Debbie Wasserman Schultz Marks Holocaust Remembrance Days

This week, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), was front-and-center in Washington marking Holocaust Remembrance Days (Yom HaShoah in Hebrew).

Almost 70 years ago, the worst genocide in modern human history was exposed to the global public, and the murder of 6 million Jews and other political, religious, and social minorities was forever seared into the collective memory of humankind, Wasserman Schultz said. In the face of such an unimaginable tragedy, many individuals, including myself, have vowed to not only never allow something so heinous to occur again we promised to never let the spirit of those victims fade from our hearts and from our minds.

It is in that vein that I have personally and professionally dedicated myself to issues such as providing Holocaust survivors with adequate financial and social services so that they may live in dignity, the dignity that was nearly stolen from them decades ago, Wasserman Schultz added. As a Jew, a policymaker, and a representative of one of the largest survivor populations in the United States, I have undertaken such issues with pride and humility.

This week is a particularly moving one as we engage in the National Remembrance Days here at the U.S. Capitol, and look forward to the planting of a sapling from the horse chestnut tree that was visible to Anne Frank and which she wrote so poignantly about in her diary while in hiding," Wasserman Schultz continued. Such a meaningful ceremony is particularly fitting in light of this years Remembrance Days theme: Confronting the Holocaust: American Responses. What better way to further our American response than by planting a sapling that inspired her during her darkest days at the seat of our democracy? The tree will remind members, staff, and the millions of annual visitors to the Capitol that life, liberty, and freedom from persecution are enduring ideals of our common humanity that we will never cease fighting for and protecting.

Wasserman Schultz weighed in on congressional ceremonies marking the Remembrance Days on Wednesday, calling it a solemn and yet inspiring day in Congress.