The first step in liquidating
a people... is to erase its memory. Destroy its books, its culture, its
history. Then have somebody write new books, manufacture a new culture,
invent a new history. Before long, the nation will begin to forget what
is is and what it was. The world around it will forget even faster.
- Voltaire
Tennyson once said "I am part of all that I have met"
in reference to the importance of each individual experience in the context
of one's life. Events in space and time, as they become part of the pool
of our experience, unalterably affect who we are and, in turn, the pathways
we choose for the future. In essence, the past serves as a gateway to the
future.
The March of the Living is an experience that should be shared by all yet
in reality, can only be shared once every two years by a select few. We
both feel, however, that the MOL experience has universal urgency and appeal
as it articulates the clear message that tolerance and peace destroy all
barriers. Age, race, creed and colour are inconsequential. In a perfect
world, this would be so. Yet the 'March' MUST be limited to a small number
of youth.
The March of the Living is not simply an educational program-- it provides
historical insight into events of the past not as a mere account of events,
but transmits the lesson that in order to escape the pattern of 'history
repeating itself', we must never forget the past so that we may build a
better future for ourselves as a people and, just as important, for humankind
on the whole.
We have decided to share the March experience with as many people in as
many places as possible. The Internet emerged as the ideal medium for our
message. In the same way that the participants of the March has been given
a journal in which to write their thoughts and feelings, we have chosen
to publish a digital version of our journal on the World Wide Web.
Several companies have donated equipment and services to this youth-driven
project and, thanks to their support, we now have the means to update
our diary live, daily (when possible) from Poland and Israel
with text and digital images!
Please join us and take a look into the hearts and minds of the participants
of the 1996 March of the Living. Tell your friends to do the same. Participate
in the March experience to the best of your ability and read
our journal daily -http://www.cherniak.on.ca/march/html/index.htm
- lest we forget.
The challenge that lies before us, thus, is not merely one of refining our
historical awareness; not merely a question of studying the past and treating
it as a static, independent account of the 'days of yore'. Rather, we should
consider it a living, breathing entity that conceals within it the secrets
of humankind's destiny in a universe that one can never completely comprehend
nor control, but to which one can only adapt.