Remembering the Holocaust

The Holocaust is a very delicate topic for Jewish people for obvious reasons and should be handled with the utmost care. It is best not to address this topic altogether unless your Jewish friend brings it up first and wants to discuss it. Although there were many faithful Christians who risked their lives to hide Jewish people in their homes during the Holocaust, the German state church did not help the Jewish people, permitted Nazi takeover and was silent while Jewish people were taken away to the death camps. The Vatican was also silent, and many so-called Christian nations turned their back on Jewish refugees trying to escape the Holocaust. For this reason, many Jewish people see the Holocaust as an act of Christian antisemitism. You can express sympathy and for the victims by not trying to rationalize the Holocaust or give any sort of silver lining, such as

Think about how you would speak to a friend who has tragically lost a loved one. In most cases, your friend doesn’t want to hear an explanation or cheery verses from the Bible. Instead, they want to know you care. You can do this by showing solidarity with the Jewish people—participating in a commemorative event for Yom HaShoah, taking a public stance on social media or otherwise, and taking time out of your day to remember the lives so tragically taken.