First published in Australia in 2013
By Bentel Family Trust. Australia
Copyright © Erica Bentel 2013
All rights reserved.
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
This book is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 and subsequent amendments, no part may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means or process whatsoever without the prior written permission of the author or publishers.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN 9780987354808 (ePub)
A Big Circle of Friends LOGO design by Tracey Gibbs.
(Copyright Bentel Family Trust.)
Cover design & Internal typesetting by Tracey Gibbs.
(Copyright Bentel Family Trust.)
Digital distribution by Ebook Alchemy
Conversion by Winking Billy
For my family -
The best circle of friends you could ever wish for!
A few good friends start this thing. On New Year’s Eve.
It starts in the courtyard. Music up loud. It starts so small the earth doesn’t even feel a ripple. It starts with such a simple thought.
— Do you think there are more good people than bad?
— Good people. What d’you reckon?
— Yeah, me too.
— Pass the nachos.
— If you pass me the garlic bread.
— Okay, so why’s the world such a mess then?
— Religion.
— Not religion. Power.
— Power? Where’d you get that one?
— Look at history. Some people are so hungry for power they use anything to get it. They use and distort religion.
— I agree. I think religion in itself should be good and I believe most people are essentially good.
— Who’s good at what?
— Sit down… We’re just saying we reckon there are more good people than bad people in the world.
— If that’s the case, why aren’t the good people doing something about the mess it’s in?
— Because most good people just want to get on with their own lives.
10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
That’s it.
A few good friends.
PERTH, AUSTRALIA. SIX WEEKS LATER
Sasha is home from school. Lying on the couch. Book in hands. Eyes shut.
“Sasha … Sasha! Please go get the mail!”
Sasha sighs, pulls out her earphones and heads outside.
Barefoot, she starts down the path - the pavers are hot - she breaks into a sprint.
In amongst the envelopes is a bright yellow one. On the front, it says:
Hey Sasha
CU at the concert
Your small CIRCLE OF FRIENDS xxx
She looks inside. It’s an all-day ticket to the Music Fest! Her face lights up. She does a sprint back up to the house.
Your small circle of friends. She loves that.
The smile is still in her eyes as she pins the card, along with the ticket, on the board just above her computer.
Your small circle of friends.
TWO WEEKS LATER
Sasha walks into the kitchen, puts her arm around her mother’s shoulders, and peers into the pot.
“Hey, we saw this amazing DVD today called Paper Clips. This school in America used the Internet to get people to send in a paper-clip for every victim of the Holocaust. It was brilliant. When are we eating?”
“In about half an hour.”
“Can I taste?”
“Sure.”
“Yumm … I’m going to do some work. Call me when it’s ready.”
And she’s off to her room.
Dropping into her chair, she searches ‘ holocaust’.
When her mother calls her forty minutes later, Sasha is in tears .
“It’s so insane. And it was only seventy years ago. I mean … that’s so scary.”
“Sure is.”
“So many ordinary people killed like that — even little kids. How could people let it happen?”
“Maybe they didn’t know what was going on?”
“No way. They had to. And people did it. What sick thing made them do it? … And why didn’t everyone else try to stop it?”
“Too scared to get involved … turn on the kettle for me… It’s like bullying at school. People are scared it’ll turn on them, so they don’t do anything.”
“They should have done something. No one should let something like that happen. No one.”
LATER THAT NIGHT
Sasha types up the last few pages of her project:
IN SUMMARY
Ordinary people allowed it to happen. Most of the civilians would never have dreamed of committing those atrocities themselves, but they did not stop it because it was not directed at them. Before they knew it, the Nazis ruled and the ordinary people lost control. In the end, as a nation, they were guilty of mass genocide. And millions of good, honest, ordinary people were slaughtered.
She’s inserting her next photograph. Mass Grave.1945.
Her mother walks in.
“How’s it going?”
“Nearly finished.”
“Do you know what the time is?”
“I know. I won’t be much longer.”
“I’m going to bed. Good night. Love you.”
“Love you too. Good night.”
Sasha rubs her eyes, takes another bite of her muesli bar and carries on working.
WHAT CAN THIS TEACH US FOR THE FUTURE?
Believe it or not, antisemitism still exists today and is fuelled by extremists.
So is racism and hate against countless other minority groups