Following one of the darkest events in human history, the phrase “Never Again” became known as a resolve to recognize and learn from the genocide known as the Holocaust. This phrase stands as a vow to never allow history to turn in this direction again. However, as we examine the modern world, both in and outside of the United States, we can see the disturbingly familiar patterns that enabled the Holocaust have started to repeat themselves.
The Holocaust, which occurred between the years of 1933 and 1945, was the systematic murder of six million Jews and five million other victims. The Nazi regime conducted this atrocity with the intent to destroy the Jewish race and all others deemed inferior. While we look upon this event 80 years later in horror at what occurred, the modern world which we live in today still fails to recognize this atrocity.
In remembrance of the Holocaust, I recently had the privilege of hearing from survivor Abraham Foxman who discussed his experience as a child during the Holocaust. He expressed both his unsurmountable gratitude towards the woman who saved his life, as well as major concerns and fears as he draws parallels between the events of the Holocaust and current world events. He discusses the legacy of antisemitism following us into today’s world in ways that mirror German society during Hitler’s rise to power.
During the Holocaust, thousands of towns and communities were erased by the Nazis. Ancient anti-semitic beliefs reemerged in new forms, which were used to vilify the Jewish population in the regions of Eastern and Central Europe. These beliefs were transformed into pseudoscientific systems and laws regarding racial hierarchies which were used to “other” victims of the Holocaust. In the modern world, dangerous forms of propaganda are once again reinvented, aided by the usage of technology. Specifically, the usage of social media algorithms appears strikingly similar to the everyday propaganda used in the 1930s to spread hatred against Jews among German citizens, as these algorithms work to project biased information upon certain groups. These forms of propaganda often display falsified or exaggerated stereotypes about individuals and can promote extreme views and conspiracy theories, not so different from the conspiracy theories that helped kill two-thirds of the Jewish population in Europe. Foxman describes Holocaust denial, distortion, and even glorification surrounding us in today’s world, emphasizing his worry about our futures and our need to speak out against this.
While there were some Holocaust survivors, it is important to note the overall lack of wide-scale support from other countries up until the end of World War II, with a few notable exceptions, including the Danish and individuals like Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg who rescued an estimated one hundred thousand Hungarian Jews from Nazi deportations. While most perished horrifically, those who survived were left traumatized; these individuals were ripped from families and communities and forced to rebuild their lives from nothing. Others who attempted to seek asylum were often turned away across the world. World powers like the US rejected thousands of refugees who came on ships in search of safety. They provided little support for many years, despite clear knowledge about the horrors occurring in Europe.
Foxman, who came to the United States as an immigrant, is deeply troubled when he sees the demonization of immigrants continuing in today’s world. After being born in 1930s Nazi Germany as a Jew, he urgently questions, “Why was the world silent? Why did they allow this?” He continues to note that they knew how many Jews were being killed, and for years, the outside world did nothing. He continues to ask how different things could have been if more had been done. He states, “What if one Raoul Wallenberg had been 10,000? What if Switzerland would have permitted the entry of Jewish orphans, and the Dominican Republic said yes? Cuba said yes?” He describes how America and Canada both said no, and that Israel had not yet been formed to open its doors.
The more I heard Mr. Foxman speak, the more it became clear that all he asks is for us to be human beings. If “Never Again” is to mean anything, it is a call to denounce hate and speak out against the bigotry we see worldwide, so the consequences of ignorance don’t repeat.
However, when I read the news, I can’t help but feel otherwise. Stories of ICE entering public communities like schools and restaurants starting a wave of deportations without due process, books being banned, governments trying to dictate what and to whom universities should teach, the rise of all forms of xenophobia, and extremism on both far left and right, the drastic need for human empathy is more apparent than ever.
Living in the 21st century, the legacy of the Holocaust should be an alarm bell to just how dangerous this is, for anyone and everyone who cares about basic human rights and democracy. Foxman’s statement calls on us as a generation to condemn this hatred and how our presence gives him, and other Holocaust survivors, hope as the eyewitness generation fades with time. He finished by stating that choice is always possible to protect one another, and our future as a society.