THE LAST MONTHS HAVE BEEN A TIME OF GREAT ANGUISH TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND TO ISRAEL. SINCE THE LAST AUSCHWITZ DAY, IT SEEMS THAT THE WORLD HAS REGRESSED MANY DECADES, TO DARK TIMES. EXPRESSIONS AND ACTS OF WHICH WE HOPED WERE ERASED FROM HISTORY FOREVER, ARE SURFACING IN MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD.
THE OCT. 7 MURDEROUS ATTACKS ON ISRAEL CREATED AN ERUPTION OF UNPRECEDENTED ANTISEMITISM THAT LEAVES US SAD AND CONFUSED.
WE ASK OURSELVES: IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE LESSONS OF THE HOLOCAUST AND THE DECADES LEADING TO IT HAVE NOT BEEN LEARNED?
THIS NEW SITUATION SHOULD ONLY STRENGTHEN OUR RESOLVE TO COMMEMORATE AND TEACH THE LESSONS OF HISTORY SO THEY DO NOT REPEAT.
JANUARY 27, THE INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBERENCE DAY, KNOWN AS AUSCHWITZ DAY, WAS DECIDED UPON AS A COMMEMORATION DAY BECAUSE OF THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE HOLOCAUST WAS A TERRIBLE, SINGULAR EVENT OF ORCHESTRATED ANNIHILATION AND GENOCIDE (A TERM, THAT WAS ESTABLISHED IN THE SHADOW OF THE HOLOCAUST AND IS UNFORTUNATELY COMPROMISED AND CYNICALLY MANIPULATED THESE DAYS).
THE TOTALITY OF ANNIHILATION AND GENOCIDE DURING THE HOLOCAUST IS EMBODIED IN TWO HISTORICAL EXAMPLES, ONE GLOBAL, AND THE OTHER CONCERNING AN INDIVIDUAL.
SOME YEARS AGO I VISITED THE MUSEUM AT THE SITE OF THE WANNSEE CONFERENCE NEAR BERLIN, THE SPECIFIC LOCATION WHERE THE NAZI “FINAL SOLUTION” FOR THE JEWS WAS DECIDED UPON, IN JANUARY 20TH, 1942.
AMONG THE MANY DOCUMENTS PRESENTED THERE WAS A DOCUMENT, VERY BUREAUCRATIC IN NATURE, PREPARED FOR THE DISCUSSION, LISTING ALL THE JEWISH COMMUNITIES AROUND THE WORLD AND THEIR POPULATIONS.
IT WAS NOT ONLY COMMUNITIES IN EUROPE, BUT ALSO IN THE U.S, CANADA AND ALL THE WAY TO ARGENTINA, CHILE AND OTHER COUNTRIES. THIS SIMPLE DOCUMENT WAS THE ESSENCE OF THE GLOBAL NAZI PLAN TO ANNIHILATE JEWS EVERYWHERE! A TOTAL GENOCIDE.
I REMEMBER WATCHING THAT DOCUMENT AND RIGHT NEXT TO IT, A PHOTOGRAPH THAT CONNECTED ME TO MY OWN ROOTS. IT SHOWED A LARGE CROWD OF DESPERATE JEWS IN FRONT OF THE OFFICE OF THE JEWISH AGENCY IN VIENNA IN 1939, PEOPLE HOPING TO GET AN ENTRANCE CERTIFICATE TO BRITISH CONTROLLED “ERETZ ISRAEL”. MY GRANDPARENTS WERE AMONG THAT CROWD. THEY WERE PART OF THE LUCKY FEW WHO RECEIVED SUCH A CERTIFICATE WHICH PROBABLY SAVED THEIR LIVES AND ALLOWED ME TO STAND HERE TODAY.
THE TRAGIC STORY OF DANIEL RACHAMIM, FROM THE GREEK ISLAND OF LEROS, TELLS OF AN INDIVIDUAL FROM A SMALL REMOTE ISLAND HUNDREDS OF KILOMETERS FROM THE GREEK MAINLAND. HE WAS THE ONLY JEWISH PERSON ON THAT ISLAND. STILL, THE NAZIS SENT A SPECIAL SHIP ALL THE WAY TO LEROS TO ARREST HIM AND SEND HIM TO A CONCENTRATION CAMP WHERE HE WAS MURDERED.
THE MEANING IN HEBREW OF HIS LAST NAME, RACHAMIM, MEANS COMPASSION OR PITY. UNFORTUNATELY, HE DID NOT RECEIVE ANY COMPASSION, NOR PITY. THAT WAS THE NATURE OF THE NAZI TOTAL ANNIHILATION PLAN.
RECENTLY, WE COMMEMORATED THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SAVING OF MOST OF THE DANISH JEWS IN 1943. THE DANISH PEOPLE, WHO HELPED THESE JEWS ESCAPE TO SWEDEN, CHOSE TO DO THE RIGHT THING. THE JEWISH PEOPLE WILL FOREVER BE GREATFUL FOR THIS HEROIC RESCUE.
I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK THE GOVERNMENT OF DENMARK FOR ADDRESSING THE URGENT ISSUE OF RISING ANTISEMITISM IN THE LAST MONTHS, IN THE MOST ACTIVE AND SERIOUS MANNER, FOCUSING ON EDUCATIONAL AND SECURITY RELATED ASPECTS.
IF WE DO NOT UPROOT THE FIRST SIGNS OF HATRED AND ANTISEMITISM, WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ERADICATE THEM WHEN THEY BECOME A FULL-BLOWN DANGER.
THE WORDS “NEVER AGAIN” SHOULD NOT BE ONLY VOICED BUT SHOULD BE A CALL TO ACTION, HERE IN DENMARK AND ALL OVER THE WORLD
THANK YOU.
