How do you respond to a holocaust?

Yesterday I blogged about a film where “Brother Number Two” – the man responsible for the deaths of two million of his countrymen tries to answer why he did it. It was the worst holocaust of our times. The interviewer eventually reveals that his own family were among those murdered. A…

By Seth Barnes

15 July 2011, 12:07 am

By Seth Barnes

15 July 2011, 12:07 am

Yesterday I blogged about a film where “Brother Number Two” – the man responsible for the deaths of two million of his countrymen tries to answer why he did it. It was the worst holocaust of our times. The interviewer eventually reveals that his own family were among those murdered.

All of a sudden, Brother Number Two can no longer hide behind ideology and words. Taken aback, he apologizes.

Most of us seem to respond to such horror by recoiling and looking the other way. People don’t know what to do with it. But, even 30 years later, it demands some kind of response. The Cambodian people are putting Brother Number Two on trial. Let me encourage you to respond as well. A couple of specific suggestions.

1. See the movie or

2. A petition of sorts. If you’ll put your first name and email address (that will not be seen by the public) in the comment section below, I’ll pass it along to the movie makers as a statement of support.

If you’ve got any better ideas, please share them. I just think we need to do something.

Comments (6)

Teri

July 15, 2011 at 12:46 pm

I wasn’t able to see the whole movie – but will keep trying. So glad to see the truth being told so that other generations will know.
Erin

July 16, 2011 at 4:33 am

Hey there,
I’d love to watch it, but the video is disabled in my part of the world (new zealand)…do you know of an alternate link?
Kim Martin

July 16, 2011 at 5:32 pm

I watched it last night. I think they did an incredible job. I was particularly impressed his ability to remain open and even accepting toward people as they shared what they did. I felt like that was nothing short of God sized grace.

I do believe there is healing in just sharing and getting things out in the open.

Watching this documentary brought back a lot of the emotions I experienced during my time in Cambodia. It also made me confront the reality of how easily we compartmentalize difficult things like this and just get on with our life. I think in some ways that can be a good thing, but it also allows us to be complacent in our response to what we see and experience.

I was also confronted with the language of “solving the problem” that was used to make the decision to kill easier. I couldn’t help but think about how we are currently “solving” pregnancy. The reality of the process is no less horrific, and the numbers are even more staggering. Yet, we’ve dismissed it as “solving a problem”.
talia

July 18, 2011 at 2:07 pm

Absolutely horrific.
Justin

August 1, 2013 at 9:03 pm

Change Rules
melinda Nels

October 19, 2022 at 11:13 am

Finally made the time to see it. Brutal. We can’t bury our heads in the sand about this though. There’s too much hurt remaining, and too many opportunities to minister His love.