I Will Remember, and I Will Learn From the Past

I usually only post every other day, so as not to overwhelm you awesome followers with my rambles...but today is too important to skip.

You see, today is a lesser-known holiday that I'd like to bring to your attention - and no, it's not something silly like National Hug Day or National Peanut Butter Day.

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the day when we honor and commemorate the victims and survivors of the Holocaust.

You can read my essay about Holocaust remembrance on TeenInk by clicking here.

Last year on January 27th, I posted for the very first time on my blog Dreams of Fae about International Holocaust Remembrance Day. (You can read that post here.) I also wrote an essay.

I don't have anything nearly as meaningful planned for today, except for this simple post.

Sixty-seven years ago, World War II was raging across Europe. Although the Holocaust was winding down, it would still last for months longer. Within the barbed-wire confines of Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, over a million people had met their deaths since 1942.

But on January 27th, 1945, the Russian army reached that Nazi camp and freed the remaining prisoners. Several months later, all of the Nazi concentration camps had been liberated and Germany had surrendered, but the tragedy was far from over.

Children being liberated from Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Source

As the battered world got back on its feet again, shocked by the horrors that had been permitted to go on unchecked, we began to repeat what has now become a mantra - Never again.

We must never forget.

Today, the anniversary of Auschwitz-Birkenau's liberation, has been set aside to remember the nightmare of the Holocaust. It has been designated as a day when we make sure that we never forget.

But we've already begun to forget.

Most days, we go along with our lives caught up in our own little worlds. We go to work or to school, then come home and busy ourselves with chores or hobbies until it's time to go to bed. And most of the time, we're thinking only of ourselves. There are increasingly few times when we ask ourselves how we can make the world better; instead, we're usually thinking about how we can make our own lives better.

Our world is falling apart at the seams. Never again, we said, and yet even now genocides are allowed to occur. Ever day, people around the world are starving. People are oppressed. Wars rage. If you ask me, it doesn't seem like our memories are working very well.

The Holocaust occurred because people were ignorant, and because they were selfish. They relied on flawed principles and a prejudiced madman, because they believed that they would benefit from removing their neighbors. In the end, all they were left with was a slew of broken nations.

We may think that we've evolved since the Holocaust, but we've still got a long way to go. Making sure that we never forget the injustices that occurred during World War II is only the beginning. Prejudice is an ongoing issue, and only by opening our minds and accepting each other can we prevent future genocides.

I will remember, and I will learn from the past. Will you?

Hugs,

Taylor Lynn