Today marks 71 years since Kristallnacht:
In the skin of our conscience lay a precise sequence of inscribed numbers. A series so degrading, so immorally astounding, that it reels us through our lives hooked to our historical persecution. Yet we continue to physically evade our promise of Never Again. The atrocities currently occurring in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burma mirror the barbarity of the genocides in Armenia, Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and The Holocaust. The conscious presence of our dehumanization during the Shoah needs to direct our moral compass towards individual action to honor our murdered brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters during Hitler’s genocidal regime.
My tattooed conscience intricately weaves an emotional trek through Terezin outside of Prague, Majdanek, Auschwitz and Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland, Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. These soul altering experiences have exposed my senses to inexplicable pain. My eyes have seen no greater anguish than the vibrant, Caribbean blue stains of Zyklon-B left on the cold, cement walls of Majdanek’s gas chambers. My lungs have inhaled no greater sorrow than the thick, humid stench of earth, life and machine that dissipates from the claustrophobic box car so many of our ancestors rode to their death. My ears have absorbed no greater hate than the silent, motionless ambiance of a brilliant sunset at Majdanek.
Yet we comfortably continue our journeys through life as if these very senses are not continually reincarnated in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burma: 300,000 dead in Darfur and 5.4 million dead in the Congo: 3,200 incinerated villages in Burma and 4,000 cremated villages in Darfur: tens of thousands of innocent women raped as a weapon of war.
George Bernard Shaw wrote indifference is the essence of inhumanity. Elie Wiesel said indifference is the epitome of evil. Our indifference must cease now. We must educate ourselves, advocate for voiceless victims and end these heinous stains on humanity. The bible commands “Thou shall not stand idly by the shedding of the blood of thy fellow man.” It is time to take action: sign genocide prevention pledges, invite speakers to schools, organize fundraisers, write your elected officials or local paper. It is our responsibility, as one humanity, to fight relentlessly to eradicate genocide in our lifetime.
More information: SaveDarfur, Enough Project, Campaign for Burma, Elie Wiesel on Sudan, Genocide Intervention Network
Personal pictures from Poland:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2007690&id=1457550214&l=8c250dac75
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2007691&id=1457550214&l=1373209bea
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2007692&id=1457550214&l=69f0cef4f2
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2007693&id=1457550214&l=3e76f27899
Save Darfur’s Faith Video (About 20 minutes):
NBA Star Tracy McGrady’s Darfur Dream Team – Empowerment through Education (About 4 minutes)
