Israel honors the memories of the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust beginning tonight at sunset, and Jews all over the world join them in that remembrance. I am not Jewish, but I choose to acknowledge this day as well as International Holocaust Remembrance Day because each day represents two events during this unspeakable and tragic moment in world history.

Yom Hoshoa is Israel’s remembrance day on the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, while the International Day of Remembrance is held on the Day of Liberation. Yom Hoshoa reminds of the Jewish people’s resilience and fortitude, and the international day reminds those of us in the nations to be righteous and stand for good.

I watched a fictional movie last night of a teenage Jewish girl who was transported back into the time of the Holocaust; it’s called The Devil’s Arithmetic. While it’s fiction, it reminds us of why Never Again is more than a slogan, especially today. When you have members of Congress voting against the IHRA definition of Antisemitism, college campuses being in chaos and unsafe for Jewish students, and the overall indifference of people around the world to the levels of danger to Jews around the world, we need to revisit the stories of survivors.

I endeavor to read the stories of survivors and the antisemitic history of years in the Christian Church. Each type of book takes me a while to read. I can typically only read a few pages before I am in tears. I can’t even bring words for this post. Today, I saw they had to cover the Anne Frank Statue in Amsterdam because it keeps being vandalized. That is antisemitism; it has nothing to do with the government of Israel. 

Church history scholars like to equate Martin Luther’s hatred of the Jews to theological disagreement. I would agree with that except for the fact Luther advocated the burning of Synagogues and Talmuds; that’s not a theological disagreement, that’s hatred, that’s antisemitism, and that is not the behavior of a Christian.

It’s time we recognize, repent, and renounce the antisemitism and replacement and fulfillment theology of Church history. No more whitewashing; it’s time to own up to the sins of our spiritual forefathers and say we are taking a different path.

On this Holocaust Memorial Day, I not only remember the six million who had their lives stolen from them, I vow that Never Again is real to me today. I will not be silent as I watch antisemitism rise in my country. I will not stand silent as leaders in both parties make excuses for antisemitism, all the while saying it’s not antisemitism. I will not vote for anyone who doesn’t use their voices and votes to protect Jewish students. I will not align with Christian ministries that don’t stand with the nation of Israel and the Jewish people.

On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, I don’t have words for the sorrow I feel in my heart and the love that I have for the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. It is a love that God has placed in my heart, a love found in the pages of Scripture, and a love every Christian should pray to have.