Today is Yom Hashoah, which in English is Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Many stories from the time mirror the ones we witnessed on October 7th.
Like this one…
1939, one fall Sunday morning, Nazis showed up out of nowhere and decided to round up a bunch of Jews. Twelve people were rounded up and were forced to march five miles to their schul (temple), dig a ditch, and then were executed point blank.
Only one of the twelve survived. It was my grandfather.
Why?
He decided to run out of the death march assembly line and hide for several hours.
2023, another fall morning, Jews were found running once again for their lives, with many being raped, tortured and executed. Arguably worse than what the Nazis did given Hamas’ sheer joy and glee in doing so.
We’ll see Holocaust denial and people trying to relate the holocaust to Gaza, or Israelis to Nazis. Of course, they will. They so desperately wish to be the victim and can’t comprehend how Jews survived the Holocaust and just a few decades later are simultaneously 0.2% of the world’s population yet, overperformers in terms of productivity and contributions to the world. This paradox shortcircuits their brains.
Hate, jealousy, and scapegoating are real and more alive than ever before.
So today, just take a pause and remember…
Never again is now.