Recent installments of this column—and several stories over the past month in SHOOT—have touched upon campaigns designed to help drum up the vote in the upcom-ing national election. Such recent efforts include the Fuerza Latina spot, which seeks to bring young Hispanic adults into the political process (spot. com.mentary, 10/1, p. 4), and This Vote Counts, a small group of industry folk who wanted to bring relevant issues to the forefront in presidential ad campaigning (spot.com.mentary, 10/15, p. 4).
Consider this column an affirmation of the power of individual action to make a positive, meaningful difference in our society. However, while the aforementioned campaigns would serve as good examples of such grassroots endeavors, we instead turn to a cause that hasn’t generated nearly the same amount of ad attention and is proof that one person can make an extraordinary contribution that has a motivating ripple effect on others.
That person is Dora Apsan Sorell, an 83-year-old survivor of Birkenau, the concentration camp next to Auschwitz. Sorell received $3,043 from the German government as compensation for her slave labor during the Holocaust. She has gotten considerable press coverage based on what she did with this money—she donated the entire sum to a group that helps refugees in Sudan. Humanitarian organizations view these refugees as victims of government-sanctioned genocide and ethnic cleansing.
In the Darfur region of Sudan, government-supported militias are staging raids that have inflicted brutal damage on and in some cases eliminated the communities of tribal farmers. Since 2003, more than one million civilians have been displaced, with many now crowded into refugee camps and villages where they are being killed, pillaged and raped by the militia, according to humanitarian groups.
As reported in The Los Angeles Times, Sorell sees parallels between the world’s indifference to the plight of the Jews during the Holocaust and the current atrocities being committed against the villagers of Darfur. "It really hit me to see people so desperate," she said of the victimized villagers.
Sorell sent her reparations money to the American Jewish World Service, a nonprofit or-ganization that has raised more than $200,000 in emergency aid for the people of Darfur. Just as importantly, her action has generated press coverage and attention for the tragic happenings in Sudan.
An official of Human Rights Watch conjectured that the symbolism of Sorell’s gift could help raise awareness about a horrific situation that has generally been met with international indifference.
Meanwhile, in our industry, there’s talk of creating a spot to help build public awareness of what’s going on in Darfur. If that comes to fruition, the next hurdle will be to gain significant airtime for the public service commercial. It is yet another example of individuals deciding to come together to try to address—or be part of the remedy to—a problem.
Indeed, never underestimate the power of the human spirit. Even seemingly small efforts can improve a situation. And when you find yourself doubting that—as I do in my more cynical moments—just think of the eloquence embodied in the action of an 83-year-old Holocaust survivor.
