We Say, “Never Again!” | International Holocaust Remembrance Day

“Never again!” is a phrase associated with the Holocaust, a cry for one of the most horrific historical events to never be repeated. International Holocaust Remembrance Day is January 27. It is a day the world remembers the mass murder of more than six million Jewish people. On January 27, 1945, the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Soviet Red Army months before the end of World War II. 

It has always been important to remember the horror of the Holocaust, but recent events have proven it to be critical. October 7th, 2023 represented the single deadliest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust, leaving over 1,200 Israeli men, women and children massacred. 

Hundreds more were taken hostage in Gaza, and the global response of denial and even blind support for terrorism was unconscionable. The astonishing increase in antisemitic acts and propaganda nationally and internationally has led many to cry, “Never again is now.” 

This is not only the result of failure in education–this ancient hatred is fueled by the dominion of darkness and Satan himself. As followers of our Jewish Messiah, we must lead the fight to spread truth, love, education, and blessing on behalf of the people of Israel. 

International Holocaust Remembrance Day | Never Again and Never Forget

History is meant to teach us. However, if we ignore or forget history, even the most horrific events of it, we step into dangerous territory. 

While it is not uncommon for people to try to “forget about the past,” there is a reason we don’t. As destructive as it might have been, it is an opportunity to remember and reflect, saying, “Never again!” For if we don’t remember, we are doomed to repeat it. 

As Believers and those who stand with Israel, we are called to be a voice of… 

• Truth
• Freedom
• Deliverance
• Life

“For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”—Galatians 5:13

It Matters How We Remember the Holocaust 

There have been comments about the Holocaust that reflect opinions on how to remember. But we must be aware that words can change how history is remembered. 

Some time ago, a person stated that if they were to visit Auschwitz—the Nazi camp where approximately 1.1 million Jews were murdered—they would be overcome with emotion, so much so that they’d want to…

• Burn Auschwitz to the ground
• Remove and replace it with a lush memorial garden 

This burning down and replacement would allow people to travel there, sit, and “remember” the horrors. However, false memories replace truth when the evidence of atrocities is destroyed. It becomes nearly impossible to remember the event as it truly was—appreciating the magnitude—especially over time. 

The person who made the statement did not understand that…

• The Nazis burned other concentration camps to the ground to cover their tracks.
• Burning Auschwitz to the ground today would be helping Nazi and antisemitic causes to forget and ignore the Jewish people.
• Many Holocaust survivors actually travel with their families to the site, as it holds great meaning for them.
• If the evidence of Auschwitz “dies,” many more people could one day die in the same way.

Did You Know…?

• A study of over 10,000 Americans aged 18-39 revealed that more than 10% believed that the Jewish people caused the Holocaust, while 23% thought that the Holocaust was a myth or exaggerated.
• In a study of more than 10,000 Americans aged 18-39, 48% could not name a single concentration camp or ghetto.
• 66% of millennials in the United States do not know what Auschwitz is.
• Antisemitism is pushing the rapid growth of antisemitic acts: October 7th, 2023 represented the single deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust–Hamas terrorists tore across the border and murdered over 1,200 Israeli civilians and took hundreds hostage. In 2023, there were nearly 9,000 recorded antisemitic incidents in America alone, a 140% increase from the previous year. In 2024, a pogrom erupted in Amsterdam, eerily mirroring World War II. Global antisemitic attacks have been persistently on the rise, underscoring the need to raise awareness and education about the Holocaust. 
• The education of children regarding the Holocaust is not something that happens in every country, and often, where it is provided, the education is not always complete or accurate.

Erasing History Removes Its Importance

The statement, “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it,” holds a deeper meaning when you see how it applies to horrific events such as the Holocaust. 

Erasing history or evidence to lessen its emotional impact on those who would otherwise see it removes an important, if not the most important, part of history. Removing history erases the demonstration of the truth that evil, unchecked, destroys, and silence and inaction against such evil allow it to flourish. 

