Holocaust Memorial Days are something that everyone should be proud to be a part of. To say that the holocaust was a monstrous affair would be an understatement. Over six million Jews were killed because of Adolf Hitler’s monstrous ideology. However, just like a little flower pushing up through the concrete for all to see, there were people who survived the Holocaust. People not only should remember those who perished but also those who lived to tell the tale. Holocaust Memorial Days are one such way to do that.
Of course, this all begs the question: why memorialize such a terrible historical event? Why not just forget about it? Part of the reason for that is because history is not just about the past but it is also about human lives of the present moment as well. There are a litany of stories surrounding the experiences of those who lived through the Holocaust. Some individuals were merely children when they went through this, but even then they can recall having to hide under stairs, upstairs in attics, or even in crawl spaces so that the Nazis wouldn’t find them. Still, there were others who were prisoners of war living in the death camps and facing a daily struggle of survival. There were even some people who engineered daring escapes from death.
A memorial day such as this one is not just a time to remember a dark period in the history of the world, but also to remember that these were human lives. This is why the ZACHOR Holocaust Remembrance Foundation, founded by Holocaust survivor Ben Lesser, exists. Visit us at https://www.zachorfoundation.org to learn more.
