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At the young age of 14, Miriam, along with her sisters Adele and Anna, and Anna’s infant daughter Esther, faced the horrific events of the Holocaust in Poland during World War II. They were among hundreds of Jews who were forcibly gathered and commanded to undress. In a moment of desperation, the sisters fled to an abandoned tannery to hide. Just as silence enveloped them, Anna’s cries for her baby shattered the stillness, followed by the sound of gunfire. Tragically, they would never again see Anna or little Esther.
When Miriam and Adele were discovered, an armed collaborator was ready to execute them. However, in a surprising turn, a German soldier decided to spare them for the day, allowing the sisters to walk away with their lives intact.
Their paths eventually diverged, and in a desperate quest for survival, Miriam sought work using false baptismal documents, hoping to secure a ration card. Unfortunately, she faced skepticism from officials. With her life precariously hanging in the balance, fate intervened again when a German officer selected her for labor, thus sparing her from death and leading to a life as a forced laborer throughout the war. Miriam and her sister Adele ultimately survived the ordeal and later moved to the United States.
A Day of Reflection and Action
Annually on April 24, Holocaust Remembrance Day, I reflect on the tragedies faced by survivors like my aunts and the immense loss of life, including the 6 million Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazi regime.
With Miriam and Adele now gone, the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles, yet a troubling trend of Holocaust denial is on the rise. A startling survey revealed that 10% of young Americans believe the Holocaust was fabricated, and 23% think the fatalities have been inflated. Meanwhile, extremist groups such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers have gained visibility, and some leaders within the Trump Administration have allied with authoritarian figures like Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
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These alarming developments make Holocaust Remembrance Day a pivotal occasion for educating the public about the government-led mass atrocities committed against millions of individuals during that dark period. The Nazi regime’s genocidal agenda was fueled by anti-Semitism, homophobia, and prejudice against those deemed “other.” During the Holocaust, approximately two-thirds of European Jews fell victim to this brutality.
Days of remembrance should serve not only as moments of reflection but as calls to action against persecutions faced by minority groups and the threat of ethnic cleansing.
To honor those lost, we must actively resist state-sponsored assaults on our freedoms and civil rights occurring in the U.S. today, particularly the hostility directed at immigrants, refugees, and the LGBTQ community by the Trump Administration.
Alert to Current Attacks on Freedoms
The foundation of fascism is often laid before acts of violence like genocide, beginning with censorship, the banning of literature, and stifling freedoms of speech, press, and assembly. This was followed by the targeting and arrest of political adversaries and discrimination against “inferior races.” The establishment of death camps was merely the culmination of the state’s mission to enforce Aryan supremacy.
Currently, we can observe parallels, as educational institutions and military academies eliminate texts that advocate for racial and gender equality. In a troubling incident, Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish graduate student, was forcibly taken by masked ICE agents for speaking out against U.S. foreign policies, a scene reminiscent of abuses witnessed in oppressive regimes in Latin America. Similar abuses have been reported against other foreign students, who have faced incarceration without proper legal representation.
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Moreover, the situation is dire for those not solely defined as immigrants or refugees. Jasmin Mooney, a Canadian businesswoman, was taken into custody by U.S. immigration authorities and held for 12 days despite having all necessary documentation. Alarmingly, President Trump has expressed intentions to deport even U.S. citizens to prisons in El Salvador.
The Urgency of Speaking Out
Trump’s erosions of freedom are framed as actions against antisemitism, misleadingly conflating criticism of Israeli policy with hatred toward Jews. These are not the same.
Not long ago, Trump lauded a crowd chanting anti-Semitic slogans as “very fine people” and echoed sentiments akin to those of Hitler regarding immigrants. This consistent rhetoric serves as a veiled justification for his policies.
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As the son of Jewish immigrants whose father fought fiercely against fascism in World War II, I learned the vital importance of standing against injustice. This remains the critical lesson of the Holocaust. Silence in response to the current administration’s threats to our freedoms amounts to complicity.
In August 1963, Miriam joined the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, standing shoulder to shoulder with 250,000 others. If she were alive today, I believe she would observe Holocaust Remembrance Day by vociferously opposing the government’s infringements on the rights and liberties of all individuals, whether citizens or immigrants. This commitment is essential to ensuring that the phrase “never again” resonates with meaning.
Michael Rosen is a retired professor at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: US experiencing assault on rights similar to Nazi Germany | Opinion
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