-
Today is Yom Ha-Shoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. A day steeped in the deepest of contrasts where we seek to honor the lives and souls of six million people, but doing so in whispers so to keep their lives sacred.
Back in college, I participated every year in a reading of the names. This reading would go on for twenty-four hours as candles burned, and we would recite names and ages of those who have left us.
Yacov Gottlieb, age 32
Channa Gottlieb, age 27
Abram Gottlieb, age 4
"Baby" Gottlieb
Names of an entire family, existing now in hushed and choked utterances.
There's an irony there...almost an innate refusal to acknowledge such tragedies, but to let this event escape our collective memory is to tread on some very dangerous ground. For many survivors of the Holocaust, it is literally unimaginable to try to remember those years, and yet they are driven to. I was honored to have spent a few hours with a survivor a couple years ago. He spoke of being sustained by dreams of something better. He said he was fed by scraps, yet nourished by hope. This was a man who had to erase the word "never" from his vocabulary. He said that word exists at the root of all pain. The second we believe that a tragedy could never happen is the same moment where we drop our guard. Conversely, if we believe that joy will never return, we squelch that divine spark that resides in us all that represents the fight. Nietzsche once said (popularly quoted by Viktor Frankl) "he who has a 'why' can bear almost any 'how.'" That is to say, we are capable of enduring just about anything if we can identify a reason, a dream, a person, or ideal to fight for.
Only a generation or two separates us from one of the worst seasons in human history, where countless individuals were trapped in a literal and daily fight for their lives. But if you had a chance to talk to a survivor, they would tell you that the fight is far from over. Atrocities against human dignity are happening today. Uganda, Rwanda, and Darfur, the sex trade (both domestic and abroad), addiction, AIDS, human rights, and mental health. These are all issues that demand our attention. These efforts must extend past simple awareness campaigns, and words must be coupled with action.
Perhaps one of the greatest lessons to be learned from one of our darkest chapters is that your life matters. The entire cannon of our existence can boil down to the fact that the thoughts in your head and the dreams that you swear could be real make you sacred. The foundational crime of the Holocaust was that people, human beings, were forced to accept the lie that they were somehow less than human. Today is a rally cry for the human spirit. Today is a starting point, where we can vow to not let discomfort stand in the way of affirming one another. A day where we can celebrate that this world is a different and better place for the simple fact that you call it home, and where we dance to the unheard rhythm of your heartbeat. Take time today to find ways to validate this in one another. Tip a janitor, pay for a stranger's coffee, open the door for a complete stranger, leave a friendly message on a phone, or in a book, or in the pollen of an unwashed car. There is so much more that connects us than could ever separate us.
In the constant memory of the six million, I stand for those who have ever felt less than "worth it." You are priceless, and I hope that you feel that today.
ברוך דין האמת
ChadPosted in General, Journal by Chloe Grabanski
Comments (15)
Wow...that was incredibly moving. Both of my grandparents are Holocaust survivors.I went to dinner with them today and my grandfather (who is a survivor of Dachau), turned to me and told me that he loves me because I am his family. He lost two sister, a brother, a sister-in law, several nieces, and both of his parents, and yet he still manages to find the light in the world. I will always be in awe of his strength through the most difficult experience and memory anyone could know. When I see my Zaydie, I see hope, strength, love, and the light at the end of the tunnel, telling me everything will be okay.
1 | Left by Rachel Podber | May. 1, 2011 at 8:13pm
I would like to truly truly thank you for bringing this up. Not many organizations or people would take the time to acknowledge this day for the jewish people and all of those who were affected. THANK YOU!
2 | Left by Sara Jacobs | May. 1, 2011 at 8:23pm
Thank you so much for this. It is important not to lose our connection to the past. I hope that as we remember the millions we lost, we find renewed strength to continue to fight for justice for genocide victims today.
3 | Left by Bebhinn | May. 1, 2011 at 8:47pm
Everyone who commented before me said it all. I'm only 14 but i know how important it is to honour all of the people who were affected my the Holocaust. We're doing a big project about it in school and some people just dont understand or care. Thank you so much for writing this.
