At the end of World War II, the world was in shock as it had discovered the horrors of the Holocaust that had come from one of the most educated countries on the planet. Depending on how one looks at it, the Holocaust took place ONLY eighty years ago or ALREADY eighty years ago. Within the scope of human history, it wasn’t a long time, but when we look at man’s lifespan, it helps us understand that almost all those who have gone through the horrors of the “Shoah” (catastrophe) and survived it are now gone, simply because of old age. Only a handful of firsthand survivors remain around us today, most of them in their nineties. Very soon, nobody will be able to hold someone’s hand and turn their arm to discover the infamous tattoo of doom–the death number of the camps.
The voices of the Shoah are fading away, while the voices of historical revisionism are shouting that the Holocaust was either grossly exaggerated or never happened. Its memory is in the hands of family members of Holocaust victims. That is why I continue to tell the story of how my mother was hidden in the South of France after her father was taken by the Gestapo and sent to be murdered in Auschwitz. Some people realized early on that the horrendous, organized genocide of the Jewish people had to be documented. One of these people was General Dwight Eisenhower.
He understood the importance of documenting and remembering the Holocaust the minute that he walked inside the camp at Orhdruf. As he visited this sub-camp of Buchenwald with Generals Bradley and Patton, he realized the magnitude of what he was witnessing. He immediately wrote a letter to the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General George Marshall, in which he said: …The things I saw beggar description. While I was touring the camp, I encountered three men who had been inmates and by one ruse or another, had made their escape. I interviewed them through an interpreter. The visual evidence and the verbal testimony of starvation, cruelty and bestiality were so overpowering as to leave me a bit sick….I made the visit deliberately in order to be in a position to give first-hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to “propaganda.”
As the story goes, General Patton had to excuse himself to go into a private corner and throw up at some point during the visit. Despite the commendable efforts made by Eisenhower and others, the Holocaust increasingly runs the risk of being relegated into some obscure corner of history, even worse…Some will soon believe that it simply never happened. This is also why part of the process was for the US military to force as many Germans as possible to witness the horrors that had taken place around them. Perpetrators and bystanders alike were faced with the results of evil in their midst.
General Eisenhower would be furious and probably disgusted by today’s younger generation. Their lack of interest and lack of knowledge of the Jewish catastrophe is helping those who wish to make it disappear from history. Some schools barely touch the subject for fear of hurting the feelings of other people groups. In the meantime, the Shoah is slowly being erased one person at a time, one memory at a time, one testimony at a time.
Fast forward to October 7, 2023, when the world became a witness to the horrors of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. We now know that their attack was straight out of the Nazi playbook. Actually, it was more like a merging of Nazis and Isis on steroids. Most people have been unable to watch any of the gruesome footage gathered by the IDF. How are human beings able to perform such torture on people including very young children and the elderly? Moreover, how can anyone in their right mind even question that what Hamas did was inhuman and clearly belonged to the category of “crimes against humanity?”
Queen Rania of Jordan has been questioning the beheading of Israeli children by Hamas in an interview with Christiane Amanpour on CNN. Colleges and universities in the USA and other parts of the world have rallied against Israel and in favor of Hamas, putting many Jewish people at risk for their lives…in 2023. This is 1933 all over again! We have turned an important corner in modern antisemitism. The beast has been globally unleashed, and it is on a brutal rampage for Jewish lives.
To counter the irrational pushback from the media and other organizations or governments, Israeli authorities had an “Eisenhower moment.” They decided to show a group of journalists a 43-minute compilation of the horrors committed by Hamas on October 7, so that they would not forget. It is so sad that such an event would even have to be held, but the world must know. As difficult as these images are to look at, we must not turn our heads away, lest we become the new bystanders of the 21st century.
If this is the new normal for Jewish people worldwide, then, we must adjust to it as well, and as believers, we must not be silent. Thousands of Hamas sympathizers have gathered all over the globe to rally against Israel in the biggest display of double standard we have ever witnessed. The Jewish people need to know that there are Christians who are ready to commit to their rescue and safety. Where is the Church when pro-Hamas people are chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free!” or “Gas the Jews!”
The world is being split in two as we see pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian factions take sides. To be sure, not all Palestinians side with Hamas. Many of them just want to live in peace, but the lines are being blurred by biased reporting and double standards. Add to that the fact that younger generations easily buy the lies about Israel because they have no clue about history. They are gullible victims of the propaganda spewers. Consider this:
- 63% of Millennials and Gen Z didn’t know that six million Jews died in the Holocaust.
- 48% of Millennials and Gen Z couldn’t name one single concentration camp.
- 56% of Millennials and Gen Z were unable to identify Auschwitz.
- 11% of Millennials and Gen Z believe that Jews caused the Holocaust.
- 49% of Millennials and Gen Z have seen Holocaust Denial on Social Networks.
Israel needs you, the Jewish people need you, and now is not the time to sit on the fence!
Ian Kershaw said “The Road to Auschwitz was built by hate but paved with indifference,” to which I add, “The Road to another Holocaust is being rebuilt by hate but now paved with wokeness and apathy.”
