TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)– Dozens of community members gathered at the United Hebrew Congregation on Sunday as part of an event for Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom HaShoah.

The overall theme for the day was “never forget.” Scott Stillman, one of the cohosts for the event, described it as a “part memorial, part call to action.” 

“Part one, educate. Part two, remind them that if you don’t act, if you don’t take a leap of action, these things can happen again,” he said. “It’s often said that a leap of faith is a good thing, but a leap of action is even better.”

The speakers talked about a variety of different ways the Holocaust impacted the world. Alex Kor, the son of Holocaust survivors Michael and Eva Kor, said the ceremony was important as the Holocaust moves further and further into the past.

“This is a very important topic for me being the child of two Holocaust survivors,” he said. “I just think the world needs to not forget, unfortunately as more and more survivors continue to pass away with each and every day, it’s kind of up to me and other second or third generation people from the Holocaust to remind people what hate can do, that words do matter.”

Stillman said he hopes the service can serve as a reminder that we can use the atrocities of the past to better the future.

“When we memorialize, when we light a candle, when we say a prayer, when we call to memory those people, we are resisting, we are rising up, we are saying, ‘We will not take this going forward.’” he said. “Today, we took a good step in that direction.”