, ready to get on the next train (which was almost empty). Suddenly, an announcement came over the speakers — “please note that this train is delayed. please wait”. So all of us climbed back into the trains, took our (same) seats and waited another five minutes before our train left the station. Nobody challenged the announcer, and none of us were any the wiser about what had happened.

How often in our lives do we just sit back and wait for someone else to tell us what to do? And how often in our lives do we actually stop and think about the practicality or the impact of those actions or in-actions? Could you be an un-acting/un-challenging supporter of the next apartheid/Holocaust/genocide? What’s stopping you?