JPG

April 23 2009

This evening I went to an inter-faith Shoah - Holocaust Memorial Service at Melbourne's St Francis' Catholic Church. It was an extremely moving event. Here is a quote from the service:

"Across a darkened firmament shone the stars,
and on the outer garments, too,
were yellow stars, always stars...
May they shine tonight upon our prayer
and navigate our world
into the way of peace
so that none may be condemned
to repeat the horror of the Shoah
and none be blown off
the course of peace."

Nine candles were lit during the service. Six in memory of the six million Jews who died in the Shoah; one for the non-Jews who lost their lives in those years; one for the righteous Gentiles who, during those dark days, risked their lives for the sake of their Jewish brothers and sisters; and one was a candle of hope.

A Holocaust survivor spoke of his, and his family's experiences, during the war when they were saved by a German military driver who risked his life to drive them (in an army car) across the border into Belgium.

Never again.

Peace. Shalom. Salaam.