My taller and fuzzier half sent me this on Sunday, and I foolishly did not get around to looking at it.
It is a powerful testament to the power of the human spirit, and the extent to which it is capable of experiencing joy in the face of the worst deprivation and degradation.
What are we to take from this? Is it just a dramatic history lesson?
Jews and homosexuals have not been herded into concentration and extermination camps in seven decades. But the mentality that Nazi policies fostered has yet to be fully extinguished. The handicapped were among the first groups to be targeted for rounding up, as it was easy to justify as "mercy killing". The notion that people with disabilities are somehow "better off" dead persists, whether as a rationale for abortion or for the continued institutionalization of people with disabilities in places where they fare only marginally better than in the Nazi camps themselves. Furthermore, the anti-Gypsy prejudice is evident in these institutions, as well, in the outright abuse that people of Roma heritage are subjected to in these places. Reading stories of children, both with and without disabilities, who have been adopted out of these conditions, shows a similar testament to human resiliency. Today, as at other times in history, people yearn for freedom, love, and joy, no matter what their circumstances.
When will this legacy of evil finally end?!
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