The Wave1981

Student at rally:
[after the whole class tensely awaits a political candidate for the Wave to come on TV, and nothing happens] THERE IS NO LEADER, IS THERE?

Ben Ross:
Yes there is! [footage of Hitler appears on a large screen] THERE'S your leader! [the students watch in shock] Now listen carefully, there is NO National Youth Movement. You thought you were so special, better than everyone outside this room, you traded your freedom for the luxury of feeling superior! You accepted the group's will over your own conviction, no matter who you hurt. Oh! you thought you were just going along for the ride, that you could WALK AWAY at any moment, but where were you heading? How far would you have gone? Take a look at your future! [footage of Hitler youth] Yes, you would've all made good Nazis, you would've put on the uniforms, turned your heads, and allowed your friends and neighbors to be persecuted and destroyed. Fascism isn't something those OTHER people did, it's right here! In all of us! You asked 'How could the German people do nothing as millions of innocent human beings were murdered? How could they claim they weren't involved? What causes people to deny their own history?' Well if history repeats itself, you'll all want to DENY what has happened to you in the Wave. But if our experiment is successful, you'll have learned that we're all responsible for our own actions, and that you must question what you do rather than blindly follow a leader. And that for the rest of your lives, you'll never allow a group's will to usurp your individual rights. I know this has been painful for you, it certainly has been for me, but it's a lesson we'll all share for the rest of our lives.