Holocaust lessons

‘‘And so we must know these good people who helped Jews during the Holocaust. We must learn from them, and in gratitude and hope, we must remember them.’’

These words of 1986 Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel express what this year’s United Nations International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration is highlighting – the outstanding contribution of the Righteous Among the Nations, nonJews who risked their lives to save Jews from extermination during World War II.

The message for us today from

what these wonderful people did is that we should all aim to be upstanders, not bystanders, speaking out when we see injustice, discrimination or bullying.

In New Zealand this has implications for all minority groups who are denigrated or discriminated against because they are ‘‘different’’.

The annual Holocaust remembrance commemoration, with its messages from history, supports the Human Rights Commission’s and other campaigns to promote the human rights of all Kiwis.

Antisemitism is growing overseas and there are more anti-Jewish attitudes and incidents in New Zealand.

We have to ask: ‘‘Is Holocaust remembrance of dead Jews sufficient, if it fails to link the

lessons of those horrific times to living Jews today?’’

David Zwartz, chairperson, Wellington Regional Jewish Council