HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 2021-4627

HR 4627

ByRepresentatives Senn, Abbarno, Barkis, Bateman, Berg, Bergquist, Berry, Boehnke, Bronoske, Caldier, Callan, Chambers, Chandler, Chapman, Chase, Chopp, Cody, Corry, Davis, Dent, Dolan, Duerr, Dufault, Entenman, Eslick, Fey, Fitzgibbon, Frame, Gilday, Goehner, Goodman, Graham, Gregerson, Griffey, Hackney, Hansen, Harris, Harris-Talley, Hoff, Jacobsen, Jinkins, J. Johnson, Kirby, Klicker, Klippert, Kloba, Kraft, Kretz, Leavitt, Lekanoff, Lovick, MacEwen, Macri, Maycumber, McCaslin, McEntire, Morgan, Mosbrucker, Orcutt, Ormsby, Ortiz-Self, Orwall, Paul, Peterson, Pollet, Ramel, Ramos, Riccelli, Robertson, Rude, Rule, Ryu, Santos, Sells, Shewmake, Simmons, Slatter, Springer, Steele, Stokesbary, Stonier, Sullivan, Taylor, Thai, Tharinger, Valdez, Vick, Volz, Walen, Walsh, Wicks, Wilcox, Wylie, Ybarra, and Young

WHEREAS, On Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, we remember the six million Jews who perished alongside millions of other innocent victims: Persons with disabilities, LGBTQ+ individuals, Roma, and others, systematically murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators in one of the most heinous campaigns in human history; and

WHEREAS, We stand in solidarity with the Jewish people and remember the victims, survivors, and liberators, many within our own Washington communities, who, having borne witness to the depths of evil, remind us of the vital refrain: "Never Again;" and

WHEREAS, We must ensure the horrors of the Holocaust can never be erased from our collective memory in order to prevent a tragedy like the Holocaust from happening again; and

WHEREAS, We reiterate the importance of teaching about the Holocaust and gratefully acknowledge the valuable resource in the Holocaust Center for Humanity and its trove of local survivor speakers and stories; and

WHEREAS, Each new generation should never forget the urgency to speak out whenever they witness anti-Semitism or any form of ethnic and religious hatred, racism, homophobia, or xenophobia; what is possible when governments back policies fueled by hatred and we dehumanize groups of people; and when ordinary people decide that it is easier to look away or go along than to speak out, for silence in the face of such bigotry is complicity; and

WHEREAS, Pursuant to an Act of Congress, the United States Holocaust Memorial Council designated the Days of Remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust to be Sunday, April 8 through Sunday, April 15, including the Day of Remembrance, known as Yom HaShoah;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State House of Representatives recognize April 8, 2021, Holocaust Remembrance Day.