Holocaust Remembrance

Women and children survivors in Mauthausen speak to an American liberator through a barbed wire fence. Mauthausen, Austria. May 05, 1945-May 07, 1945. USHMM, National Archives and Records Administration

Tuesday, April 21, was national Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The internationally recognized date comes from the Hebrew calendar and corresponds to the 27th day of Nisan. It marks the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. In Hebrew, Holocaust Remembrance Day is called Yom HaShoah.

From the beginning, God's chosen people have always been a target. Countless atrocities and prejudices have been launched against the Jews, and they still continue today. As we all know, history repeats itself.

The Holocaust demonstrates one of the greatest lessons about individual responsibility—that each of us has the choice to act or not to act, and that there are consequences to our decisions. What we do—or choose not to do—matters. God has given us all free will, and to that effect it can be used for great evil or for great good. There will always be a host of people who follow after strife, pursuing evil as if it were a calling. As believers it is our responsibility to live out the words of Micah 6:8.

He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

Choose to be a blessing to God's chosen ones. Stand up for righteousness, especially when no other voice is doing so.