Thornflower has its roots deep in the artist’s childhood in Prague (which she left in 1939) in happy memories of her grandmothers’ home “Das Rosel Haus (the house of rose)” and in the death of her grandmother in Treblinka in 1942.

It is a reflection not only on the Nazi Holocaust but on “man’s inhumanity” across history, representing, in Charlotte Mayer’s own words “an urgent wish to make a sculpture uniting opposing elements of thorns and flowers, to speak of reconciliation, peace and oneness”.

Roses and thorns are never far apart in life, but it is the beauty of the rose that we remember.*

*from a signboard next to the artwork

It is my turn at Vision & Verb today.  My post is about the Kazerne Dossin museum and military barracks which serve as a permanent history and memorial to the Jews who were held there awaiting deportation to Nazi concentration camps during WWII.  I invite you to join me there.

More photos of the museum and barracks can be found in my Flickr set.

Black triangle
Pink triangle
Green triangle
Red triangle
Blue triangle
Lilac triangle

And they wore the yellow triangle

When first they came for the criminals I did not speak
Then they began to take the jews
When they fetched the people who were members of trade unions
I did not speak

They took away the Bible students
Rounded up the the homosexuals
Then they gathered up the immigrants and the gypsies

I did not speak

I did not speak

Eventually they came for me but there was no one left to speak

Black triangle
Pink triangle
Green triangle
Red triangle
Blue triangle
Lilac triangle

And they wore the yellow triangle
And they wore the yellow triangle
And they wore the yellow triangle

I did not speak

We should never forget the cost of idealism, ambition and greed. It leads to unacceptable atrocities and tragedy.

Untold Stories – Margret from Holocaust Memorial Day Trust on Vimeo.

These photos and video are from the Holocaust Memorial Day website:

Holocaust Memorial Day provides an opportunity for everyone to learn lessons from the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and subsequent genocides and apply them to the present day to create a safer, better future. On HMD we share the memory of the millions who have been murdered in the Holocaust and subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur in order to challenge hatred and persecution in the UK today.

My hope is that people will become enlightened and that hatred and persecution throughout the world will cease to be.

No ‘one’ person can change the world, but everyone can contribute with their thoughts and actions. Those thoughts and actions cause a ripple effect, hopefully towards a better future.