Rosensaft warns: Holocaust memory under pressure as antisemitism surges

Rosensaft, the son of Holocaust survivors, poses the question: “How is this Yom HaShoah different from previous ones?” and concludes that the answer is—in several troubling ways.

According to him, the world is witnessing “the most intense and widespread antisemitism since the end of World War II,” often disguised as political attitudes toward Israel. He recalls a series of deadly attacks against Jews over the past year, from Australia to the United States and Europe.

At the same time, he warns that threats of genocide and violence are coming from multiple directions, including the rhetoric of world leaders. As an example, he cites a statement by former U.S. President Donald Trump regarding Iran:

“A whole civilization will die tonight… never to be brought back again.”

The author also highlights the growing problem of Holocaust denial and the relativization of historical facts. He notes that some far-right commentators describe the Holocaust as propaganda or seek to diminish it, further undermining the culture of remembrance.

However, Rosensaft stresses that the commemoration of Yom HaShoah must not be confined solely to the Jewish experience.

“The slogan ‘Never Again’ remains valid only if it is not exclusively Judeocentric,” he writes, adding that Holocaust remembrance must be linked to the fight against all forms of hatred.

He particularly emphasizes the personal dimension of the tragedy:

“My grandparents and my five-year-old brother were murdered in Auschwitz because they were Jews… Their memory compels me to prevent the same fate from befalling anyone else.”

In the text, he calls for universal solidarity and rejects any “hierarchy of suffering,” stressing that all victims of genocide are equally important. He also refers to Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel’s view that the Holocaust was “a unique Jewish tragedy with universal implications.”

In conclusion, Rosensaft warns that words of hatred have real consequences:

“Yom HaShoah must remind us that hateful words corrode souls, that bigotry spreads easily, and that indifference to the suffering of others is an unforgivable moral failing.”

The message of this year’s commemoration, he concludes, must be clear—remembrance alone is not enough; it must lead to active resistance against hatred and violence, so that the tragedies of the past are not repeated in the future.