Children at Kissingen, Germany

Humans are very sociable animals. They gather close together in their environment. They act similar to one another, if not completely the same. They follow the masses, and the masses follow a leader.

The description of this photo stated that Martin Munkacsi thought this was his best photo and had described it once as the "hopeless fate of human beings: their similarity to the fate of herrings, pressed into a barrel, or pressed in a city, minus air, with no horizon - freedom on paper only, and not in fact - with duties made by themselves, or imposed by leaders, to hold them in a certain manner."

Children at Kissingten, Germany photographed by Martin Munkacsi

This morning I was looking through The Photo Book and I came across this photo by Martin Munkacsi. It's called Children at Kissingen, Germany. At first I thought they were all dead, and so I read the description and they are merely sunbathing together. Maybe because it's a black and white photo of bodies, but I instantly thought the Holocaust. When I saw the title I was almost sure of it. The poor Germans. When someone says "Germany" or "German", I instantly think of Concentration Camps and Nazis. In America its drilled into our heads since we are young. We shouldn't ever forget events from the past, but I feel we need to specify that those people involved in the horrendous acts of the past be left there. Remember them, honor them, but don't feel just because you are related to them or connected through a group that you should also be apologized to and honored. A current group of people shouldn't still be held "victimized" and another still considered "evil" decades (even sometimes centuries) after the event. We need to move on people. Events based on racism will continue in racism, but not through the initial group that started it. Reverse racism is obnoxious. If the decedents continue to seek compensation for their victimized ancestors, racism will continue. The "victim races" and the "bully races" need to forgive each other and move on with life.