Auschwitz is one of the Nazi concentration camps that facilitated the murder of over 6 million Jews during World War II.

It has been estimated that over 250,000 civilians, men, women and children have been killed so far, and an additional 10 million people, close to half the population of Syria – have been displaced and scattered, many of them forever.

Both of these horrors are deeply embedded in the question of how we understand love. From our sheltered, idealized culture, we often condemn war as futile, destructive expression of hate – the antithesis of peace and love.

And yet, war and peace can both be expressions of love.