April 25 is National Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is the day that we as a nation take time to remember the 15 million men, women and children who were systematically murdered by Hitler's Nazi regime. They were murdered in the spirit of ignorance and hate. Yet what is most disturbing about this genocide is that it was allowed to happen. Thousands of people under Hitler's rule did not question his orders of extreme violence, and millions more around the world did nothing to stop it.
More than 60 years after the European Holocaust, the genocide that the world vowed never to let happen again is happening again. It has been happening in Darfur in the African country of Sudan since the latter part of 2003, and has greatly intensified in the last couple of months. International humanitarian organizations working in the area, including the World Food Program, United Nations and Coalition for International Justice have estimated that up to 400,000 people have been murdered thus far in what Western nations have been calling genocide.
In the last few months the situation has gotten terribly worse. Aid organizations on the ground are reporting extreme crimes against humanity, including both rape and torture of unarmed and innocent men, women and children. The genocide in Darfur has left 3.5 million people hungry and 2.5 million refugees. Refugees International and other aid organizations claim that the situation is becoming catastrophic.
Meanwhile the world has neglected what is happening in Darfur. Just like during the Holocaust and the genocide that occurred in Rwanda 12 years ago, America and the world is doing nothing while thousands of people are being grossly violated and murdered.
The world needs a Holocaust remembrance day now more than ever. We can never forget what happened during the Holocaust but we must also recognize what is happening right now in our world. Indifference allowed for the Holocaust and for the Rwandan genocide, and now our indifference is allowing the genocide in Darfur to flourish.
I realize that mass murder halfway across the world is difficult to comprehend and change. But we must do something. Go to www.refugeesinternational.org and read for yourself what is happening. Then share what you learned with others. Compel them to become informed. Hold informational meetings, sign petitions, write to your congressional representatives or organize rallies and vigils.
On this Holocaust Remembrance Day honor those 15 million dead who were murdered because of hate and indifference. Honor them not with ceremonies or fanfare but through action. Honor them by standing with the people of Darfur, as they wished they were stood with during the Holocaust. Bare witness, speak out, create change and fight indifference. These are the lessons we should remember from the Holocaust.
We cannot let history, again, repeat itself. We must always remember the Holocaust and what happens when good people do nothing.