President Trump has issued a lot of executive orders in his first week plus in office. Depending on how you voted, you’re either devastated or thrilled. As we don’t discuss politics on this site, I will not be commenting on my political views, but there was one executive order that caught my attention on Holocaust Remembrance Day that touched on a Jewish issue: the executive order to deport undocumented migrants.
I think it’s safe to say that most Americans are happy for violent criminals to be deported and many Americans – no matter who they voted for – are less comfortable with the idea of people who entered the country illegally, but who are safe and productive members of society, being rounded up and deported.
Which leads me to Holocaust Remembrance Day and an offensive post I saw from someone who considers herself a good and kind person, but who is actually an antisemite. This person decided to quote Anne Frank in order to explain the current mood:
“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.”
Diary of Anne Frank January 13, 1943
Now, I can understand the immense fear people are feeling about being deported if they are honest and hardworking members of society, and I can understand the empathy that many are feeling right now for those they know who are in this position. But no matter how much a person disagrees with and hates the current administration, it is vile to compare deporting people who have broken a federal law and are being sent back to the country they come from and what the Nazis did to Jews during the Holocaust.
During the Holocaust, Jews committed no crimes. During the Holocaust, Jews were not sent back to the land they came from. (That place, by the way, is Israel – from where they were violently displaced by the Romans). Jews during the Holocaust were sent to death camps, gas chambers and ovens. It is possible to feel strong emotions during this current situation without comparing something to the Holocaust. When everything is the Holocaust, nothing is the Holocaust – including the Holocaust.
Multiple politicians, like Justin Trudeau and news organizations like Good Morning Britain failed to utter the word Jews in statements about the Holocaust on Holocaust Remembrance Day. The word “genocide” which was created after the Holocaust and has a very specific meaning about the goal of eradicating an entire group of people, is regularly thrown around as Israel fights a defensive war against Hamas, whose stated goal is to genocide the Jewish people.
There are many things we can’t agree on as a country in this moment, but not downplaying the Holocaust or erasing Jews from the Holocaust should be something that all good and decent people can see eye to eye on.
If you found this content meaningful and want to help further our mission through our Keter, Makom, and Tikun branches, please consider becoming a Change Maker today.