Holocaust Remembrance Day

[stowe1]

Beginning at sundown on 4/27 and ending at sundown today, Israel and many other Jewish communities observe Holocaust Remembrance Day. The name is self-explanatory and you can Google it for sites giving information about this solemn day, its origins, and when the Holocaust is remember in various countries.

This June 6 will be 70 years since the D-Day invasion which lead to V-E Day on May 8, 1945 - 70 years come next year. As more and more time passes and more and more history falls into place, less and less will be taught about the War. So it is up to those of us of a certain age to pass along to those younger than us what we know from the Greatest Generation who fought that war and came across the horrors of those camps.

More than 11 million killed in the camps - 6+ million Jews and 5+ million of those "others" whom the Nazis felt were inferior (gays, Roma, Slovaks, and the list goes on). And that doesn't even include those killed in the so-called experiments of people like Mengele.

"Never Again!" became the watch-word as the world learned more and more about the Nazi atrocities. Yet we see genocides, ethnic cleansings, and other forms of mass killings continue to this day; obviously not on the scope of the Holocaust, but atrocities nonetheless.

As long as there is still one Holocaust denier or revisionist out there, we must Never Forget. Never Again!

 

[juanjo]

So true and so sad that we have not learned from this hideous event in history. The killings in the Balkans as well as in Rawanda are but two examples.

 

[peterh6308]

So true and so sad that we have not learned from this hideous event in history. The killings in the Balkans as well as in Rawanda are but two examples.

I'm pretty sure there are a few more Dictator runned countries in Africa where killing of your own people is common. Damn Syria just recently!!!

 

[mikeyank]

Thank you Stowe for remembering.

 

[joeychuck2]

Stowe we don't always agree but here it's 100% and a heartfelt thank you for posting it.

 

[tampa24]

Yes. They call it Shoa Day in Israel. Do they not?

 

[bithebi]

Holocaust Remeberance Day

Yes. They call it Shoa Day in Israel. Do they not?

Yes, Tampa, in Israel it is known as "Yom HaShoa" ("Yom" means "day" in Hebrew and "Shoa" is the Hebrew word for the Holocaust). Each year, at 10:00 a.m., sirens blare and everything comes to a halt. If you happen to be driving at the time, even on a freeway, you stop your car and everyone stands silently to remember. It is an amazing experience. As Stowe so eloquently put it, it is everyone's duty, regardless of religion and ethnicity, to make sure another Shoa never happens again. Unfortunately, while subsequent genocides have not been as large in scope or numbers (and were not intended to exterminate an entire people like Hitler's "Final Solution"), they continue. More than a million innocents have been killed in the Congo over the last decade and over a hundred thousand in Syria, while the world does nothing, in addition to the aforementioned atrocities in Rwanda and Bosnia. Let's not forget Pol Pot's madness when he wiped out about a fifth of the population of Cambodia.

Thank you Stowe for starting this dialogue. While I love reading (and occasionally responding) to the sex threads, it is important to discuss the serious topics as well. Great job.

 

[tampa24]

There was also the genocide of the Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Turks in the early part of the 20th century. It's believed that somewhere between 1-1.5 million people were killed.

 

[KellyG]

My company and I just did a piece called OUT OF THE FIRE, VOICES FROM THE HOLOCAUST at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. I was based on testimony from Holocaust survivors. I still cannot wrap my mind around the unbelievable cruelty that humans are capable of inflicting on each other. we say "never again" but it happens every day

 

[Ambivalent]

Stowe ~

Thank you for this. It is very important to remember. I am not Jewish, but, in my job, I have written a number of speeches to honour and remember this day. It was a great learning-experience, for me.

My brother-in-law's family, who are Dutch, also suffered greatly during this period. And I am very proud of my niece, who wrote a lovely essay on the subject.

It seems like "man's inhumanity to man" is something that goes on and on, with no end in sight. It is very important for all of us to remember the terrible places demonizing others, on the basis of race, language, ethnicity, or culture, can lead us. We have to be exceedingly vigilant, to recognize that HUMAN BEINGS are HUMAN BEINGS, and everyone on this earth ought to be treated with kindness, love, and respect.

Thanks, Stowe.

"A" XOXOXOXOXOXO