Job 7:3-8 AMPC
So am I allotted months of futile [suffering], and [long] nights of misery are appointed to me. [4] When I lie down I say, When shall I arise and the night be gone? And I am full of tossing to and fro till the dawning of the day. [5] My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken and has become loathsome, and it closes up and breaks out afresh. [6] My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope. [7] Oh, remember that my life is but wind (a puff, a breath, a sob); my eye shall see good no more. [8] The eye of him who sees me shall see me no more; while your eyes are upon me, I shall be gone.
Today 27th January is Holocaust Memorial Day across the Western world. It marks the liberation of Auschwitz, the most infamous of the Nazi concentration camps.
We think of the six million Jews who perished simply because of their race and religion.
Six million yes, but each one suffered a private hell. It is very hard to perceive the suffering of so many, but, break it down into individual tragedy and heartbreak, then we can begin to understand the enormity of this crime against humanity.
The words from Job describe his solitary, undeserved suffering. How each day and night was a burden of unending pain. He was repulsed by his own body.
It could rightly recount some of the feelings of those in the camps, going through starvation and torture, longing for death.
The Children's Memorial in the grounds of Yad Vashem , Jerusalem, is a very touching tribute to those young ones who perished. Through a prism of candlelit mirrors, pictures of individual children pass before you and their names are pronounced in what sounds like an echo chamber.
When you stop today to remember the Holocaust, think not of 6 million, but recall the suffering of individuals who lost their lives, livelihoods, homes, possessions and freedoms.
May we be afraid to hate just because someone is different to us.
Perhaps you'd like to light a candle remembering someone using the link above.
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