“Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.”
The Holocaust took place during WWII. In 1933, the Jewish population of Europe was just over 9 million people. Most of these Jews lived in European countries that Nazi Germany would eventually occupy. By 1945, almost 2 out of every 3 Jews were murdered. Jews were not the only ones killed in the Holocaust. Anyone with disabilities, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Gypsies, Poles, anyone against the Nazi regime, and those who tried to help those being targeted were killed as well. Some were put into ghettos, concentration camps, died of illness, starvation, died from simply being malnourished, or were even shot in the middle of the street. Innocent children, mothers, fathers, grandparents and many more, were killed, simply because of what they believed in, and who they were. Holocaust Memorial Day just passed, on January 27th, 2018, but does this mean we can’t remember every day? Does this mean we stop remembering and sharing the horror stories that took place? No, because if we do forget, those who were lost, and the few survivors we still have left, will be forgotten too.
Every year that passes is a year farther away from the horrors that took place during this dark time. The number of survivors decreases all the time. I am lucky enough to still have a survivor in my life. My grandfather was 10 when the war broke out in his hometown in Poland. He, unlike many others, was fortunate enough to survive the war, and make a life for himself and his family in Canada. Many members of his family were not as lucky, and due to the Nazis, their stories ended very fast. After hearing about my family’s history at around the age of 10, I found the Holocaust, and the millions of individual stories to be a topic of interest. To do this day, I have a million questions, and I feel there is so much for me to know about this period in history. With my grandfather getting older, he decided it was important to have his story in concrete form. He wrote a book containing all of the information of his journey so that his grandchildren and those to come after us could always have it. So that his story never died, and the horrors he experienced were never forgotten. During the same time that the book was written, I went on a trip to Poland, so I could see the remainders of the horrors of the Holocaust for myself.
While in Poland, I saw the remainders of the ghettos where people were forced to live in unimaginable conditions. I visited bunkers in the middle of the forest where people hid and lived for months in the bitter cold, just to save themselves. I attended what was left of death camps, and where many people lost their lives. Many concentration camps were visited as well. Entering the gas chambers where people were murdered, you can still see scratch marks on the wall and the stains of blue from the gas. The crematoriums are still intact, where people’s bodies were burnt to ashes after being murdered. Bed spaces no bigger than a single bed, where 12 people were forced to sleep together. The nauseating images and things that were seen goes on forever. It is hard to believe that people were capable of the actions that were put out during this time, and it was an experience I will never forget.
The thing that scares me the most is how some children TODAY are being taught that the Holocaust NEVER happened. That it is a myth and a story, and that none of it is true. It’s beyond scary, but Holocaust denial is REAL and is happening all the time. It is reasons like this that we must remember the horrors of this time, even when it is not the designated day to do so. Innocent lives were taken, and their stories never got to be continued, but this does not mean that they should ever be forgotten. The number of survivors left drops all the time, but their stories will live on forever. We must remember the past, and learn as much as we can before it’s too late. Things that are forgotten and things that are not learnt tend to happen again, and with many things in history, this is something that should never happen again. We must always remember, and these stories must always be passed on and shared. These individuals may have passed, but their journey will last a lifetime.