The concentration camp known as Auschwitz is one of the few remaining places—the primary visual statement—that Holocaust deniers would have difficulty disputing. Because if they can somehow deny the truth of the…

• Film reels
• Documentation,
• Witness statements
• Dead bodies
• Families destroyed

…they can’t argue against the witness of the largest extermination camp where over 1 million of the total 6 million Jewish people were murdered. 

The Attempt to Erase Jewish History

There are several biblical accounts of kings, kingdoms, and nations that tried to wipe out the Jewish nation. Other accounts are less well-known. 

Have you ever heard the theory that Christopher Columbus was Jewish?

This theory was explained in a Huffington Post article published on May 22, 2012: 

“Some scholars, after analyzing Columbus’ will and other documents, have devised a new theory about the explorer. They believe he was a Marrano, or a Jew who pretended to be a Catholic to avoid religious persecution. These historians also theorize that Columbus’ main goal in life was to liberate Jerusalem from Muslim control, and that he decided to take his historic quest to North America in order to find a new homeland for Jews who had been forced out of Spain… 

“Scholars also point to the real financiers of the voyage as evidence of the trip’s purpose. While most schoolchildren grow up learning that the expedition was financed by Queen Isabella, historians say it was mostly paid for by two prominent Jews who had been forced to convert to Catholicism, Louis de Santangel and Gabriel Sanchez.”

It is also recorded that Don Isaac Abrabanel, a rabbi and Jewish statesman, helped fund the voyage.

Another indication Christopher Columbus was Jewish…

In addition, Columbus was originally scheduled to set sail on August 2, 1492, the Jewish Holy Day of Tisha B’Av, which marks the destruction of the First and Second Temple. 

The departure was postponed one day, perhaps to avoid setting sail on this somber day of remembrance. 

Instead, Columbus set sail on the day that the Spanish government gave Jews three choices: 

• Convert
• Leave
• Die

It is amazing to think that North America may have been discovered with the heart intention of finding a safe place for the Jewish people to call home and, thereby, a place of religious freedom and independence.

Why We Say, “Never Again!” Why We Remember.

• So We Have Hope

As counterintuitive as it might sound, Auschwitz lends hope to the remaining survivors. It gives hope that their suffering was not in vain. It gives hope that not only their descendants will learn from it but the world! Because, as long as Auschwitz still stands, at least someone will remember what happened.

• So Blessings Aren’t Removed

The strongest weapon that the Nazis used was not bombs and bullets—it was propaganda. They used propaganda to manipulate and control the souls of millions of people—to convince them that the only solution was the elimination of the Jewish people. Today, many Americans feel that the only solution to our nation’s woes is the removal of our nation’s history, traditional values, and Christian roots—the elimination of the Christian faith. 

Our nation has a rich history of faith that is strongly connected with Israel. This is why the enemy is trying to remove that connection of blessing from America. He is attempting to remove the blessing of Genesis 12:3. He is trying to get us to trade the blessing for a curse—the truth for a lie.

On International Holocaust Memorial Day, this is why we say, “Never again!”

What Does This Saying Mean?

The saying, “Never Again!” is a promise that the Holocaust will never again occur. Those who say, “Never Again!” make it a mission to see that there is no repeat of the Holocaust, including exposing and warning against antisemitism in all its forms. “Never Again” means…

• We stand with God’s eternal covenant with Israel and the Jewish people.

A subtle but deadly location of much antisemitism is in certain Christian theology. Replacement theology claims the Church has replaced Israel, a lie that has led many Believers to miss the importance of Israel and the Jewish people today in God’s sovereign plan. 

This disconnect has left many vulnerable to believing the lies and political propaganda surrounding the modern state of Israel, propaganda that claims the Jewish people are the aggressors in ongoing conflicts and “occupiers”. It has also fueled lies that claim God has rejected the Jewish people because they are “Christ killers”.  This is part of the evil ideology Hitler utilized in the Holocaust and we must never fall prey to this thinking through pride or ignorance.  All people killed Jesus. He died willingly as a ransom, bearing the sins of the world. 

