27 January 2021
Today is an important day. It is also a day that many people do not realise is important. Holocaust Memorial Day is a day to remember the lives lost during one of the world’s worst (and perhaps most documented) humanitarian disasters. 6 million people lost their lives as a result of a fascist anti-Semitic regime that arguably could have been prevented. I have several reasons for writing a blog on this particular topic, the most significant being the rise of anti-Semitism.
I’ve had a personal connection to the holocaust from a young age, beginning with an interest in Anne Frank, which continued with the discovery of my own family’s history with the holocaust. We discovered that numerous family members were killed in a number of death camps, including Auschwitz, some of whom were barely one year old.
At 17 I was given the opportunity to visit Auschwitz with the Holocaust Educational Trust, a charity created with the aim of honouring the survivors of the holocaust by ensuring that their history is remembered and that events like the holocaust do not occur again. We flew to Poland and back in a day giving us very little time to take in the significance of what we were experiencing. Despite this, it is a day I will never forget. In the three hours that we spent at Auschwitz I (1) and Auschwitz-Birkenau, I walked in the footsteps of my family, unable to imagine the suffering they endured. I managed not to cry until the very end of our time at Auschwitz-Birkenau as we lit candles and laid them on the train tracks which led so many to their death. I didn’t cry until the Rabbi that had accompanied us began his prayer. I stood listening while I held my gloved hands in my pockets. My hands were hurting from the cold and I couldn’t help but imagine how horrifying and painful life was for the people in the camps – for my family – in conditions that are unfathomable to us today. I thought of the people that were kept like cattle in huts that let the snow in and had little more than a pair of cotton pyjamas to keep them warm. That was when I cried.
The purpose of the Holocaust Educational Trust is to educate people about the injustices of the holocaust and to ensure that we learn the important lessons that it left behind. It’s an admirable cause and one which I think they do well to achieve. But there is a clear rise in anti-Semitism across the world. The accusations of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party only highlight this. Anti-Semitism is something that lingers beneath the surface, something people don’t realise is occurring. But the countless times that I’ve heard people make jokes about Auschwitz, the Holocaust, or the Nazi persecution of the Jews demonstrates that people don’t think before they speak. It isn’t a joke. It isn’t funny. It is one of the most tragic events in our history.
Nearly three years after my trip to Auschwitz I was invited to my cousins’ bar mitzvah in the US. I had never met my family in the States before and they had invited me into their home to experience something completely new to me. I had never been to a synagogue before, let alone a bar mitzvah. It was amazing to experience the tradition and to be welcomed into such an important day in their lives. I was even invited to take part in the ceremony by doing one of the readings. I couldn’t be more grateful to my family for allowing me to experience that. While all of these things contributed to a day I won’t forget, there was another event that occurred that day that contributes to the reason it won’t be forgotten. While we were in the synagogue and as the Bar Mitzvah took place, there was a shooting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, while the weekly Sabbath service took place. An anti-Semitic hate crime reminding us that the legacy of the holocaust continues to haunt today’s society.
Having experience all of this, I decided to write my undergraduate dissertation on American domestic and foreign policy towards Jews from 1933-1952. America was viewed as a haven for Jewish families attempting to escape Nazi persecution in Europe. These refugees looked to America as a beacon of hope in a world that seemed so dark. They went looking for the American dream. But it was clear then, as it is clear now, that anti-Semitism was a rapidly growing problem. The State Department did as much as possible to prevent Jewish families from entering the US. Despite America having the second-largest Jewish population in the world today, anti-Semitism continues to be an issue, as it does here in the UK.
On January 6, the world watched as countless Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building in an ultimately undemocratic demonstration because they didn’t get what they wanted. Not only did they make history by flying the confederate flag inside the Capitol building for the first time, but some of them did so wearing clothing bearing anti-Semitic slogans. This needs to change. The world needs to change. Societal norms need to change. We have the ability to educate ourselves, to learn, and to overcome our past mistakes. But at the moment it feels as though many of them are simply being repeated.
So, I ask that you remember the victims of the Holocaust. I ask that you do your best to correct people that make anti-Semitic remarks on a whim. And, I ask that you think before you speak. It’s the small remarks, the little jokes, which lead people to think that saying those types of things are ok. And it’s thinking that those types of things are ok that leads to much bigger and more devastating issues.
~ Cerys
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