On January 27, 2020, the world marked the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. It was a world-wide commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It was a day to remember the six million European Jews who were murder by Nazis during World War II. It is a day that reminded the world of its commitment to “Never again” allow such a thing as the Holocaust or its terrible tragedies.
Even though people worldwide declared that they would never forget the genocide of the Holocaust, the rising generation is graduating from schools without any knowledge of what happened to the Jews during World War II. Anti-Semitism is rising in Europe and in the United States. According to an article in The Daily Signal by David Closson and Arielle Del Turco, “70% of French Jews say they have been victims of at least one anti-Semitic incident.” Americans should understand that it is not just a French or European problem. Anti-Semitism has reared its ugly head in the United States too. Closson and Del Turco continue:
But anti-Semitism is not a solely European
problem. In December, attacks against the Jewish community surged in New York
and New Jersey. A fatal shooting at a kosher deli in Jersey City, a stabbing in
the home of a rabbi during Hanukkah, and multiple attacks against Orthodox Jews
in Brooklyn are just a few examples of resurgent anti-Semitism in America….
As the world renews its commitment to protect its people from another Holocaust, all of us should remember that Jews are human beings who deserve to be treated like any other human being and Israel as a nation must be allowed to exist. Vice President Mike Pence joined leaders from nearly fifty nations in Jerusalem last week. In his speech he remembered the victims, the survivors of the concentration camps, the liberators, and the mortal angels who saved many lives by putting their own lives in danger. Close to the end of his talk, Pence said the following.
Today we remember not simply the
liberation of Auschwitz but also the triumph of freedom – a promise fulfilled,
a people restored to their rightful place among the nations of the Earth. And
we remember – we remember the long night of that past, the survivors and the
faces of those we lost, the heroes who stood against those evil times. And
today we gather nearly 50 nations strong, here in Jerusalem, to say with one
voice: Never again.
What do we mean when we say, “never again?” What are you willing to do to stay up to anti-Semitism? How do you treat Jews or people of any other race? We must all be aware of how we think, feel, and act and then make any corrections necessary. The world must never again see another atrocity like the Holocaust!
No comments:
Post a Comment