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The date of January 27 was chosen as International Holocaust Remembrance Day because on that date, 80 years ago, the Red Army liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of the concentration camps. I had the privilege of visiting this massive site many years ago as part of a mission of Cantors, called 100 Voices, that travelled to Warsaw and Cracow. It was an experience that was life-altering, with three memories that remain strong. The first memory is that I had the honor of reading Torah that morning during Shacharit in Auschwitz, the first time there had been a Torah read there since 1945. The second is that as we walked along the abandoned railroad tracks in Birkenau, I stood on the platform where Josef Mengele would perform selectzia, choosing who shall live and who shall die. I conducted a small chorus of Cantors, but I cannot recall what we performed. The third is while I was walking on the railroad tracks and silently video-taping my journey, I tripped and snapped off a small piece of one of the railroad ties. I looked down at the piece, looked up to the heavens and said “Really?”, and then bent over, picked up the piece of wood, and put it in my pocket. I have that small memento of my pilgrimage in my home.

Is Holocaust Education working? In theory, without causing deep trauma to students, it should be a powerful statement of the potential evil that exists within humanity if not controlled. We continue to witness unbridled antisemitism, as well as behaviors across the globe that tell me that the lessons of the Holocaust have not been learned, and that the words of Spanish philosopher George Santayana have come true: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Although I would add a corollary that there are those who care little for his wisdom.

Is evil the default in our DNA? I recall attending our communal Kristallnacht commemoration in November 2018, an event that I did not think I was emotionally ready to do but was convinced otherwise by a dear colleague who accompanied me. After the program, I was asked to say a few words. The essence was that I grew up with “Never Again” as the mantra of the post-Holocaust generations and actively worked towards that goal. 10.27 changed that for me permanently, replacing that beloved mantra with “Yet Again”.

How low must we sink as a society before the internal corrosion reaches a point where the only direction is upward? We must not only strengthen Holocaust studies programs and actively pursue ways to include them in every curriculum in the United States, if not across the globe. Far too much “H” has become permissible, and the silent majority continues its silence. I know from the incredible notes, cards, letters and emails that I continue to receive these 6 ½ years later that there are far more good people out there than not. They must become a vocal majority, demanding better of their fellow human beings. I think that commemorations are important, but preaching to the choir these 80 years has become insufficient. We must reach those who refuse to sing in the choir. They are singing the wrong tune, off key, and far too loudly.