2.In Our Community This Week
On Monday we recognized the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on International Holocaust Remembrance Day at UMass Dartmouth. Guest speaker Helen Jacobson talked about her family's experiences working for the "Joint" (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) and HIAS, assisting Jewish refugees following World War II.
Federation President Manya Bark opened the commemoration and said:
"Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. We mark 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz and 80 years since 6 million Jewish people were murdered. Each year we remember the massacre of Jewish, Roma, LGBTQ+, and disabled communities. We are just three generation away from our attempted extermination. The Holocaust is often treated as an event, a moment – but it wasn’t. The Holocaust was born from centuries of hatred and propaganda – culminating in a conspiracy so potent that it convinced half a continent of people that total elimination of the Jewish people was not only acceptable but a righteous endeavor. Millions of tiny flames of hate and propaganda lit the fires of Auschwitz. However, those fires were not extinguished by the Red Army when they liberated Auschwitz that cold day on January 27th, 1945.
"As of 2024 nearly 1 in 4 Americans believe in 6 or more anti-Jewish stereotypes – that equals 84 million people. 63% of Millennials and Gen Z don’t know that 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. Just 2% of Americans are Jewish – that is only 8 million people. With coming generations, the threat only grows. Millennials and Gen Z agree with more anti-Jewish tropes than the average Gen X and baby boomers. And since October 7th, 2023, over 10,000 incidents of antisemitism have been recorded in the USA. Missing are those thousands that were not reported. The Holocaust is not ancient history – it happened in contemporary Europe. It was not perpetrated by faceless actors, but by parents, siblings, children – humans – just like you and me.
"We are the last generation to live with survivors. We are left with both a burden and a privilege: REMEMBRANCE. The responsibility to tell their stories is left to us – this is OUR challenge."
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On Tuesday, our leadership sat down for a chat with Benjamin Sharoni, the consul general of Israel to New England. Much of the conversation focused on antisemitism in the wake of October 7th. The consul was here to listen and promised to bring together Jewish representatives from throughout the region for more such conversations. He also said we will see him in New Bedford again soon.
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