Why "We Must Never Forget"

From Religious News Blog:

 

German politicians reacted with shock and outrage yesterday after right-wing extremists chanting "Sieg Heil" desecrated a memorial to the thousands of Jews whose synagogues were sacked and plundered during the Nazi's infamous anti-Semitic Kristallnacht pogrom in the 1930s.

"The gang invaded the memorial site soon after the ceremony was over. They hurled wreaths into the air and trampled on candles and flowers that had been put down only minutes earlier ," a witness said.

Police said the gang's members chanted the Nazi party slogan, "Sieg Heil", as they intervened to arrest them. Yesterday the 16 youths remained in police custody. A police spokesman said that the culprits were "known members" of eastern Germany's burgeoning neo-Nazi movement.

As a teacher, I sometimes face the reaction when teaching about the WWII era, "Why do we need to study this?  Hitler is dead."  This story shows the importance of continuing to face the reality of the Holocaust, and teaching about the hate that lay behind that evil time in the history of the world.

Anti-semites are still around- in Germany, and in the US as well.  We must understand, and we must never forget.

GP