Why Holocaust Day still matters
The events of March 15 brought home to NZ the importance of tackling endemic racism, writes David Zwartz.
BBC reporter Richard Dimbleby was the first broadcaster to enter the Bergen-Belsen death camp after it was liberated by the British on April 15, 1945.
Overcome, he broke down several times while making his report. The BBC initially refused to play it, as they could not believe the scenes he had described, and it was broadcast only after Dimbleby threatened to resign.
Bergen-Belsen was only one of the thousands of killing sites during World War II. The Holocaust saw the murder and death of six million European and North African Jews in a deliberate genocide.
Millions of others were targeted for their race, religion, gender, disabilities or political views. As Nobel peace laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel put it: ‘‘Not all victims were Jews, but all Jews were victims.’’
Why do we remember such horrifying and tragic events 75 years later? There are many different reasons.
Current UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres says: ‘‘It would be a dangerous error to think of the Holocaust as simply the result of the insanity of a group of criminal Nazis. On the contrary, the Holocaust was the culmination of millennia of hatred, scapegoating and discrimination targeting the Jews, what we now call antisemitism.’’
The UN General Assembly resolved in 2005 that UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day (UNIHRD) would be on January 27 – the anniversary of the day in 1945 when the Red Army liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi German concentration and extermination camp.
Acknowledging 2020 as a milestone year, the UN Outreach Programme has chosen a theme for UNIHRD that ‘‘reflects the continued importance, 75 years after the Holocaust, of collective action against antisemitism and other forms of bias to ensure respect for the dignity and human rights of all people everywhere’’.
Jews feel deep personal sadness and anger over the murder of members of their wha¯ nau, and the injustice of continuing antisemitism.
Some say that the Holocaust is a uniquely Jewish tragedy, and we undermine Holocaust remembrance unless we concentrate on fighting antisemitism in all its different manifestations.
Other Jews, while not denying the uniqueness of the Holocaust, see antisemitism as a symptom of racism in whatever society or culture harbours it. They want to pursue a broader fight against racism, using the Jewish experience as a warning of what has happened in history, and can happen again to any minority ethnic and religious groups.
It is correct that antisemitism – ‘‘the longest hatred’’ – has been historically recorded for about 2500 years, and shows no sign of diminishing. It has mutated over the centuries through ethnic, religious and racial Jew-hatred to its contemporary, largely antiIsrael, versions. Present-day antisemitism, which is often violent and virulent, appears to be growing around the world – unchecked on social media in this country.
Arecent NZ Human Rights Commission publication, Ko¯ rero Whakamaua¯ hara: Hate speech, opens by quoting Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt (known for winning the libel case brought against her by a UK Holocaust denier, as portrayed in the film Denial).
Lipstadt said: ‘‘When expressions of contempt for one group become normative, it is virtually inevitable that similar hatred will be directed at other groups. Like a fire set by an arsonist, passionate hatred and conspiratorial worldviews reach well beyond their intended target.’’
Many Jews promote Holocaust education because the Holocaust was a significant event in Western history, and understanding it helps combat the concerns expressed by Lipstadt.
In the same way that Anzac Day does for all Kiwis, Holocaust commemoration fulfils a deep human commitment by Jews and all people to remember death and suffering, at the same time as looking forward to improve humanity’s future by changing societal attitudes.
Particularly since the March 15 massacre at the Christchurch mosques, Holocaust observance and education also promote wellbeing in New Zealand.
They help the government, Human Rights Commission, major religious and interfaith groups and NGOs make this country fully aware of its endemic racism, and how to tackle it.
Since 2007, the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand has been the country’s leading Holocaust education organisation. Its vision is ‘‘Through testimony, experience and advocacy, inspire and empower individuals to stand against prejudice, discrimination and apathy.’’
The centre helped start the public commemoration of a Holocaust remembrance day in Aotearoa New Zealand. This is now observed annually in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch, with civic and Unesco support.
While some Jews say bitterly, referring to continuing antisemitism, ‘‘What’s the use of remembering dead Jews when the world continues to behave so badly to living Jews?’’, I think this is ungracious, and counterproductive; and invite everyone in the main centres who has good will and concern for our nation’s future to take part in the remembrance day commemoration on Monday.