So a while back, I went to Sachenhausen concentration camp. It is 10 km north of Berlin. It was quite sad and quite moving. But I cannot write about the enormity of it. Perhaps I can write about a tiny sliver.
In one of the rooms of the Jewish barracks, foot-washing basins line the walls. There is a sign on the wall that says "the SS brutally drowned some prisoners in these basins." I wonder at the word "brutally." They were ambivalently drowned? Gently drowned? Delightfully drowned?
The whole exhibit is like this. A thousand adverbs cling to the events they describe, as if by their presence they could make the reader believe that the events they describe were brutal, savage, and evil. If only adverbs had this power. Seventeen years ago, Neo-Nazi arsonists set fire to the building of the "brutally drowned." The adverbs burned along with all the rest.
It is only the humanity of the reader that will give words their meaning. For most, "brutally" is superfluous. For some, no adverb will ever be enough.
Danno - now I see what Aaron meant about the vodka drink. Anyway - I have a queen size futon in the living room that you can flop on for a few days if need be.
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Mommo
I went to Bergen Belzen about 20 years ago, and still remember the fog that ehrouded the reality of that concentration camp. I think it is worth remembering the brutality that we can all impose on our fellow human beings. It also gives us the opportunity to choose differently...
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