We are commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day this year against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic and the elections, and the division and hatred in Israeli society are as evident as ever. We have witnessed attacks on the ultra-Orthodox population during the pandemic, and the divide between us grew even more with the elections.
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It made no difference to the Nazis whether you were religious or secular, young or old, Ashkenazi or Sephardi, wealthy or poor. If you were Jewish, you were considered subhuman.
Unfortunately, to this day, we have not learned the lesson of the Holocaust. Rifts arise time and again and often over trivial matters. It seems like we are always looking for arguments. The Holocaust showed that we excel at standing together during difficult times but struggle to live alongside each other at peaceful times.
I sometimes contemplate, what will happen when one day there will be no more Holocaust survivors left to tell the story in the first person? There have been many dramatic events throughout Jewish history that have almost been forgotten: the Crusades, the Cossack riots, events that most Jews are not familiar with.
Nevertheless, I remain hopeful. The Holocaust will not be forgotten. If the 3,400-year-old story of the Exodus has not been forgotten by the Jewish people, there is no reason something that occurred 80 years ago should fall into oblivion.
Antisemites are not gone. They just changed, as they do in every generation. When former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a speech on state television denying the Holocaust, he only raised awareness of the historical event. The young generation of Iranians began to ask themselves what the Holocaust was and when it happened.
I am also hopeful because of the work of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center. Its archives, computers, books, and learning centers across the globe will make sure that the genocide will never be forgotten. The books, belongings, and personal diaries of survivors will remain with us forever.
We live in a society where Holocaust survivors live in substandard conditions, and, unfortunately, the state fails to provide them with a life of dignity. I hope the government that is formed soon will put caring for these survivors at the top of its agenda.
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