To my granddaughters who visited the Holocaust Museum... Poem by Wendell Berry

To my granddaughters who visited the Holocaust

Museum on the day of the burial of Yitzhak Rabin

Now you know the worst

we humans have to know

about ourselves, and I am sorry,

for I know that you will be afraid.

To those of our bodies given

without pity to be burned, I know

there is no answer

but loving one another,

even our enemies, and this is hard. 

But remember:

when a man of war becomes a man of peace,

he gives a light, divine 

though it is also human.

When a man of peace is killed

by a man of war, he gives a light.

You do not have to walk in darkness.

If you will have the courage for love,

you may walk in light.  It will be 

the light of those who have suffered

for peace.  It will be

your light.

~ Wendell Berry ~

 As the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust says: "HMD is a time when we seek to learn the lessons of the past and to recognise that genocide does not just take place on its own, it’s a steady process which can begin if discrimination, racism and hatred are not checked and prevented. We’re fortunate here in the UK; we are not at risk of genocide. However, discrimination has not ended, nor has the use of the language of hatred or exclusion. There is still much to do to create a safer future and HMD is an opportunity to start this process." - See more at: http://hmd.org.uk/page/why-mark-27-january-holocaust-memorial-day#sthash.70HyElCZ.dpuf