Rise in antisemitism sparks worries
BRUSSELS European Union leaders pledged Wednesday to confront the rise of antisemitism and Holocaust denial witnessed during the coronavirus pandemic, on the eve of the annual commemorations of Auschwitz’s liberation.
European Council president Charles Michel said the lessons of the Holocaust are now “more relevant than ever.”
“First, because Jewish people feel threatened, and they are threatened,” he said. “They are even attacked in Europe. Just because they are Jewish. We do not accept this. We will never accept it.” .
The European Commission presented last year a new strategy to better tackle hate speech, raise awareness about Jewish life, protect places of worship and ensure that the Holocaust isn’t forgotten. According to Europe’s Fundamental Rights Agency, nine out of 10 Jews think antisemitism has increased in their country and is a serious problem.
With the wide circulation of false information about the Holocaust on the internet, European Jewish Congress president Moshe Kantor cited the large amount of time spent online during the pandemic as one of the reasons for the rise in antisemitism. “There has been a tsunami of lies about Jews, Israel and the Holocaust over the last couple of years, so we have to create new strategies to reach those who are consuming this information innocently,” he said.
Many International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorations Thursday will be held online this year.
The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in November 2005 establishing the annual commemoration and chose Jan. 27, the day that Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by Soviet troops in 1945. In all, about six million European Jews and millions of other people were killed by the Germans and their collaborators during the Holocaust. Some 1.5 million were children.
Some dates are more charged than others. For me and millions of others around the world, Jan. 27 has — and will forever have — a hallowed place on the calendar as it commemorates one of the darkest chapters in human history.
Marking the epic tragedy of the Holocaust, which involved the mass murder of one third of the Jewish people, along with countless members of other minorities, today is packed with poignancy and important lessons for the future.
In 2005, to raise awareness, the United Nations chose this date for International Holocaust Remembrance Day as it’s the anniversary of the liberation in 1945 of the largest, most notorious Nazi extermination camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau. Emblematic of the evil of the Holocaust, it’s where the Nazis killed more than 1.1 million people, 90 per cent of them Jews.
As part of this solemn commemoration, the UN urges countries to honour the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazi persecution. Its aim is also to support Holocaust educational programs.
Sadly, current events make such programs critical. Indeed, this week, a new survey of North American students by the Canadian charity, Liberation75, found one third question whether the Holocaust even happened.
Today, 77 years after Auschwitz was liberated, Canada is facing an alarming resurgence in antisemitism, along with a worrying increase in Holocaust denial, distortion and trivialization. History is literally under attack. So much so that just last week, the UN adopted an Israeli resolution condemning Holocaust denial. How depressing that in 2022, such a resolution is even necessary.
Commenting on this initiative, Canada’s UN Ambassador, Bob Rae, tweeted: “We must keep the reality of the Shoah (Holocaust) deep in our hearts and ever present in our understanding of modern life. The past is in our present.”
Seemingly, not for some people, who divorce themselves from the past, and then rewrite it completely.
In his address to the UN General Assembly, Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan, the grandson of Holocaust survivors, indicated what’s at stake.
“We now live in an era in which fiction is becoming fact and the Holocaust is becoming a distant memory,” he said. “And as this happens following the greatest crime in human history, now comes the greatest coverup in human history.”
With the first-person voices of Holocaust survivors, now in their 80s and 90s, becoming fewer and fewer, the obscene voices of those who claim the Nazi genocide never happened are becoming louder and greater in number.
Amid the sadness of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, it’s also a fitting occasion to honour and take inspiration from survivors. Despite the excruciating reality and unspeakable loss they suffered at the hands of the Nazis, most have shown incredible resilience, looking to the future without forgetting the past.
Instead of remaining locked in angry victimhood, which they would’ve had every right to do, they adopted a positive attitude in rebuilding their shattered lives and contributing greatly to society. Just a few weeks ago, three survivors — Max Eisen, Rose Lipszyc and Eva Olsson — were appointed to the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honour, in recognition of their tireless work sharing their painful personal stories in teaching the lessons of the Holocaust while promoting the values of human rights, tolerance and respect.
We can all learn so much from their examples of making a meaningful difference and stressing the importance of being an upstander instead of a bystander in the face of injustice. We should also never forget some of these survivors owe their lives to the courageous actions of so-called Righteous Gentiles — unfortunately, far too few in number — who refused to be passive witnesses and, at great personal risk, saved Jews from the Nazis.
More than just a one-day-a-year remembrance, the Holocaust must forever be a constant warning to all of us of the danger of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice and where it can lead.
A new survey of North American students by the Canadian charity, Liberation75, found one third question whether the Holocaust even happened. History is literally under attack