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“Never Forget” is a powerful phrase to memorialize the Holocaust. And Jan. 27 is an important day related to our world’s history.
In 2005, the United Nations declared it as International Holocaust Remembrance Day to annually mark the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and all Nazi incarcerations.
According to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, “The Nazis created at least 44,000 camps, ghettos and other sites of incarceration between 1933 and 1945. Dachau was the first concentration camp, established March 22, 1933.” The huge volume of camps, murders and brutal treatments are unfathomable but true.
While many Holocaust survivors are in their 80s and 90s, they and their adult children and grandchildren are familiar with the horrors they and their loved ones endured. The legacy and impact of the Holocaust continues to this day. For them, they “Never Forget.”
Unfortunately, there are people who have misused the history of the Holocaust to make misinformed, inappropriate and harmful acts. There are still people who engage in Holocaust denial. As the news reports the rise in antisemitic attacks, I can only imagine how distressing it is for survivors and their loved ones to hear and witness this. It is very distressing for me.
I have the true honor of being on the speaker’s bureau of two Holocaust museums. I am in awe and have huge respect for the survivors who demonstrate courage and resilience as they speak to schools and organizations about their painful experiences. Their adult children carry their parents’ experiences into schools as well so as not to have this family documentation forgotten. Each presentation counters Holocaust denial, hate, bigotry and antisemitism to remind all to “Never Forget.”
I speak about my father’s experience in Dachau as one of 27 physicians “locked in” for more than five weeks to contain virulent diseases and the arrival of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and world leaders. The medical team worked tirelessly to give compassionate medical care to survivors of the atrocious treatment perpetrated by the Nazis.
In addition to my research, this knowledge is based on his powerful letters to his wife, later our mother, which we found hidden for 56 years in the back of the attic of our family home. It was an “emotional earthquake” to read his almost 300 letters discovered after our parents’ death. Growing up, his World War II experience was a mystery, never to be discussed. Reading the letters began my strong commitment to Holocaust education.
Fortunately, Oregon is one of 23 states requiring Holocaust education. Please visit the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education in Portland to learn about the realities of this horrific time and the impacts it has had on our global society.
As the future leaders of our country and world, our children deserve to and need to learn about the relationship between power and leadership as well as consider how to care for each other. Hatred of the “other” must stop.
The bumper sticker, “Practice random acts of kindness” is a call to action for everyone and for every day. Treating others well is much easier than hate. If you know of a school or organization wishing a presentation, please contact the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education.