As I stood at the United Nations the other evening to screen a video featuring the testimony of 87-year-old Holocaust survivor Ruth Haran, I listened to her personal experience as a survivor of “a second Holocaust” (her words) at Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7. I could not help but wonder, how do we ensure that the words “Never Again” don’t ring hollow?
On Wednesday night, we chose to hold a special program that we called “We’re Still Standing” to be held in advance of the official UN ceremony to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Friday, January 26. It is the Jewish people’s story.
We partnered with Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, The Claims Conference, and were warmly hosted by Gilad Erdan, Israel’s permanent representative to the United Nations.
The “We’re Still Standing” program included powerful images from “the Lonka Project,” a photo exhibition that captures the resilience and triumphs of Holocaust survivors around the world. These 35 photographs were selected from an extensive collection of 455 original pieces curated by renowned photographers Jim Hollander and Rina Castelnuovo.
The images, captured by 320 photographers from 30 countries between 2019-2023, have also been assembled in a new book published by Gefen, and launched at the event, called The Power of Life, to highlight the triumph of life and resilience of Holocaust survivors.
There is an inextricable link between the atrocities of the Holocaust and the horror of October 7, namely that Jews were murdered solely for being Jewish. These horrific events have affected the entirety of the Jewish people around the globe. It is incumbent upon all of us to learn the unique lessons from survivors of both moments in history and implement actions to ensure this does not happen again.
The resilience of civilians since October 7
Indeed, the civilian resilience we have witnessed since October 7 serves as a prime example of modern Zionism, an expression of Never Again in response to the recent atrocities in Israel. Holocaust survivors like Ruth Haran, who are now also survivors of October 7, are a living testament to the perseverance of the Jewish people.
As we struggle to put in perspective the horrors of today in the long arc of Jewish history, the stark, fundamental difference is that today, after 2000 years of wandering, persecution, and pogroms, we now have an independent and sovereign Jewish state.
What was unnerved us is this: the October 7 attack happened under our watch, in our homeland. Therefore, we must restore a sense of security in every part of Israel and adopt a policy of zero tolerance for missiles being fired into our country by hostile neighbors.
And around the world, we must call on nation-states to enact rigorous protection of Jewish communities in their midst. That protection starts with education and instituting Holocaust education as part of school curricula, continues with the adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism and inclusion of antisemitism in all DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs including on campuses, and culminates with the adoption of zero tolerance for antisemitism either in word or deed in a country’s legal codes with clear enforcement.
There is no better place to make these simple cases than at the United Nations on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The UN itself was created in 1945 in the shadow of the Holocaust and recognized the fulfillment of Zionism by overwhelmingly endorsing the 1947 partition plan. So what, exactly is our responsibility today and what do we owe to the memory of 6 million murdered Jews?
First, we owe them the promise to never forget and more importantly, to continue to teach the lessons of the Holocaust. Second, we must marshall unwavering unity, unwavering resolve, and an invigorated motivation to gather Jews from around the world and respond forcefully to any and all attempts to annihilate us.
We do this by strengthening our military and building back our country bigger, stronger, and better. Third, we must mobilize forces and nations of goodwill around the world, as was done during World War II, to protect liberty and vouchsafe freedom. As history has taught, what starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews.
This is partly how we fulfill the promise of Never Again, how we can best honor the memory of six million souls who perished and those who are falling now while protecting the only Jewish homeland we have.
During these dark days in Israel and in Jewish communities around the world, the vigor and resilience of Holocaust survivors who witnessed the unimaginable and went on to build productive lives and families is a source of light and strength to us all.
Though we’re still standing, we honor their survival, their resolve, and their resilience, and pledge and demonstrate that Never Again is now. Am Yisrael Chai.
The writer is vice chairman of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael - Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF), and chairman of Kol Israel, the United General Zionist Party of the World Zionist Congress.