Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated 80 years ago – Arizona and the world must not forget the Holocaust – Daily Independent

Anthony D. Fusco Jr., M.Ed., MS

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By Anthony D. Fusco Jr., M.Ed., MS | Arizona Jewish Historical Society

Since the Nazi concentration camps were liberated in 1945, correlative events have occurred, including acts against humanity, terrorism, human rights abuses, and other genocides witnessed around the world. Even more disturbing is the alarming rise in anti-Semitism and hatred of the Jewish people.

Where does hatred come from? In 2018 a PEW survey interviewed 1,350 Americans and found that 49% could not name a concentration camp, 40% of millennials had never learned that 6 million Jews died, and 67% had never heard of Auschwitz. Shockingly, 22% of millennials have never heard of the Holocaust, and 50% didn’t know it targeted Jews.

Over time, oral histories of actual participants in extraordinary events, such as the Holocaust, have also increased. And now, in the 80s^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, we find it prudent at this time to educate.

The Importance of Holocaust Remembrance

First, the Holocaust, a Greek word that literally translates to sacrifice by fire, was a state-sponsored genocide that killed millions of Jews, the disabled, Gypsies (Roma), the elderly, children, homosexuals, political dissidents, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and many others , persecuted by the Nazis, including Catholics like me.

So many were killed that if the masses observed a minute’s silence for each victim of the Holocaust, there would be 11.5 years of silence; pure silence.

Megalomaniacs like Hitler and his supporters rose to power in 1933, leading to sweeping reforms, primarily the persecution of the Jews. The Nazis sent German lawyers to America to study the Jim Crow legislation that established the first anti-Jewish laws, most notably the Nuremberg Laws.

Then came more decrees/regulations, Kristallnacht, resettlement, creation of ghettos, pogroms and the Einsatzgruppen with their hideous deaths by bullets. The majority of the killings took place in 1941 and 1945, with all intent to exterminate the Jews, with the establishment of 44,000 places of imprisonment, including labor camps, detention centers and killing zones, resulting from the Conference in Wansee and the implementation of the final decision.

The German people were not born to hate, they learned to hate through classical conditioning, conformity, complacency and categorization. The Nazis were independent in their actions, complicit in nature, obedient to authority and never subjected to judicial review, which is why it is so important that we never forget!

We have approximately 200,000 survivors worldwide as their numbers continue to dwindle. Arizona is home to a large number of Holocaust survivors; about 70, in total. Our oldest is about to turn 100, while our youngest is 80, and about 40% of our survivors were teenagers, only in their adolescence when their normalcy and innocence was stripped away.

These survivors have a vivid memory of the event; through signs of recovery, they recall and relive their true personal narrative of traumatic experiences, while creating a strong emotional connection with anyone listening.

In December, Holocaust survivor Rebecca Siegel, 96, shared her experiences in the Westerbork transit camp and the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. She also reminisced about her childhood friend, Anne Frank, with the Grand Canyon University cast and crew of The Diary of Anne Frank.

As time goes on, so do our aging survivors, and these stories of the Holocaust must never be forgotten; lest we forget. As we mark this day, designated by the United Nations as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, it is important to remember that 80 years ago the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps were liberated. Please don’t forget!

Editor’s note: Anthony D. Fusco Jr., M.Ed., MS is the Associate Director of Education for the Jewish Historical Society of Arizona – Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center. Please send your comments on this submission to [email protected]. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader submissions as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.