Remembering more than Sacrifice

Ways to remember, reading & learning.

Irine Remembers
By Irina

It is important to remember the men and women who fought in the wars and sacrificed their lives to save their families and country.

It is important to give and show appreciation and thanks to these men and women who fought in the wars. Because of these people, we are privileged to live a good life in the safe country we are living in.

We do not want to experience what I experienced as a child.

When I was five years old, my mother, two brothers and I had to leave our home because the Germans were bombing  the area.

My dad, who was a teacher and a translator, knew many languages. When the war started, he was recruited as an officer by the government. His job was to recruit young men to become soldiers and send them to the front to fight in the war.

What I remember is very painful. Dad put our family on a train. We travelled to Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. The Germans bombed the train and many people were killed. As the bombs were coming down around us, my mother covered us three children with her body to protect us. Those of us who survived the bombing ran into the forests…we were very scared.

Our soldiers made it through the forests as well. We to came to a village. I asked if anyone had seen my dad…finally we saw each other. My dad gave me a hug and a kiss and then swiftly had to leave for the front to fight.

This is only part of the terrible and devastating experience I encountered in my young life.

This brief story mentioned is why it is important for the youth to remember we do not want to experience this again. We want our country to always be safe from war.

What to Remember

By Amalia

It is very important to remember what has gone on in the past, especially for the younger generations that haven't lived through the horrors of war.

They have to know what happened in the past and not repeat the same mistake.

They have to know fight hatred because it is one of the biggest ills of humanity.

They have to promote understanding and friendship amoung people of all races, to learn about other cultures.

We come from different parts of the world but that doesn't mean that we can't strive to live together in peace.

Why Remember

By Bob

In the past, and yet even today, Governments, politicians and leaders around the world succumb to greed, power and strategically arrange to put their selfish plans into place to acquire land, money and possessions at the expense of ordinary citizens who want to live happily in a peaceful environment.

They are willing to sacrifice human life of anyone who stands in their way.  Beginning with indignities of fear, humiliation, lies and corruption, they work away at deceiving the innocent by depriving them of their basic freedoms.

The resulting confrontrations, invasions and previous World Wars prove there are no limits to their actions or intentions.

Yes, it is important to remember the past.

On Remembrance Day around the world we pause to think of the millions of men, women and children who were killed, disabled or suffered physically or mentally.

Men & Women who fought against oppressors to reclaim this freedom and it's important to particularly remind our educators and government leaders to continue to inform everyone of the events of the past so that this unacceptable situation will not continue.  Peace will not happen if we individually do not take a stand when we notice our rights being violated.

It is important for the youth of today to be knowledgeable of CURRENT WORLD EVENTS.

"Never Again"

This is a question to you, our readers:  "What is our individual responsibility to that phrase?"  Irina points out the personal ravages of these large scale failures of humanity.   Amalia suggests we need to remember how we got to the point of large scale failures of humanity.   Bob points us to ongoing learning, not necessarily celebration but CONSIDERATION of ALL that went into sending troops into dangerous situations.    How do you strive to be a part of the "Never Again" story.   How can we do better?   Leave your comments below.

Dora's Remembrances of Home

The phrase: "My home",  it mean to me the place where I live in this moment.  When war start we lived in a horse buggy for few months.  Nobody would let us in because every one was afraid be prosecute by German authority.

In Mogilev:   I don"t remember to much  but it was hard time.  We covered a lot of territory on the occupied territory.  Nobody let us in because we were Jewish. We kept moving by horse, the bombs fly from the sky but we continue to drive to river Volga.  

Later, the Russian government put us on the train and it took us to Kazakhstan not far from capital Alma-ata. From this place my father went on front where he was killed.  My mother left alone with three children and my Auntie, with her baby, stayed with us.   My Aunt work in the  cafeteria and we would eat because she brought pail of soup home.  My mom had to work outside and this is the way we survived four years.

After we went to Saratov. It was closed city. To go there we have to have Visa.  This journey was very  hard.  We stayed in the police station a few times but finally we got there and start our life  from nothing again.

It was hard traveling but sometime we have good time.  I remember my Mother took us to the park and we listen to military orchestra around us was a loth of people and we have good time.

My mother worked very hard.  Somebody told her “Go Frida, to Vilnius it'll be enough money to survive on pension that you get for your children”.  We went by train it take few days. We live in Vilnius 20 years.  I would count that as my home.  Although we have a lot of hard times, we  had good times.  

We, children, grew up by ourselves.  Mother work as security guard for twenty years and we looked after ourselves but we have fun.  Summer time we went to camp on the Baltic sea for the children without a father (who killed during in the war).  Time went by we grow up.  Finish school, college, married, have children and life continue.   Right now, the children encourage us to live Soviet Union but for now our home is Canada

Remembrance

The Bubbies & Zaidas spent some time thinking about war. 

We are a generation that has lived long enough to have seen some terrible atrocities of war. 

We have a concern that younger generations will forget what it is we are asking them to remember. Remembrance day is not about the “glorification of war” but a time to reflect on those who’s

sacrificed, to remember how war comes about, and we remember so that we can strive towards the ideals laid out in the UN Declaration of Human Rights and Freedoms:  

 Never Again

Poppy Field, France

 Remembrance
By Norma

Why is it important to remember?

So that history will not be repeated.
So that future generations don't forget the sacrifices made by our
grandfathers and fathers during two world wars.
To be able to teach about the horrors brought about by war.
To be able to share memories with future generations.
Preventing the stories of our elders from being lost.
To let the youth of today,who will be our future parliamentarians,
know what to avoid in the future.

What is it important to remember?

That so many youth from the recent past have disappeared because of war.
So many young men who never got to realize their futures!
That war has a devastating aftermath for the soldiers and their families.
I think about what used to be called "shell shock" and that is now called PTSD.
The governments who have failed the returning soldiers with the lack of psychological resources and pensions to help veterans and their families.
To keep memories of war before the youth of today.