Israeli Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yom HaShoah, is a sacred day in memory of the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust. This year it will be marked on April 28 with many ceremonies, all with the Israeli national flag flying at half-mast. At 10:00 a.m. sirens will sound throughout Israel for two minutes during which people will cease all activity, even stopping their cars in the middle of the street, in order to stand at attention in silent tribute to the dead.

On the eve of Yom HaShoah, South Florida residents may participate in a March of Remembrance on April 27 at 3:00 p.m. at Boca Raton Christian School. Supporters may also reflect on more than 200 exclusive photographs from April 30-May 13 at the “Courage to Remember” exhibit displayed at Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale.

Silence of the bystanders

A day of remembrance, like Yom HaShoah, is not only important for remembering those who lost their lives but for subsequent generations to learn the important lessons that will keep such a tragedy from happening again. One lesson any student of the Holocaust learns is that most of the bystanders and onlookers were silent. Survivor Elie Wiesel said, “What hurts the victim the most is not the cruelty of the oppressor but the silence of the bystander.”

The Holocaust could never have happened had it not been for the silence of the onlookers. Hence, the lesson is clear: never be silent again.

Tolerating hate

Another valuable lesson is that movements of hatred must not be tolerated. The most unifying motivator in mass movements is finding a common enemy to hate and demonize. Hitler understood that by using the Jewish people as the ideal devil, he could unify Germany and deflate the resistance of the surrounding countries he intended to occupy.

Leaders throughout the Middle East, particularly in Iran, understand the power of mass hatred today and have been using the Jewish people as scapegoats for decades. It must be stopped.

Anti-Semitism is the world’s early warning system and acts as the canary in a mineshaft, warning that a Pandora’s Box of death and destruction is about to be opened, and that it will not end with the Jews. Not only did six million Jews die during the Holocaust, but some fifty million people lost their lives in World War II. In recent years, the world has experienced a drastic increase in anti-Semitic incidents, a clear warning of troubles ahead for anyone who is paying attention.

For the Christian world, there is a particularly somber lesson to be learned from Yom HaShoah. While Christianity did not cause nor carry out the Nazi regime’s murder of millions of Jews, some of the church fathers’ teachings, and the centuries of hatred they instilled, prepared the way for the silence of the bystanders and for the Holocaust itself. So, beyond learning, our remembrance must include sorrow and repentance.

Those who did the right thing

Remembrance also allows us to honor those who did stand up and do the right thing such as Jewish resistance movements, rescuers who risked their lives in order to save Jews, and the liberators who freed those remaining in Nazi death camps.

This author is the proud daughter of a WWII veteran who liberated the slave-labor camp Flossenburg. The photos that were taken the day his company entered the camp and encountered thousands of starved bodies—both dead and dying—are proof of the evil he fought to defeat.

There are many Americans who descend from that Greatest Generation who fought and died, bringing down the Nazi regime. Most of them are no longer living; therefore, their children and grandchildren must tell the world what they saw and what they fought for. Currently, there is a deeply anti-Semitic campaign to trivialize and even deny the Holocaust. It is our duty to remind the world about the sacrifice many American fathers and grandfathers made and the atrocities they witnessed in the camps.

Comforting survivors

Lastly, remembering will bring great comfort to the hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors. They are so encouraged to know that someone will take the time to learn these painful lessons, teach others what they have learned, and refuse to be silent.

Residents of South Florida have the opportunity to do just that during the March of Remembrance on April 27 in Boca Raton. Join Jews, Christians, and community leaders at Boca Raton Christian School, 470 N.W. Fourth Ave., Boca Raton, at 3:00 p.m. to walk one-half mile together and meet up with Holocaust survivors at Temple Beth El, 333 S.W. Fourth Avenue, Boca Raton, to remember and learn together.

You may also take the opportunity to view more than 200 exclusive photographs offering amazing insight into the Holocaust at the “Courage to Remember” exhibit hosted by Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, 2401 W. Cypress Creek Road, Fort Lauderdale, from April 30-May 13.

Remembering the Holocaust is a painful and sobering experience, but it is essential to ensuring it will never happen again.

Susan Michael is US Director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, a proud partner with Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Memorial and Remembrance Center in teaching the Christian community to recognize anti-Semitism today and to stand against it.