Holocaust Memorial
This week many throughout the world are remembering the holocaust of the 2nd World war. Between 1941 and 1945 6 million jews were murdered in attempt to rid the world of the Jewish people.
My dad never spoke a lot about his experiences during the war. Few of his generation did. However, on one occasion he spoke of how he arrived at Belsen and remarked that he could smell the camp before he got anywhere near the place. He could never forget the horror and the tragedy of it all, mans inhumanity to man! No doubt others had smelt the same thing and sensed the vile nature of it all, yet for whatever reason never spoke of it. Maybe it was through fear, but the horror continued.
Many of us are familiar of the book called Anne Franks diary. It was the diary of a Jewish teenager living in Holland. Visitors to Amsterdam can still visit the family home beside the canal and can visualise how this was not any ordinary teenage diary. It was the diary of one who faced the tragedy of the war in a very real way, and died still a teenager at the hands of the Nazi's in 1945. The liberation was coming, but not for her. A tragedy.
Even for those who escaped, it was not the end. My uncle was a Jew living in Europe. The family sensed even before the war arrived that trouble was approaching and they set of for freedom in America. They left my uncle to settle the family affairs and he was to follow them. However, before he could follow he was interred. Due to the negotiations of the Red Cross he was released and reached England in time for the war to be declared. The authorities were suspicious of this foreigner coming out of Nazi Europe, and so he was interred again, this time by the British. At some point he must have proved he could be trusted as he later played an important role in the liberation of Europe, yet first he had to find his way through suspicions that he faced in all directions.
Holocaust, something that must never be repeated!
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https://about.me/Jonmagee.author.minister
Jon, thank you for your post! That was indeed a horrific time in the history of the world! My dad was in the Navy during WWII. He was a radioman and responsible for sending men ashore at Iwo Jima. He witnessed the raising of the flag but at a distance through his binoculars. Unfortunately, my mom did not realize the importance of those binoculars and gave them to a friend who had a beach house. I tried to get them returned to the family but received a rather rude response. Dad never spoke of the war. Mom said he had nightmares and one day stepped outside into the back yard and burned what he had left as any kind of remembrance from that time. War. So tragic. So sad.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment Sharla. You are right, so tragic
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