The Holocaust's Relevance Today

While we mark 63 years since concentration camps were liberated, we also note that the study and commemoration of the Holocaust is a contemporary phenomenon. Our understanding of the Holocaust continues to deepen as we discover new documents and artifacts. Historical interpretations of the Holocaust have developed to emphasize the role of bystanders and to address the question of how ordinary people became perpetrators of violence. And, nations, especially Germany, look for new ways to remember the Holocaust in public exhibits and in classrooms. Even 63 years after the end of World War II, the international community still attempts to realize justice for victims and survivors through criminal trials and through monetary reparations. The Holocaust may have happened in the past, but ongoing efforts to cope with its legacy demonstrate that the Holocaust is not history.