When to Jump

Photo by Maria Teneva on Unsplash

In the 1930's, there were a lot of people who didn't get out of Germany in time. Some of them simply didn't believe it would get nearly as bad as it did. Some of them were reluctant to leave their familiar lives - their homes, jobs, friends, the city where they were comfortable. Some felt they were too old to start over. Or they felt overwhelmed by the prospect of leaving their property and going to a strange place where they would have nothing and would need to find a way to make a living while learning a new language. Some were ready to go, but only if they could go to a place they chose. Maybe they wanted to go to the U.S. or England, but were stopped by immigration quotas, so they waited. Some had the chance to go to places they found unappealing, so they waited for something better. Some got out, but weren't able to go far enough. They fled to other European countries that were eventually taken over by the Nazis.

It is easy now to look back and think that the old folks should have left despite the difficulty. To say that the people who didn't want to go to South America or Africa should have gone anyway. That those who didn't want to leave their homes should have realized their lives were worth more than a house and furniture. That the people who thought it couldn't get worse and that they could just ride it out were deluding themselves. And, thinking all this, we have to ask, how much of this applies to us, now?