Remembering the Holocaust

Since 2005, January 27th has been globally recognized as Holocaust Remembrance Day – a day to remember the millions of lives lost during the Holocaust, and to reaffirm the global imperative to eradicate hate and prejudice. 

While Jewish people were the main targets of the Nazis and their collaborators, this genocide also affected millions of others who were also deemed undesirable by the regime such as Romani, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ individuals, priests, political dissidents, Slavs, and others believed to be inferior - those pushed to the margins.

Every year, Holocaust Remembrance Day centers on a different theme. The theme for 2023 is “Home and Belonging.” As former refugees and asylees, Refugee Congress Delegates know the importance of feeling connected and accepted in a community, and we also know the effects of being marginalized. We have fled genocide, persecution, and violence. 

As we remember the lives lost, it is important to reflect on the attitudes, beliefs, and actions that allowed this genocide to occur. Jews had been cast as the villains of Germany - blamed for the country’s economic downfall after WWI. This impulse to find a scapegoat is something we continue to see today, and its dangerous effects have, time and again, resulted in the persecution of ethnic, religious, and other minority populations across the world.

“I am the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, and my family has been fully and forever shaped by their trauma and the collective loss we have endured — but also by the example they set of building their own home to be a place of welcome, filled with love,” said Nili Sarit Yossinger, Executive Director of Refugee Congress. “My family is a living reminder of why we can’t stay silent and complicit while more than 100 million people are forcibly displaced and looking for safety.”

"As a first-hand genocide survivor, coming from a line of other genocide survivors and victims, I know that we must put a stop to the complex web of factors that enable hate that survives across generations, and on nearly all of our continents,” said Ayda Zugay, Refugee Congress Delegate for Massachusetts. “Understanding the Holocaust as a dark and tragic chapter in human history in order to stop the devastating consequences of hate and prejudice is crucial to healing the long-lasting scars of those who survive them, as well as to supporting the well-being of communities that are a part of our collective humanity. It also serves as a sobering reminder to all of us how important it is to enforce human rights, and the role we have everyday in protecting them." 

“On this particular day, I looked up into the sky to reflect on the innocent lives lost during the Holocaust simply because someone concluded that they did not belong, and therefore, did not have a right to their home,” said Clara Hart, Honorary Delegate for South Dakota. “My heart awaits the day we recognize that this world does not belong to one particular group or individual. The world is a pie from which we take a part. Peace, love, respect and prosperity can only be accomplished when we stop drawing boundaries in our hearts based on faith, religion, race, tribe, economic status, social status and political affiliation. Boundaries are meant to divide and cause differences when there is none. How can we celebrate differences if we are forced to see them as superior to others? Today we must pay respect to Holocaust victims and survivors to find a way to stop ignoring these patterns, and recognize what unites us.”

”As I watch now how the people of Ukraine are suffering at the hands of an unexpected enemy, I wonder if we did enough with our youth. "NEVER AGAIN" is only meaningful when children learn about the atrocities of wars and the deep lifelong wounds survivors carry with them,” said Julia Ostropolsky, Refugee Congress Honorary Delegate for Missouri. “Today, antisemitism is on the rise, and again the Jews are being scapegoated. The Holocaust must be preserved in history, and the stories of that survival must be carried through generations.”   

Holocaust Remembrance Day is an opportunity to examine the biases and prejudices we each have and try to find ways to address them so that we are less likely to stay silent, or worse, embolden others when they act in a way that further marginalizes a group of people. 

Today, we encourage you to remember those in our country who are marginalized and reflect on the ways that we all, intentionally or unintentionally, contribute to that marginalization.