Last night I attended the annual Holocaust Remembrance Service at our local temple. Afterwards, I went through old photographs I took during our visit to Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany. I also ran across this Ten Things of Thankful post I wrote shortly after that visit and decided it was worth a second look.
Ten things the Europeans reminded me for which I am grateful…
SUVs and huge club-cab vehicles are a choice, not a necessity.
Water should be preserved.
(Run off from the mountain is captured in Salzburg, Austria.)
A person should walk—for his or her own good as well as the planet’s.
Beauty all around us improves life.
(Konstanz, Germany)
You make yourself rich, by keeping your needs few. (Apologies to Thoreau who said this better.)
(Sweet little home amid multi-storied buildings in Lindau, Germany)
Honor those who have gone before you.
(Every grave we saw in Germany and Austria was immaculately kept no matter its age.)
Laugh much.
(Top of a carousel at the Christmas market in Friedrichshaffen, Germany)
Celebrate what you have.
(Scene on the famed Glockenspiel of Munich depicting a dance celebrating the survival of those who made it through a dread disease that devastated the city.)
Do not let the past define you.
(Dachau, Germany Concentration Camp)
Make your faith known.
(Church in Liechtenstein)
Prayer from last night's memorial service...
Fully Compassionate God on high:
To our six million brothers and sisters murdered because they were Jews,
grant clear and certain rest with You
in the lofty heights of the sacred and pure
whose brightness shines like the very glow of heaven.
Source of mercy:
Forever enfold them in the embrace of Your wings;
secure their souls in eternity.
Adonai: they are Yours. They will rest in peace.
Amen
This was a most wonderful TToT list, May. As you know, I lived in Germany for over two years, and also saw some of these things and visited Dachau. One of the things you mention impressed me strongly too... the cleanliness and tidiness. Even public restrooms in major train stations were so clean that you could have eaten off the floor. Can't say that here in the USA. I also agree about the walking, we walked everywhere there, longer distances, and it was so much more healthy that our ride in the car lives here. I loved the old architecture with history around every corner, I loved the beauty and the zest for life. No one parties like a group of Germans during Fasching or Oktoberfest! I loved the simplicity of many lives, much less complicated than our own. The morning gathering of ladies at the market in the small town where we lived, to purchase the day's meat, bread and produce was so fun! I think we all have much to learn by experiencing other countries and cultures, and I am certain that Dachau and the Holocaust left the same imprint on you as it did on me. We must never forget.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! I was also very impressed with the way the German's own their history. I saw no attempt to minimize or gloss over the ugliness of what happened with the Nazi's. Instead they have thrown open the doors and let in light to these dark places of the past. That struck me as an area of personal growth (and cultural growth as well) that I would do well to emulate.
DeleteWonderful list of thankfuls. Thank you for sharing these photos.
ReplyDeleteJust looking through my photos makes me want to go back! Someday.
DeleteI'm so glad you shared this again. " You become rich by making your needs few. I don't know how Thoreau said it, but you said it well.
ReplyDeleteThat simple contentment really does feel prevalent there. It speaks to my heart. Such wisdom.
DeleteThank you for using this again. These gratitudes are worth repeating, again and again.
ReplyDeleteI was feeling a need to remind myself. I find this list helps ground me when I am feeling unmoored.
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