Jan. 27 marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day, when the world commemorates the 6 million Jews who perished during World War II. The day serves as a reminder that to honor their memory, we must commit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from happening again.
As inhabitants of a post-Holocaust world, we must contend with the awful portrayal of humanity painted by the Nazi regime. We are left with the responsibility to cultivate a more just world where that imagery cannot be repeated.
This demands that we learn about the Holocaust, hear the testimony of survivors and understand the factors that led to the tragedy. It is our moral duty. Anything less dishonors the victims, invalidates our ethical standing and invites more persecution.
Unfortunately, our state isn’t meeting that obligation. As one of 29 states that doesn’t require Holocaust education in school, Louisiana risks an incomplete historical and ethical education for its students. The results of this lack of legislation are astounding.
In a 50-state survey from 2020, Louisiana tied for the 45th-best Holocaust knowledge competency in the United States. Only 21% of Louisianans that are millennials or Generation Z met the basic criteria of having heard of the Holocaust, naming at least one concentration camp and knowing that 6 million Jews were killed. Sixteen percent of those surveyed believed that the Holocaust didn’t happen or that information is exaggerated. Lack of adequate Holocaust education leaves our state susceptible to antisemitism, producing the result Holocaust remembrance aims to eliminate.
The lessons of history are only worthwhile if we learn them in the first place. If we neglect the past, we’re doomed to repeat its horrors. Louisiana’s refusal to partake in its role in Holocaust remembrance has dangerous consequences for the Jewish community, our state, the nation and the world. This failure cannot continue.
BLAKE ZIEGLER, student
Metairie