Not a day should go by where we don’t each say the name of someone lost to the world in the midst of the Shoah. Not a day should go by where we don’t consider some of the events that happened during that very dark time and compare them to the freedoms being lost, the freedoms being withdrawn, humanity of classes of citizens being questioned and denied, freedom of speech, freedom to worship, to work, to learn, to read, all being challenged not for the good.

The solemnity of the day spent trudging the streets, the dirt, the stones of Auschwitz-Birkenau. The day was perfect – gray, rainy, a little foggy. Perfectly disgusting weather. Perfect for setting a mood of a gray pall.

We should laud the courage of those who endured and laud the courage of those who died with hope in their hearts, of those who struggled, who dreamed, who did what ever it was they needed to do. And we shouldn’t forget the children who never saw another butterfly.

Their struggles, tears, fears, anger, fright, despondency should give us courage to stand up now.