Honoring International Holocaust Remembrance Day

"On this day, seventy-six years ago, the continuous murder of six million Jews and many other persecuted groups ended after over four long years of feeling hopeless and lifeless. It is so crucial to look back today and remember what happened so history does not repeat itself. If you do not know what happened during the Holocaust, here is a short breakdown.

During Hitler's reign of terror, he stated that the superior race was the Aryan, and that all others should be exiled. Hitler came up with the idea to say that the Jewish people “killed Jesus” to indoctrinate his people. He first forced all Jewish people to have a Star of David sewn onto their clothes and stores, then called individuals like me, “Jews,” now seen as a derogatory saying, making members of the Jewish community feel less than others.

After this, those of the Jewish faith were shipped off to concentration camps where they were beaten, starved, tortured, tested on like animals, and worked to death. If you were to survive these horrible circumstances, your life would soon be ended by deadly gas chambers. We still see acts of antisemitism today, and it is not like that was just a one-time thing. This tragedy should never happen to anyone and will never happen again, I will not let it... never again."

Chase Shatzman is a student in the Class of 2024 at The Haverford School. He is an active member of Jewish Student Union.