International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2026

January 27: International Holocaust Remembrance Day

It is the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp. In 2019, I found myself breathing in the air of the camp when I visited that year. In 2026, the air here carries the same grim desolation, the same undercurrent of utter loss and a failure of humanity.

My heart has never felt as heavy as it did in the camp. The air is so still, void of energy. A place burdened with incalculable emptiness. It’s true what they say: birds don’t fly over the camp, their navigation patterns changed as they choked on ash-filled air.

I thought of my ancestors in Lithuania, shot dead in the street as their town was invaded. Fleeing to America to survive.

The stillness of the camp has taken root in my heart again. I am terrified for us, terrified of the history being written with the blood of the Good. The blood of the Pretti. The blood of the millions of immigrants and people of color that are at risk constantly.

The last memory I’ll share of my visit to Auschwitz was something they don’t warn you about: it is beautiful. Deep in the Polish forest, I watched the sunset wrap the barracks in a blue embrace. I found little purple flowers growing gently in the earth. I knew that I was standing across time with my ancestors: there were moments of hope in that camp. Small, vulnerable, beautiful soft moments of hope.

Community, kind acts, sharing food, singing and dancing together, making art. These things happened then and now.

And so hope is not lost. Hope must be remembered and honored, just as much as the fight. We are again standing across time with this dark period. And god damn it, I will fight for both our present and our past.