Of course no one knows what the future – even the near future – may hold.

Still, there is the possibility that the treatment of many in our nation soon may be determined by factors such as country of origin, skin color, religion, disability or gender, rather than by an assessment of the individual him or herself.

Because of this concern on my part, I offer the following quotation from the prosecutor’s summary at the Nuremberg Trials (1945 – 1946). The Allies – including the United States – set up these trials just after World War II. Their purpose was to judge major Nazi leaders for their part in “crimes against humanity.”

“… the individual human being, the ultimate unit of all law, is not disentitled to the protection of mankind when the state tramples upon his rights in a manner which outrages the conscience of mankind.”

It’s startling to me even to imagine there could be any similarities between the Germany of many years ago and our potential situation today. I certainly hope that my fears are never realized in our nation, whose laws are based on the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, including the first Ten Amendments.

David Kobrin

Eastsound