Remembering the millions of people killed in the Holocaust can help us prevent or stop similar atrocities in the world today.

That was one of the important lessons driven home last week for the students of Holy Family School in Peoria as they took part in Holocaust Remembrance Day activities on Monday and Tuesday.

On Monday, the day before Holocaust Remembrance Day, 30 eighth grade students from Mrs. Mary Donahue’s class at Holy Family made a two-hour visit to the Peoria Holocaust Memorial, located in the center courtyard at The Shoppes at Grand Prairie.

At the memorial, the students read the names of Holocaust victims. The Holy Family students were following the example of Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, who took part in the memorial’s dedication six years ago and read names of the victims at that time.

Dedicated in April 2003, the memorial in Peoria consists of 23 glass columns holding 11 million buttons, representing the approximately 6 million Jews and 5 million Gentiles sent to their deaths by the Nazi regime.

The following day, Holy Family students heard a talk from Mrs. Sara Moses, a Jewish Holocaust survivor originally from Poland, now living in St. Louis.

Mrs. Susan Katz said she thought it was “just remarkable” that the Holy Family eighth-graders came to the memorial service. “It’s wonderful for them to take the time,” she said.

Mrs. Katz is executive director of the Jewish Federation of Peoria, which coordinated the building of the memorial and oversees its maintenance.

“It’s an important lesson to teach our children. We’re several generations removed from the Holocaust now, and we still must teach them,” said Mrs. Katz.