Genocide, the intentional annihilation of a group of people, is the gravest of crimes. As malicious actors weaponize the term and endanger Jews everywhere, meticulous use of the charge is more essential than ever.
We are honored to serve as the current and former chairs of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, an institution memorializing history’s most well-documented genocide: Nazi Germany and its collaborators’ attempt to systematically murder every Jewish man, woman and child in Europe. They almost succeeded. Two-thirds of European Jews – 6 million – were killed. The global Jewish population has yet to recover, with fewer Jews alive today than in 1939, when World War II began.
Holocaust survivors fervently hoped antisemitism would wither when Germany was defeated and its crimes exposed. Yet, they knew from centuries of persecutions long before the Nazis, this ancient hatred is impossible to eradicate. Even so, after World War II, antisemitism became socially unacceptable. The shocking reactions from many quarters to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, three years ago, show this is no longer the case.
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On that day, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel intending to murder as many Jewish people as possible, bringing about the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. As Israel defends itself, we reiterate our wholehearted conviction that Israel has not committed genocide, reflecting the United States government’s consistent and prevailing view.
At the same time, we cannot forget the terrible tragedy many innocent Gazans have experienced as a result of the war. The loss of tens of thousands, including many children, is horrific.
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As we mourn so many innocent lives lost, we cannot ignore that Hamas puts civilians in harm’s way as a central part of its strategy to demonize Israel. Despite this deadly strategy, Israel has made efforts to warn civilians when to evacuate, provide food and relief, and facilitate vaccine distribution.
Israel, like any country, is not exempt from criticism. And yet, whether out of ignorance or malice, people from all walks of life, often with little knowledge or legal expertise, including in the specific definition of genocide, continually wield the term. Others weaponize it to delegitimize the world’s only Jewish state. Regardless of their intention, the impact is a terrifying eruption of antisemitism and a more dangerous world for Jewish people everywhere.
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Furthermore, state actors like Iran, Qatar, China and Russia spread antisemitic and anti-Israel conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial to stir hatred of Jews and sow chaos in democracies. They are succeeding. Antisemitism is no longer lurking at society’s fringes. It is marching openly through its institutions. Violent antisemitism is at levels not seen since the Holocaust. From Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue to Bondi Beach in Australia, to Manchester, England, and far too many other places, Jews are under deadly attack. And every day, Jews face relentless harassment and threats on streets, campuses and online.
The Holocaust teaches the dangers of unchecked antisemitism and how hatred began with the Jews but did not end with the Jews – it infected all of society. It is a sad truth that as Jews desperately tried to flee Nazi Europe, the rest of the world did not want them, including our own nation.
History shows some Jews who survived returned to their homes only to face further deadly violence from their former neighbors. Knowing Europe was a Jewish graveyard, survivors desperately wanted to build new lives where they could feel secure – primarily the United States and their ancestral homeland, what is now Israel, which was then under British colonial rule.
The Holocaust also teaches other lessons about humanity. As the Nazis and their collaborators hunted Jews, in every country some remarkable individuals chose to help, rising above the propaganda, hatred and threats to their own safety. And the survivors showed remarkable resilience as they rebuilt their lives, perhaps wondering if there had been a Jewish state, how many of their lost family members might have been saved.
Even today, principled individuals are risking all to stand against this age-old hatred. Holocaust survivors, people who have seen the worst humanity has to offer, continue to demonstrate a strength and courage we can only marvel at as they share their testimony. We need this courage from all of society.
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History has taught us what happens when antisemitism is excused, normalized or allowed to masquerade as something more respectable. We cannot make that mistake again. “Never Again” cannot be something we say about the past. It must be a promise of what all of us are willing to do in the present.
We owe that to the 6 million. We owe it to the Holocaust survivors still among us. And we owe it to the generations of Jews who must never again be taught that hatred is simply something they are expected to endure.
Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat served as chair of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum under President Joe Biden.
