How we remember the Holocaust is also important
JVL Introduction
In this powerful, thoughtful and informative piece, the importance of remembering the Holocaust and all its victims along with other genocides – including the “plausible genocide” in Gaza – is emphasised along with deep concerns at how antisemitism as been politically weaponised and that it is being used as a cover for Israel’s war crimes. This does not help Jews facing antisemitism and it creates “a gulf between many Jews and people from other minorities who have naturally, out of anti-racist motives, moved to defend and support the Palestinian people. The growing number of Jews who identify with the Palestinians are themselves, absurdly, labelled anti-semites or friends of anti-semites by right-wing zionists.”
Honouring the victims of the Nazi Holocaust means strengthening not splitting those who oppose racism.
This article was originally published by Morning Star on Mon 27 Jan 2025. Read the original here.
Ghostly silences surround Holocaust remembrance
Political manipulation of history and exceptionalising of anti-semitism as a shield for Israeli war crimes are having a harmful effect on the fight against all racism and fuelling a cynicism that’s especially dangerous in today’s world
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This is a very welcome piece. It bears repeating that in the aftermath of WWII and relief of the camps, there was a commitment to representing the full diversity of the victims in an un-hierarchical way, so as not to replicate Nazi eugenics-type tiers of humanity, and above all to ensure nothing like this happened again. The virtual ban on using the word fascist in public to scrutinise politicians, the IHRA a-S definition’s ban on reporting Israel’s repetition of Nazi practices, and media block on using the phrase ‘Gaza Genocide’ must have the likes of Hannah Arendt, Pastor Martin Niemöller and those that fought the Nazis etc spinning in their graves. Given that some sources put Nazi victims at the 17mil mark, to currently only prioritise the preponderant 6mil group, can’t be what was intended by the reconstruction generation either.
In 1945 Billy Wilder’s ‘Death Mills’ documentary made a point of mentioning the full diversity of victims, and used the terms ‘Nazi crimes against humanity; and ‘genocide’ as did Carol Reed’s ‘The True Glory’ of the same year. From then onwards for the next 33 years, every filmic documentary or fictionalised representation – including the ‘World as War’ (1973/74) – did the same. Changes in media representation occurred in 1978 with the US tv series ‘Holocaust’ followed by Lanzmann’s ‘Shoah’ in 1985. Creating these changes have clearly benefited the lobby. Norman Finkelstein’s ‘Holocaust Industry’ (2000), suggests this was the intention. The question is how to push back?
Well argued and persuasive. Therefore sadly too good for the mainstream media to publish I suspect.
Terrific analysis, which I first heard as a speech on Sunday at the Jewish Socialist Group’s Holocaust Memorial Day event. Particularly appreciated the reference to Bosnia, the first open genocide attempt in Europe since WW2. I also concur with Gavin Lewis’s Comment above , having seen the decades-long narrowing down of memories and sympathies which amounts to almost a deliberate forgetting.
I would just like to differ from this wonderful speech by Julia Bard and David Rosenberg over one point. I don’t think we should reject the separate Gaza genocide commemorations that are happening. Rather, we should ask to join them as guests or participants. Sometimes other people have to take the lead and be in charge! News of the Gaza inclusive HMD ceremony in Leeds last weekend shows of course the best way of all.
If anyone is interested this is a link to a short clip from Billy Wilder’s ‘Death Mills’ (1945), with him talking over the top about the difficulty of getting Germans to interact with the screenings. As you’ll see from the treatment of German civilians, the allies based their actions on the assumption that you can’t passively prosper from oppression without bearing some responsibility. Something that is now conveniently overlooked when the Sukkot raid is mentioned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iXngeE4ZnA
Wow – that is a powerful short film! Thank you Gavin