Remembering that "What You Do Matters" on Yom HaShoah

Holocaust Remembrance Day Time to Remember That What We Do Makes a Difference

Today, on Yom HaShoah, the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps, we remember the millions of men, women, and children, who perished at the hands of the Nazis. We remember the six million Jews, among them 1.5 million children, who were murdered during the Holocaust while the world remained silent. Today we remember, but we also ensure that we never forget, by listening to and retelling the stories of the survivors – those individuals whose memories serve as a solemn reminder of humanity’s capacity for ignorance, bigotry, and genocide.

In 2005, I had the opportunity to participate in a Congressional Delegation which visited the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps in Poland. With my own eyes I saw the killing grounds where Jews were disparaged, tortured, and gassed to death. I walked past the suitcases labeled with the last names of those who were misled to believe that they would soon be able to recollect their belongings. I saw the felt and other textiles made from the shaven hair of Jews sent to the gas chambers, along with the shoes of my Jewish sisters and the lost prayer shawls of my Jewish brothers. And, at the beginning of this year, I led a Congressional Delegation to the Middle East where we visited Yad Vashem and laid a wreath at the stone crypt containing the ashes of Holocaust victims, brought to Israel from the extermination camps.

Memorials such as these serve as powerful standing reminders of the deadly consequences of intolerance and the importance of speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves. While these emotional sites serve as physical testimony to the past, their existence alone will not prevent future atrocities from occurring. Through internalizing and sharing the stories and personal accounts of the Holocaust, we can take actionable steps to ensure that “never again” does such an injustice fall upon any group of people. These verbal testimonies, which we so vividly remember on this day, underscore the importance of this year’s Days of Remembrance theme, “Stories of Freedom: What You Do Matters.”

The Holocaust survivors that bravely share their stories so that our children and their children understand the dangers of hatred and injustice, are champions of the idea that “what you do matters,” and are truly heroes. As a Jewish Member of Congress from South Florida, I represent the second largest population of Holocaust survivors in North America. Whenever I have the privilege to meet with these remarkable individuals, I am humbled by their courage to speak out and tell their stories.

In following their example, it is my deepest hope that my colleagues and constituents will join me in using this day to truly preserve the memory and lessons of the Holocaust – by moving beyond the words “Never Again” to taking meaningful action to prevent genocide wherever it rears its ugly head. Because as this year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day theme states so simply yet forcefully, “what you do matters,” and as the memorials at Yad Vashem and Auschwitz attest to, what we all do makes a difference.