WJC’s Menachem Rosensaft for N1: Holocaust memory must be a warning against hatred and dehumanization

Menachem Z. Rosensaft, General Counsel Emeritus of the World Jewish Congress, told N1 that remembering the Holocaust must go beyond commemorating victims, and serve as a warning of how hatred and dehumanization can escalate into mass crimes. As the son of two Holocaust survivors, he said the world is entering a critical moment because survivors are passing away, making it the responsibility of new generations to preserve their testimony and learn from it.

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Rosensaft said the Holocaust was unique in history not because it was more “severe” than other genocides, but because of its transnational scope.

“The Holocaust was different in that its scope was far greater than any other genocide,” he said, stressing that Nazi Germany’s goal was the annihilation of all Jews across Europe, not only those living in one region. Jews were deported from multiple countries to death camps in occupied Poland, where the killing was carried out through an industrial system of extermination.

He warned that hatred and racism, if unchecked, can spread unpredictably.

“Once the fires of hatred are unleashed, the potential for enormous destruction is there,” Rosensaft said, calling on societies to recognize early signs of bigotry and act before violence becomes normalized.

Speaking about the war in Gaza, Rosensaft urged caution in separating criticism of government policies from questioning a nation’s legitimacy.

“We cannot confuse the legitimacy of a nation with the acts and actions of a government,” he said, adding that he opposes many policies of Israel’s current government, but supports Israel’s right to defend its citizens from terrorism.

At the same time, he expressed empathy for Palestinian civilians.

“Do I empathize with the suffering of the civilians in Gaza? Absolutely,” he said, arguing that civilians deserve to live in safety and dignity.

Rosensaft also criticized political narratives that glorify extremist violence, drawing parallels with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“It is incomprehensible that anyone can praise Hamas any more than it is incomprehensible that anyone could praise Mladić and Karadžić,” he said.

He concluded by warning against using Holocaust memory as justification for injustice.

“The memory of the Holocaust does not give anyone the right to persecute or oppress another,” Rosensaft said, adding that its true purpose is to insist that everyone has the right to live in dignity.

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