Do we still need the Holocaust?

The theft of the "Arbeit macht frei" sign from the gate at Auschwitz has understandably brought cries of outrage from those who see it as part of a neo-Nazi plot to discredit what happened there. I am not a Jew and therefore cannot fully appreciate the almost visceral race memory they have over these events. But what about the rest of us? After all, there have been many more genocide horrors both before and since the Second World War - so what makes this special? Symbolism I think - the fact that this happened in Western Europe where we're supposed to be civilised, rather than in some more remote part of the world where - stereotypically - savagery is more to be expected. I think it must have been an urban myth, because I can find no reference to it, but when I was in Germany in the 50s I was told that at the entrance to one of these concentration camps a sign had been erected which read (and apologies if my German is not perfect) "Um die Töten nie vergessen werden, und um die Lebenden nie vergessen sollten" - which translates as "So that the dead may never be forgotten, and that the living may never be allowed to forget". And that I reckon just about says it all.