This weekend, gatherings across the globe will honor the victims and survivors of a monumental tragedy, telling their stories and sharing much-needed educational opportunities. Saturday, January 27, is designated by the United Nations General Assembly as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, with the date noted as the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau camp complex.
The date is meant to remember the victims of the 20th Century’s most tragic event, a period in which six million Jewish victims, as well as millions of others in persecuted groups, were tormented by the Nazi political regime.
While the horror may seem like ancient history to some, almost 80 years after the Holocaust, about 245,000 Jewish survivors are still living across more than 90 countries.
Nearly half of them, or 49%, are living in Israel; 18% are in Western Europe, 16% in the United States, and 12% in countries of the former Soviet Union, according to a study by the New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also referred to as the Claims Conference.
Their numbers are quickly dwindling, as most are very old and often of frail health, with a median age of 86. Moreover, 20% of survivors are older than 90, and more women (61%) than men (39%) are still alive.
The vast majority, or 96% of survivors, are "child survivors" who were born after 1928, says the report "Holocaust Survivors Worldwide. A Demographic Overview’" which is based on figures that were collected up until August.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. notes that commemoration sites typically honor victims by "reading their names, by lighting candles, and by learning about the Holocaust." The educational component of the date is a crucial part of its recognition, particularly hearing the stories of those that lived through the ordeal.
According to the Claims Conference, which advocates for restitution for Jewish victims and their descendants, many young Americans are already forgetting the facts. The organization described the results of a 2020 study looking at all 50 states as "shocking."
It found that 63 percent of all national survey respondents do not know that six million Jews were murdered and 36 percent thought that "two million or fewer Jews" were killed during the Holocaust. Additionally, although there were more than 40,000 camps and ghettos in Europe during the Holocaust, 48 percent of national survey respondents cannot name a single one.
There are a few local events this year marking the date.
On Friday, Belmont Village Senior Living Westwood will host a presentation from one of its residents, 97-year-old Paul Kester. During the ceremony, Kester will read translated personal letters from family members who later died at Auschwitz. The letters were written to Kester when he was 13 years of age in 1939, while he was transported to Sweden via the Kindertransport. While in Sweden, Kester met his wife, Susanne, who had also fled Germany.
Los Angeles will have several events, including at the Museum of Tolerance, which will be holding a "The World Must Not Forget Them" event at 11 a.m. Friday, bringing together survivors of the Holocaust and survivors of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks in Israel. The museum has also scheduled a film screening of "Traces: Voices of the Second Generation" Sunday at 3 p.m.
Holocaust Museum LA will be holding its own screening of Emmy award-winning documentary Return to Auschwitz: The Survival of Vladimir Munk with a post-screening conversation with film co-author Julia Canepa, beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday. Using media as a conversation-shaping tool rings true for Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education member Jon Kean, who has worked extensively in documenting genocide and the Holocaust, including directing the 2017 film After Auschwitz.
"One of the things I like to focus on are stories of human spirit and spiritual resistance, how we experience trauma and yet try to move forward from that trauma," Kean said. "Not heal from that trauma, but still find joy, still find happiness, still find meaning."
Kean noted that he would like to see more Santa Monica-based events around the remembrance day, citing the annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Westside Coalition celebration as a "wonderful event" for the community that could also work for remembering the Holocaust. Part of what holds back remembrances and gatherings, he added, is the rise in antisemitism that has forced museums and commemorative sites to up their security budgets.
"I think people are scared, there are protests outside of Jewish institutions, there are bomb threats, there are other types of threats," he said. "This isn’t loose speaking, this is the reality of what’s happening right now."
According to a Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission report, 2022 saw the second highest level of reported hate crimes in more than 20 years, and crimes targeting Jewish persons rose 59% from 2021. Those crimes made up 83% of crimes against religious denomination. Tensions are even higher this year due to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Critics of Israel’s actions in response to the Oct. 7 massacres have accused the country of committing genocide against the Palestinian people including an official accusation in the United Nations.
South Africa says more than 50 countries support its case at the United Nations’ top court accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Others, including the United States, the U.K. and Germany, have strongly rejected South Africa’s allegations. Many more have remained silent. The world’s reaction to the landmark case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague shows a predictable global split when it comes to the inextricable problem of Israel and the Palestinians. The vast majority of countries backing South Africa’s allegations against Israel are from the Arab world and Africa.
Those criticism have been heard locally with pro-Palestinian events being held along the Santa Monica beach, including one scheduled for the day after Holocaust Remembrance Day at Ocean View Park. For Kean, a return to nuanced conversation is key to lower violent rhetoric and actions.
"The answer is dialogue, we need to get together and speak one-on-one, two-on-two," he said. "When you get these large groupthink meetings, you tend to just hear one voice. But when you meet with somebody one on one, even if you have [different] views, you tend to hear each other a little bit, you [say] ‘I disagree with you, but at least I know where you’re coming from.’ We don’t have to agree with everybody, but we have to at least be able to listen to one another. That is what this day is about, this day is a chance to step back and say this is what happens when society does not respond to violent rhetoric ... this is exactly what can happen."
Also remembered on the date are other groups persecuted by Germany and Nazi-occupied territories, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and homosexuals. Out of around 35,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in those territories, about 1,600 were killed after their capture, including 548 by execution, per the Jehovah’s Witnesses United States of America organization.
"We acknowledge and appreciate that Nazi persecution is first associated with the systematic murder of some two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population," said Jason Hohl, national spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses. "The scale of horror is without equal. We also recognize that other groups, including Witnesses, suffered profoundly."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
thomas@smdp.com
