Congresswoman named to U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council
TUCSON – U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords today released a statement on Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The congresswoman recently was named to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. The council serves as the governing board for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, America’s national institution for the documentation, study and interpretation of Holocaust history.
Giffords is one of eight members of Congress now serving on the council and one of only two Arizonans. The other Arizonan is William S. Levine of Phoenix.
This year, Yom Hashoah, the day we remember the six million Jews who lost their lives during World War II, will be marked on Sunday, April 11.
Giffords’ statement:
Sixty-five years have passed since the liberation of Nazi concentration camps, yet the march of time has done little to diminish the pain inflicted during this dark chapter of human history. We still grieve at the unimaginable loss of life and we still recoil in horror at the thought that the world stood by and allowed it to happen.
But the profound lessons of the Holocaust also endure. We know that silence equals consent when atrocities are committed against innocent men, women and children. We know that indifference equals complicity when bigotry, hatred and intolerance are allowed to take root. And we know that education and hope are the most effective ways to combat ignorance and despair.
We must never forget what happened to those who perished in the Holocaust. Honoring them means making sure it never happens again.