International Holocaust Remembrance Day

I just want to take a moment to recognize that today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp occurred 80 years ago today. The atrocities committed at these camps, where 6 million Jewish people lost their lives should never be forgotten.

A recent survey in the US found that nearly half of Americans cannot name a single concentration camp, and twenty-one percent had no idea that millions of Jewish people were killed. Gary Schneider, executive vice president of the Claims Conference, called these studies and the lack of knowledge about the Holocaust, “deeply disturbing.” “It’s more than just that people can’t understand the Holocaust that should alarm us. It’s not just ‘facts and figures,’ but a lack of understanding how hate unchecked can lead to horrific acts.” “Of course this matters for the Jewish people, but ultimately it’s not only about Jews,” he said. “That’s one of the lessons of the Holocaust – it was an event that was meant to exterminate the Jewish people, yes. But the lessons are ultimately universal.”

I believe this carries even more importance in our current sociopolitical climate, as we watch denigration, discrimination, and marginalization towards other people due to race, culture, gender, class, and sexual orientation; and indeed, of the world herself and all her creations. Today, I invite you to contemplate this, and Etty Hillesum’s beautiful words, perhaps on a wander with our more than human kin. If you have not read the book, ‘An Interrupted Life and Letters from Westerbork’, by Etty Hillesum, it is an incredibly powerful experience. Etty tragically lost her life in the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1943.

Wild Blessings and Much Love!