I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau twice in the 1990s. On one occasion, I was accompanied by a colleague whose mother and father had survived internment there. The experience was emotionally overwhelming for him, myself and the others in our small group. I will and cannot ever forget having been there and taken in what it all meant. I thought at the time that everyone on Earth should visit and understand what really happened. Anyhow, thank you very much for your story. Human dignity and compassion. Indeed...
Stephane, thanks for sharing that. By the time I visited in 1997 I had edited my mother's memoir and also was writing academic papers on the psychology of the Holocaust (specifically one challenging the banality of evil account that Stanley Milgram advanced on the basis of his obedience to authority experiments) and thus reading several books and articles on the Holocaust. So being there connected me directly to a horrible place I had heard so much about. What I heard from my mother and through others' testimony was worse than being there. I can even recall thinking I'm here, visiting with a group of scholars, a side visit while attending a conference in Krakow. The Jews who were there during the Holocaust: what could begin to describe their experience? Those who survived, like my mother and her cousin, who I will have more to say about in future posts, I simply do not know how they did it and how they then went on from there.
Thank you for sharing your mother's experiences, her's and other's testimonies who survived are of inestimable value for humanity.
No matter how many words can be written to describe and analyse the acting and underlying motivation of the Fried girls, it all comes down to a split second : acting from a sense of compassion.
In moments where one does NOT think or consider. One acts. And one recognizes these kind of acts as a universal, positive trait of humanity : compassion. Which goes a lot further than "do no harm".
From the beginning, the human species homo sapiens 's survival was based on working together, to secure and protect. Food & water sources, attacks from wild animals and... enemy human groups.
Isn't it somewhat weird that mankind needs protection against one and another?
Mankind has not learned from our long history of warfare since the beginning of our existence.
What shocks me in these "modern" times and of younger generations, is that too many people seem to be unaware, uneducated or even in denial of the Holocaust. Or any other proven genocide and massacres in past and present.
Our current world is fed by narratives. Everything is twisted and biased.
I'll be reading the books of your mother and other Holocaust survivors - their testimonies are of great help to strengthen resilience and to keep some faith in humanity.
I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau twice in the 1990s. On one occasion, I was accompanied by a colleague whose mother and father had survived internment there. The experience was emotionally overwhelming for him, myself and the others in our small group. I will and cannot ever forget having been there and taken in what it all meant. I thought at the time that everyone on Earth should visit and understand what really happened. Anyhow, thank you very much for your story. Human dignity and compassion. Indeed...
Stephane, thanks for sharing that. By the time I visited in 1997 I had edited my mother's memoir and also was writing academic papers on the psychology of the Holocaust (specifically one challenging the banality of evil account that Stanley Milgram advanced on the basis of his obedience to authority experiments) and thus reading several books and articles on the Holocaust. So being there connected me directly to a horrible place I had heard so much about. What I heard from my mother and through others' testimony was worse than being there. I can even recall thinking I'm here, visiting with a group of scholars, a side visit while attending a conference in Krakow. The Jews who were there during the Holocaust: what could begin to describe their experience? Those who survived, like my mother and her cousin, who I will have more to say about in future posts, I simply do not know how they did it and how they then went on from there.
Thank you for sharing your mother's experiences, her's and other's testimonies who survived are of inestimable value for humanity.
No matter how many words can be written to describe and analyse the acting and underlying motivation of the Fried girls, it all comes down to a split second : acting from a sense of compassion.
In moments where one does NOT think or consider. One acts. And one recognizes these kind of acts as a universal, positive trait of humanity : compassion. Which goes a lot further than "do no harm".
From the beginning, the human species homo sapiens 's survival was based on working together, to secure and protect. Food & water sources, attacks from wild animals and... enemy human groups.
Isn't it somewhat weird that mankind needs protection against one and another?
Mankind has not learned from our long history of warfare since the beginning of our existence.
What shocks me in these "modern" times and of younger generations, is that too many people seem to be unaware, uneducated or even in denial of the Holocaust. Or any other proven genocide and massacres in past and present.
Our current world is fed by narratives. Everything is twisted and biased.
I'll be reading the books of your mother and other Holocaust survivors - their testimonies are of great help to strengthen resilience and to keep some faith in humanity.
Thank you for your writing and on going research.