“Never Again” is a hollow slogan to many who have survived the systematic dehumanization and attempt at extermination, only to see it happen again and again. Elie Wiesel, whose ‘Night’ introduced me to the horrors of genocide, was more accurate when he wrote: Never shall I forget that night, the first night in the camp, that turned my life into long night seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the small faces of children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all of eternity of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes. Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God himself. Never.”
—Coloroso, Barbara. “Extraordinary Evil: A Brief History of Genocide.” Penguin Group Ltd, 2007. (pg. 15)
“Each bloodletting hastens the next, and as the value of human life is degraded and violence becomes tolerated, the unimaginable becomes more conceivable.” ”
—– President Bill Clinton, during his brief visit to Rwanda, March 25, 1998. As he expressed regret for his acts of omission and acts of commission that facilitated rather than helped to stop the genocide of the Tutsis
Coloroso, Barbara. “Extraordinary Evil: A Brief History of Genocide.” Penguin Group Ltd, 2007. (pg. 24)
