I awoke this morning like every other morning, with thoughts of the world. Where are we, what are we doing; are we doing enough? Questions that I ponder every day since the Ukraine has been under siege. It does not fully consume my day, since there is so much to absorb daily with the world and of course personal issues as well. This day in particular I opened the newspaper and was reading an article about moving concentration camp and holocaust survivors out of Ukraine to Germany. These people are at a tender age and have been through more than any one of us in this country can even fathom. They have suffered, lost, survived and moved on from the past, but in the last months all this has changed. Each survivor that is still with us and needed to be moved are being taken care of with kid gloves and of all places to replant them, Germany, welcoming them with open arms. They will most likely be there permanently and hopefully the last years of their lives can be in peace.
For now they have been brought back to their childhood, being jolted back in time with the sounds and visual images of war, bombing, and loss. My question is, why? Why is this happening to not only them but to us all. My family tree leads me back to the Ukraine, of course when it was part of Russia, but many many moons ago and my family fled for a reason way back then. Why does history insist on repeating itself, even when we are full of more knowledge?
While reading I began to cry a bit, remembering in the early days of the pandemic I read 4 different books about survivors of the holocaust, different camps at different times with different perspectives. Each one suffered in such unimaginable ways that I cried through every story. Now, 2022 and the story is here, right in front of us all. We promised them, the world promised them this could and would never happen again. I send love and prayers for all of the people I read about today and each and every human in the Ukraine. Senseless crimes when there is so very much that needs to be done for us all in this world. I pray for peace on earth and hope you will join me in my prayers. Thank you.
