About 6 Million Stories
Appreciating the immensity of the Holocaust and vowing to never let it happen again.
It’s about the past. The present. The future.
The Past
Each of the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust had a story. Some had just barely begun. Others had layered, deep stories from many years of living. Some stories we know well. Many remain unknown.
6 Million. How to grapple with such a large number of lives lost? We can’t. We can only nibble at the edges. 6 million paper clips. 1.5 million daffodils to honor the children who were lost.
6 Million Stories. Think of each story as a kind of Kodachrome film negative of a story that was lost in the Holocaust, a story that came to a premature end. In each of the 6 Million Stories, we are reminded of another story that could have been. If only….
In the rich complexity of 6 Million Stories perhaps we begin to somehow grasp the enormity of 6 million rich, complex human lives that never had a chance to fully unfold. ALL that could have been. If only…
We nibble at the edges. But at least we nibble.
The Present
We each share from the heart. We share our stories recognizing their limitations: at most, they can only offer a mere glimpse of the richness of our being. But we also share our stories because they can inspire and shape us in powerful ways.
The Future
Our stories have yet to fully spin out. There will be twists and turns, surprises and disappointments. Yet hopefully, in the end, each story will be about honoring our unique light, sharing it with others, putting light into the world. Each will be a story about our efforts, large and small, to dispel darkness.
6 Million Stories as a collective testimony of defiance. And hopefully in the end, each of our 6 Million Stories will also circle back to the past, honoring a long-ago life that was once tragically denied.