Theresienstadt: Red Cross Visit

With regards to the implications present when relating the Red Cross visit to Theresienstadt to the Code of Ethics and Values for the non-profit sector, a number of discrepancies seem to surface. On one hand, out of the values previously stated there are several that the International Red Cross failed to meet throughout the course of the Holocaust. These include: commitment beyond the law, respect for the worth and dignity of individuals, inclusiveness and social justice, etc. It seems to me that although the Red Cross claimed there was little they could do against the German government, as a non-profit organization their obligation committed them to attempt to stand up to the higher governmental officials nonetheless. In addition, it is easy to see that the respect and dignity of the Jews as individuals was far from being respected. The personal humiliation and demeaning conditions the Jews were subject to within the duration of the Holocaust and the individual concentration camps should have been counteracted with efforts from non-profit organizations, such as the Red Cross. Another value, in my opinion, that seemed to become lost within the mayhem of the Holocaust occurs through inclusiveness and social justice. Again, I feel as though arguing that these values were not followed through with by non-profit organizations during the Holocaust remains somewhat simple. It is correct to state that non-profit organizations provided some aid and rescue, but the gap in what was given and what was needed was still excessively great. In some senses there would be validity in the assumption that this lack of aid was a preview for years to come. Human rights violations have remained the same, if not worsened, since the Holocaust and although there are many more non-profit organizations striving to change these violations, the progress remains to be seen as diminutive and sluggish.

The study of mass amounts of human extermination with regards to non-profit organizational response tends to continuously bring about many critiques and debates. It can always be argued that we should have done more or we did not do enough, but the fact of the matter is that the power of non-profit organizations over the power of repressive governmental regimes is incomparable. The perceived “threat” towards said repressive regimes correlates into the increase of strength for those regimes which then increases the repressive actions towards said “threat.” Therefore, a blurred sequence embarks on its downward cycle. The repressiveness of the Nazi regime is clearly what caused, or at least maintained, the horrific conditions and outcomes of the concentration camps. The Theresienstadt ghetto in today’s Czech Republic was no exception. The International Committee of the Red Cross failed to live up to its Code of Ethics and Values as non-profit organizations are made to do today. The delegates’ positive report regarding the conditions of Theresienstadt and the Nazis’ actions arguably diminishes the moral aptitude of the International Red Cross and their otherwise good intentions. As a professional in a non-profit organization, one must heartily adhere to the organizations main goal and mission. The stray away from said mission becomes one of the reasons human rights violations, discrimination, and mass killings continue to result from the actions of their repressive regimes.