May 2, 2008

We often say that we have rights, but we have responsibilities as well. Take, for example, the right to know so that we may better understand and learn. With this right comes the responsibility to remember, to look to the past and to hold on to the stories of those who have lived it. Some of their stories are unbearable, so painful were their experiences. They reveal to us the hideous underbelly of our world, when barbarism and inhumanity take hold. We have a responsibility to never close our eyes to suffering or horror.

Holocaust Memorial Day reminds us of one of the darkest and most painful chapters in history. When the death camps were discovered in 1945, the world cried out, “Never again!” To forget would be to betray that promise made to the memory of the millions of women, men and children who perished. To forget would be a cruel injustice to the victims who survived that terrible ordeal but who will never stop suffering. To forget would be to flout the many sacrifices of all those who have fought against tyranny in the name of freedom.

Today, together, we remember the Holocaust.

Michaëlle Jean