"I and the public know what all school children learn
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return."
W.H. Auden
During the Second World War, Koestler continually spoke out against the atrocities of the Nazi regime in Germany — his Central European Jewish family background made him particularly involved in a way that many British and United States politicians were not. Witnessing first hand the growth of extremist tendencies in the region no doubt added to his resolve.
Koestler and a minority of writers and public figures believed that if they sufficiently described the horrors being committed in Europe in news media and public meetings, it would spur the West to action. Despite their efforts, these protests often fell on deaf ears. Capturing their frustration, Koestler described these people as the "screamers". In 1944, he wrote:
We, the screamers, have been at it now for about ten years. We started on the night when the epileptic van der Lubbe set fire to the German Parliament; we said that if you don't quench those flames at once, they will spread all over the world; you thought we were maniacs. At present we have the mania of trying to tell you about the killing-by hot steam, mass-electrocution, and live burial-of the total Jewish population of Europe.
So far three million have died. It is the greatest mass killing in recorded history; and it goes on daily, hourly, as regularly as the ticking of your watch. I have photographs before me on the desk while I am writing this, and that accounts for my emotion and bitterness.
Despite these frustrations, Koestler and the "screamers" continued their campaign until the late stages of the war.
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return."
W.H. Auden
During the Second World War, Koestler continually spoke out against the atrocities of the Nazi regime in Germany — his Central European Jewish family background made him particularly involved in a way that many British and United States politicians were not. Witnessing first hand the growth of extremist tendencies in the region no doubt added to his resolve.
Koestler and a minority of writers and public figures believed that if they sufficiently described the horrors being committed in Europe in news media and public meetings, it would spur the West to action. Despite their efforts, these protests often fell on deaf ears. Capturing their frustration, Koestler described these people as the "screamers". In 1944, he wrote:
We, the screamers, have been at it now for about ten years. We started on the night when the epileptic van der Lubbe set fire to the German Parliament; we said that if you don't quench those flames at once, they will spread all over the world; you thought we were maniacs. At present we have the mania of trying to tell you about the killing-by hot steam, mass-electrocution, and live burial-of the total Jewish population of Europe.
So far three million have died. It is the greatest mass killing in recorded history; and it goes on daily, hourly, as regularly as the ticking of your watch. I have photographs before me on the desk while I am writing this, and that accounts for my emotion and bitterness.
Despite these frustrations, Koestler and the "screamers" continued their campaign until the late stages of the war.
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