Conscience and Courage

 

I am often asked for advice on how to raise children. While in New York recently, I read Conscience and Courage: Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust by Eva Fogelman. The book has dozens of accounts of gentiles who risked their lives to save Jews from the Nazi regime.

Fogelman explores the reasons people were able to act in such extraordinary ways. She discovered that most of them shared five similar humanistic values.

There was “a nurturing, loving home; an altruistic parent or beloved caretaker who served as a role model for altruistic behavior; a tolerance for people who were different; a childhood illness or personal loss that tested their resilience and exposed them to special care; and an upbringing that emphasized independence, discipline with explanations (rather than physical punishment or withdrawal of love), and caring.” ⁽¹⁾

A caring, nurturing family, altruistic role models, tolerance for those who are different, and an upbringing that stresses independence as well as discipline coupled with explanations, are excellent bases that families can use today. Such values can help parents to raise children who will have the courage to do what is right in life.  

Hopefully, none of us will face the horrific circumstances those at the time of the Nazi regime had to. But children and teenagers will face peer pressure, and adults will come up against workplace ethical issues. Whether at school, work, or in social interactions; altruism, tolerance, and unconditional care will help our children to make the right decisions.

(1) Conscience and Courage, Eva Fogelman, Anchor, p. 254