In response to a very moving article by Roth and Duaibis, I present commentary on the process of compassionate witnessing. Compassion, both as a concept and as a derivative of parental devotion, is explained and its importance to psychoanalysis discussed. Reflections on the implications of this concept in social contexts as well as the risks to the witness and the sustainability of compassion are shared. I conclude that the notion proposed by Roth and Duaibis of concentric circles of compassionate witnessing by people with a healthy capacity for maternal functions is likely the solution to alleviate the erasure resulting from chronic brutal suffering.