The differences that marked life or death were race, nationality, belief, disability, or anything that differed from what was described as the socio-cultural norm by the Nazi regime. The similarities were that we were all humans who were struck by the monstrosities of that war and that we wanted to stop it at whatever cost. It is important to remember this so as to prevent it from ever happening again since such evil deeds should not be witnessed by anyone, let alone survived.