January 27 is a day observed by many countries worldwide to honour the memory of the Holocaust. On this day, people reflect on the horrors of that time, remember the lives lost, and hear from survivors who are still with us. It serves as a solemn reminder to ensure such atrocities are never forgotten.
One question has haunted me for years: How could this have happened? The brutal murder of the Jewish people between 1941 and 1945, enshrined in German law, remains a tragedy that demands reflection. How could such atrocities unfold in the heart of civilized Europe while the world watched? This question has driven my lifelong commitment to understanding and educating others about these horrors.
In 2016, I spoke at the Essentials of Freedom Conference in Edmonton, where I worked to contextualize antisemitism and hatred toward Jews for a contemporary Canadian audience. This reinforced my belief that remembering the past is not just reflection but also responsibility.
A Personal Pilgrimage to Poland
In 2023, I journeyed to Poland, visiting sites of Jewish destruction such as Auschwitz-Birkenau and Belzec, along with historic Jewish communities in Warsaw, Krakow, Lviv, and rural shtetls. Organized by my synagogue, the pilgrimage was led by Rabbi Reuven Poupko and guide Tzvi Sperber, allowing me to witness the remnants of a thousand-year-old Jewish civilization the Nazis sought to erase.
Standing in these ruins, I felt the weight of history in a way no book or documentary could convey. We were accompanied by a Torah scribe and an unfinished Torah scroll, which we completed as we visited abandoned synagogues across Poland. The journey culminated in a powerful moment when we carried the completed Torah through the gates of Auschwitz, symbolizing the survival of our people and faith—Am Yisrael Chai!
I am thankful to Tzvi Sperber for facilitating the participation of Yosef Lewkowicz, a Polish survivor in his nineties and former Montreal resident. Author of The Survivor: How I Survived Six Concentration Camps and Became a Nazi Hunter, a book I recently purchased, Yosef recounts his survival through six camps and his rescue of over 600 Jewish orphans hidden in monasteries, orphanages, and private homes, ultimately bringing them to Israel. He also played a key role in bringing Nazi figures like Amon Goeth, a sadistic officer portrayed in Schindler’s List, to justice—a testament to the resilience of the Jewish spirit.
Another influential figure is Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, whose musical ministry brought comfort and spiritual renewal to both Jews and non-Jews, especially in the aftermath of the Holocaust. His outreach reached Jewish communities in Poland, Ukraine, and Hungary—places deeply scarred by the destruction of their Jewish populations, often with local complicity. Carlebach’s message of unity extended even to the Vatican, which, for centuries, upheld supersessionist theology and played a role in the persecution of Jews. Since the Second Vatican Council in 1965, the Church has published Nostra Aetate, a declaration seeking to correct its relationship with Judaism and all other religions, rejecting supersessionism.¹
Carlebach’s music continues to serve as a bridge, fostering reconciliation in even the most challenging circumstances. I encourage you to watch the 2008 Religion and Ethics video about his ministry, a powerful testament to the healing power of music and faith.
Holocaust Remembrance: The Stakes and Complexities
On January 27, Holocaust Remembrance Day, I took a moment to reflect on the importance of remembering the Holocaust. Some news outlets have overlooked that Jews were the primary victims, fueling “Holocaust denial.” This distortion attempts to erase the undeniable Jewish connection to the Holocaust and absolve the perpetrators, allowing them to avoid accountability for the systematic annihilation of Jewish men, women, and children.
This denial aligns with the Nazi regime’s central objective: the eradication of the Jewish people. They built six death camps specifically for the systematic slaughter of Jews, and Hitler’s obsession with their destruction extended beyond Europe to places like Morocco, Iran, and the Middle East. Even at the risk of losing the war and against the advice of his generals, Hitler prioritized extermination over military logistics. He diverted resources necessary for supplying his troops in Russia to ensure that trains continued running to transport Jews to their deaths.
Holocaust Inversion
Holocaust denial continues to plague us, often driven by deliberate efforts to distort historical facts. One particularly troubling trend is “Holocaust Inversion,” in which some falsely accuse Jews and Israelis of behaving like Nazis. This tactic equates Israel’s actions toward Palestinians with Nazi Germany’s treatment of Jews, suggesting that Israel has committed similar atrocities—a claim that distorts both history and morality.
