Thursday, January 27, 2011

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY



"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing."

Edmund Burke


"They couldn't fail to notice us, to know where we came from: our striped garb, the scarves hiding our shaven heads, our thinness betrayed our origins.  When they went out walking, they were not forbidden to pass by the camp of Birkenau, whose sinister appearance hardly concealed its function.    Did they think that those five chimneys, with their sickening smoke, were for the central heating?  What exactly was I asking for? That this little town of five or six thousand inhabitants shoulod revolt, that its Germanic population, resettled there since the German victory, should rise up and liberate the camp?  Why should they have felt responsible for us?  A sudden surge of violence sent the blood into my head:  they were all responsible!  All men were.  The indifference of a single one was our death sentence."


- Fania Fénelon, "Playing for Time".


To those misguided people who saw fit to "decorate" walls in Rome and other cities with anti-Semitic graffiti last night, I would like to point out that their actions are one of the reasons why we need Holocaust Memorial Day and to quote the following:


"No one is safe when religious or ethnic prejudice is tolerated, when racism is rife and when decent, well-meaning people keep quiet because it is prudent."

- Rabbi Hugo Gryn, "Chasing Shadows".

13 comments:

annechung said...

Let us not only not forget but do something when prejudice should rear its ugly head again.

James Higham said...

To those misguided people who saw fit to "decorate" walls in Rome and other cities with anti-Semitic graffiti last night, I would like to point out that their actions are one of the reasons why we need Holocaust Memorial Day.

Hear hear.

Saretta said...

Thanks for this post, it is so important to remember.

jams o donnell said...

I agree with you Welshcakes Everyone needs to remember what was done during the Holocaust.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

I couldn't agree more, Anne. Hi,James. I just can't understand the mentality of these people. Thanks, Saretta. Hi, jams. I think it's very important that we continue to educate young people about what was done.

RNSANE said...

It makes me physically ill to think of these atrocities and others that people commit against each other. That it continues to happen is criminal.

Eurodog said...

Quite right, WL. We should not forget. Never. With time events like WWI and II slide into history and that's why we need Armistice Day and Holocaust Memorial Day. And it is important our youngsters are taught history and especially modern history.

trencherbone said...

Be prepared for the REAL holocaust!

LindyLouMac said...

Thankyou for this post, well said and also the last one interesting statistics.

Liz Hinds said...

Well said, welshcakes.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Me too, Carmen. It is terrifying to think that it is still happening. I agree, Eurodog. I hope there will never be another, of any sort, trencherbone. Thyanks, LindyLouMac and Liz.

Rachel Cotterill said...

Well said.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Thanks, Rachel.

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