Holocaust Memorial Day

By VIN PAUL
In memoriam of all those who were murdered in the concentration camps. To me, it is not simply about never forgetting, it goes so much deeper. It goes beyond the warped reasoning that moved human beings to attempt to wipe out other human beings.
A madman can set a nation on fire, thousands; even millions can march to his tune. Like a small spark in a forest, an inferno follows. Devastation is left behind. Lost lives, lost generations. Cruelty seems to know no bounds when the fires of hatred take hold of the soul of man. Momentum builds upon momentum, a feeding frenzy ensues and the corpses pile up.
All of this within living memory, all of this birthed in a modern progressive Germany. One man lit the spark, but why did thousands take up the baton and follow? What is the human condition that allows man to dehumanise other men?
Impossible to answer, every man is accountable for and to himself. Individuals follow the pack mentality, rhetoric fuels the mind, seeds get sown and bedlam follows in its path. I watch it happen in the world today, all be it to a smaller scale, but the spark is still here, it lurks deep in the human psyche, ready to erupt into violence. Violence in the home, violence in the school playground and violence at soccer matches.
The undercurrent is always here, just bubbling under the surface. The Holocaust took it into new territory, neither rhyme nor reason can account for such murderous intent and the execution of that intent. We are left with images, writings, stories and the inevitable post mortem. We can analyse until we’re blue in the face. Answers are not to be found, because we only walk in our own shoes.
Thank God that I never walked in Adolf Hitler’s or any of his many cohorts. I’m responsible for my own walk, as we all are. If one man can turn his warped thoughts to such evil, then we, as individuals must employ reason to steer others from the path of destruction. Influence for good, douse the spark of anti-Semitism, educate and protest. Silence is not golden when evil is once again raising its ugly venomous head above the parapet. My voice is small, this blog is just a squeak outside of the voluminous roar of the written and spoken word.
But I will not restrain or subjugate that squeak. Social media allows us to have a voice in the wider community; we can reach the whole globe. This world is now so much smaller. Use your voice, use it for good. Contrary to what we witness day after day on the news bulletins, I still believe that good can triumph over evil. Regrowth follows a forest fire. Out of devastation new growth springs up, hope does indeed spring eternal.
Hitler sought to erase the Jews, but nothing and no one can kill the eternal Jew. January 27th is a day for memorial; it is also a day for hope. Good triumphed over evil. The nation of Israel is the proof. The Star of David flies high, never to be brought low. It flies in the face of hate, it flies in the face of those that still wish her destruction. It will always fly, the swastika is trampled into the dirt. The light that conquered evil will never be extinguished.