Like in Dallas's Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, where a focus on one of history's darkest chapters hopes to inspire a better future, Holocaust Remembrance Day aims not only to honor the lives of six million Jews and millions of other minorities murdered but to prevent it from ever happening again.
"The day is supposed to help us understand the importance of continuing to teach this history to try to present to prevent future genocides from happening,” said President and CEO Mary Pat Higgins.
It’s a message that Higgins said especially rings true with antisemitism on the rise.
Just two weeks ago, North Texas got that reminder when an armed man held a rabbi and three others hostage at Congregation Beth Israel.
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"To have it be in Colleyville, so close to home, was really disturbing for, you know, people throughout the Jewish community, not just in North Texas, but all over the world,” she said.
That's why, in a space created by those who survived the worst of human behavior, the mission to inspire the best of it continues in hopes of a brighter future.
"If we can help people understand how dangerous it is to be a bystander, to look the other way and do nothing, and also encourage them to stand up in prejudice and to prejudice and hatred when they see it in their daily lives, then I think that we can work towards a future where there will be less and less risk of letting something like this ever happen again,” said Higgins.
