I chose this young boy’s picture because he looks like me when I was his age.

It’s one thing to remember the Holocaust as history . . . it’s another to imagine yourself as part of it.

Thursday commemorates International Holocaust Remembrance Day. For many people, the effects of this dark era of humanity still affect them. For them it isn’t history.

It’s their story.

As many times as I have visited Jerusalem’s Holocaust Museum, Yad Vashem, it never fails to strike a nerve.

Zigzagging throughout the museum, a path led me before disturbing scenes suspended on pale walls. Life-sized murals of living skeletons stared at me. Corpses lay piled after mass-executions in photo after photo. Hundreds of discarded shoes lay under a glass floor.

In another area, a recording read aloud the names of children and their ages at death. Chilling . . . and so very sad.

The Hebrew phrase Yad Vashem means, “a hand and a name,” an idiom from Isaiah 56:5 that refers to a memorial. A remembrance. How could anyone forget such horror?

But the museum has rays of light as well. Before leaving, I always visit the “Row of Righteous Gentiles.” Trees were planted in dedication to individuals like Corrie Ten Boom, Oskar Schindler, and many others who assisted the Jews during a time when few did.

Amazingly, of the 300 million people who lived under Nazi domination, 90% were Christian . . . and 60% described themselves as very devout. And the number of those who helped the Jews? Less than 1%.

Corrie Ten Boom and her family were common people—watchmakers, ordinary citizens—who became extraordinary simply by their willingness to be available to God.

Moses said, “I’m not a good speaker.” Gideon said, “I’m not prominent enough.” Abraham said, “I’m too old.” Jeremiah said, “I’m too young.” Peter said, “I am a sinful man.” But God used them all—in spite of themselves. Why? They had willingness.

Whenever I think of the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, I remember those whose trees grow along the “Row of Righteous Gentiles.” Should we not be like them? Should we not shine “as lights in the world” (see Philippians 2:15)?

While God may never call us to put our lives on the line in the midst of a holocaust, He does require that we die to self—and take up our cross daily (see Luke 9:23).

God using us in a powerful way has little to do with our education, abilities, or giftedness.

It’s our willingness that makes the difference.

Note: Yad Vashem‘s FaceBook page has an “I Remember” Event you can join. When you do, your name is displayed with the name of a Holocaust victim. 

See also the Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 

Little boy image courtesy of Yad Vashem, Copyright © 2010.