One of the earliest figures to make such a comparison was historian Arnold Toynbee, who argued that Jewish actions during the 1947-48 war resembled Nazi persecution of Jews. In response, Israeli President Chaim Herzog debated Toynbee at the University of Montreal in 1961, emphasizing a key distinction: Israel fought in self-defence during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, whereas Nazi Germany sought the systematic annihilation of Jews—many of whom had been loyal German citizens, even serving in World War I.
These comparisons don’t just twist history—they also overlook some significant differences in how societies are governed and what values they uphold. Jewish teachings stress treating non-Jews with justice and kindness, which is why Israel granted citizenship to Arabs, Christians, and Muslims who stayed after it was established. On the other hand, Islamic history included something called “dhimmi” status, which protected non-Muslims but also came with restrictions like extra taxes and limits on religious freedoms. Understanding history is crucial, but political groups today often manipulate it to stir up conflict.
While much attention is given to Palestinian displacement after 1948, another refugee crisis—one often overlooked—occurred at the same time. Nearly a million Jews were expelled or forced to flee from Arab nations such as Iraq, Egypt, and Libya, where they had lived for centuries. Their homes, businesses, and cultural heritage were erased, yet this historical reality receives little acknowledgment in discussions about Middle Eastern refugees.
The land now known as Israel has deep historical roots in Jewish identity. Following the failed Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE, the Romans renamed Judea as Syria Palaestina in an attempt to erase Jewish ties to the land. This was part of a broader Roman policy that included the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, a pivotal event in Jewish history.
Since Israel’s founding in 1948, groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian regime have used Holocaust Inversion as a propaganda tool, falsely equating Israel’s self-defence with Nazi aggression. Iranian leaders have repeatedly denied or downplayed the Holocaust, and Hamas has even accused Israel of “genocide” against Palestinians—a term carefully chosen to distort the historical facts. This kind of distortion not only erases the suffering of Jews but also fuels ongoing hostility toward Israel.
Israel agreed to the 1947 UN partition plan, which suggested separate Jewish and Arab states, but neighbouring Arab countries rejected it and went to war against the new Jewish state. To this day, the conflict remains a complex political and territorial struggle, with some factions advocating for a two-state solution while others reject Israel’s right to exist entirely. Understanding this conflict’s historical and ideological roots is essential to countering misinformation and ensuring that history is not weaponized for political purposes.
The Role of the Allies and Soviet Forces
It’s important to understand the true nature of the ‘liberation’ of Auschwitz. When the Soviets arrived in January 1945, the Nazis had already evacuated most of the prisoners, sending them on death marches to other camps. The Soviet forces didn’t liberate Auschwitz on purpose—they simply came across it, finding it mostly abandoned, with only the haunting remnants of what had happened there.
Stalin’s antisemitism, however, should not be overlooked in the context of Soviet involvement during and after the war. While the Soviet Union presented itself as a liberator, its treatment of Jews was often contradictory. During the war, Stalin strategically used Jews in diplomatic roles to gain support and financial aid from the Jewish American community, even sending Jewish ambassadors to the U.S. to assist with the Soviet war effort. However, after the war, Stalin’s antisemitic policies became more pronounced. There was a major crackdown on the Yiddish language and a growing number of restrictions on Jewish religious practices. Stalin also staged high-profile show trials, with the most notorious being the “doctors’ trials,” where Jewish doctors and artists were falsely accused of treason against the Soviet Union.
In addition to the role of the Nazis, the Allies also failed to prevent or mitigate the suffering of Jews during World War II. By the late 1930s, the Allies were well aware of the Nazi persecution of Jews, even though the full scope of the Holocaust hadn’t yet been revealed. In 1938, President Roosevelt called for the Evian Conference in France, hoping to address the refugee crisis caused by Hitler’s actions. The conference stressed the urgency of the situation, but only a few countries—like the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, and later Cuba—agreed to take in Jewish refugees from Germany.
