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Elie Wiesel's Work Remains Relevant

July 5, 2016 - 12:00pm

For many parents, the realities of the Holocaust are so gruesome that we often wrestle with how early in our children's lives they should be exposed to the horrors that transpired across Europe's concentration camps and ghettos in the 1930s and 1940s.

We know that only through knowledge and education can our children carry on the work of trying to live in a world where a genocide and human catastrophe like that happens “never again.”

That is where Anne Frank's diary has come in, along with Holocaust museums and memorials around the world, historians and archeologists who continue their work even today, ‎and the countless survivors who have chosen not to repress their memories and have instead courageously sat before students and the world to show their concentration camp tattoos and share their experiences.

Perhaps the most impactful of these Holocaust survivors was Elie Wiesel who the world lost Saturday, but who leaves behind an unforgettable legacy. Elie Wiesel dedicated his life to honor the memories of the millions killed in the Holocaust and to empower its survivors to carry on their lives without fear and with a sense of purpose of making sure that people of all religions, ethnicities and backgrounds could live their lives freely.‎ “Night” has been read by millions around the world and, if it's not required reading for students at school, parents should require it at home, because that's how seminal a testimony it is.

For policy makers like me, Elie Wiesel is one of those rare individuals that you always stop to listen to if you're flipping channels on TV and he's on, or whose columns are immediate must-read material any time you see his byline in a newspaper's opinion section. I've seen his impact firsthand, as he has been a role model and inspiration to thousands of Holocaust survivors and descendants who call Florida home, as well as countless others of all faiths who have made Holocaust remembrance and preventing future genocides their life's work.

Elie Wiesel was a historic figure of the 20th century whose work carried on and remains as relevant as ever in the 21st century. His life is a testimony to the strength and perseverance of the Jewish people. His memory and legacy will be a blessing to the world forever.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. 

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