A Reflection

I have just finished reading Art Spiegelman's Maus. In short, it is a biographical graphic novel depicting his father's account of events and lived experience of Hitler's Europe, and the author's own personal journey coming to terms with his father and history. It is harrowing and impactful. It is to be the second novel read in my household this week on Hitler's Europe; the other book being, Night by Elie Wiesel. I read Night several years ago, and both are highly recommended as essential reading.

I reflect on several years ago while attending class during my Social Work degree at University being shown a film that included personal testimonies of survivors of the holocaust; describing in vivid detail, their personal experience. I will never forget this video, because of the impact it had on me; and still does, to this day.

At one point there is a woman describing her experience and stating with such dignity and strength of soul that, though the Nazi's took everything they had from her (including her family), they could not and did not take away her spirit, her soul. It was in the context of this juxtoposition that the profundity of this lived experience penetrated inside my own soul. And what happened next was a soulful cry that began with a gentle shedding of tears that slid past my cheeks and next, the outpouring. I excused myself and had a moment to abide in my experience. Upon return to the classroom and during the debriefing, what came out of me was the fact that I had been affected by the strength and dignity of this woman who had lost everything and had lived to tell about it, soul intact.

Today, upon completion of this remarkable work, I sat, affected. The research as documented by wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust) states that it is estimated that 6 million Jewish people died under the Third Reich; there were an estimated 9 million Jews residing in Europe prior to the war. Furthermore, scholars estimate the number of deceased to be anywhere between 11-17 million; these numbers would account for and include: The Romani, people with disabilites, soviet prisoners of war, Polish and Soviet citizens, Jehovah's witnesses, homosexuals, and other religious and political opponents. 

Words can't capture this silent meditation, and perhaps rightly so. However, from a felt experience to a cognitive construct I will say this; it is a study in the systematic dissemination of propoganda and illegitimate power. It invites us to be affected.