On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops finally entered the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. To call what they came across as a nightmare is an understatement. It was a horror movie etched into reality: 7,000 ill and dying prisoners left behind by the SS. They had actually forced 60,000 others onto brutal death marches just days prior.

In 2005, the United Nations appointed this date as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is a day intended to honor the 1.1 million souls murdered at Auschwitz and the 6 million Jews systematically killed across Europe. It is a day to reflect on the lived experiences of survivors and to vow: “Never Again.”

When we think of the Holocaust, you instantly think of Anne Frank. You might have heard her story through movies, or might have taken the time to read her diary.

She once wrote, “I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.”

Her diary gave a face to the millions of “disappeared.”  The Nazi regime wanted the world to see only numbers but Anne forced them to see a girl with dreams and fears.

Her diary reflected the importance of words and the heavy responsibility placed on those who read them. To read or hear her thoughts is to enter a contract, because now, you can no longer claim you didn’t know what it felt like to be hunted.

Today, there are countless “Anne Franks.” You will come across them as you scroll through people documenting their own destruction on social media for the entire world to see, and that’s when we are being offered that same contract. The question is, will we honor it this time?

They are doing exactly what she did: refusing to be just another number in a death toll. Yet, unlike the empathy we feel for a historical figure, these voices are often ignored, disregarded, or killed by the very oppression they are speaking about because freedom of speech is non-existent in this day and age.

It is a bitter irony that actually many Jewish refugees fled the horror in Europe and found refuge in Palestine. However, soon Zionism (a nationalist movement originally intended for the establishment of a Jewish homeland) evolved and became the very system of occupation they fled from.

However, it is important to note the distinction between Judaism (a faith rooted in justice) and Zionism (a political movement). Combining the two is a dangerous mistake that fuels antisemitism. To stand for Palestine is not to stand against Jewish people! In fact, some of the most tireless advocates for Palestine are Jewish themselves.

In the U.S, groups like Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) are leading the movement. These activists are protesting non-stop to symbolise “Not In Our Name.” They embody the true meaning of “Never Again” because they refuse to let the memory of the Holocaust be used to justify the erasure of another people. They remind us that the call for justice must be universal.

We are living through a strange, shameful paradox. The Holocaust was not filmed, it was not broadcasted in real-time. It took years for the full scale of the horror to reach the global consciousness, and yet, eventually, the world moved to stop it.

Today, we are watching “live-streamed” genocides. From the decade’s long occupation of Palestine to the atrocities in Sudan, the Congo, the Uighur region in China, to name some, we see the footage in high definition. Yet, people still question its reality. They claim it is “AI-generated” or “staged.” We have become so desensitized that we watch real-life Hunger Games from our phones and then simply swipe to the next video.

It is a chilling psychological phenomenon. How have we come to the point of weeping for fictional characters in a cinema seat, yet failing to bat an eye as we scroll past the same horrors when they appear on our feeds in real-time?

We have romanticised tragedy to the point we ignore our duty to prevent it. When a movie shows suffering: it gives us a beginning, an end, and a hero to support. But when reality shows it, we look away because reality demands something from us: Action.

In the words of Holocaust survivor Hajo Meyer, “My great lesson from Auschwitz is: whoever wants to dehumanize any other must first be dehumanized himself. The oppressors are no longer really human, whatever uniform they wear.” 

The organisation, Jewish Voice for Peace put out a great article where they said: “Never again” means standing up for Palestinian people. “Never again” means this very moment.

Take a moment to read it from their perspective: https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/2023/10/13/jewish-plea/

If those who survived the ultimate horror can speak up against current genocides, why can’t we?

You may hear people say, “I’m not very political.” This is a statement of extreme privilege. To be political simply means to be concerned with the status, rights, and power dynamics of people within a society. “Not being political” is a luxury that allows propaganda to grow.

From your family dynamics to your school and your university, power and oppression exist everywhere. The only ones who benefit from us failing to connect the dots and creating this divide are the leaders. They want us to believe that the suffering in distant places is just “unfortunate,” rather than a result of systemic choices.

This desensitization is spreading. We see it in the U.S. with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), where the “legal” abduction of immigrants has become so normalized that we hardly blink when people are killed in broad daylight. It starts with one person being taken, it ends with a body count.

If the history of the Holocaust teaches us anything, it is that silence is a choice.

If these conversations make you uncomfortable, it is time to look in the mirror and realize that your discomfort is a small price to pay for the awareness that could save a life.

What you can do:

• Educate yourselves: Seek out sources beyond mainstream headlines.
• Speak Up: Breaking the silence is the first step to breaking the system.
• Boycott: Use your economic power to stop funding the machines of war.
• Donate: Support those on the ground who are documenting their own survival.

History is repeating itself because we have treated “Never Again” as a slogan rather than a command. Don’t just watch it happen. Use your voice while you still have one.

Penned By:

Rtr. Rana Rilwan

Editor 25-26