Er, happy Holocaust Remembrance Day?...

It seems wrong to wish someone well for a day that reflects on the epic tragedy when millions of lives were extinguished. But it's an important day. People need to remember what occurred so it doesn't happen again.

My friend Michelle sent me a link to an article from the English version of Der Spiegel, a German news magazine. Esther Bejarano survived Auschwitz, where she was forced to play in a girls' orchestra as people destined for the gas chamber arrived on the trains. Bejarano escaped on a death march, filled the rest of her life with music and spent the majority of her adult life speaking about the Holocaust. In the past, she collaborated with her two children on albums of Jewish and anti-fascist songs, but her latest creation is distinctly street. Bejarano teamed up with the Cologne-based Microphone Mafia (the children of Italian and Turkish families who emigrated to post-war Germany) to produce a hip hop album to combat the work of those who prefer to pretend the mass murder never occurred.

Bejarano's survival of the Holocaust is mirrored to a degree by that of Ena Zinzi, a 69 year-old woman pulled from the rubble of the earthquake in Haiti seven days after it struck. The woman survived untenable conditions, and her first words to her South African rescuer Ahmed Bham upon reaching sunlight were "Je t'aime". According to those around Bham Zinzi, she then began singing a song of praise. The South African Gift of Givers group had partnered with a Mexican rescue group after a dog scented Zinzi among the debris. Bham had helped with the rescue efforts in Pakistan two years ago when an earthquake there resulted in thousands dead, according to the newspaper The Hindu. He went on to describe Haiti as "much, much worse," and thus seemed all the more grateful to find Zinzi alive.

(Photo courtesy of Der Spiegel)

Drawing inspiration from everyday people...

The stories I found today trended more toward ordinary people stepping out of themselves and their immediate concerns to help others, regardless of their own personal situations. These are the types of stories I wish they would focus on more in the news. I know there's the big call for good news out there now, and I hope it's not just a transient function of the crappy economy. I hope even a small spotlight continues to shine on stories like these even after the world recovers from the latest downturn in the economy. 

This first article was written by a local police officer in Hingham for wickedlocal.com. I think it's particularly telling that someone who works in a profession generally considered to be full of heroes took time to write about someone who, as he put it, "has not sworn an oath to protect others."

Personally, I think there is very little more inspiring than the stories of those who suffered through the Holocaust. Those people experienced the very worst human nature and society could dream up and used often little more than their will to survive. That's why I really enjoyed the recap in the Holyoke Enterprise of a Polish Holocaust survivor who moved to Nebraska after he was liberated from Buchenwald. 

In one of the stories I've read in the last few days, a reporter brought up the point that often good news arises out of a bad situation. It's people triumphing over unfortunate circumstances. The Red River out in Minnesota has been rising and is projected to rise higher than it's ever been before, already past the destruction point from the last flood in 1997. Much of the news has been devoted to disaster predictions and evacuations, but mndaily.com had a reporter who chose to focus on the good that's being done in the area even as the waters continue to rise. People from all over the state and country are coming together to help those in the affected area. This story highlights the thousands of people who convened in the Fargodome to pack the desperately needed sandbags used to protect towns and homes. 

This last story is not particularly inspirational, but when I saw it in the New York Times, it immediately made me think of all my coffee-addicted friends, especially the ones who work in sports. : ) Here you go, Stef...