mmoa_writes

Hearing the stories, seeing the pictures, reading the memoirs and the graphic novels, it's all so monstrous and revolting and it just makes you want to sit down in silence or cry. And yet, what always strikes me, listening to the survivors, is that they do not follow the path of hatred. For the most part, they refuse to wallow in it, they refuse to forget, they refuse to let themselves go. They insist on cherishing life and on the importance of acceptance and rational thought.

I think this is why I always find it hard to agree with people who claim that humanity is evil: there is so much which proves that theory wrong. It is true that we are capable of the worst atrocities, but we are, more frequently, prone to the very best.

Perhaps on the 60th Anniversary, it is the example of the survivors - the courage of the elderly Jew, the shame of the repentant Nazi - that should be particularly thought about, remembered, celebrated. Of course, as a Christian, I persistently believe that there is something good to be found in anything, in the most despicable, but putting my religious bias aside, I still think that it should be borne in mind. At times, it's simply a case of us acknowledging it.

In my own opinion, to remember to resist hatred, to acknowledge and appreciate our differences, to cherish life in all it's diversity... that is what Holocaust Memorial Day is all about.#

It's on days like this which make me glad that I have at last handed in all outstanding coursework.

A little question: does anyone know of any life-drawing classes in London that I could attend? I've realised that there is a lot I have to work on...