In commemorating the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the BBC website has a whole section of articles about the camp. One of them includes the recollections of Ima Spanjaard, an Auschwitz survivor who was forced to assist in the medical experiments performed in the camp.

Her story is disturbingly vivid, even 60 years later, but what struck me most of all was what she said at the end:

I remember seeing the lovely gardens in front of the houses in the village, and how beautiful the roses were.

I love working in my own garden today. Sometimes, when I can't bring myself to do anything else, I dedicate myself to gardening.

It is like a therapy to me. Soon, my garden will be in bloom and my roses will shine with beauty.


It's a real-life echo of Valerie's letter. You know, I've read that letter a thousand times, but every time I did so I did it with the knoweldge that it was a work of fiction. Not anymore.