Never again another Holocaust

This year 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the ending of the Second World War, and the ending of the Holocaust. The year also marks the setting up of the United Nations, formed in response to atrocity crimes of the Holocaust and the Second World War with the aim of building a world that is just and peaceful. The UN says that, acknowledging the milestone year, the UN Outreach Programme has chosen as the theme for Holocaust education and remembrance in 2020, “75 years after Auschwitz - Holocaust Education and Remembrance for Global Justice.”  

According to the UN, the theme reflects the continued importance, 75 years after the Holocaust, of collective action against anti-semitism and other forms of bias to ensure respect for the dignity and human rights of all people everywhere. Worldwide events will be held to mark this 75th anniversary.   

The main ceremony taking place 75 years to the day of the liberation by the Soviet forces of Auschwitz Birkenau Nazi German concentration and extermination camp (1940-1945), will be hosted by Melissa Fleming, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications. It would be held at the UN General Assembly Hall. Invited speakers include the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, the President of the seventy-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Permanent Representatives of Germany, Israel and the United States to the United Nations, Castro Wedamba, Chief of Office, Office on Prevention of Genocide and the Responsibility to Protect, and Holocaust survivors, Shraga Milstein and Irene Shashar. Judge Theodor Meron, who served as the President of the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, will deliver the keynote speech. Cantor Shulem Lemmer will recite the memorial prayers. Itzhak Perlman will deliver a musical contribution.   

According to the UN, the exhibition ‘Seeing Auschwitz’ challenges the viewer’s understanding of the largest killing centre in human history. How Auschwitz is ‘seen’ is informed by a relatively small number of photographs taken from an even smaller number of sources. Together, the pictures are vital evidence of the Nazis’ crimes. Through a display of photographs taken by perpetrators and in one instance, by the victims themselves, the exhibition encourages the viewer to explore more fully what the photographs reveal about the photographers, and their intentions, and how this informs the viewers’ understanding of the meaning of “Auschwitz.” The exhibition was created and curated by Musealia, Spain, in collaboration with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Poland. The exhibition will be on view until February 24.   

In this modern era of artificial intelligence, marvellous robotic technology and other wonders of information and communication technology, we need to reflect on whether we are in danger of facing another such Holocaust. 

During the past few years, the United States under the administration of Donald Trump – widely regarded as a pathological liar and a dangerously unpredictable personality – has been embroiled in a crisis with Iran. This came after President Trump who appears to have been misguided into thinking that climate change is largely a Chinese hoax, pulled the United States out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which had been worked out after years of dialogue spearheaded mainly by the Barack Obama administration’s Secretary of State John Kerry. 

Last week, Mr. Trump – who was impeached by the US House of Representatives on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress -- ordered the killing of General Qasem Soleimani who was widely respected and regarded as the virtual No.2 in Iran. This put the Middle East region and the whole world in danger of a Holocaust but thankfully Iran responded in a fairly moderate manner.   

World analysts believe the Holocaust is even more possible now because as many as nine countries possess nuclear weapons. The US and Russia are known to have sophisticated nuclear weapons that are about 50,000 times more powerful than the atom bombs dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. That is why Pope Francis has called on all religions to join in a worldwide mission not just for nuclear non-proliferation but to ban the possession of nuclear weapons. 

This mission needs to be given the highest priority because leaders like Donald Trump and Israel’s caretaker hardline Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a moment of mental imbalance, could give orders to kill not just seven million people but more than seven billion.