The Horrors of Auschwitz

I just finished reading the riveting book Night (revised 2006) by Elie Wiesel. Once again I was brought back to Auschwitz and the stark horrors faced by those who were sent to the concentration camps, the work camps, the chimneys. The first time I learned of the attempted extermination of the Jews by Nazi Germans was when I read Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place. It forever changed my perceptions of our world, of justice and humanity.

I still cannot fathom the depths of depravity those in charge were capable of. I am in awe of the strength their victims had and the horrible decisions they faced every day in order to survive emotionally and physically. On Thursday my great friend Deanna and I were talking about the concentration camps and of the opening of Sophie's Choice. As parents we contemplated the thought of having to choose between our children, who lived and who died. I cannot imagine what mothers, fathers, children, and grandchildren must have gone through, knowing their family were murdered by the most horrible means. Choking on gases, shot in the back of the neck, thrown into flaming trenches, and so much worse. I pray our children, our children's children and their children's children never face this evil. Let us ponder together the famous quote from George Santayana:

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.