100 years after Gandhi began Satyagraha and formally launched his mission to give a visual example of the power of nonviolence, misunderstanding of his words continues. The reasons for this misunderstanding lie in the fact that most modern cultures do not have a grasp of even the basic premise of nonviolence.

To most, nonviolence means nonresistance. Gandhi's understanding of nonviolence, derived to a great degree from the Bhagavad Gita, couldn't be further from nonresistance. For Gandhi, not reacting is the worst possible way of dealing with a situation. It is far preferable to apply violence. When Germany invaded Poland, Gandhi applauded the armed resistance as an example of nonviolence. His reasoning? Their effort was futile in the wake of the massive Nazi war machine, but it showed a will to not give in. 

Gandhi's advice to the Jews and the British has been misunderstood to a major detriment of wider acceptance of his teachings. His suggestion that the Jews allow themselves to be slaughtered rather than run is viewed as disturbed and unethical. The idea that it is unethical is in fact accurate, as ethics are not universal but exist within a cultural framework. 

For Gandhi, dignity was tantamount, far above the worth of one's own life. In this way dignity is understood both to be personal and cultural. His teachings demand that you never let someone injure your dignity. The Nazi effort was to dehumanize the Jews and make it possible for the German population to accept the concept of mass extermination. Gandhi suggests you must not let them dehumanize you at all costs.

Prior to WWII in the United States, as in much of the world, it was acceptable to publicly speak against the Jews. Father Coughlin popular radio programs during the 1930s were listened to by millions of Americans every week. Henry Fords' Dearborn Independent published "Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" and "The International Jew, the World's Foremost Problem", influencing Hitler and gaining Ford the Grand Cross of the German Eagle. Once the extent of the Holocaust was known, overnight it became completely unacceptable to publicly voice anti-Semitism. Further, it led in a very direct way to an opening which the Civil Rights Movement took advantage of to demand equality for Blacks in the United States. Martin Luther King utilized Gandhi's teachings in an accelerated form in light of a post-war environment where people were beginning to question the inequalities of society.

Gandhi's words are harsh on our ears as it is meant to break our conventional understandings. On a personal level, we must never allow our dignity to be trampled. For a culture in conflict with other cultures, the goal is to force the rest of the world to sympathize with your people and see them as equals. Gandhi did not want to Jews to willingly go to slaughter, he wanted them to go defiantly, that there culture should survive and regain the equal position it deserved on the world stage.