Monday, March 23, 2009

Life was uncertain and still is!

I was so excited that it's not rainy (half-cloudy) and I have some time after a while to go out to enjoy the life: to walk and ride my bike somewhere out of downtown. I chose Washington Park. I haven't been there since I've come to Portland; I just once visited Japanese Garden and Rose Test Garden which are located somewhere in a corner of Washington Park.


I didn't know Washington Park has a memorial. "Life was uncertain." This was the most simple and impressive sentence I've read about this. However, life is still uncertain I believe, not only for them but also for so many other people in the world.

Beneath this rock are interred soil and ash from the six killing-center camps of that:
Chelmno, Treblinka, Sobibor, Belzec, Majdanek, Auschwitz-Birkenau

The wall looks like the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. A half circle wall, covered with shiny black stone full of names on one side.

It was the "Oregon Holocaust Memorial".

I visited there as a young man who is from a county whose current president denied holocaust but their people feel sympathy. "We should speak out if even a single Jew is killed. We follow a religion that states that the death of an innocent person is the death of all of humanity.” This is what Khatami, the former president of Iran, said but who reported this worlwide? no one.

We should also remember all the innocent people who have been killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Palestine, Lebanon, Gaza, New York, Cambodia and any other places. "No one's blood is more colory than any other's" to be valued more or less. Hope not to see any other massacre in the world.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like your blog a lot,, I have been in portland for 3 years and i am still exploring the city!

Sylvia K said...

I enjoy your blog very much and this is a lovely post. I lived in Portland for sixteen years, it's a lovely place and much to enjoy. Thanks for your words, your photos, and your thoughts.

Anonymous said...

very nice post. thanks for sharing your discovery.

SandyCarlson said...

That is a very beautiful, poignant monument.

J said...

Excellent post. Uncertainty seems to be one of few certainties of life.

Anonymous said...

Life is indeed uncertain and will remain to be. That's a nice memorial of a very tragic event in history. Thanks for the reminder.

Arija said...

Man's inhumanity to man seems to know no bounds. Whether the massacrs occured in Germany, Russia, Cambodia, Kosovo, Chile or Iraque, people just do NOT learn although mst religions preach 'Thou shalt not kill' in one form or another, people in powe still kill and torture those who are weaker.
One can but pray for more ompassion and sense in the world.

Latane Barton said...

Interesting place and it reminds us that yes, life is uncertain.

Dina said...

The monument says "killing-centers." That is a lot stronger and to the point than "camps."
Thanks for telling about this place in Portland.

My life in Israel is uncertain. Any moment it might be taken from me. But that makes life seem more valuable and more serious. It makes you savor the moment and be thankful.

Anonymous said...

a very touching memorial. thank you for sharing this with us.