EDITORIAL: Those who ignore past ‘are doomed to repeat it’

In 2005, the United Nations designated Jan. 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The date was highly significant, representing the day in 1945 that soldiers of the 60th Army of the First Ukrainian Front opened the doors of the Auschwitz concentration camp, liberating the suffering souls inside.

On Wednesday, Gov. Joe Lombardo signed Senate Bill 96 that establishes a similar designation in Nevada in an effort to preserve the memories of Holocaust victims and to “promote public knowledge of these atrocities as well as serve as a reminder for continued vigilance against hatred, persecution and tyranny to prevent their recurrence.”

To our great detriment, public discourse today is often mired in petty grievance while promoting division and rancor rather than compassion and unity. SB96 — primary sponsors Lisa Krasner, R-Reno; Robert Lange, D-Las Vegas; James Ohrenschall, D-Las Vegas; Julie Pazina, D-Las Vegas; and Jeff Stone, R-Henderson — breaks that mold. The bill is only the third piece of legislation to pass this session, receiving unanimous support from both the Assembly and Senate.

“SB96 represents our state’s unwavering commitment to remembering and honoring victims of the Holocaust,” Gov. Lombardo said. “It was tremendously moving to sign the bill alongside survivors of the Holocaust that evening.”

The bill signing ceremony included Holocaust survivors and family members who shared memories. Stephanie Tuzman, CEO of Jewish Nevada, talked about her grandfather, who made it out alive despite being sent to Auschwitz and seven labor camps.

“He was a man who never spoke of his experience,” she said. “The trauma was too deep, the memories too painful. The numbers tattooed on his arm, 1-78-5-6-5, told the story that he could not.”

Too many people today regard history as an abstract concept that is irrelevant to their day-to-day lives. This is a fatal conceit. The harsh reality that “those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it” — philosopher George Santayana — has played out consistently over the years at the cost of millions of lives. The Holocaust represents one of the most horrific events in the history of humanity, and by reaching back to shine a spotlight on this mass atrocity — in which 6 million Jews and millions of others were sent to their deaths — we seek to understand and prevent the conditions that created it and to highlight the dangers of hatred and antisemitism.

Senate Bill 96 is a small but important step in that process. Lawmakers and the governor deserve accolades for putting aside the partisanship and joining to pass this valuable legislation.