Holocaust Day: History has a lesson for us

Published January 28, 2013
People lights candles at the Jewish Museum in Moscow. Germany has ?an everlasting responsibility? for the crimes committed by the Nazis, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday, just days ahead of the 80th anniversary of Adolf Hitler's takeover of power. ?Photo by AFP
People lights candles at the Jewish Museum in Moscow. Germany has ?an everlasting responsibility? for the crimes committed by the Nazis, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday, just days ahead of the 80th anniversary of Adolf Hitler's takeover of power. ?Photo by AFP
A rose is placed on a sign depicting a skull and reading ?Stop? in front of the gate of the former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland. A ceremony took place at the site 68 years after the liberation of the death camp by Soviet troops, in remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust. ?Photo by AFP
A rose is placed on a sign depicting a skull and reading ?Stop? in front of the gate of the former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland. A ceremony took place at the site 68 years after the liberation of the death camp by Soviet troops, in remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust. ?Photo by AFP
Flowers lay on a slab of the Holocaust Memorial to commemorate the victims of the Nazi regime at the International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Berlin. The International Holocaust Day marks the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp on Jan. 27, 1945. ?Photo by AP
Flowers lay on a slab of the Holocaust Memorial to commemorate the victims of the Nazi regime at the International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Berlin. The International Holocaust Day marks the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp on Jan. 27, 1945. ?Photo by AP
A Jewish man stands in front of the Holocaust Memorial commemorating the persecution of the Jewish people during World War II, in Thessaloniki, northern Greece. There were some 50,000 Jews living in Thessaloniki at the start of World War II, and almost 45,000 perished at Auschwitz concentration camp. ?Photo by AP
A Jewish man stands in front of the Holocaust Memorial commemorating the persecution of the Jewish people during World War II, in Thessaloniki, northern Greece. There were some 50,000 Jews living in Thessaloniki at the start of World War II, and almost 45,000 perished at Auschwitz concentration camp. ?Photo by AP
School children from Turkey's Jewish community leave notes on a symbolic railway track during a commemoration event at Etz Ahayim Synagogue in Istanbul. ?Photo by Reuters
School children from Turkey's Jewish community leave notes on a symbolic railway track during a commemoration event at Etz Ahayim Synagogue in Istanbul. ?Photo by Reuters
Members of Turkey's Jewish community gather at Etz Ahayim Synagogue. ?Photo by Reuters
Members of Turkey's Jewish community gather at Etz Ahayim Synagogue. ?Photo by Reuters
A woman lights a candle as she attends a memorial ceremony, at Raoul Wallenberg Square in Stockholm, Sweden. ?Photo by AFP
A woman lights a candle as she attends a memorial ceremony, at Raoul Wallenberg Square in Stockholm, Sweden. ?Photo by AFP
Holocaust survivor Shlomo Resnick, 85, stands in front of the bowl (C) that he and his father Meir used to eat from at the Dachau concentration camp during the Second World War, displayed at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. ?Photo by AFP
Holocaust survivor Shlomo Resnick, 85, stands in front of the bowl (C) that he and his father Meir used to eat from at the Dachau concentration camp during the Second World War, displayed at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. ?Photo by AFP
A Hungarian woman reacts with tears as she stands in front of the wall of victims at the Holocaust Museum in Budapest. ?Photo by AFP
A Hungarian woman reacts with tears as she stands in front of the wall of victims at the Holocaust Museum in Budapest. ?Photo by AFP
A visitor passes through a newly-opened Russian exhibition at the Auschwitz concentration camp. ?Photo by Reuters
A visitor passes through a newly-opened Russian exhibition at the Auschwitz concentration camp. ?Photo by Reuters
Pictures of former prisoners hang on a wall at one of the barracks at the Auschwitz concentration camp. ?Photo by Reuters
Pictures of former prisoners hang on a wall at one of the barracks at the Auschwitz concentration camp. ?Photo by Reuters
Stella Knobel, an 80-year-old Holocaust survivor from Krakow in Poland, points to the teddy bear she had received on her seventh birthday before fleeing to Russia, on display at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. ?Photo by AFP
Stella Knobel, an 80-year-old Holocaust survivor from Krakow in Poland, points to the teddy bear she had received on her seventh birthday before fleeing to Russia, on display at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. ?Photo by AFP
Children place flowers during a ceremony at the Holocaust Memorial commemorating the persecution of the Jewish people during World War II, in Thessaloniki. ?Photo by AFP
Children place flowers during a ceremony at the Holocaust Memorial commemorating the persecution of the Jewish people during World War II, in Thessaloniki. ?Photo by AFP
Serbian military honor guards stand to attention during commemorations for victims of the Holocaust at a monument erected in the former World War II Nazi concentration camp of Sajmi?te in Belgrade, Serbia. ?Photo by AP
Serbian military honor guards stand to attention during commemorations for victims of the Holocaust at a monument erected in the former World War II Nazi concentration camp of Sajmi?te in Belgrade, Serbia. ?Photo by AP

There was a time where people were killed just because they were different. The International Holocaust Remembrance Day wants us to never forget the aftermath of this genocide that annihilated millions of Jews and others who are not accepted by the myopic reign of the Nazis then.

But unfortunately, everyday as we flip through the newspapers, we might find that it is still happening, just a different version of the same tragedy. It’s time to learn from our history instead of letting history repeats itself.

Let us keep in mind, and not just on January 27, that tolerance and acceptance are the least we can do for our fellow mankind. —Photos by Agencies/text by Alisia Pek

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