We Remember...

Paula R. Stern
A Soldier's Mother
01 May '11

I've never done this before - not once, and yet, today I will. I have a candle burning in my living room - a memorial candle that will burn 24 hours long. I can't sit down and write an article - my eyes are already burning and I have hours of work I must do. If I begin to think, begin to remember, begin to hurt, I won't finish.

What can I write that I have not written already? Who can I reach? For the first time, I simply rely on the past - those who lived it, those who have written it...and a bit from what I have written...

From last year's blog post:

Sometimes, you think you've used all your words...and here are some of mine in the past:

A Promise from the Soldiers of Israel to those who died in WWII

It Will Never Go Away? Never?

The Story of a Shoe

Auschwitz: A Breaking Point

An Answer to Hitler

A Ceremony at Auschwitz

And after re-reading all these articles from my past, I found in the end that I did have some words, posted in bursts on Twitter:

In loving memory of Shmuel...and in honor of my Shmulik who carries his name and tonight wears the uniform of Israel. 

In loving memory of Binyamin Elimelech...who was murdered by the Nazis days after he was married...and to my Elie, who carries his name. 

In loving memory of Shaye, my husband's grandfather...and with his death - we honor the 7 Shayes who are alive today and carry his name. 

In loving memory of Raizel, my great-grandmother, who was murdered in Auschwitz and whose death haunted my grandfather to his dying day. 

In memory of Gabriella, a young girl killed by the Nazis in 1944; lovingly remembered by her siblings (including my mother-in-law). 

In loving honor of Saba Moshe, who has spent all his life remembering and helping others. 

In loving memory of those whose names my children carry...a burden and an honor passed to a new generation. 

In loving memory of my father's entire extended family. We were a family of no survivors...because none survived the Holocaust. 

In loving memory… of 6 million and more… for all the names we know and the many we don't. May their memories be blessed.

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