Let's not forgettery

Watching a program called 'War on Film' with a focus on WW2. Compelling, moving footage of daily life in a war zone.

A young American nurse speaks of being at the Dachau Concentration Camp in 1945, after liberation.

There are many anecdotes and verbatim quotes. One that stands out is so simple, from a German Jew, who has been incarcerated at Dachau. She simply says:

vergessen Sie nicht (do not forget)

I think of Kevin Rudd who, early on his leadership, spoke of a thing called the forgettery. It is a place his family has created for putting difficult times, conflicts, things they want to move on from.

I'm not sure that a forgettery is a such a good idea. Especially if it means forgetting promises made or  wounds that still need healing - at home or as the leader of a country.

I wonder why watching the footage from WW2 had more of an impact on me than the nightly news (where atrocities and tragedies continue around the world).

Perhaps because it was story rather than news bite. People rather than ideology. And those three words that stood out were not a tagline or sub-heading.

vergessen Sie nicht.