4 | Left by Zoe Mellenger | May. 2, 2011 at 1:20pm
thank you for your beautiful words
5 | Left by Lindsay | May. 2, 2011 at 1:22pm
Thank you for acknowledging this.
Today is a sad day. As Jewish people, we remember all that lost their lives in the Holocaust. Not just the Jewish people, but the 5 millions others - those who were homosexual, gypsies, against the nazi political view, disabled, those who helped all of those peopl...e hide. No one was safe in that terrible time. I agree that too often the others that lost their lives are forgotten. But just to reassure you, I've been in Jewish education pretty much all my life, and we are always taught about the countless others that lost their lives too.
It just re-iterates the importance of standing up for each other, and looking out for each other.
6 | Left by Laura | May. 2, 2011 at 1:33pm
I just read this to my 11-yr-old daughter whose name is fittingly Hope Love. I am not Jewish, but I am a respecter & lover of people. I want to pass that onto my daughter. For her to have compassion for those that are suffering, to be compelled to do something about it. In my world I want my children to be safe from torment. The physical & mental challenges that young people face today. I pray that God will lead us all on our own path of peace.
7 | Left by Suzy Jones | May. 2, 2011 at 2:43pm
thank you so much for honoring the past and recognizing the future. i first stumbled upon this site almost two years ago, when i was at my lowest. i am now almost 18 and can honestly say that i would not be here if it were not for this organization. what you wrote reminded me that it is important to recognize the pain and tragedy of the past as well as the future. i may not be suffering any more or as badly but others have and are, and it is vital that they are recognized. thank you for reminding me of this.
8 | Left by rachael | May. 2, 2011 at 9:01pm
This is beautiful and moving. Thank you for making so many important connections and honoring so many people. May we never forget and may the memory push us to always fight for each other's dignity and worth.
9 | Left by Gail | May. 7, 2011 at 11:00pm
This post caught my attention because i am currently taking a holocaust class, i have read Viktor Frankl's book, among many others. I have watched videos of Holocaust survivors who have come to this class in the past years and have heard them speak of their personal experiences. So this post touched me a lot and i really appreciate what you said and thank you for writing it.
10 | Left by margaret | May. 9, 2011 at 10:45am
wow what a coincidence. we are talking about the holocaust in my history class and doing a paper about it in my english class, along with the treatment of the japanese-americans sent to the internment camps. i can't imagine the world sitting by, silent, as the millions of innocent people were treated this way...
11 | Left by gabs | May. 11, 2011 at 4:31pm
im not jewish but yet i found this so moving! its so sad that someone could inflict so much pain on a single religion and lifestyle and i thionks its good that we mourn for those victims who died out of one mans cruel opinion.
RIP holocaust victims
12 | Left by Gussie | May. 12, 2011 at 12:45pm
hey thanks for the motivation im twelve and have commited suicide so many times its not even funny but i thank my parents for finding me just in time. each day i cut my arms and fall asleep crying because he doesnt love me anymore, nobody does sometime i think even my parents are getting sick of me..........
13 | Left by luna | May. 22, 2011 at 11:28am
Luna,
I don't know you, but I love you. Please don't give up. I am depressed too. I cut myself a few times, until someone I love found out. He made me promise not to do it again, and to talk to him if it feels like I'm going to. This really helped me not self abuse and taught me how to talk to others. Luna, if I can do it with only the help of someone who lives 12 hours away, you can do it, with your parents and everyone here on TWLOHA. We all care about you, even though none of us have ever met, and we want you to get better. You can do it Luna. You can do it. I would write love on your arms.
14 | Left by Anon | May. 25, 2011 at 9:31pm
I'm 16, and I remember three years ago in 8th grade, we throughly studied the Holocaust and I remember how moved and appalled I was at what went on. If you really have no deep incite to the Holocaust, I truly recommend that you all go read Night by Elie Weisel, he's a well-known Auschwitz survivor and his story is amazingly written and emotionally changing.
15 | Left by Riss | Jun. 17, 2011 at 3:26pm
Categories
Recent Comments
For Mom. Thank You. (3)
Disinheriting Myself. (15)
Thank You Spring 2012 Interns. (2)
Six Years. (16)
I am not my eating disorder. (61)
Contributors
Go back in time to the Archives.
