I attended a traveling exhibit of artifacts and stories from the Holocaust, told from the perspective of the Polish town of Oświęcim, more commonly known by its German name:
Auschwitz.
This exhibit bore a powerful and important message. In a dignified, respectful way it portrayed the horror of the situation to those of us with little idea of the depth of suffering and evil perpetrated in the name of creating a future devoid of corruption and uncleanness.
Two moments stand out to me most clearly.
One was among the first objects shown in the tour: a red leather women's shoe. The shoe is beautifully made and reflects great style and glamour. It was recovered among the debris left when the camp was liberated by allied forces at the end of World War II. For me it powerfully brought home the humanity of the ordeal. The Holocaust is not some abstract concept limited to a sanitized few paragraphs in a history textbook. It was real. It was real people; people with lives, hopes, dreams, goals, struggles, joys, and pains.
The second and most memorable time is the bookend to this presentation of inhuman cruelty. At the very end, there was a room with several projectors displaying home videos from the 1920s-1940s. The only audio was a repeated "I Giorni" by Ludovico Einaudi:
I stood and watched these happy families dancing, enjoying picnics and yard games, smiling and laughing. I saw children running and playing. I saw old men standing in dignified silence. I saw young men praying with their phylacteries and Tallit.
The designers intended the room to portray the Europe and the world that was, but will never be: happy Jewish and Romani families enjoying peaceful prosperity.
I was overcome in this room as I yearned for the collective human innocence lost to such saddening desperation. After a few minutes, a thought of my own was followed by another, which was not mine, but forcefully pressed into my mind clear words:
"They're wrong. This beautiful, happy world will be."
"And they also of the tribe of Judah, after their pain, shall be sanctified in holiness before the Lord, to dwell in his presence day and night, forever and ever."
Those words are from scriptures I had read before. They were brought up before my mind by the master Librarian, God the Holy Ghost, who can bring all things to our remembrance. (John 14: 26; Doc. & Cov. 84: 85)
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In the Lord's coming kingdom, there will be a special place built up by the Jews to the glory of God, wherein they will dwell in celestial splendor in His holy presence forever. They will return to their home and reestablish the Jerusalem of their dreams, with a beautiful temple, lush gardens and forests, and jeweled by mothers holding tender babies, fathers working to teach their children the ways of righteousness and truth, and families enjoying an eternity of perfect peaceful delight. Their land shall flow with milk and honey and living water. No more will blood stain the ground. The rocks will sing in reaching choruses of exultant joy at the privilege of bearing up this mighty people, who will have chosen to rejoice in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. God will again show His face to prophets among them, and the full order of His kingdom will be established. God be thanked for the rich treasures to be poured out upon His people, of every nation, who will gather in His name and serve Him in spirit and in truth.
Doctrine & Covenants 133