Millions of victims are no longer here to remind us of the unfathomable suffering they endured, and as a result, their memories are fading.
That's why it's important to learn about it, to talk about it and to understand it. By remembering those who were affected, those who were killed, and those who spent decades rebuilding their lives after the war, we ensure a genocide of that kind remains an anomaly.
Anti-semitism and bigotry is, however, not a thing of the past, with well-educated individuals like David Irving claiming the Holocaust never existed. The self-proclaimed 'historian'— who was not only jailed for denying the Holocaust but also termed the Auschwitz gas chambers a "fairytale"— has a loud voice and a loyal group of followers.
As collective hate increases, Jewish film director Steven Spielberg is doing everything he can to combat it. That's why Universal Pictures is re-releasing the Holocaust drama 'Schindler's List' 25 years after it first hit cinemas. The film will be showing for one week from January 24 to January 30. Theatres in Sydney include: Event Bondi Junction, Randwick Ritz, Cremorne Orpheum. And theatres in Melbourne include: Classic Elsternwick, Rivoli Cinemas, Nova Carlton
See the new trailer for the forthcoming re-release below.
In an interview with NBC news, Spielberg opened up about the film's legacy, noting that in light of increased anti-semitism, the timing of the re-release couldn't be more crucial.
"I think there is more at stake today than even back then," the director of the film said. "We have to take it more seriously today than I think we have had to take it in a generation."
Spielberg continued: "This is maybe the most important time to re-release Schindler's List. Possibly now more than ... when it was initially released."
The Oscar-winning tragedy tells the true story of Nazi businessman and war profiteer, Oscar Schindler (Liam Neeson) who spared 1,100 Jews from death during the Holocaust.
"Schindler was an enigma," said Spielberg, who used the film's profits to found the Shoah Foundation— an educational site that honours survivors of the Holocaust and shares over 55, 000 testimonies.
"He was a great manipulator. But there was something about him that he didn't share— he had empathy in a time where empathy didn't exist. He had a great deal of respect and understanding which he hid from his Nazi collaborators but shared with the jews."
Later in the interview, the 14 time Oscar nominee said that in the United States alone, there's been a 37 per cent increase in hate crimes against Jewish people since 2017.
But perhaps his parting words were the most powerful of all.
"Individual hate is a terrible thing," he begins, "but when collective hate organises and becomes industrialised, genocide follows. Hate needs to be taken seriously, more seriously today than in any other generation."
