Sunday, January 31, 2010

Holocaust Memorial Day - January 27th

Sixty-five years ago from this date Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by the Allied forces during WWII. So, how did you spend your Holocaust Memorial Day? I failed to attend any local events that had been provided by community groups and Churches. Even the best laid plans are subject to final approval and execution.

However, one must ask the question as to whether these events play a role in our cultural understanding of our modern lives, or as to whether they shape how we view the world. Do we consider the fact that these events in a loose sense repeat themselves throughout history for many of the same reasons? Racism, apathy, ethnic hatred, and simple a disconnection from our own brothers and sisters.

Today, violence of a similar nature occurs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the whole of Sudan. How do we separate ourselves from these issues and tragedies when they are presented to us? Can we continue to disregard these things as the nature of violent conflict and war changes both dramatically and subtly, in a world where terrorism is becoming increasingly synonymous with crimes against humanity and genocide?

Thus, the challenge presented to us by the fading memory of Holocaust survivors and the images of the Shoah is how we will respond today to genocide.

en.auschwitz.org.pl/m/
hmd.org.uk