Never again.

We are in the midst of Holocaust Remembrance Week.

I've always been fascinated by the stories of World War II.  It all sounds so surreal, like something out of a nightmare.  The stories that have come out of that time are mind-blowing.  Hatred and betrayal, sacrifice and heroism.  The best and worst of the human condition.

In college I took a course called "The Literature of the Holocaust."  It was a painful, eye-opening class.  I still have many of the books from it, and plan to use them when my children study WWII sometime in the future. I'm sure it will be a difficult unit for us all, but I believe it is important.

As I thought over this observance, this Remembrance Week, I wondered what I might have to say about the Holocaust that would matter.  How could I even scratch the surface of the atrocities which occurred, the unfathomable loss to humanity?  There were such unspeakable crimes against God and mankind.  What could I say that would make any difference at all?

And then I realized this: I can remember.  That is one thing I can do.  I can honor those who suffered during that time by this one simple act:  I can remember.

“To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.” ― Elie Wiesel, Night