ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — One by one, their names were read.
“Bernard Burza.”
“Henriette Sharlinsky”
A new name, every second of every hour the Florida Holocaust Museum was open on Monday.
“Bronia Engleberg”
“Lea Goldberg”
The names of 9900+ Jewish people killed in the Holocaust were read aloud. A small fraction of the 6 million in total who were killed at the hands of Nazis.
“We know that we'll never finish the list, which in and of itself is very powerful,” Michael Igle, CEO of the Florida Holocaust Museum (FHM), said.
At the St. Petersburg museum dedicated to honoring the memory of the innocent and educating the future, they recognize Holocaust Remembrance Day or Yom HaShoah this way, every year.
RELATED: Pinellas man arrested after police say he threatened a woman and the synagogue she works at
“To help them persevere forever by sharing their name is just a tremendously personal and powerful experience,” Igle added.
It's true for the CEO down to the readers, some who traveled from outside the county to give life to those names.
“Both [my] parents bless their soul, they were Holocaust survivors,” Ilanit Klang-Geffre, who was born in Israel and now calls Sarasota home, said.
We need to teach all the people around, our kids, just be tolerant to each other, love each other,” she added.
It’s a message Jewish Americans like Jaime Marco say is needed now more than ever as anti-Semitism spikes across the world.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. are up 300% since October.
“Whether it's Holocaust Remembrance Day, or any day remembering those that perish because of hate, we need to put a stop to it. And I'm grateful to be here to be able to be part of today's message,” Marco said.
At the FHM, it’s an everyday effort to educate folks through the lens of both victims and survivors, in hopes of preventing future genocides.
“I’ve seen it change people who’ve never experienced the museum before,” Igle explained.
“Holocaust education gives people the tools through remarkable stories and artifacts and evidence, actual facts, which seem harder to come by in today's world, which is leading to a lot of the increase in anti-Semitism that we're seeing,” Igle added. “Holocaust education is such a key to how to combat this increase.”
The facts start with 6 million names that won't be forgotten.
The FHM receives the names from the Yad Vashem Shoah Victims Program, which they also contribute names to through ongoing research.