We must always remember the Holocaust and not make it a political issue

Yahoo

12-05-2025

When I was 6 years old, I learned that I am the son of two Holocaust survivors. It was the first time I noticed a KL in blue ink on each of my parents' wrists. On the inside of my mom's forearm was the letter A followed by the number 27327. My parents explained to me that they were both survivors of the Holocaust and that almost everybody in their immediate and extended families were murdered because they, like us, were Jewish. That was my first encounter with antisemitism! Unfortunately, it would not be my last, however. Partly because of the continuing presence of bigotry and hatred toward certain groups, I have spent over 50 years teaching students and adults about the Holocaust and how it relates to issues of today. And I have been honored to be a part of the larger conversation about remembering what happened and preventing it from ever happening again.
My wife, Joan, and I were fortunate to live in Washington, D.C., in 1980 when the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum was created. A council was established to oversee the mission of the museum, which is 'to promote the memory of the Holocaust, to advance knowledge about it, and inspire action to prevent genocide and to promote human dignity.' The museum encourages its visitors to reflect upon the moral and spiritual questions raised by the events of the Holocaust, as well as their own responsibilities, living in a democracy rich with people of diverse backgrounds, beliefs and lived experiences.
The council consists of 68 members — 55 chosen by the president of the United States, five members from the Senate and five members from the House of Representatives, and three members from the Cabinet. They serve five-year terms.
The Committee of Conscious was established by the council and plays a crucial role in fulfilling this mission by alerting a national conscious, influencing policy makers and stimulating worldwide action to halt genocide and related crimes against humanity.
I was also honored and privileged, in the mid 1980s, to be selected to serve on the Second-Generation Advisory Committee to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Nobel Peace Prize winner, Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel. Over the years, I have known and worked with many of the council members. There are members from both major U.S. political parties, and vacant seats are filled by the sitting U.S. president. But one thing they all have had in common is that they all believed in fulfilling the mission of the museum.
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The museum was dedicated on April 22, 1993. On that date, I was sitting four rows back from where President Bill Clinton and Wiesel were standing on the podium giving remarks. One of the last things that Wiesel said, because of the genocide that was taking place in Bosnia, was:
'Mr. President, I cannot not tell you something. I have been in the former Yugoslavia last fall. I cannot sleep since for what I have seen. As a Jew, I am saying that we must do something to stop the bloodshed in that country!'
At that time, there was no partisanship on the council. Until recently that was the case. And then on April 30, 2025, President Donald Trump fired at least eight of President Joe Biden's appointees to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's board of trustees, with no cause.
After that firing, Sen. Richard Blumenthal made the following statement: 'By turning Holocaust remembrance into a political loyalty test, you are doing precisely what the museum warns against — using institutional power to punish dissent, erase opposing views, and recast history through the lens of political expediency. In short, you are politicizing an institution created to guard against the political abuses that led to the Holocaust in the first place.'
I could not agree with Sen. Blumenthal more. Holocaust remembrance and education should never be politicized.
While the president has the right to appoint and fire members of various institutions, what Trump did was unprecedented. His act was petty, reprehensible and vindictive. Forgive me if I missed it, but I would like to know why those Republican senators and representatives who represent me in the state of Oklahoma have not spoken out about this repugnant situation. These are not only my feelings; I've heard from many Jewish leaders, survivors and children of survivors who feel the same way.
We recently had our annual Yom HaShoah program here in Oklahoma City commemorating the Holocaust, as did most Jewish communities across the country. It was a very powerful program teaching about the importance of remembrance. Our community helped fulfil the mission of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
As Wiesel stated: 'Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.'
We must never stay silent in the face of injustice. We must always speak out!
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
―The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Michael Korenblit is co-founder of the Respect Diversity Foundation.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Delegation should speak out against museum trustees' firings | Opinion