Never again means never again

Be the light
London, ON
April 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I sing in a choir. "Sing" is probably stretching it, as I don't read music, wouldn't know a C from a G, and only my rubber duck thinks I can carry a tune. I do my best to avoid tripping up everyone else, and so far they haven't shown me the door. So far.

Last night we sang a song at our community's Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) ceremony. We remembered the 6 million Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazi regime and its collaborators, and bore witness to our own responsibilities to carry the victims' and survivors' stories forward and ensure the lessons of this dark era are taught, learned, and applied.

The song we sang was Ani Ma'Amin (I Believe), and what made it special, aside from the haunting tune and arrangement, was the fact that this wasn't just another tune. It was often sung by victims as they were marched to the gas chambers. In spite of the terrible atrocities that surrounded them at that moment, in spite of the darkness that was about to swallow them, in spite of the complete lack of hope, they sang I Believe, en masse, as they walked to their deaths.

I shot this photo after the ceremony was over. After 91-year-old survivor Elly Gotz held us spellbound with his detailed story of how he and his parents stayed alive. After the hundreds of people who packed the community centre had begun to return to their lives.

I chose to shoot the memorial candles (okay, light bulbs, but still) because I couldn't stop looking at the light. On a night where we remembered the darkness that lurks in the deepest recesses of the worst of humanity, we also spoke of the light that banishes the darkness, the light that survivors like Mr. Gotz carried out of the ashes of Eastern Europe and used to build lives of purpose, accomplishment, and kindness.

Light is the revenge of the victim on the evil that would have snuffed us out. Light is the ultimate sign of victory, and we must never allow ourselves to lose sight of it.

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