Last week, on January 27, people across the globe gathered to honour the victims and survivors of the Shoah. Events and discussions, academic lectures and memorial services took place across the globe, and yet many in the world have not grasped what it was, and what there is to be learned from the Holocaust for our future.
One significant lecture I attended was hosted by Lockdown University, paying tribute to Yehuda Bauer, who famously suggested adding three commandments to the original ten: “Thou shalt not be a perpetrator; thou shalt not be a victim; and thou shalt never, but never, be a bystander.” These words resonate deeply with me and serve as a moral guide on how to prevent future atrocities.
Montreal, where I have lived for many years, also held a poignant in-person memorial. Peter Mansbridge, formerly with the CBC, interviewed George Reinitz, a 92-year-old Hungarian survivor who was deported to Auschwitz at age 12. After the war, he immigrated to Canada, becoming a national wrestling champion and later building a successful business. His story of survival, resilience, and triumph is a testament to the human spirit and continues to inspire us all.
A particularly moving moment for me was hearing the message of Frank Lowy, a 94-year-old Holocaust survivor turned billionaire, who spoke in Israel, addressing Israeli hostages of the October 7, 2023, pogrom in Israel still imprisoned by Hamas in Gaza. His words encapsulate the resilience of survivors who emerged from the darkest moments of history to rebuild lives filled with purpose and success:
“Here is my message to the hatufim/hostages. I want to give them hope. I have risen from the darkest place in the world, and here I am, at 94, to speak to my friends and family, to speak to them in this holy place, in ‘Eretz Yisrael shelanu’—in our Holy Land of Israel. Never Give Up Hope!”
My lifelong question—“How could this have happened?”—the brutal rounding up of the Jewish people and their systematic murder over four years (1941-45), enshrined in German law. How could this have happened in the heart of civilized Europe with the whole world watching?
This question has driven me to seek answers and to educate myself and others. In 2016, I spoke at the Essentials of Freedom Conference in Edmonton, attempting to contextualize antisemitism/Jew-hatred for a contemporary audience.
In 2023, I embarked on a deeply personal journey to Auschwitz-Birkenau and other significant sites of Jewish persecution, as well as historic Jewish communities in Poland, including Warsaw, Krakow, and many shtetls. This pilgrimage, organized by my synagogue and led by Rabbi Poupko, allowed me to witness the remnants of a thousand-year-old Jewish civilization that the Nazis sought to obliterate. Our group carried an unfinished Torah, completing its inscription in abandoned synagogues.
This experience culminated in a reverent moment when we carried the completed Torah through the infamous gates of Auschwitz. This act of defiance and remembrance was profoundly symbolic—our tradition, our people, and our faith endures: In Hebrew one would say:
Am Yisrael Chai!
I am grateful to the leader of my Poland tour, Tzvi Sperber, who has led thousands on similar journeys of remembrance. He also arranged that Yosef Lefkovich, a Polish survivor, accompanied us, then in his nineties, who had rebuilt his life in Montreal. I just bought his book, The Survivor: How I Survived Six Concentration Camps and Became a Nazi Hunter.
The Jewish commitment to remembrance and healing is witnessed in the important work of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. Through his musical ministry, he fostered reconciliation and unity for both Jews and non-Jews, even reaching out to nations that had been complicit in the Holocaust, such as Poland and the Vatican. His music continues to serve as a bridge, promoting understanding among all peoples and ensuring that the lessons of the Shoah endure across generations.
Religion and Ethics, 2008, has a wonderful video and post of Shlomo’s musical ministry to the world.
As we all navigate a world that seems rife with division and intolerance, it becomes increasingly important to embrace our shared humanity. We must all actively engage in discussions that promote understanding and ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust remain alive to all. We all have a role, through education, advocacy, and solidarity with those facing discrimination. We must all foster a culture of appreciating and accepting differences, whether they be racial, ethnic, national or religious, as long as these differences are not imperialistic or combative.
It is not enough to remember; we must also act. Today, I reaffirm my commitment to ensuring that the Shoah will never be relegated to mere history but will always remain as a living lesson to shape our present and guard our future. As Yehuda Bauer’s commandments remind us, we must always refuse to be bystanders to hatred and injustice. Only through our collective responsibility can we safeguard humanity from repeating the horrors of the past.
Never again must mean “now”!