January 27, 2015 will mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. As the day approaches, I am given to reflection. As a Jewish individual, I feel it dutiful to attempt some understanding of the current climate we exist in, and what lessons we as a people have taken from the Holocaust.
The 70th anniversary feels particularly significant. It falls immediately after a year of baseless and cyclical anti-Semitism. 2014 was the year we saw anti-Semitism rise drastically worldwide. It was the year of the Brussels Jewish Museum murders. It was the year that synagogues were firebombed and Jewish stores torched. It was the year that thousands of people marched the streets of Europe chanting “Death to Jews! Jews to the gas!” It was the year that Jews were attacked in the streets and even their homes…with little to no retribution.
In 2014 the director of the BBC stated, without any prompting, “I’ve never felt so uncomfortable being a Jew in the UK as I’ve felt in the last 12 months…Having lived all my life in the UK, I’ve never felt as I do now about anti-Semitism in Europe.”
I take this claim for what it is—astonishing. The BBC has often been subject to blame for stoking anti-Semitic sentiment in the UK, predominantly due to unbalanced reporting. So when the BBC Director, himself a Jew, makes such a statement….we can’t take it lightly.
70 years after the liberation of Auschwitz and we find ourselves on precarious ground once again. We face serious adversity. Looking back at the past year I find internal issues that need remedying. Where were mainstream Jewish organizations when Jews were attacked in the streets? When synagogues were desecrated? What are their future plans to combat the kind of anti-Semitism we saw in 2014?
Let’s end on what will hopefully be a positive note—our future generations. I see so much potential in Jewish youth. Groups like Young Judaea or B.B.Y.O. that are entirely devoted to nurturing Jewish identity, activism, and leadership. These organizations demonstrate that Jewish youth involvement means everything to our future.
I know that when January 27th comes around I will commemorate the day with a heavy heart– but I will face the future with undiminished hope.
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