“The
living owe it to those who no longer can speak to tell their story for them.” Czeslaw Milosz
Camp Westerbork in the Netherlands was
originally a safe haven for Jews fleeing Germany just before WWII. After
Germans took hold of it, it became a gateway for Jews and others to be moved
through to other concentration camp locations throughout Europe. Desiring
compliance and control, an illusion of a good, civilized life was created by
music, sports, a school, hospital, and more. Each Tuesday more than a thousand
left the camp by rail and eventually died at the hands of those who believed
absolute power and tyranny could create a better life for some. It was a place
of deceit that lead to death for more than 100,000.
When the camp was torn down, a decision was
made that the railway line that carried so many in, never to return, should
both stand as a memorial and act as a public statement to the future. The two
rusty railway tracks were visually made impassable by bending them up to the
sky in memory of the loss of life, and so badly mangled to say “this will not
happen here again.”
There is great pain in remembering the high
cost of peace and the atrocities of war each Remembrance Day. Those who have
personally and directly felt those costs have experiences that awaken
remembrance within them all the time. Those who have not, which includes most
of our students who have no such direct connection or experience of present or
past pain, depend on others to prompt them to listen to the stories of
sacrifice and the gift of peace. We need to know their story.
Growing in wisdom means teaching the value of
remembrance for our students who will live in a time we will not see. Remembrance Day reminds us of a world torn apart by the depths of sin, and yet
entirely loved by its creator and rests in his care.
We will remember.
We will participate in a special assembly
from 10:45-11:15am on Friday. The LCES community is welcome to come and join us
in the school gym.
We will remember.
SJ
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