Ynetnews, Israel
Jan 28 2007
Recognizing global atrocities
All mankind must view concentration camp history as sign of lurking
dangers
Dr. Nili Keren Published: 01.28.07, 18:48
"First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I
wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak
up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they
came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a
Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left
to speak up."
These words, spoken by Martin Niemöller, a German pastor and a
dissident of the Nazi regime, should have been the main motto for the
International Holocaust Remembrance Day marked Saturday.
The indifference of the nations of the world and their leaders during
the Holocaust enabled the mass murder of Jews almost without
interference, until Allied troops were at the gates of the camps.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day is aimed at reminding all
nations of the world of their duty not to forget. The increasingly
sophisticated attempts to deny the Holocaust and the attempts to deny
that the world stood to one side during this genocide will inevitably
breed the next Holocaust – even if it is not called a Holocaust, a
term reserved exclusively for the genocide of the Jewish people.
There is a risk that this Remembrance Day will turn into the core
issue, namely, that the nations of the world would feel as though
they have fulfilled their duty by simply conducting learned
discussions and ceremonies and by rolling their eyes towards the
heavens once a year, while at the same time further genocides are
carried out under their very noses.
Israelis ignore non-Jewish victims
International Holocaust Remembrance Day should remind the world that
due to apathy, nations and societies can and do commit crimes against
humanity in almost every continent, including in Europe (the former
Yugoslavia,) not to mention Africa and Asia. The role of the
civilized world is not to mark the good and the bad, but rather, to
completely change modes of conduct. Meanwhile, humanistic values must
be put to the test without any economic, ethnic or other
considerations.
Israelis have for years been involved in perpetuating the memory of
Jewish victims of the Holocaust while completely ignoring other Nazi
victims who were not Jewish. Instead of speaking out against genocide
in various corners of the world, we are busy preventing comparisons
between them and "our" Holocaust. We demand that everyone recognize
Jewish suffering, and even today we take every foreign leader to
visit the Yad Vashem Museum.
Yet we refuse to recognize the suffering of the Armenian people, for
example, almost half of whom were killed by the Turks. We refuse to
believe that for the Armenians this too was a Holocaust.
Jews have a special commitment on International Holocaust Remembrance
Day. We should devote our thoughts and deeds to identify with other
victims of the Nazi regime: Gypsies, homosexuals, Communists and the
peoples of occupied nations. We should join the effort and physically
prevent mass murder from being carried out in our times, and to fight
the perpetrators by every means available.
As Primo Levi wrote in his book "If this is a man," all mankind must
view the history of the concentration camps as a sign of the dangers
lurking on the horizon. Such things must serve as a warning light for
all of us all – today and for all 365 days of the year.
Dr. Nili Keren is a pedagogical advisor at Massuah, the Institute for
the Study of the Holocaust at Tel Yitzhak
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