International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2022, Will We Ever Learn?
“Reaffirming that the Holocaust, which resulted in the murder of one third of the Jewish people along with countless members of other minorities, will forever be a warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice,”
– United Nations Declaration of Holocaust Remembrance Day, 2005
On this day of remembrance, we reflect on the millions of lives lost and unimaginable atrocities suffered during the Holocaust. And we remind ourselves, Never Again.
But the truth is we are failing to live up to that. We are failing to teach the next generations the truth of what happened, that it can happen again, and it could happen to them.
According to USA Today,
“Only 11 states require Holocaust history to be taught at schools. That may be part of the reason why a 2018 survey showed 66% of millennials could not identify the notorious Auschwitz – where 1.1 million people died, the vast majority of them Jewish – and 22% could not confirm having heard of the Holocaust. Significant gaps in Holocaust knowledge have been revealed by surveys in other countries as well.”
Matt Gutman, Chief National Correspondent at ABC News shared his family’s Holocaust story and how Germany is keeping the stories of those who perished alive today.
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If there is a lesson for us to learn on this Holocaust Remembrance Day, it is the example set by Germany. They confront their darkest chapter and own it, not hide from it. They don’t erect statues to the genocidal Reich which left their country in ruins or fly its abhorrent flag like Americans do with the confederacy. They don’t ban the full teaching of German history because students might be uncomfortable, they demand it. They aren’t hiding the pain and suffering of victims, they are putting it out into the light for it is the only way everyone can heal.
