The Holocaust is the systematic mass murder of European Jewry by the Nazis. The term Holocaust literally means a fire that causes total destruction .Yehuda Bauer, one of the world’s most eminent historians of the Holocaust, differentiates between the term genocide and Holocaust by defining the term genocide as partial murder .While there have been numerous instances of genocide, the total annihilation of a people was never an officially sanctioned purpose of a national government as it was in Nazi Germany. It is precisely this which differentiates the Nazi action against the Jews from other genocidal attempts against a people.
The Nazis wished to conquer the world and therefore threatened the very existence of every single Jew in the world. The principle target of the Nazis was always the Jews. Yes, it is true that as many as 50 million human beings were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators. The Nazis destroyed the lives of Gypsies, homosexuals, the mentally disabled, Jehovah’s Witnesses, communists, socialists, trade unionists and religious opponents. But it was only the Jews who were singled out for the Final Solution.
The Jews, according to Hitler, were maggots, a virus that had to be eliminated. Hitler saw himself as the German Messiah doing God’s work by destroying the Jew. Let us not forget that all people with three or four Jewish grandparents were sentenced to death. Regarding the Polish population, there were no plans for total annihilation. Slavs were looked upon as being inferior Aryans; however Slovaks, Croats and Bulgarians were Slavs who served as German allies. It was only the Jew that Hitler and the Nazis considered to be like the Devil and therefore inhuman. In the Jew Hitler saw the image of Satan. According to Hitler it was only the Jew who wished to dominate the world, and it was the Jew Hitler wanted to destroy.
Hitler and the Nazis created a policy of selective mass murder against the homosexuals, Gypsies, Poles, Russians, prisoners of war, Catholic priests, Jehovah’s Witnesses’, the physically and mentally disabled, dissidents and others. But it was the Jew that was seen as a virus, a bacillus that had to be destroyed before it infected the entire world. It was the Jews who poisoned the mind of mankind. The policy of making the world Judenrein applied to the entire world. The group Hitler hated above all was the Jews. He made himself the supreme racist.
In his final hours, Hitler continued to urge the destruction of the Jew. Hitler had diverted trains and soldiers to concentration camps when he desperately needed them for the war effort. Germany was destroyed due to this mad man and at the end all he could think about was murdering more Jews.
This mad man was responsible for the murder of my grandparents, two siblings, uncles, aunts and cousins. My father, Jacob, of blessed memory, survived Auschwitz and my mother, Rachel, of blessed memory, survived Skazyskokarmiene. I became a rabbi to do everything in my power to prevent another Holocaust and to teach the world the lessons of the Holocaust. My fear is that after the death of the final Holocaust survivor and eventually the death of the children of Holocaust survivors, history will be rewritten and the Holocaust will no longer be a Jewish issue but rather a universal one. The number will no longer be the 6 million Jews but rather the 50 million casualties of war. Many still persist in saying there were 6 million Jews and 5 million non- Jews who were exterminated by the Nazis. We all should mourn and honor those who fought and died, Jew and non-Jew alike. However, let us never forget and always remember that it was the Jews who were the primary target of Hitler and the Nazi regime. The historian Bauer wrote; “Simon Wiesenthal, as he admitted to me in private, (invented the figure 6 million Jews and 5 million non-Jews) in order to create sympathy for the Jews — in order to make the non-Jews feel they are part of us.”
I was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany of Polish parents. I came to America as a refugee. I pray that the Holocaust and the memory of those who perished will be kept alive by our grandchildren and future generations. Let us not dilute the memory of the Holocaust by stressing Holocaust and genocide. While it is important to stress that we should never be innocent bystanders while others are murdered or discriminated against, we also should never dilute the singular significance of the Holocaust. I fear that 50 years from now the Holocaust will be forgotten and become only a date in history together with other genocides. I will do all I can now to prevent this. Another Holocaust can happen. We must be vigilant. If G-d forbid Israel were to lose one war that would be a Holocaust. Bauer said if it happened once, it can happen again.
I often write about the uniqueness of the Holocaust and state that the Holocaust is completely different from other genocides.
This position is controversial to some people. There are those who believe that the only way to preserve the memory of the Holocaust is by making it a universal lesson regarding the tribulations throughout the world.
Whether I am right or wrong, only our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will know. Seventy-five years from when the last of the Holocaust survivors are gone I predict that regardless of Yad Vashem, the United States Memorial Holocaust Museum, and all the other museums and books, the memory of the Holocaust will not be preserved. It will be regarded as just another genocide in the history of genocides.
Unless we preserve the memory of the Holocaust and tie it to Jewish observance and ritual by including the Holocaust in prayer service or, as I have done, creating a Holocaust haggadah, the Holocaust will become a mere date in history. It has to be tied into a revitalized Judaism to keep it alive.
I for one, at this point in my life, no longer stress the pain, suffering and horrors of the Holocaust. Today I speak of the importance of learning about the heroic individuals who survived the Holocaust to make better lives for themselves and their families. Many Holocaust survivors have created synagogues, yeshivot and day schools and still support them financially.
We need to learn about those who resisted the Nazis, not only about the crematoriums. The memory of the Holocaust will be kept alive by future generations if we have pride in the accomplishments of the survivors and preserve Judaism.
‘Seventy-five years ago today, when Soviet troops entered these gates, they had no idea what lay behind them. And since that day, the entire world has struggled with what they found inside,’ said World Jewish Congress president Ronald S. Lauder.
Sunday night begins Tu b’Shevat (literally, “15th of Shevat”). In our tradition, Tu b’Shevat is the birthday of trees.
Now that seems so implausible, celebrating the “birth” of trees in February, when the average temperature is in the mid-40s. But it is.
Because in Israel — exactly at this time — the trees begin to awaken from their winter hibernation and start to bloom. All over Israel this coming week, almond trees will announce the start of spring by displaying the beautiful white and pink almond blossoms.
And our tradition celebrates this moment.
Why?
All one needs to do is to look at the changing weather patterns in our area and around the world — and note the effects such climate changes have already had on us — increased ferocity of hurricanes, of forest fires, of droughts, flooding, excessive heat ... we all know the litany of catastrophes that our planet suffers — and we are made painfully aware how fragile our environment is.
Judaism recognizes the precarious nature of humanity’s “stewardship” over the land — that balancing act between using the resources of this planet to grow our societies and the obligation to protect the planet for future generations. And today, with all the dire warnings how climate change — as a result of our human actions — is radically altering our planet and (therefore) our ability to sustain ourselves .. .maybe it is a good thing that we pause and consider the gifts that nature gives to us?
It is not by accident the rabbis talked about Tu b’Shevat being a “birthday” of the trees. Consider a birthday party. It is a day to celebrate an individual’s growth, to shower that person with love and affection, to help that individual feel appreciated, to let her or him know that s/he matters.
Maybe not a bad idea for us and our environment (represented by our “trees”): to spend a moment recognizing the importance that our world holds for our survival ... and our commitment to protect and “appreciate” it.
We are not in Israel. And this time of year our trees here are often covered with snow and ice and far from ready to bloom. But it is not too early to acknowledge our dependency on our environment and our need to protect it .. .to shower it with “love and affection”... on this birthday of our trees!
Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg was raised in Kansas City, Missouri.