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Remembering the Holocaust

On January 27, 1945, the Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp was liberated. To commemorate this historic event January 27 was named Holocaust Remembrance Day. About 6 million Jewish people were killed in  WWII.





 In Hebrew, the word shoah translates to holocaust in English. Yom HaShoah is Israel’s day of remembrance though it is observed on the 27th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar which this year will fall on the evening of the 23rd and the whole day of the 24th of April. 


On Yom HaShoah they sound sirens, every time a siren goes off all traffic and pedestrians stop for 2 minutes of silence. They also turn all media and entertainment into some form of remembrance for the Jewish tragedy. There are several Museums that try to memorialize and spread awareness of the atrocities of the Holocaust.


George Santayana famously said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It is imperative that we remember history so that we can control our future. 


Mildred Schindler Janzen a native Kansian, WWII survivor, and author of Surviving Hitler, Evading Stalin, who we interviewed for our podcast, once said “I also wish to leave a testimony for the younger American generation that is coming of age at this present time. Do not ever take the legacy of your birthright for granted. Oppose evil at every opportunity. Speak out against injustice. Most importantly, pay attention in your history class. History can repeat itself; many of my generations bear witness to that fact.” 


Mildred Shindler Janzen, who we interviewed on our podcast lived in Germany during WWII.
Mildred Shindler Janzen, who we interviewed on our podcast lived in Germany during WWII.

Learn from past mistakes, in the specific case of the holocaust we learn that we need to promote social justice, human rights, and genocide awareness. That is why a usually overlooked January 27th needs to be remembered for the day of remembrance it is.

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