President Barack Obama’s statement today on Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom haShoah) references the Adolf Eichmann trial, which were central to the Israeli psyche’s grappling in the afternoon of the systematic slaughter of six million Jews. Prior to the Eichmann trial in Israel, Jews who emigrated to Israel did not often speak about their experiences in the Holocaust. However, the Eichmann trial led to Holocaust survivors recounting their experiences, both on national television and in homes across the country. That trial was most certainly a turning point, even though some radicals — such as Ahmadinejad — continue to discount the atrocities committed some 70 years ago. Israelis and Jews around the world are now championing the phrase “Never Forget” to ensure that, as the number of survivors dwindles, their stories and memories will always be remembered. The Eichmann trial sparked that fire, which will hopefully become an eternal flame.
The Obama statement from the White House:
I join people here at home, in Israel, and around the world in commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day and in honoring the memory of all those who suffered, died and lost loved ones in one of the most barbaric acts in human history.
More than six decades after the Holocaust, and at a time when Holocaust denial and genocidal ideologies persist, our grief and our outrage over the Nazis’ murder of six million Jews and so many others have not diminished. This year marks both the 65th anniversary of the verdicts at the first Nuremberg trial, a defining moment in international justice, and the 50th anniversary of Adolf Eichmann’s trial, where the world heard firsthand testimonies from those who had suffered the horrors of the Holocaust. From this tragedy we see the cost of allowing hatred go unanswered in the world, but from this justice we also see the power of holding the perpetrators of genocide accountable. Remembering these events only reinforces our solemn commitment to confront those who tell lies about our history and to stop the spread of hate in our own time.
We must heed the urgency to listen to and care for the last living survivors, camp liberators and the witnesses to the Shoah. And we must meet our sacred responsibility to honor all those who perished by recalling their courage and dignity in the face of unspeakable atrocities, by insisting that the world never forget them, and by always standing up against intolerance and injustice.
