Yom Ha'Shoah- A Day of Remembrance
Last month Elie Wiesel wrote an essay for the NPR/All Things Considered series, This I Believe. (Link.)It began:
I remember, May 1944: I was 15-and-a-half, and I was thrown into a haunted universe where the story of the human adventure seemed to swing irrevocably between horror and malediction.A haunted universe. Haunted by one of the most incredibly horrible events in human history. No, I don't think I exaggerate.
The Holocaust- the systematic annihilation of 12 million people, first and foremost among them the 6 million Jews as Hitler dreamed of a Final Solution. Based in hatred and downright evil it set the lowest standard which sadly others have since tried to reach. Whether we speak of Stalin or Idi Amin or the genocides in various places of the world, The Holocaust stands as the ultimate reminder that not even western civilized thought and action makes us immune to such evil.
All that can be prayed- and worked for is the 63 year old cry, prayer and call to action: Never again.
With that we close with another quote from the man of peace and speech, Elie Wiesel:
I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.
Note: In honor of Yom Ha'Shoah this is today's only post. There is nothing else to say.
1 comment:
Sadly, as you put it "The Holocaust stands as the ultimate reminder" and that becomes a rational for the world to stand by when genocide takes place. Cambodia, the Balkans, Rwanda, and now Darfur and yet in each of these instances it has been said that these slaughters aren't in proportion to the Holocaust. To employ the death of the 11 million that perished in the Holocaust(6 million Jews and 5 million non-Jews)as an excuse to do nothing is appaling.
Thank you for noting this day of remembrance and for echoing the cry of "never again." Let it be so!
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