“The Nazis didn’t just kill the Jews; they made use of every inch of them. Women’s hair was shaved off and weaved into blankets for Nazi soldiers. Fat from Jews’ bodies was used to make soap. Gold teeth were pulled out to make gold bars for the Reichsbank. 384,000 pairs of men’s shoes were sent to Germany from Auschwitz. 646,000 men’s suits. 184,000 pairs of eyeglasses. The most frightening thing is not the gas chambers or the crematoria. It’s the rooms piled to the ceiling with children’s shoes. That gives you have an idea what the Holocaust was. Shoes. Once worn by real people.” - via jewishhistory.org
In the Holocaust Museum in DC, they have a room just for the shoes and hair of the victims. It’s really startling to see it so up close since it makes you realize the sheer scale of this. The pile of hair in the museum weighs several tons, and bear in mind that this several ton pile of hair is only but a small fraction of all of the horrible things found in the camps.
Somewhere in those shoes were the shoes of my great aunts and their children.
Same with eyeglasses.
It’s something I can never, ever forget.
The above are photos I took at Auschwitz. The shoes and suitcases were each encased in a hallway - kept behind glass on both sides. And again comprise only a fraction of what the Nazis took.
Now the significance of these collections can not be understated or undermined, the horrors of the Holocaust, the Shoah, are embodied in these piles of stolen clothing and cases.
We look at them and recoil, promising that we’ll never forget and yet the systematic slaughter of human beings continues around the world.
In different places, for different reasons. Who didn’t learn the lesson? Who still needs to be reached? Who needs to be protected?
Do not forget. Remember and react. Radical evil is not a memory of the past, it is a present and continuous force.
It’s International Holocaust - Shoah Remembrance day again, but this year the remembrance feels weighted with the fear of repetition. With more and more stories springing up of violence against Jews in Europe and the potential of candidacy for the US president by a proto-Hitleresque Trump who is targeting Muslims and immigrants in the place of Jews.
This history is still so fresh and clearly not relegated to the backs of history books. There is still bonedust intermingled with the dirt at Auschwitz. We cannot forget, we must not repeat.
Annual reblog of remembrance. But this year I also have a plea, forgive me if it is a little Christian-centric, but I feel it is U.S. Christians who most need a note of reminder or this day considering our current political situation.
Today we remember the price paid by the victims of racism, anti-semitism, ableism, homophobia, anti-intellectualism, nationalism, apathy, and hate. 6 million+ Jews, 250,000+ disabled people, 200,000+ Roma, millions of prisoners of war plus thousands more of Jehovah’s witnesses, Catholics, homosexuals, intellectuals, etc.
It has been said: “ Never Again” - what good is that if we do not back it up with actions?
Love more than we hate, open our arms to refugees fleeing in terror, longing for peace and welcoming. Open our minds to the truth of science which is the uncovering of the fingerprints of God on our universe. The truth takes nothing away from faith. Loving those who pray differently than you or not at all, or who love differently than you, or who experence the world differently than you takes nothing from you except your fear.
Leave your fear behind and seek the path of radical love which requires actions over words. Be hot, be forceful, do not wait for heaven on earth, make heaven on earth where there is neither male nor female, gentile or Jew, slave or free. The world is steeped in blood, and bone, and ash, the only recompense for our hate. Imagine how much greater the recompense of our love will be.
Annual reblog. I’m out of words this year. Praying that 2018 becomes the year we live up to the words “never forget.”
Please share this. I’m scared to death that because the internet’s so focused on the US, that saving net neutrality in Canada won’t get as much attention or support
I rarely draw fanart, and even more rare for shows that I don’t watch. But I’ve seen a lot of cool fanart for the Houseki no Kuni series, and was really inspired by the interesting character designs. The characters are gems and they shatter and refract light through their crystal hair. #housekinokuni #phosphophyllite #fanart #anime #yuumei #digitalart #digitalpainting #artistsofinstagram
dude i found out that a black girl in my school was literally being poisoned by her white roommate explicitly because shes black. like this bitch was deadass putting mold and bloody tampons and shit like that in her food and lotions and hair stuff. it got so bad that the girl had a constant sore throat that never went away and at one point she couldnt even fucking speak
and the dumb white bitch BRAGGED ABOUT THIS on her insta??? like what a fucking idiot i hope her ass gets arrested and rots in jail. i feel horrible for this girl being assaulted like this just for being black and not knowing the whole time that her roommate was literally killing her
im honestly aghast, and the worst part is that i know the administration at my school is gonna try and sweep this shit under the rug with no punishment for this disgusting racist girl. its so evil and im really furious
ok heres what i know
basically this racist white bitch (dont know her name, but her finsta is @breezy_bumble_b) was roommates with a black girl named jazzy rowe. things were already bad with them, since the racist bitch was clearly racist, so jazzy had recently moved out. a short time ago, said racist bitch posted this comment on her instagram:
im not sure how long it took for the screenshot to reach jazzy, but i know that she said one of her neighbors friends told her. the racist bitch had around 100 followers on her finsta, so the fact that only ONE person contacted jazzy is disgusting to me
jazzy has stated that she was told repeatedly that nothing can be done about this until the school finishes its investigation, and im willing to bet the school will drag this shit on forever to make people forget. the fact that this racist bitch is still going to school here is insane. this is an obvious hate crime and she needs to be arrested for deliberately trying to harm a black student. if i find out anything else about the situation, ill keep you guys posted
edit: i forgot to mention that the school is the university of hartford. it says the school on jazzy’s facebook page, but just in case yall can’t see that
BOOST THIS PLEASE
KILL
Literally poisoning her, how is she not in jail? Evil
