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After many of the Jewish women and men of the Ukraine were rounded up and killed during World War II, their orphans were herded into holding cells until someone figured out what could be done with them, a historian has revealed.

Six-year-olds were caring for 2-year-olds and they were helpless to do anything about their predicament. Understandably, many of the imprisoned children cried all night long, according to Raul Hilberg, professor emeritus of polical science at the University of Vermont.

The German guards became impatient with all the carrying on, and one guard called his unit's chaplain. The chaplain weakly suggested humane measures but offered no solutions.

The soldiers crossed themselves, then shot the children.

"What is life if we are not able to lay down our lives at moments like this?" Hilberg said.

He recalled the chilling tale to highlight the widespread failure of entire populations to intervene with the wartime killing of Jews even when given a chance.

For example, the chaplain who understood the implications of the soldier's call had an opportunity to intervene, Hilberg said during a phone interview.

A scholar and author of numerous books about the Holocaust, Hilberg is slated to speak on "The Neighbors: Reactions of Spectators to the Jewish Catastrophe" at 8 p.m. Thursday at Stanford University.

The lecture kicks off a newly endowed graduate fellowship program funded by William and Fern Lowenberg of San Francisco.

Hilberg stresses that it is unfair to denounce all bystanders as anti-Semitic supporters of genocide. Many simply had little intuition about what could be done to save Jews.

"Each person is making a calculation and coming to a conclusion based on a price they are willing to pay," Hilberg said.

The professor has been frequently called as an expert witness in the trials of wartime Nazi collaborators. At these trials, he has met many so-called "spectators."

"There's always a small group of sympathizers for the defense. I've been approached by one or another person who identify with the perpetrator because the nationality is the same."

Many of the sympathizers tell him that they were helpless to intervene. He describes these encounters as the unburdening of collective emotion that still surrounds the war for those who lived it.

For 50 years, Hilberg has been collecting anecdotes that shed light on the myriad circumstances influencing whether bystanders choose to intervene, or not.

Unfortunately, there are few historical accounts of the spectators who didn't get involved, he said.

"These people don't show up anyplace, in documents, nowhere. We don't know what they said and didn't say, what they thought."

The political scientist has talked with military officers who observed what was going on. He has examined historical ratios of populations, availability of food, escape routes and other geographical and political factors that would either harm or favor those who might have saved Jews.

"When you decide whether or not to help, you need specificity. It's not just yes or no. All of a sudden, you have a thousand questions."

The Jewish community in general has painted all bystanders with the same brush, Hilberg said.

"They are fired up and ready to blame about everybody. That's fine, but then what? Is it realistic?"