After watching the video and reading the first chapter of “Will Genocide Ever End?” I had to take some time and really ask myself if I can handle studying such a dark and terrifying subject. Before watching the video, I didn’t have a real visual of what Genocide was about. I knew it was about murder and death, but the movie really put it into perspective for me.
The movie brought pain to my stomach and a lump to my throat. I was angry that such a monstrosity, like the Holocaust, could happen. I was saddened that the men, women and children had to go through such a terrible and inhumane crime and death. When I close my eyes I can still see the bulldozers plowing the innocent mutilated dead bodies around, like piles of garbage at the dump. I will never get that image out of my head.
Reading the first chapter of the book made me understand more in depth about the word genocide and how it was created because of the holocaust. Before the holocaust there was no real name for such an act, other than murder. For an act to have such an impact on the world, to create a new word for it, the act would have to be the ultimate human rights catastrophe.
After reading the quote from Charlotte Delbo, “I beg you / do something / learn a dance step / something that gives you the right / to be dressed in your skin in your body hair / learn to walk and to laugh / because it would be too senseless / after all / for so many to have died / while you live / doing nothing with your life,” I went on a walk with my kids to the park. I couldn’t stop hugging and kissing them. Needless to say it was very touching to me, but on
the other hand in the back of my mind I could see the paper made of skin and the blankets made of hair from the video.
As disturbing as genocide and the holocaust are, I feel that studying and talking about it with others, in a healthy way, will help us in remembering genocide victim’s and prevent it from happening in the future.