If you ever see a war," she says, not looking up from her clipboard, "you'll learn that war only destroys. No one escapes from a war. No one. Not even the survivors.
If you really want to see the face of war, see the faces of survivors.
Women do not get raped because they weren’t careful enough. Women get raped because someone raped them.
By pouring money and goods into devastated regions, foreign aid workers sometimes compound the disruption and debauch the survivors.
The word 'survivor' carries a weight of remembrance that has broken the minds and bodies of more than a few men and women. It also contains a humbling light of recognition that compels many to do whatever they can to help reinforce the efforts of those who might be 'at risk' of not just giving up on their dreams, but of giving up on their continued existence.
I have the greatest respect for the survivors of the Holocaust. We can't even imagine what these people went through.
I'm the son of two Holocaust survivors. As a child, I heard from one of my parents' best friends about living through Mengele's infamous selection process at Auschwitz. He haunted my nightmares.
Survivors are so often re-victimized by a system that demands they prove their purity and innocence.