Other nations, like Sweden, Shanghai, and Bolivia, also offered limited refuge, but major powers such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada hesitated to open their doors. They pointed to political, economic, and security concerns as reasons for their reluctance. This hesitation, along with the focus on military efforts during the war, only added to the suffering of many Jewish people trying to escape. The failure to take meaningful action at this critical moment allowed the Holocaust to unfold as it did. After the war, many survivors were left to rebuild their lives with little support in displaced persons camps.
Post-War Recovery and the Role of Jewish Organizations
After the war, Holocaust survivors who had lost everything—homes, businesses, and families—were not immediately welcomed by the nations that had fought against the Nazis. Many found themselves trapped in Displaced Persons (DP) camps in Germany and Austria for years, unable to return home or find new countries willing to accept them. With little government assistance, it was primarily Jewish charitable organizations that helped survivors resettle and rebuild their lives. My own family, fleeing Communist Hungary, lived in the Rothschild DP Camp in Vienna for two years before immigrating to Canada. These organizations played a vital role in helping survivors rebuild their lives.
For a realistic account of Jewish recovery after the war, I recommend the documentary Hidden Face, which tells the story of Klausenberger Rebbe, an Auschwitz survivor. After the war, he was in a DP camp and was selected to speak with General Eisenhower during his visit.
Another documentary on post-war recovery is my own Yiddish: A Tale of Survival, which recounts the post-war immigrant stories of three remarkable theatre professionals from three different generations: Shmuel Atzmon of Israel, Bryna Wasserman of Montreal, and Miléna Kartowski-Aïach from Paris.
Remembering the Survivors: Commemorating January 27, 2025
I attended a moving memorial in Montreal where Peter Mansbridge, Canadian journalist and former chief correspondent for CBC News, interviewed George Reinitz, a 92-year-old Hungarian survivor who was deported to Auschwitz at the age of 12. After the war, he immigrated to Canada, built a successful business, and became a national wrestling champion. His journey is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.
I also participated in a Zoom lecture hosted by Lockdown University, which honoured Yehuda Bauer, a Holocaust historian who emphasized the moral guide of three commandments: “Thou shalt not be a perpetrator; thou shalt not be a victim; and thou shalt never, but never, be a bystander.” These words challenge us to stand against injustice and hatred.
A particularly moving moment came when I watched a video message from Frank Lowy, a 94-year-old Holocaust survivor and billionaire. He addressed the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, offering them hope with a powerful message:
“Here is my message to the hatufim/hostages. I want to give them hope. I have risen from the darkest places in the world, and here I am, at 94, to speak to my friends and family, to speak to them in this holy holy place, in ‘Eretz Yisrael shelanu’—in our Holy Land of Israel. Never Give Up Hope!”
Museums dedicated to recounting the Holocaust have done an excellent job documenting and preserving the records of these historical events. The digitalization of testimonies allows future generations to connect with the firsthand experiences of survivors, preserving their stories and safeguarding them from distortion over time. Museums in cities such as Montreal, Washington, and Jerusalem, among many others, are important reminders of the horrific events that occurred during that period.
Over the past month, the Jewish community has faced the heartbreaking loss of Shira Bibas and her two young children, Kfir, who was nine months old, and Ariel, who was two years old. The trio was brutally kidnapped from their family home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, a Jewish holiday, and returned in coffins after 500 days of being held as pawns in the Palestinian war against Israel and the Jews. Their tragic deaths serve as a painful reminder of the ongoing violence and suffering inflicted upon innocent lives by genocidal groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.
Recognizing our shared humanity is more important than ever in today’s divided world. But for that to happen, we need to face our history honestly. If we encourage open conversations and exploration of ideas, we can create a society that truly values and celebrates our differences.
It is not enough to remember the Holocaust; we must act. Today, I’m reaffirming my commitment to making sure the lessons of the Shoah stay alive and continue to shape our future. It’s time to have honest conversations and pass those lessons on so we can prevent such horrors from ever happening again.
“Never again” must mean now for all of us!
Footnote:
- Paul VI, Pope. Nostra Aetate: Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions. Vatican, 28 Oct. 1965, https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html.
- “Day to Mark the Departure and Expulsion of Jews from the Arab Countries and Iran.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_to_Mark_the_Departure_and_Expulsion_of_Jews_from_the_Arab_Countries_and_Iran.