The US commitment: Never Again
Op-ed: Today, the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the United States renews its commitment to remember; to seek justice; to aid survivors; to prevent future atrocities; and to combat the growing scourge of anti-Semitism.
The Holocaust looms large in the American consciousness, perhaps more than most Israelis realize. In Washington, nearly 40 million visitors –90 percent non-Jewish—have toured the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum since it opened in 1993. In a small town in Tennessee—far from the centers of Jewish life—middle school students decided to collect six million paper clips as they studied the Holocaust for a project on tolerance, as described in the 2005 documentary "Paper Clips”.
"We must tell our children about a crime unique in human history," President Obama declared during one of his visits to the Holocaust Museum, "the one and only Holocaust - six million innocent people - men, women, children, babies - sent to their deaths just for being different, just for being Jewish."
Today, the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the United States renews its commitment to remember; to seek justice; to aid survivors; to prevent future atrocities; and to combat the growing scourge of anti-Semitism.
President Obama and other American officials speak out forcefully and frequently at home and abroad to ensure the world never forgets—and to confront Holocaust denial. Our leaders continue to make the pilgrimage to Nazi killing grounds to honor the six million who were murdered.
When the United Nations General Assembly convenes this week to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, as it now does annually, America’s voice will be heard clearly as we reaffirm the international community’s obligation to remember victims of the Holocaust.
Even today, the United States continues to seek justice and restitution for Holocaust victims. The Department of Justice’s Office of Special Investigations has won more court cases against Nazi criminals than all other governments combined.
Historic settlements with Swiss banks, the governments of Germany, Austria, France, and various European industries have addressed the decades-old claims arising from unpaid Holocaust-era insurance policies, the use of forced and slave labor, the illegal seizure of private and communal property, and other personal injuries. Belated and imperfect, yet still a measure of justice, and the struggle for restitution and compensation continues.
Many thousands of Holocaust survivors still live in the US, many of whom face enormous economic and health challenges. Under the leadership of Vice President Biden US has launched a new domestic campaign to address their needs. A combination of government and philanthropic initiatives have increased support to those who survived.
"Remembrance without resolve is a hollow gesture," President Obama has said. In a world where mass atrocities and the threat of genocide still exist, "Never Again" is both a moral principle and a strategic imperative that guides US foreign policy. In Bosnia, Kosovo, Libya, South Sudan, and Iraq, US diplomatic and military interventions have prevented mass murder. "National sovereignty," in President Obama’s words, "is never a license to slaughter your people."
In his State of the Union address last week, President Obama renewed America’s commitment to combat anti-Semitism worldwide. The United States also took a leading role in last week’s UN General Assembly meeting on anti-Semitism—the first of its kind. Working closely with Israel and the Jewish community, the United States will continue to shine a bright light on surging hate crimes and acts of violence and intolerance directed at Jews. We are pressing governments to investigate effectively and promptly acts of anti-Semitism, and to punish those responsible.
No nation is immune from criticism, but when debates about Israel lapse into anti-Semitism—when Jews are targeted with hate speech, intimidation or even murder, as we saw in Paris this month—the United States will speak out.
America will continue to lead in this arena, and we will do what is necessary to uphold that most sacred dictum: "Never again."
Dan Shapiro is the US ambassador to Israel.
