In 2019, the State of Texas passed Senate Bill 1828, to mark Jan. 27 as Holocaust Remembrance Day.

And this week, schools all over the state are remembering the Holocaust.

“I think that teachers have a unique, special role, especially social studies teachers, but basically anyone that interacts with the younger generation has a duty and an obligation to share the stories of the past,” world history teacher Jeff Crowe said.

For freshman Neta Even, these stories have a personal connection.

“Holocaust remembrance is deeply personal to me because I was named after a holocaust survivor, my great grandma. Her name was Neti,” Even said. “I’m Neta and it just gives me a good reminder to be grateful for where I am today knowing that I live in a society where we don’t have that anymore.”

Similar reminders ring through for Crowe.

“It’s an important reminder to us that democracy is fragile, and that the role that a citizen has in a democracy is vital if we want to continue the kind of system that we have that treats people with fairness and dignity and gives protections to people,” he said. “And just understanding that that can change in a very, very short amount of time is important for students to understand.”

Crowe’s hope is that students ultimately take away a newfound sense of empathy.

“I think that imparting a sense in developing with students a sense of empathy, for other people that are different than themselves is crucial and vital in a democracy,” Crowe said. “I also want students to understand that genocide happens in stages or it happens in phases. And we can identify how those phases evolve, so that we can recognize them and hopefully prevent that from getting to the point where it’s critically awful for people.”