Holocaust Remembrance Day: Survivor's life mission is educating people about horrors of genocide
"As Elie Wiesel said, 'If you weren't there, you can't know how bad it was what happened,'" Nellie Wiesenthal Fink said.
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Holocaust survivor Nellie Wiesenthal Fink has made it her life's mission to educate people about the horrors of the Holocaust all year long - not just on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
"I love to go to schools because they're receptive. They listen and they ask questions. That's the best part. They ask questions. So, I know they've listened to and they're interested," she said.
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International Holocaust Remembrance Day serves as a date to remember the millions of victims of the Nazi regime and to promote Holocaust education throughout the world.
"There's so much work to do. As Elie Wiesel said, 'If you weren't there, you can't know how bad it was what happened,'" Wiesenthal Fink said.
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Fink is a volunteer for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The museum, located in Washington, D.C., is celebrating a major milestone this year, 30 years of existence.
"We now are the last generation that will have the experience of meeting survivors first hand. So we have to treasure these stories," United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Midwest Regional Director Jill Weinberg said.
Weinberg said she's troubled by the rise of antisemitism.
"Many, many, many years have passed since the Holocaust actually happened, but we are living in a time when there is more holocaust denial and more antisemitism and rising hate speech than we have seen in decades," she said.
Wiesenthal Fink said people often make antisemitic comments without even knowing it.
That's why she challenges everyone to confront hate speech head-on in their communities.
"And the only way to do it is by example, by education," Wiesenthal Fink said.
