"Even before the shooting began, First Lieutenant Gnade had personally picked out some twenty to twenty-five elderly Jews. They were exclusively men with full beards. Gnade made the men crawl on the ground in the area before the grave.

"Before he gave them the order to crawl, they had to undress. While the totally naked Jews crawled, First Lieutenant Gnade screamed to those around, 'Where are my non-commissioned officers? Don't you have any clubs yet?'

"The non-commissioned officers went to the edge of the forest, fetched themselves clubs, and vigorously beat the Jews with them." The officers then shot and buried the rest of the Jews in a mass grave.

These words, found in the book Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning, is required reading in a history course taught right here at the University of Wisconsin. It includes first-hand accounts, like the one above, of the atrocities carried out by Reserve Police Battalion 101 in Nazi-occupied Poland. The men were, as Browning describes them, ordinary people committing extraordinary acts of violence.

But the hard-fought victory over that genocide is now forgotten, by leaders and citizens alike. We have forsaken our forefathers' oath that the "Final Solution" never happens again.

Today, the atrocities of Poland are repeating — in a place called Darfur. And instead of Jews, native black Africans are facing the slaughter.

In the past two years, militias backed by the Sudanese government controlling Darfur have killed hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, and children in the region. Women and girls, if not killed, are gang-raped. Millions have become refugees. Why? Because they are members of black African tribes.

The situation is deteriorating. The few aid groups in the area, backed by a handful of troops from the African Union — a coalition force from neighboring African countries — may soon leave after workers and troops were recently kidnapped by the militias. According to the U.N., deaths could reach 100,000 a month if the troops and workers are forced to pull out.

Our government — with a military already stretched thin and a populace growing increasingly weary of military intervention — has only made it worse. Congress has cut the $50 million originally earmarked to help pay for peacekeepers. Meanwhile, the Administration has said nothing about it. And while the Senate has passed the Darfur Accountability Act, which might impose sanctions against Sudan, the House is reluctant to take action on the bill.

But for those of us willing to do something, there is a first step.

Action in Sudan!, a student group here at the UW, is working with state Rep. Fred Kessler (D-Milwaukee) to introduce legislation that would end state-funded investments in companies conducting business with Sudan. Illinois, New Jersey and Oregon have already passed similar legislation, and at least seven others are considering it. This might not seem like much, but it is of the few actions our state government could take to positively and substantively affect the crisis.

Fortunately for the group, several legislators have already shown an interest in human rights. While only Kessler has directly supported the divestment legislation, others — from conservative state Senator Alan Lasee (R-De Pere) to liberal state Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison) — have co-sponsored legislation against human trafficking. Thus, Action in Sudan! hopes their future lobbying efforts may prove successful.

But others are less interested. Specifically, one state representative said, "Genocide is bad, but people losing jobs in my district is worse."

It's precisely that mentality which must change if this genocide will ever end. If we think only of ourselves, history will look upon us no differently than we now look upon the non-commissioned officers of Battalion 101.

That's where we come in. Write letters to your state legislators and tell them to support the divestment bill. Write your Congressmen and tell them to fund a real peacekeeping effort in Sudan. And above all, get educated. Tonight, Action in Sudan! will host a lecture by Smith College Prof. Eric Reeves at 7 p.m. in 3650 Humanities. He's an expert on Darfur. Go there and learn what we can do to stop the killing.

As Reeves has written, "It is immoral to own shares in companies that now willingly engage in commerce with a regime that is guilty of ongoing genocide… However high the threshold might be for divestment — what will inevitably be labeled by some as the 'politicization of investment decisions' — genocide must surely cross it."

Ordinary people can commit horrendous acts of violence. But we can also prevent it. Take action.

Paul Temple ([email protected]) is the former editorial page editor of the Badger Herald.