[icopyright one button toolbar]
While yesterday, April 16, was the official 2015 Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Week of Remembrance runs from the Sunday before Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah) through the following Sunday — this year April 12-19.
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has designated this year’s theme as “Learning from the Holocaust: Choosing to Act.”
While the Holocaust is the most heinous and immense “systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder” of human beings in our memory, it is not the only one to have taken place and — even more regrettably — such acts of horror, bigotry and intolerance continue to this day.
Thus, the theme of this year’s Remembrance is more pertinent than ever.
I was pleasantly surprised to read that our military have been especially “observant” of the Holocaust Remembrance and have been particularly vocal and active in encouraging each other, and others, to learn from the Holocaust and to choose to act.
There have been numerous events held on military bases, installations and posts and many articles have been written by our military.
Below are two of them.
Others — such as this one and this one — can be found by just “googling” “Learning from the Holocaust: Choosing to Act.”
‘Learning from the Holocaust: Choosing to act’
By Holocaust Days of Remembrance Committee, 8th Fighter Wing / Published April 14, 2015
KUNSAN AIR BASE, South Korea (AFNS) — This year, April 12-19 marks the observance of the Holocaust Days of Remembrance, with the official Day of Remembrance taking place April 16.
The Days of Remembrance were established by the U.S. Congress in 1980 to memorialize the 6 million Jews, as well as millions of non-Jewish victims, who were murdered in the Holocaust and suffered Nazi persecution. Each year since then, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has led the nation in commemorating the Days of Remembrance. This year’s theme is “Learning from the Holocaust: Choosing to act.”
During World War II, millions of ordinary people witnessed the crimes of the Holocaust — in the countryside and city squares, in stores and schools, in homes and workplaces. Across Europe, the Nazis found countless helpers who willingly collaborated or were complicit in their crimes, while far fewer questioned their actions.
The victims had no choice in their fates. Their supporters and rescuers, by contrast, were able to make choices. They chose to risk not only theirs, but their families’ lives in an attempt to intervene and help rescue those being persecuted.
By choosing to act, these individuals not only saved the lives of others, but demonstrated what it means to treat one another as human beings. These lessons apply not only to the past, but how to treat each other now.
The Holocaust is not the only genocide to take place in this world. The Native American genocide in the early 19th century, the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and the Indonesian killings from 1965 to 1966 are just a few examples. More recently, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is attacking Jewish and Christian people across the world. The horrors of the way these people died have left scars on the hearts and minds of those who loved and knew them; those they shared a bond with.
Those same bonds extend outside of our own local communities, and across the globe. Genocide and discrimination should not sit well with any person of any nation. No matter what our job or station in life, we are all unique and at the same time we are all tied together.
We may look at each other differently because we have different color skin, religions, socioeconomic backgrounds, and so on, but do we have to persecute each other for it? Would it not be better to get to know someone first before we decide who they are as a person? Do we have a right to judge others and put them in a category which requires discrimination or violence against them?
Our hope is that the Holocaust Days of Remembrance will remind all that even though we are different and come from different places in this world, we all have contributions to make to it, no matter how great or small they may be. Rather than play the role of bystander, we must actively pursue a world where we coexist and choose to act against those who would foster hatred and repeat the mistakes of the past.
by Gen. Mark A. Milley, FORSCOM Commanding General
Our nation will observe the Days of Remembrance through Sunday. During this annual remembrance of the Holocaust we recall a time that was considered both a blight on the history of humanity and the people who were brave enough to put an end to it. The theme for this year’s observance is, “Learning from the Holocaust: Choosing to Act.”
As we observe the Days of Remembrance, it is also important to think of the rescuers, those who risked their lives, and sometimes the lives of their families, to save fellow human beings. Days of Remembrance, is an opportunity to recognize the remarkable effort to end the suffering. It is a call to conscience to make certain we do not silently stand by, inadvertently contributing to the suffering of others. With hindsight, we recognize the importance of serving in a country with the strength, might and will to “Act.”
We must never forget that for each survivor of the Holocaust, countless more were murdered. We pay tribute to the memory of the Holocaust victims by countering indifference with vigilance, and apathy with action. As Soldiers, civilians, and Family members, we must choose to reject all forms of prejudice and bigotry. As a result, our Army and nation will be stronger. I encourage you to participate in the many educational Holocaust Observances within your commands and in the local communities. Together, we can enrich the future by embracing and learning from the past.
Lead photo: Seven candles in honor of the victims of the Holocaust were lit during ceremoonies at Fort Irwin, Ca. Photo courtesy www.army.mil
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.