Soon after liberation, surviving children of the Auschwitz camp walk out of the children’s barracks. Poland, after January 27, 1945. — United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
I study this photograph,
and so it begins.
Seventy Years Later.
The war comes to a devastating conclusion.
The discoveries unfold:
Eyewitness encounters with the most horrific crime in the history of the world.
Battle-hardened tough guys cry.
They stomp their feet in rage, and get sick,
but the lost are lost.
The Survivors ‘carry on’.
The Soldiers ‘carry on’.
Now, it is Seventy Years.
But it is not over,
because ‘closure’ is a myth.
And for the rest of humanity-
How much have we learned?
How much have we forgotten?
Is it even important, for us to stop and think
about snowflakes on little boys?
*****
See the Altantic’s photo essay here.
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Matthew Rozell teaches history at his alma mater in Hudson Falls, New York. His first book, The Twilight of Living Memory: Reflections of the World War II Generation from Hometown, USA is due out this spring. His second book, in the works, is on teaching and remembering the Holocaust.
Teaching History Matters 
I hooked on to your blog as a result of reading One the Acacias Bloom. I guess that was a result of a Post Star article regarding your involvement with the Holocaust survivors and their liberators. That led to me reading Fred Spiegel’s book Once the Acacias Bloom. I think this should be required reading for everyone.
Point is thanks for reminding me of Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Keep hammering that education doesn’t cost, it pays. Ah, another topic.
Matthew Rozell posted: ” Soon after liberation, surviving children of the Auschwitz camp walk out of the children’s barracks. Poland, after January 27, 1945. — United States Holocaust Memorial Museum I study this photograph, and so it begins. Seventy Years Later. The war “
Thanks for reading, Stephen. Here is a video of Fred meeting one of the soldiers who freed him, up at our high school. https://teachinghistorymatters.com/2007/12/11/cbs-evening-news-they-dont-owe-us-we-owe-them/