Unforgettable

Today is Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day wherever Jewish people live. The systematic gathering up and execution of millions of European Jews, by the Nazi Party of Germany and collaborators in their occupied countries during World War II, was based on the ethnicity of the victims, not their degree of religious practice. In fact, ethnic Jews who had converted to Christianity and married Christians were hunted and killed as well. Having just one Jewish grandparent was enough to "qualify" for the death camps. This "genetic" component of the Holocaust is what made it a "genocide". The other ethnic group targeted for death were the Roma (gypsies). (It was also the biological origins of Tutsis in Rwanda that subjected them to massacre by extremist Hutus in the 1990s which made that a genocide as well.)

In addition to the genocidal policies of the Nazi regime, they rounded up and executed political dissidents like union organizers and Communist Partisans, and a notable religious minority, the Jehovah's Witnesses. These victims were killed for their personal beliefs, not their genetic makeup. It was through the Witnesses' own communications network that they first got word out from Germany what was happening in the internment camps. But then, as today, "peculiar" people were not taken seriously, and those very early warnings were ignored. On this Day of Remembrance, I remember them too.

Translated from a poem by German Protestant pastor Martin Niemöller:

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

See an academic's research on the origins of the oft quoted and variable poem.

For further information about genocide in modern times, and US policy decisions in various case studies, see "A Problem From Hell" by Samantha Power.

Star Turns in Contra Dance

Starting up recently, monthly contra dances are held in the Willits Methodist church fellowship hall. I had heard of these community gatherings in Sacramento, where my mother participated, but I had never been to one before. A half hour before the music starts (with a live ensemble), the dance caller instructs beginners in the movements for the dances to be done. Smiles of success filled the room here, as the group executed star turns under her watchful eye.

May Peace Prevail

The United Methodist Church architecture is profoundly bland, but the welcome sign is out while the doors are open. A post near the entrance expresses hope for peace in six languages. I'm fairly sure that five of them are English, Spanish, Chinese, Hebrew, and Arabic. The sixth, to the left of the Arabic pictured below, has me stumped. Could it be Portuguese?

Truth Window

Straw bale construction tradition calls for a "truth window" exposing the straw behind the plaster. This one is inside the St Francis in the Redwoods Episcopal Church sanctuary. For the non-zen portion of Zen Monday, see the Animoto, or more images of the interior in my Overflow blog.

St. Francis in the Redwoods

This Episcopalian church was consecrated last year, and they are still working on the landscaping. It sits beside a firestation, at the intersection of Commercial Street and Highway 101, so it has high visibility as well as a noisy environment. The design solution was to use straw bale construction for the walls. Dozens of community members responded to the call for helpers in the bale portion of the work, and were educated in the process. Information on line about the church indicates it is only the third straw bale one in the country.

I wanted to stand further back to get this shot, but that would have meant getting hurt by traffic. I was in the gutter as it was. The moon always seems so much bigger when seen with just the eyes.

Easter Sunday

Some fellowship following the Spanish language mass at St Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Willits. This is the same church where Seabiscuit's jockey, Red Pollard, got married seventy years ago.