They were right. NASK 2009 thoughts.

Zorgu pri vi kaj nenion pli.

Focus on yourself and nothing else.
- Zamenhof -

Ludvig Leyzer Zamenhof was the man who created Esperanto. [ See attached photo] His first text introducing the language was issued in 1887. Every class we receive a few quotations from him. Most are quite inspiring. He was a man who struggled to live his dream when most of his contemporaries believed that survival was the most that anyone could reasonably expect.

Zamenhof lived in the Polish city of Bialystok in a Jewish ghetto. There was a lot of open persecution of the Jews and not infrequent violence and death at the hands of their neighbors and the government. The future looked quite bleak for them. They drew within and attempted to create an alternate universe where they could find some joy and solace amidst an otherwise unfriendly world.

Originally, Zamenhof hoped to help his own people. He was an early advocate of a Jewish homeland where Jews could take care of themselves and not have to be under the yolk of strangers. He called his philosophy Hillelismo ( Hillelism) after the well known Rabbi Hillel ( 110 BCE - 10 CE). As you will note from the dates given for his birth and death, Rabbi Hillel lived through the Roman occupation of Israel and the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. He journied to Jerusalem in the prime of his life and remained there until his death. He was associated with the development of the Mishnah and much of the Talmud,two of the most important works for traditional Jews. Zamenhof was quite familiar with these texts.

Hillel taught living with basic decency regardless of how others acted. In the Talmud he is always quoted as taking the more lenient side in legal decisions. He believed that we all deserve a break, that it is important that we treat ourselves and others as children of God.

Near the end of his life Zamenhof became less and less supportive of national movements. In 1914 he politely declined an invitation to join a Jewish Esperanto group, writing: " I am profoundly convinced that every nationalism offers humanity only the greatest unhappiness... It is true that the nationalism of oppressed peoples [ Jews et al] -- as a natural self-defense reaction-- is much more excusable than that of peoples who oppress; but if the nationalism of the strong is ignoble, the nationalism of the weak is imprudent, both give birth to and support each other...."

Early on, Zamenhof decided to focus on a universal language that would enable anyone who took the time and effort to learn it to communicate easily with others. He called it Esperanto, one who hopes.

He realized that the world was not a nice place especially from what he witnessed. But he really believed in the goodness of all people and wanted to support them in this. He wanted to encourage their good side. If they could at least talk with one another they had a fighting chance of having a better life together. That was his belief and he created an entire language to realize this.

He was trained as a physician but stopped that work since he said he just couldn't deal with the suffering he witnessed. He retrained as an eye doctor and helped many people in that capacity.

He died in 1917 in the midst of World War One. He was survived by his daughters Sofia, Lydia, and a son, Adam. All three were killed by the Nazis. Lydia was a special target since she worked full-time to support her father's work. [ See attached photo of Lydia Zamenhof]

Many Esperantists died in the camps. They were hunted like animals regardless of their ethnicity or religion. Hitler and Stalin both realized that anyone who would reach out to befriend a fellow human being regardless of their background and go to the trouble of learning a whole new language to accomplish this was, de facto, a threat and enemy of the state.

They were right.