By guest author, Dorothy Walsh, a lifelong peace activist
My journey in understanding the importance of peace and nonviolence for the world and for myself began in the aftermath of World War II as I learned about the horrors of the war and the Holocaust. 
This experience led to my personal commitment to never be supportive of violent resolution of conflicts.
Traveling and hitchhiking as a student in Europe after the war, I found myself asking every German I met if they had known about the concentration camps and what happened to the Jewish people. No one would answer me except an old woman in a hostel in West Berlin. She said, “We all knew.”
During the Vietnam War, I became active with local people by attending rallies and by housing some of the activists who were away from their homes. As a young mother, I had limited opportunity to demonstrate against the war, but for the first time I called myself a pacifist.
My commitment to the practice of nonviolence has been a lifelong challenge as I learned that it took more than participating in demonstrations to be a peacemaker.
My education, focusing on the roots and causes of violence, came from the “criminals” in the prison who were my teachers during the 20 years I spent as a member of a chaplaincy team and later as a program director for men incarcerated for domestic abuse.
I was able to learn and practice trust. Several times I saw the fruit of this value in helping to resolve a hostage situation and to settle serious conflicts.
During this time I created a home for people coming out of prison. We were only three people with families and children, but we managed to run the Home of Reconciliation for several years and provide support for men who had nothing and nowhere else to go.
Dot Walsh
I am sure that I and most other Americans oppose violence, but too few ever decide to do something positive about their beliefs. You are setting an example for the rest of us with your Home of Reconciliation. My applause and thanks for your efforts.
An inspring story. I love the lesson, “…it takes more than participating in demonstrations to be a peacemaker.” It is also encourage to hear about what you and some others were able to accomplish even in the midst of busy, responsible lives. Thank you.
This was a terrific, eye-opening post. Our ability to participate in social action and reform is of paramount importance, and asking the tough questions as you did is equally important. I can imagine the emotion that the woman who admitted that the Germans “all knew” about the concentration camps felt as she spoke to you about something that others were likely too scared or ashamed to speak of. After reading, I thought about how this relates to us today, and specifically about the way in which conversation about violence is nothing more than a taboo. Unfortunately, it is impossible to make any progress if we cannot even speak of a problem. I know that in the past the ideology of many American families was to “keep it in the house,” but as this has changed, it seems that the taboo of speaking about it publicly has not. I found it to be inspiring that you both actively demonstrated against war and violence, and that when you had children (and of course, less time), you still participated indirectly to a cause you believe in so much. I believe that pacifism and breaking the cycle of violence is incredibly important for all aspects of violence – whether familial, international, or intergroup. Without action, without caring, and especially without conversation, there will never be change.
This post brings to light an important social behavior that our society is still guilty of today. When the woman replied with “We all knew,” about the concentration camps and the heinous acts committed against the people of Jewish faith, it sent chills down my spine. This was not the only time in history that people turned a blind eye to the indecent acts that humans were committing against each other. I have two very specific examples in American history that exemplify this bizarre human behavior. When slavery was still prevalent in the south, and in many places in the north of the United States, everyone was aware. If your neighbor was abusive to their slave, if an African-American was walking past you on the street, or if slaves were being sold at the market where you were shopping, you were aware. Even if many of the people at this time knew in their hearts that others were committing a very wrong act against our fellow mankind, they did nothing. They turned a blind eye, just as many of the Germans did during the Holocaust. The same can be said for my second example, how the Americans treated the Japanese after Pearl Harbor. The US reacted with a common distrust of all people of Asian descent. While I understand the need for serious precaution, the racial injustice done against many of the innocent Asian-Americans is inexcusable. Even now, we are behaving in a similar way as a society reacting to the Americans that are practicing Muslims or of middle-eastern descent. Many of us ignore when these people are being mistreated, although we know it’s happening. Some of us are even guilty of being mistrustful ourselves.