Sara Sandstrom-Kobi, Nederland. For centuries and in every corner of the world people have been holding vigils to remember an event or a person. Sometimes they are planned and sometimes spontaneous, but always they are done in a nonviolent way to bring awareness. In fact, the word vigil comes from the Latin word vigilia which means wakefulness. 

Vigils are held to awaken people’s knowledge about a situation and often a death. A time to remember. Sometimes there are speakers at a vigil. There is always a time of meditation or silence when we are in our own thoughts. It is time of unity and support for those around us. 

On Saturday, August 8, 2020, the Nederland’s Mountain Forum for Peace organization held a Remembrance Vigil to remember the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, who died when the United States deployed atomic bombs on their cities during World War II. Over a hundred thousand innocent people died instantly and tens of thousands more would die from radiation exposure. 

The vigil was held at the Peace Garden in Nederland to remind people of the atrocities of war and the innocent lives that are lost.

(Originally published in the September 3, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)