Reese Corckran Blog Post #4

1.

Everyone says never to dwell on the past. They say that we must look ahead and create a bold and bright future, however, to ensure that we don’t repeat past mistakes we must learn about our history to continue forward. As much as we would like to forget that the Holocaust ever happened and spare ourselves from attempting to comprehend the scale and inhumanness of these atrocities, we must not. For then we run the risk of repeating history, possibly at a larger scale. 

Where do we begin? With the man behind it all our the conditions that led him to power. We could go into excruciating detail while explaining it, or, instead, we could focus on those whom we have lost, those who lost their lives as a result of the madness. We chose the latter. In Night Elie Weisel attempts to share with the world what he experienced in hopes that we as the human race could attempt to bear witness to what happened to him and many other victims. As we know it would be much easier to simply leave it all behind us and pretend it never happened but the Holocaust victims deserve to be recognized for what they went through. The hall of remembrance does just that. As you walk through the museum you can’t help but attempt to place yourself in the shoes of those you are reading about and yet it is almost impossible to do so. The hall of remembrance is the last part of the museum and one of the most powerful. When lighting a candle one reflects upon what they have just taken in and honors those who we have lost. 

We can only hope that nothing that occurred then could happen again now, however, we still see unlawful discrimination to this day. Although the scale at which the Holocaust occurred is close to impossible now we still sit on an uneven balance of equality. Jews were not the only group of people persecuted in the holocaust. People with disabilities and anyone who was purely different were persecuted. We have seen people throughout history see anyone different as a threat, however, I would have only hoped that after such a traumatic event as the Holocaust we would find a way to come together. Yet the victims of trauma and these events can provide a constant reminder of how even the in worst of events hope can be found. 

When looking at the future we must take time to think back to our past and pay remembrance to those who suffered because of it, however, let us provide empathy over pity because if a person can return from such horrors with the hope we see the true depth of resilience.