Tomorrow marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and is to be know as Holocaust Memorial Day. There have been several television programmes to mark the anniversary, and if you missed the programme about the indomitable 93-year-old Freddie Knoller on BBC 2 last week, do watch it if you can, either on iPlayer or its repeat tomorrow evening. It's one of the most moving (and heartwarming) programmes I have ever seen.
Tomorrow, I shall think especially of my very dear friend M. M was born in England after her Jewish parents fled from the Nazis in Czechoslovakia, and while she was never there, she seems to have lived in the shadow of the Holocaust all her life. Her parents - lovely, gentle people - always made me welcome when I lived near them as a student nurse, but there was a sadness about them that I've never forgotten. M told me that her father in particular suffered badly from survivors' guilt because of the family members who had died, and M seems to have taken it on herself, too. She is a lovely person, a gifted musician, and has led a full and successful life. But it is there; that sadness that none of us non-Jews will ever really be able to understand.
So for some, the pain continues, and while I know we must all move on, just for tomorrow I shall think of M, and remember with love and affection her father* and mother, and all those like them, who live under that shadow.
*He was a jeweller, who made my first wedding ring. I still wear it on my right hand.
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Thank you for this reminder and a lovely tribute. On a similar note, right now "I'm reading All The Light We Cannot See" and you should pick it up. You would like it, a beautifully written story about human perseverance during a dark period in history.
ReplyDeleteI looked it up, Yvonne, and will try to get hold of it.thank you.
DeleteA thought provoking post, I saw a little bit on the TV earlier about the 70th anniversary, it was very emotive.
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting, Maria.
DeleteI watched 'The Big Question' on BBC1 Sunday morning. They were asking if it was time to stop all this Holocaust Memorial business. I think the only people who would like it to be swept under the carpet are the Germans. Of course we should remember it; it was one of Europe's darkest events.... and still within memory of many.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is not the majority of Germans who would prefer the remembering stopped. Quite the contrary; new memorials are being dedicated all the time in this country, for instance not so long ago the one to the Roma and Sinti people in Berlin; click here for its wikipedia article.
DeleteIn my hometown, the site of the former synagogue has always been a memorial; it was re-designed and re-dedicated about six months ago.
Please do not think every German is "Pegida".
A recent poll in Germany has just been published saying that over 80% of Germans would like to 'put history of Jewish persecution behind them'. That's what I call 'sweeping under the carpet'.
DeleteThis post was not intended to cause any kind of offense. Of course Germany, like the rest of us, needs to move on, and we all need to forgive. Meike I saw I heartbreaking programme about the descendants of Nazis who chose to have themselves sterilised to end the family line. Remorse for something they didn't do. So sad.
DeleteI didn't imagine a simple fact would be contested. Sorry.
DeleteI think it was the sweeping under the carpet rather than the statistic, Cro. But let's draw a line under this now! A sensitive subject from any perspective, and one maybe I shouldn't have posted about.
DeleteFrances, this is your blog and you should post here about any topic you deem postworthy. So far, I find that our discussion has been very civil. Cro Magnon has in no way attacked me personally or said anything offensive. He cited a recent poll that I was not familiar with but have since looked up.
DeleteThe study says that 81 % wish to put it behind them, as Cro Magnon mentioned. The study is not limited to this, though. The next sentence says "...and rather focus on pressing current matters". This does make a difference, doesn't it?
Still, the result of that poll is a warning, and one that is being taken seriously by our politicians.
The overall climate - political and cultural - in Germany is that nobody can (or should) escape being continuously reminded of the Holocaust, no matter whether they still go to school or to work or are in any way participating members of society.
Thanks you; are we friends now? I really didn't intend to upset anyone.
DeleteYes, friends :-) Like I said, Cro, I did not feel offended by you, I merely wanted to give a German's statement about something said about Germany.
DeleteI am remembering but how I wish I didn't have to.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, Adrian.
DeleteI would like to reiterate and frame Adrian's comment (and I don't say that very often!).
ReplyDeleteI was taken into the bosom of a Jewish household when I was in my late teens because I was a friend (not romantically attached) of their daughter. The family may well have been touched by the Holocaust although the family had been in Liverpool for generations. What struck me was not sadness but anger not at anyone or anything in particular but at the world in general. It may well not have been a typical (very extended) family but it left me with an image I've never been able to erase.
I've seen this too, Graham. I was speaking to M last night, and she is still so angry, as well as sad.
DeleteThanks for this post Francis. The concentration camps are places beyond our real understanding and I can't think of anything so awful. We need to remember so that it never happens again. But I fear that suffering from war will continue forever.
ReplyDeleteThis kid of thing is of course happening all the time, all over the world, and is always terrible. I suppose what makes the holocaust stand out is the enormous scale and meticulous planning.
DeleteThere are few jewish families who didn't lose relatives in the holocaust. Here is my auntie's story http://thirdageblogger.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/goodbye-to-very-special-lady.html
ReplyDeleteThe most upsetting thing is that if human beings can't show tolerance to others, we have learnt nothing.
L, we never learn, do we. Which is why occasions like this memorial are so important.
DeleteWe're told that emembering is important to stop it happening again ... but people still are treated in terrible ways because of their beliefs or their ethnic background.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely true, Patsy. But let's hope never again in Europe on this vast scale (though M tells me she still encounters anti semitism, and this can be violent).
ReplyDelete