January 27 the day designated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. I could post thousands of pictures of victims.

Or disturbing and very graphic pictures, some of them just too horrific to look at and rather then look at them we turn away because we cannot fathom that evil on display in front of us. Impossible to comprehend how any human being could commit these crimes to any other human being.

And that is just it and it may be an uncomfortable truth but both victims and perpetrators were human beings. It is easy and in a way logical to call those who did these unfathomable evil deeds monsters, but I believe that would be wrong, because that gives them an excuse.  For what do we expect from monsters? We expect them to do bad things.

Many of them were clerical workers, bakers, butchers,painters,husbands,wives,mothers and fathers. They were not all political leaders or dictators. Often they were ‘common people’

As for the poor misfortunes who just happened to be Jewish,Jehovah Witness,Homosexual, Disabled,Roma or just people standing up to the regime. They were innocent human beings, victims of hate and warped ideologies.

Human beings like the owner of the pocket watch found among  the belongings of inmates from Auschwitz. The owner of the watch had an anticipation of time. Time to celebrate a birthday. Time to meet a friend. Time to go for lunch or go to the shop to buy a newspaper. But in an instant this anticipation of time was taken away from him or her. The only time that was left to wait for were the days,hours,minutes or seconds left to live.

Our duty as human beings and citizens of the world is to remember that we as humans can cause so much hurt and chaos but equally we are also the solution. If we let this happen again , we have failed and alas at the moment it is starting to look like we are making the same mistakes again.