“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”(George Santayana)
What do you do on a quiet Sunday evening?
You chill on your comfortable couch, watch TV and enjoy a cup of tea.
This is what I was doing yesterday evening. Until I’ve heard a chant. Or something that sounded like a chant. And the chant became louder, but not disturbing. I was intrigued.
I went to the window to look outside.
And indeed, people were chanting. Slowly walking and peacefully chanting.
It was the mourning sound of the terrifying past.
I live in a country that has one of the heaviest and one of the saddest history in Europe.
I live in a city which during the Second World War was reduced to rubble. A city which refused to fade away and a city which refused to be silenced.
I live in a neighbourhood that 75 years ago was known as a ghetto. The Jewish ghetto.
I live in a residential area that still bears insight the wounds. I live in an area that continues to tell stories.
Well integrated within the new built apartment blocks there is a marble monument. I passed by many, many times without wanting to know its meaning. I guessed it was a sort of pilgrimage place – the big number of tourists suggested that. Until the meaning came to me. The German word – Umschlagplatz – meaning collection point or reloading point. During The Holocaust these were the places where the Jews were assembled for deportation to death camps. The largest collection point was in Warsaw (source Wikipedia).
During the Second World War, in the city I currently live in, people were forced to embark in trains that had as final destinations gas chambers.
Less than a century ago humanity showed its worst face.
Less than a century ago Holocaust happened.
Less than a century ago we forgot to be humane and humanity lost its innocence. FOR EVER.
Today is a moment to commemorate, to remember, to never forget and never repeat.
75 years ago, the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau was added into the pages of the history books.
75 years ago, the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau became a part of the universal collective memory.
It is our collective duty to keep telling the stories. It is our collective duty to keep the memories alive and make sure that Auschwitz-Birkenau will never be repeated.
“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”(George Santayana)
Let us learn from the past and make sure that the innocent souls that have perished were not lost in vain.
Let us always remember and never repeat.
Lots of love,
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