Pardonne, n'oublie pas

Paris, France (Feb 1, 2005)

Walking along the river Seine, just before reaching the massive construction of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, there is a small patch of public gardens, with a steep narrow staircase descending to the level of the river. The stairs end in a small courtyard surrounded by high walls of stone, with an iron sculpture of blades and spikes pointing to the sky. On one side, a narrow corridor leads to an inner chamber of silence. The Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation is dedicated to the 200,000 individuals deported from France to German concentration camps during World War II.

I had never been in the memorial before. It is a sacred place. When I was descending the stairs, an old couple was the only other human presence. They were in silence, because spoken words fails in face of one of the worst crimes that mankind did to mankind: the deportation and killing of millions of Jews in the Nazist deportation camps. Inside the memorial there is a chamber with quotes about humanity, and the suffering of those deported. “Pardonne, n’oublie pas...” meaning “Forgive and don’t forget”. A long, narrow corridor lined with small stones of quartz crystal representing each French victim of the deportation camps.

...

I have a Palestinian friend in Jerusalem. Two days ago she wrote me after her grandmother died, following a long illness. My friend said that it broke her heart that she could not help her uncle, her grandmother son who lives in Amman, to get a visa to come see her before she died. He was camping in front of the Israeli consulate for a visa since April 4th. After her grandmother died, she called an Israeli human rights activist who was trying to help her uncle to obtain the visa, to tell him: “what the hell is Israel celebrating tomorrow? Peace is a long way from here. Peace is not between Sharon and Abu Mazen, peace is first between Israelis and their human selves.”