Touched By Auschwitz

The title of this blog post is borrowed from a documentary programme which was shown earlier this week and is still available on catch up. I've been to Yad Vashem in Israel. Hand on heart it was one of the most moving experiences of my life. When we went the names of the victims were read out on a loop but it was the huge piles of shoes, glasses and hair that really brought home the horror. This programme tracks how the experiences of the Auschwitz concentration camps affected the lives of a small number of survivors in the aftermath and how its legacy has impacted upon the "second generation".

This is from one of the interviewees Max Epstein who now lives in Chicago.

"It was very dark. The smallest act of kindness appeared like a large spark. I choose to remember the sparks. That's my motto and that's what I live by."

Arilx