Never forget (political phrase)

The phrase "never forget" is a commemorative political slogan that originated after the Holocaust. It is widely used to encourage remembrance for national and international tragedies. These have included the horrors of American slavery, the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001, the Holocaust in Europe during World War II,[1][2] the Armenian Genocide of the 1910s,[3] and other acts of genocide and mass murder.

It is often used in conjunction with "Never Again".

History of the term

Similar terms have been used in times before, including "lest we forget" at the end of the "Ode of Remembrance".

From the late 1940s to 2001, the phrase was used to protest genocide. While the main message of "never forget" is to remember the past so history does not repeat its mistakes, it also arguably implies vengeance and militarism, especially after 9/11 when the term was used by supporters of the War on Terror.[4]

The phrase has been used by U.S. President George W. Bush[5] and by President Barack Obama.[6]

A variation of the phrase is used as a slogan of the Virginia Tech massacre of April 16, 2007. This variation, "neVer forgeT", uses the capital letters so that the phrase implies "never forget VT" (VT is an abbreviation of the school's name).

See also

References

  1. ↑ Benjamin, Rabbi (2011-09-03). "9/11: Forgive and Forget?". Aish.com. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
  2. ↑ Lilla, Mark (2011-08-27). "“Never Forget” - 9/11 Encyclopedia - September 11 10th Anniversary – NYMag". Nymag.com. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
  3. ↑ "Armenian Genocide » Armenian Genocide 1915 Never Again!". Hamovhotov.com. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
  4. ↑ StaceyChil. "Memorialize Our Fallen Heroes | Operation Never Forget". veteranjournal.com. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
  5. ↑ Lovering, Daniel. "Bush says U.S. will never forget Flight 93". Reuters. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
  6. ↑ Obama to 9/11 firefighters: "When we say we will never forget, we mean what we say" - Political Hotsheet - CBS News Archived May 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.


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