Memories of Holocaust sting but endure

[Forkboy]

Some held back tears, others let them fall, as Stephan B. Ross, founder of Boston's Holocaust memorial, recounted the torture and humiliation he suffered in Nazi death camps over five years.

As difficult as the story was to hear for many of the 400 participants in the Holocaust remembrance at Faneuil Hall yesterday afternoon, organizers said his journey, along with those of other survivors, needs to be remembered.
--
But it was the forceful, personal story of Ross that elicited the most seat-shifting among listeners.

Stephan Ross and his family were rounded up from their homeland in Poland and separated in 1940 when he was 8 years old. Ross would be transferred to about 10 prison camps, including Auschwitz, where he was subjected to slavery, abused by pedophile guards, and witnessed cannibalism.

"It was hard for me to go on living, and I prayed for God to stop punishing me," he said. He finally pointed to a small American flag hanging from the lectern at Faneuil Hall, which he said an American soldier handed him to dry his tears during his camp's liberation in April 1945. "I cherished this flag for 63 years. It is my greatest treasure," he said. "May the tragedy of the Holocaust be a lesson to mankind to speak out against racism."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/05/05/memories_of_holocaust_sting_but_endure/

[brer cat]

1. Check your link.

I can't get it to work. Very interesting post...would love to read the entire article.

[Forkboy]

2. Fixed..thanks for pointing that out.

[emilyg]

3. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

:loveya:

[Forkboy]

5. You're very welcome.

:hug:

[LeftishBrit]

4. Thank you. Horrific, but we must never forget.

[brer cat]

6. Thanks.

"We should be the torchbearers of 'never again'" We all must be.

[Forkboy]

7. In some ways that term bothers me, as it is happening again.

We had Cambodia, and now we have Rwanda, both prime examples of the thing so many have said "Never again" to. I'm afraid the sad fact is that enough people simply don't believe that anymore, or simply never did in the first place. I know many, many people do care (especially here on DU) and for that I'm grateful, but as a whole our society seems strangely unaffected by the genocide going on right now. A song I really like from the 80's asked the question, "Is a full belly all it takes to keep us pacified?" and I'm afraid the answer is yes.

I fervently hope that with a Democrat in office we may finally start to address this is a meaningful way, but I can't even say that with too much confidence.

In the end, I've come to accept that the term "Never forget" may be more fitting, as we tend to not care enough until it's too late. :(

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. The Holocaust is never forgotten

it lives on in the haunted memories of those who were there and those who lost loved ones. The late head of my Sufi Order told the story of his sister, who worked as a radio operator for the French Underground, until he passed on. One could feel the pain and heartache in him whenever he related the story. There is a memorial page to her on the Order's website.

[Forkboy]

9. I think learning about it at the age of 15 shaped my future politics a lot.

I had heard about it at a younger age, but didn't really understand what it really was, and how it happened. I still have a real hard time grappling with the enormity of it, and how death became just another bureaucracy.

I was never a religious person, and that made me look at it in purely human terms of good and evil, and it gave me an insight into human nature that I almost wish I had never seen. The capacity for that kind of thing is in all of us as humans, and the ability to be lead down that path by the right confluence of events and personalities still exists today. It scares the shit out of me.