Remembering

NB - This is not a happy post, be aware.

As the sun sets, and the stars come out, we light candles and remember.

6 million - more people than the population of some countries. Imagine a city, such as Miami, or Riyadh, or Singapore, and all its inhabitants rounded up, tortured, murdered, and desecrated.
That is what we remember on יום השואה (Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day). At least, that's the main idea.

The full name is יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה - (Yom HaZikaron laShoah velaGvura) Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day. Behind the title, there is the pain of loss, as well as the remembrance of the heroic fight for life each of those people engaged on, whatever form it took: rebellion, submission, adaptation. And then, the heroic continuation of life for those who survived, fighting daily with their own memories, with the weight of survival where so many others did not make it. We cry for those who were taken away, but also for those who carry the horrors within them. We cry over the photographs, the mementos; we embrace the children whose souls have also been marked by the shadow of the horror.

We light candles, we stand still while the tears flow yet again, trying to heal the collective pain of a mutilated society, a generation lost.

And throughout, we will keep in mind that despite all odds, we are here: to continue, to remember, to remind others that ignorance, if fuelled by fear and sad rhetoric, may turn any human into a monster.

We remember, because we have to make sense of the lessons we must not forget.


For more information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_HaShoah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_urban_areas_by_population