"We must never forget."
Many people understand the Holocaust needs to be remembered, but it goes beyond one day of memorial.
Jan. 27 — the anniversary of the 1945 Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp liberation — was recently designated as an international day of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust.
In Jewish families, on the anniversary of a person's death or the yarzheit, candles are lit to commemorate the day and it stays lit for a week.
According to Jewish tradition, each year on the yarzheit, the soul is lifted to a higher spiritual level. The candle is a symbol reminding the family to pray for a peaceful elevation: to remember the accomplishments and good a person did while alive.
But why only one day to remember the Holocaust? Why must humanity set aside just 24 hours to remember something that needs so much more? It should be internalized and remembered more frequently in our lives.
It's good this day was set aside for remembrance, but ideally it shouldn't be necessary.
The images of the Holocaust, which show the atrocities committed in that time are shocking and memorable. This leads us to attach ourselves to one event of genocide rather than other events.
Humanity as a whole doesn't rally around Joseph Stalin's purges, Pol Pot or the Rwandan genocide, because the Holocaust is different. Our country helped to stop the Holocaust, to liberate its victims. Allied forces helped to liberate people from those concentration camps. It directly affects us because we were there, and it's a part of our history.
We can't feel this way about the genocide that has occurred since.
Every year, world leaders get together to remember the Holocaust, while turning a blind eye to other genocide. They are empty words, an easy photo opportunity for world leaders unless we do something to actually ensure the mindset that allowed the Holocaust is eradicated. We allow history to repeat itself while pledging to never forget it.
This new day for remembrance might help humanity to actually keep its promise, but everyone can remember and learn from the event every day of the year.
