Hundreds of former IDF soldiers will soon become Holocaust educators as part of a program by the World Zionist Organization meant to keep the memory alive and spread awareness of antisemitism.

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The future educators – volunteers of the Heroes for Life non-profit – will travel to over a dozen destinations in delegations to bring the stories of Holocaust survivors and Righteous Among the Nations to the communities.

They will be trained by the Zikaron BaSalon (literally, "memory in the living room") initiative that specializes in Holocaust commemoration and encourages survivors to share their stories with small groups.

Several delegations are expected to take off already in the coming weeks, with more to set out throughout the year, including to Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica, India, Vietnam, and Nepal.

"I am thrilled to take part in such a special project," one of the volunteers, who will be traveling to Brazil, said. "These stories are shocking and timeless and it's important for them to be heard around the world."

Sarit Handknopf, executive director of the WZO's Department for Israel and Holocaust Commemoration Worldwide, said the cooperation was doubly special as "the IDF is one of the main symbols of our victory over the Nazi oppressor."

"Our moral duty to the heroic Holocaust survivors who are dwindling is to preserve the memory of their heroism," she said.

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Following a challenging coronavirus year, the World Zionist Organization is relaunching its efforts to send emissaries to the Jewish Diaspora in order to enrich communities about the values of Zionism. This year, it is sending its largest-ever delegation.

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Ninety emissaries will represent the mosaic of Israeli society and teach Israeli history, Zionism, and Hebrew.

All of them are teachers who bid farewell to their students in Israel in late June in order to head to North and Latin America, Europe, Australia and even Morocco, with whom Israel normalized relations in 2020.

Due to the outbreak of the pandemic, the demand for WZO emissaries rose by a whopping 50% compared to last year, especially in North America. As the coronavirus left many parents unable to pay for their children's tuition at private Jewish schools, the WZO hopes the emissaries will fill that gap by providing Jewish education.

"The emissaries in these schools are in many ways ambassadors of the State of Israel, representatives of the Israeli public, culture, tradition and language," Dr. Chagit Hadar, Judaic Studies Principal at Ben Porat Yosef school in New Jersey, said.

Diaspora Affairs Minister Nachman Shai praised the move and said it "will strengthen the bond between Jewish communities in the Diaspora and Israel and provide much-needed education for the young Jewish generation."

Gael Grunewald, head of the WZO's Education Department expressed excitement at the largest-ever delegation and said that "emissaries are becoming another in the big bridge that connects the Diaspora to Israel."

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How has the coronavirus pandemic affected anti-Semitism? The World Zionist Organization reported that in 2020, a Jew was attacked in the United States every single day. In Germany, every third day.

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Nevertheless, this is a decrease in physical violence against Jews compared to previous years because data reveals that due to the coronavirus pandemic and global lockdowns, anti-Semitism has shifted to social media.

The anti-Semitic narrative in the US and Germany targeted Jews based on religion, whereas in France, it targeted Israel. No Jew has been killed because of anti-Semitism in 2020, but concerns are that this might change in the near future as tensions mount due to global pressure from the pandemic and the supportive atmosphere that aggravates anti-Semitism.

There has also been an increase in the vandalism of Jewish heritage sites, including break-ins, breaking Jewish religious items and destroying, tombstones.

Thousands of anti-Semitic and Holocaust-denying messages were tweeted in 2020. On the other hand, Youtube officially banned Holocaust denial content and saw a decrease in the anti-Semitic content on its platform. In October 2020, Facebook announced that it would ban and remove any content that distorts events connected to the Holocaust.

There's been an increase of anti-Semitic accidents in Argentina on pro-Palestinian grounds and claims that Israel is responsible for the global pandemic. Jew-hatred has increased in Germany due to the virus as well.

The country with the highest level of anti-Semitism in Europe is Austria, which recorded 300 incidents in the first half of 2020 alone. In the United States, Black Lives Matter rioters used anti-Semitic chants; countless synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses were looted and graffitied.

"The report clearly shows that there is a trend to physically harm Jews around the world, to the point of murdering them as soon as global lockdowns are over," Chairman of the WZO, Yaakov Hagel said.

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