Whenever a major event occurs and you have even a casual connection to the people or the place, it rekindles images and memories.

Last week, a hatemonger entered the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and opened fire, killing a security guard.

The Holocaust Museum memorializes the murders of 6 million Jews and the horrific treatment of those who somehow escaped death at the hands of the Nazis during World War II. It also creates a visual display of genocide in hopes it would never happen again, though it has in eastern Europe, Asia and Africa.

The museum is a solemn place, mostly quiet except for the shuffling of feet and an occasional gasp. Three floors, all about death and desperation.

I visited the Holocaust Museum many years ago, and the memory lingers.

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