January 26, 2016 Herald Sun Online version
Written by Dvir Abramovich
German troops lead Jewish civilians from their Warsaw ghetto to their execution.
TODAY we mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, designated by the United Nations as an occasion to remember and honour the 6 million Jews and millions of Poles, Russians, Roma, the disabled and political dissidents who were brutally exterminated in the death factories of the Nazis.
This day of observance also signifies the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Poland, the site of the largest mass murder in history, where 1.1 million men, women and children were systemically annihilated on an unfathomable scale.
Today we pay tribute to the 11 million lives tragically cut short at the hands of Hitler’s regime, and commend the survivors, who from the depths of despair rose to make an incredible contribution to Australian society.
Those brave souls and their indomitable courage are an enduring example of the resilience and strength of the human spirit.
In all likelihood, our children’s generation is the last who will be able to personally speak and hear from these heroes and learn from their stories of perseverance in times of great sorrow.
After the Holocaust, the world promised “never again”.
But mankind’s memory is all too short.
Jewish prisoners at Dachau concentration camp.
Since then, as unimaginable crimes against humanity have been perpetrated, the world has sat on the sidelines, closing its eyes as millions have been slaughtered in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Sudan, the Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, Syria and in many other parts of our planet.
In the Middle East, Christians are being tortured, raped and crucified, and the Yazidis and other minorities are caught up in the genocidal campaign waged by IS.
The searing images of defenceless civilians shot and buried, and the staggering humanitarian disasters that are unfolding as I write this, are testing our moral compass.
There can be no greater failure than silence, and unless we forcefully rid our world of such unbridled evil and barbarity, the blood of the innocent will be a stain on our conscience now and forever.
Also, over the past few years, we have seen an alarming and ugly resurgence in anti-Semitic violence across the globe, so much so that in Europe most Jews are afraid of wearing anything that would identify them as Jews, and many are considering their future in that continent.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has said that we must ensure that the “memory and lessons of the Holocaust are never forgotten”.
The Holocaust carries important universal lessons that should be ingrained in our collective memory.
German troops leading Jewish civilians through streets of Warsaw to a concentration camp.
The horrors of the Holocaust did not begin in the gas chambers — but with hateful words of incitement and contempt, and with the demonising of anyone who was deemed unworthy by the Nazis.
The Holocaust serves as a lasting reminder that we must all redouble our efforts in confronting intolerance and persecution, strengthen democracy, and ensure that the human rights of all people are preserved regardless of their background, sexual orientation, faith or creed.
The Holocaust teaches us that we must never give in to the conspiracy of silence when we witness ethnic violence, stereotyping and all kinds of bigotry, and that we must stand united in combating hate whenever and wherever it occurs.
It is our duty to always stand up against extremism, and to speak up for the weak and vulnerable, be they the poor, the elderly, the LGBTI community, women who are victims of violence, the disabled, and our indigenous Australians, to name but a few.
As German philosopher Kurt Tucholsky wrote: “A country is not just what is does — it is also what it tolerates.”
Perhaps it’s time that compulsory teaching about the Holocaust is introduced in all Australian schools, to not only develop an understanding of the dangerous ramifications of racism and prejudice, but to heighten awareness of the value of diversity, religious freedom, acceptance and pluralism.
I wonder: how many kids in Australia know that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that all human beings possess inherent dignity and equality?
After all, the next generation will be the one carrying the torch of remembrance forward as they work to forge a more peaceful future.
And, ultimately, it will be our children and grandchildren who will bear the moral responsibility of instilling the lessons of the Holocaust in their offspring and in preventing genocides in the decades ahead.
Dr Dvir Abramovich is Chairman of the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission