"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it" - International Holocaust Remembrance Day - 27 Jan 2014

The 27th of January marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day 

76 years to the day, since the Red Army liberated 7,000 prisoners from the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp complex; it serves to remind us of the millions more who lost their lives, and the legacy of the horror that lives on. 

Wars of the past can often feel so distant that we struggle in trying to remember; struggle to relate, as the memory grows increasingly faint with time. 

But it's scars are still worn by millions to this day; those affected directly by the conflict and those who have suffered under the burden of its legacy, and it’s these who still need our prayers.

In remembering the past we are learning for the future. We honour the lives of those who were lost and we grow as a people. We repent of the mistakes we have made and we have allowed to be made, and we strive to ensure they are never made again.

Through remembering the past, we are actively bringing God’s kingdom to the present and the future. 

"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." 

George Santayana

All images are used by permission in accordance with commons copyright license terms:
Feature image is a derivative of the image 'Birkenau', by Ana Paula Hirama, 'Prisoners in the concentration camp' by Marion Doss and 'Birkenau "Death Gate"'  by V Manninen