Holocaust Remembrance Month is a time to remember acts of genocide, past and present

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD
By Abraham J. Peck

A piece of art by Holocaust survivor Helga Weissova-Hoskova. April is Holocaust Remembrance Month, recalling the crimes of genocide committed in Europe by the Nazis. It's also a time to remember other acts of genocide that continue to take place today. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Every April I remember and mourn. I mourn my maternal Jewish grandfather and the 12 uncles and aunts and their extended families murdered in the Holocaust by the evil that we call genocide. But I am comforted to some extent by the knowledge that I am not alone. Other communities share this month to commemorate their own genocides. Armenians, Cambodians, Rwandans and Darfuris share with me membership in a horrific fraternity/sorority of sorrow. But the murderers murdered and the dead cannot be brought back to life. What do we do with our memories and with our soul wounds, those of us who bear the burden of our genocides? And how can humanity begin to understand the “other” in its midst as our brothers and sisters?[link]