My (Fictional) Holocaust Remembrance Day Speech
If I had to give one to the UN, it would sound something like this
Mr. President, and the Distinguished Members of the General Assembly.
I stand before you on Holocaust Remembrance Day as the only Jewish member of this Assembly of Nations.
It is not unusual for a Jew to be standing alone. Our forefather Abraham stood alone amidst a world of idol worshippers, when G-d chose him to be the select of creation. Moses stood alone in front of Pharoah, then took G-d's children out of Egypt. David stood alone before Goliath, then slew him with a rock.
And during the Holocaust, we also stood alone.
Throughout History, man's inhumanity to man has not left us at a loss with massacres or genocides. Still, the Holocaust stands alone, too. Its uniqueness lies in the lack of political, economic, or religious justification. It was not a means to an end. There was no gain. It was extermination for extermination's sake, without exception. And it happened at the hands of the most developed nation in the world at the time, steered by its brightest and most educated citizens.
Unlike the claims of politically correct revisionists, he targeted Jews racially. The Nazis used the most cutting-edge instruments of the day to further their racial science. There was no way for Jews to change our blood any more than it is possible for someone to change the color of their skin. There were no confessions of faith, political declarations, or renunciation for Jews; nothing to be said or done to avoid the gas chambers.
Before the War, the Jewish population stood at 18 million. Afterward, 11 million were left to heal and rebuild our nation. Over the last 77 years, our population has yet to recover; another 3 million are still missing.
While the newer generations slowly repopulate, the survivors are leaving us. Today, only 300,000 are left worldwide, and 90% are 80 or older. Unsurprisingly, Holocaust revisionists and deniers are using this to spread their poisonous ideology. This is why it is incumbent upon us to tell their stories and to keep their memories alive.
Ninety years ago, in January 1933, Hitler (may his name be erased) first came to power. His evil schemes did not happen overnight or in a vacuum. It took for good men to be silent in the face of evil, to be passive as hatred took hold around them, and lethargic as their neighbors were swept away by the tides of fascism.
Today, antisemitism has reached levels we have not seen at any point in the post-war years. The same men who would deny the Holocaust are those who would gladly welcome another one. We cannot afford to stay silent, passive, or lethargic. Whether it's a violent assault on a visible Jew, a crude joke, or revisionism, we must ensure that it is not tolerated.
Yet, as Jews, we are not afraid. Soon will be Passover, where we will proclaim, as did our fathers before us, and their fathers before them, the eternal words of the Haggadah: "in every generation, they rise up to destroy us. But the Holy One, Blessed be He, delivers us from their hands.."
We might be few in number, but thankfully we know "that a little bit of light dispels a lot of darkness."
We are indeed a nation that dwells alone. Alone, but forever strong. That's because we were forged in the crucible of iron that was Egypt, had our mettle tested in Masada, wept by the rivers of Babylon but remembered Zion. Then we rebuilt Zion. We waged wars against the Greeks, we rebelled against the Romans, we drove off the British, and in six days, the entire Middle East.
Mark Twain once declared: "The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?"
Our enemies better remember this message from a man who died decades before the Holocaust and could not have imagined that the Jewish people who rose as smoke from Auschwitz's chimneys would rise four years later as a phoenix and declare independence on its ancestral Land after more than 2,000 years.
We never let go of our Land, our Torah, and our G-d. And He never let go of us, either.
This is our secret.
Am Yisrael Chai.
🙌🙌🙌 standing o!
Nice