Yom HaShoah

"Forgetting the extermination is part of the extermination itself." - Jean Baudrillard

I decided to forgo posting yesterday, in response to Yom Hashoah, the day of remembrance for the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. I know that this is not a polical blog; I have worried for the past day that this post would come off as too out-of-the-blue or off-putting. I decided to go with it because Pound for Pound is an expression of its author and his passion. I would have felt pathetic writing about Mike Jones or Gwen Stefani or new construction in Philadelphia on such a solemn occasion. I hope that those reading can understand my decision, and that it will make more sense as this blog takes shape.

In essence, yesterday was a day for silence. A day to escape from the rush of the daily world. A day to reflect in a world that no longer values reflection. In a world that does not value memory and remembrance. A day to remember all those who were murdered in the heart of the West, while the world did nothing. A day to remember not just the dead, but those who survived, forced to tell a story too horrible for words. Remember all those suffering around the world at the hands of tyranny and oppression, and realize how little has changed. Remember our past in order to change the present and future.

Please take a look at this look at this essay by Gustav Neibeur and this one by Mike Franklin, who highlight the need for memory to be active and engaged. Take a look at the words, the names and the faces. Get involved with an organization like Facing History, that engages history in attempt to spur action in the present. Make "Never Again" mean never again.

"No one can become what he cannot find in his memories." - Jean Amery