Never Again! Do We Mean It?

In his acceptance speech upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Elie Wiesel said, “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the center of the universe.”

America is now a country on the precipice of rampant hate and demonization of large numbers of people at the hands of extremist leaders with little regard for the common good. We are now a country of which Wiesel spoke; a country where peoples’ lives are endangered, human dignity is in jeopardy, and men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, political views, gender identification, and because of whom they love. The question is, did we really learn from the Holocaust or will we remain silent?

The Jewish world I grew up in always pointed the spotlight on the average German citizen and much of the world for their profound silence during the Holocaust. The historical record is clear that the unfolding catastrophe perpetrated by Hitler and the Nazis was well-known to anyone who cared to see it. Most didn’t care. When concentration camps proliferated, they were silent. When Jews, Roma, and homosexuals were rounded up, they were silent. And when millions were gassed, still they were silent.

For the last 80 years we Jews vocally and vociferously championed the phrase, ‘Never Again!’ Is the moral imperative implied in that phrase only relevant when confronting an assault on Jews?  For it to have any moral integrity, ‘Never Again!’ must be applied to any mass targeting of vulnerable human beings. Indeed, this moment challenges us to ask ourselves, Are we saying that silence in the face of human assault is only a problem when Jews are the target?

Taking our moral lead from Elie Wiesel, the moment to take sides is now! Of course it is reasonable for any country to maintain functional immigration policies. But it is dangerously beyond the pale when demagogues lie about the impact of immigrants, target them with debasing labels, and treat them like animals. Are you going to defend the basic human dignity and safety of immigrants or will you remain silent? The souls of six million Jews demand that we be their voices in speaking out.

Our LGBTQ neighbors are under attack, experiencing both physical violence and systemic denial of basic human rights. And your response? Will you be silent or will you remember that Germany fell into violent authoritarianism because the German-on- the- street shrugged their shoulders?

Nazi Germany unfolded through incremental steps: attacking the free press; undermining the judicial system; armed forces intimidating citizens; labeling art and artists as ‘degenerate’; demonizing targeted ‘undesirable’ groups; and eventually the mass concentrating of human beings in detention camps. Never again? Each of those actions that happened in Germany is happening in America right before our eyes. Will we be America’s German-on-the-street who looks away or will we respond with the moral clarity advocated by Elie Wiesel? We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.

I have had many conversations with Jews who tell me their focus is on the hostages in Gaza and the rise of anti-Semitism; that we Jews must take care of our own first.

Empathy for human suffering is never a zero-sum equation. We can hold empathy for others and our own fears simultaneously. We must be able to feel the pain of those targeted, demonized, and thrown into cages (while their babies are separated from them and placed in other cages).  And precisely because of our people’s recent and historical suffering we must be on the front lines fighting against extreme hate, demonization, and dehumanization of vulnerable people. ‘Never Again!’ must be universally applied by us or we have no right to demand that others speak out in our defense.

 We’ve arrived at a tragic moment that demands a personal response from each one of us. The unfolding assault on our democracy raises questions we each must answer.

Will you speak out or will fear turn you into the silent citizen who allows it to unfold? Will you fight against the concentrating of masses of human beings in camps by our government (the infrastructure for this is already under development)?

We Jews venerate Righteous Gentiles from the Holocaust. Will you become a ‘Righteous Jew’ and open your home to hide someone the government has demonized and dehumanized? I suspect we will imminently face this question.

Are you willing to take to the streets to make clear that ’Never Again!’ is not a slogan, but the heart and soul of our Jewish conscience?

 If our answer to these times is silence, then what should history say about us? How are we any different than the German-on-the-street who turned a blind eye? And if we remain silent now, what is the moral argument that others should come to our defense?

Wiesel’s clarion call must be answered. It is time to take sides. To stand on the right side of history we each must find our voice and use it.