Why must the West remember the Holocaust?
It was less than 100 years ago when, on this day, January 27, 1945, the concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau was finally liberated by the Red Army.
It was a mere 85 years ago when the Nazis built this camp as part of their Final Solution – in a world with many similarities to our own. At Auschwitz alone, the Nazis’ largest concentration camp, sources estimate that between 1.1 to 1.5 million innocents were killed. An estimated 80-90% of these individuals were Jewish.
Inaction by the West
The Holocaust did not happen in a vacuum. Jews were prohibited from everyday life in Germany by 1935 with the Nazis’ Nuremberg Laws. Despite witnessing Nazi persecution, the West failed to intervene. Jews were turned away from every Western country and denied asylum at the Evian Conference in 1938.
And once again, following the horrific events of October 7th, the international institutions tasked with upholding human rights have systematically ignored the genocidal aims of Hamas.
Antisemitism since October 7th
The rise of antisemitism around the globe after October 7th and the international community’s despicable handling of the hostage situation reveals a sobering reality: the Jewish people once again feel alone in a world against them.
The UN, International Red Cross (which in 1944 visited Auschwitz and determined there were no exterminations at the camp), and World Health Organization not only failed to hold Hamas accountable but weaponized the International Court of Justice and refused to visit the hostages in Gaza.
Hatred and antisemitism still exist today, and we must take active measures to stand with the Jewish people to prevent crimes against humanity.
How to Remember
Especially today, but every day, we must remember the Holocaust, a racially and religiously motivated genocide.
One of the most important things we can do to remember is to recognize patterns of antisemitism in our world today while striving actively to be advocates for our Jewish neighbors.
Historic Hero
We can draw inspiration from the heroic efforts of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Christian dissident who actively fought against Nazism and worked with intelligence forces to attempt to take down the Third Reich.
He ultimately went to his death in Flossenbürg concentration camp for defending the Jewish people against Hitler’s barbaric antisemitism.
Bonhoeffer was one of the earliest critics of Nazism and is an example of a man who relentlessly fought for his faith, for freedom, and ultimately for his Jewish neighbors both in the public sphere and privately.
May we have the strength and courage to imitate his example and to stand up to antisemitism today, whether on our college campuses or within our own homes.
“Those that do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
-George Santayana