Six million Jewish individuals were killed in the holocaust. As January 27th, National Holocaust Remembrance Day, has come and gone, let’s commemorate the significance of this event and those who lost their lives. 

For those who may have little to know knowledge of the holocaust here is a summary. The Holocaust was a mass Genocide of Jewish people between 1933 and 1945. Antisemitic individuals and parties led by Adolf Hitler had such a strong hatred for Jews they began stripping them of their rights. This continued to worsen, and they began sending anyone who identified with the Jewish Religion or ethnicity to concentration camps where they lived in inhumane conditions with little to no food and diseases were extremely prevalent. Any hint of rebellion or misbehavior was met with cruelty and violence from Nazi soldiers often leading to death, due to this, many Jewish individuals went into hiding.  

Even through this darkness, those hiding from the sun found light. The most memorable of them is a young girl named Anne Frank who you have probably heard of. Although she would eventually pass due to all the violence in her diary she stated, “I believe in the sun, even when it rains.”, an extremely inspiring quote from someone who would never understand their influence on the world.  

So what does all of this have to do with us? Has mankind learned from its mistakes? It is so important that we remember what caused this. If we consider ourselves progressing as a society, we must prove that we’ve learned. This means doing our part to stop these mass genocides and acts of discrimination.  

It’s so important to talk and teach about this. Is it a difficult topic? Absolutely. But remembering helps us learn from past mistakes and make an active choice to change. 

Want to learn more? Check out United States Holocaust Memorial Museum