Never Again?

Last week we all turned our eyes to that particular corner of Poland. We marked sixty years since the camp at Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet Red Army. And yet, as the memory of the holocaust recedes, I fear that we too often dishonour that memory. The phrase that so many associate with the holocaust is "never again." We say that, but just six decades on, it seems tragically empty of meaning. The richest and most powerful nations turned a blind-eye to Rwanda. All we had was talk, pardon my french, but we did f*ck all for the Rwandans. But don't believe me, read Dallaire's book, the West did nothing, at least nothing constructive. The same thing can be said for Darfur. Oh sure, we talk about it, express concern through the appropriate channels, but, save for a few brave NGOs we offer little or nothing. So when we say "never again," what are saying? Are we saying never again to genocide being perpetrated against Jews in central Europe specifically? While I'm sure that, aside from the Ernst Zundels of the world, most everyone could agree that we don't want that again. At the same time, the idealist in me always took "never again" to take on a broader meaning. Never again would the rich and powerful nations of the world just stand around and let genocide occur. Never again, when it was in our power to act, would we stand by and do nothing. Never again would we leave it to the courage of a few Oscar Schindlers, Dietrich Bonhoeffers, or Raoul Wallenbergs to try to counter such horrors. Rather we would step in and act. Yet here we are, all of us (myself included), standing around so impotent in the face of genocide. The conclusion this drives me to is that we honour the victims of monsterous genocide when it is relatively easy for us to do so. Get a few dignitaries, some speakers, perhaps some music. For the machinations of the modern state this is simple. But when honouring the memory of the holocaust when it is difficult, by involving ourselves in preventing another tragedy we shy away. In doing so, we reduce our act of memory to an empty ceremony. It does not sit well with me that we honour the victims of the holocaust one day, but everyday we shamefully dishonour that memory through our indifference to the sad repetition of history.