Many Jewish people followed Jesus in His first coming, and many are coming to faith every day, acknowledging Jesus as the fulfillment of the law and prophets.  Romans 11 pleads a warning to non-Jewish Believers to remember God never rejected His people and to acknowledge humbly that we don’t support the root, but the root (Israel) supports us. 

“Never again” must include an end to the ways the Church has participated in antisemitism and a call to corporate repentance.

• We stand with the IDF.

The heart of “Never Again!” stands firmly in the minds of many who serve Israel, like the IDF—the Israeli Defense Forces— who are fighting for their lives and their nation’s right to exist. It is one of the reasons why all who serve are so highly trained, determined, and selfless.

Israel is situated in the middle of a sea of enemies trying to destroy them on all sides, with few allies to help. Every Israeli knows that if they do not fight to keep their land and their lives, both will be taken by force.

So they say, “Never Again!”

The modern State of Israel was reestablished after the horror of the Holocaust to provide a place of refuge for the Jewish people in an increasingly antisemitic world. The return of the State of Israel has given the Jewish people the ability to defend themselves and flourish in their historic homeland.

• We stand to educate others about the Holocaust. 

The statistics above show that recent generations do not know much about the Holocaust. Many don’t have the most basic information about how many people died, the actions of the Nazis, major concentration camps, and the full ramifications of this horrific event.

This lack of understanding about the Holocaust not only puts many at risk of violence but increases opportunities for oppression.

A lack of understanding of the Holocaust threatens all who hate evil. It threatens all Believers, all Jewish people, and even the Promised Land, Israel!

On this International Holocaust Remembrance Day, let us not forget… 

• The stories of Holocaust survivors and victims
• The stories of soldiers, spies, and those in the resistance

And what will help others remember?

• Confessions of those who served in places such as Auschwitz
• Artifacts that survive—mountains of hair, suitcases, shoes, clothes, glasses, crutches, canes, star of David patches, signs, etc., taken as Jews entered places such as Auschwitz
• Photographic and video evidence of the Holocaust
• The remaining places where Jews hid from persecution
• The surviving sections of ghettos
• The gas chambers Nazis did not manage to destroy
• Auschwitz, the crying, and the emotional pain the site brings

Just as God asked Cain where his brother Abel was after Cain had killed him—Abel’s blood crying out from the ground—the Lord remembers. He has not forgotten…

The pain of the Holocaust may be something many want to erase. The blood that cries out from the ground can be felt when one sees Auschwitz. And it is what helps silence any who might wish to repeat it.

It is no wonder that someone might want to burn the place down to quiet the noise… but just as Cain could not deceive God, neither can we. All those moments of pain are buried in the walls of places like Auschwitz. They cry out, causing those who pass through their gates to cry out as well. And God uses this.

If we do not know the pain of the Holocaust, of places like Auschwitz, then when people are slowly dehumanized, degraded, and eventually slaughtered, how will we know the signs? This is increasingly important in an hour where many of those signs are being repeated. 

Belief in the Holocaust does not automatically mean belief in the sovereignty of Israel. Yet, even if it did, it is more than a shield of protection for Israel alone. It is a shield of protection for Jewish people worldwide, for minorities, religions, and other groups who could easily find themselves selected for mass genocide.

Jewish people were not the only victims of the genocide in World War II. Yet, of the millions who died, six million were Jews—six million Jews systematically dehumanized, degraded, and slaughtered. May we remember every one of them. 

Let us support Holocaust survivors while they are still with us. 

Let us support IDF members who defend the Promised Land.

In the words of Elie Wiesel, holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate,

•  “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy…wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must–at that moment– become the center of the universe.”

May we stand with and speak life over the nation God calls the apple of His eye. May we cry “Never again!” and mean it–speaking for truth, righteousness, human dignity, and God’s eternal covenant and divine purpose for Israel and the Jewish people.

The statistics provided within this blog have been primarily sourced through Holocaust museums, Holocaust educational sources, and the ADL. These statistics were not from any study we have personally done or been involved with.