Today, 27th January, is Holocaust Memorial Day 2013:
just another day...
"First They Came..."
(Pastor Martin Niemoller)
First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Catholic.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.
www.hmd.org.uk
(Holocaust Memorial Day Trust)
"We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
(Elie Wiesel)
"Thou shalt not be a victim, thou shalt not be a perpetrator, but, above all, thou shalt not be a bystander."
(Yehuda Bauer)
"To forget a holocaust is to kill twice."
(Elie Wiesel)
I'm leaving for Berlin tomorrow. And if there is one thing that I remember from that city it's the Holocaust memorial and how creepy it feels to walk through that. And fighting back tears when we visited the Jewish Museum there. Which I recommend everyone to do when they are in the city.
ReplyDeleteI've never been to Berlin, but another friend of mine used to say that the old scars of divisiion were so poignant there because it was obvious that East and West Berliners were essentially the same stock and blood. I've had that feeling before in Belfast and Derry.
DeleteI can only guess how eerie and spiritually overwhelming the Holocaust memorial in that particular city might be... Have a good trip - email me. Love to S if you're seeing her. God bless x
Oh wow. It's so funny you say that. I have said so many times before that the Berlin and Belfast give me the same kind of feeling walking through it. The history that flows through the city. It's also exactly why I love them both. Not seeing S. this time around unfortunately. Hopefully soon :)
ReplyDeleteGreat minds and sensitive suls my dear! :-) Safe trip to Berlin then, and safe home to Belgium. x
DeleteI don't believe anybody could or for that matter SHOULD forget, its one of the most criminalistic happenings that could ever occur and I really believe that sadly, our children and their children need to be reminded of this .
ReplyDeleteThe awful thing is Chrissie, it's happened over and over since the second world war: Cambodia, Bosnia... People try to gain power by wiping other people off the face of the earth. We need to see it as something that can happen again rather than something that ended in 1945. Children should be taught in schools that this is not just a dark part of history. And bless you for continuing to read all I churn out! You must've been used to listening to me at school! xxx
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