Rabbi Avraham Krieger, the head of the Shem Olam Institute or Holocaust education and research, who devotes his life to ecudation the next generation about the Holocaust, says that the so-called "smartphone generation" of 2017 is capable of learning how to deal with stories of war and other tragic and horrific events."
"We tend to underestimate the youth and and think that they connected to digital media world [all the time] and that that is where their mental worlds stop. But it really isn't." Rabbi Krieger told Arutz Sheva.
He explained: "These youth are looking for a challenge, and the Holocaust poses challenges. The Holocaust is not a story of what happened. It is the story of what is happening today and the story of what will happen tomorrow. It gives us a look at today and tomorrow. It gives us a look at today and tomorrow through the stark reality that shatters all boundaries of human morality. The Jewish morality stood in this time [when it was] tested, and Jews had to ask, 'will this be our course as well?'"
He said that the anti-Israel activity in global forums such as the UN is a continuation of anti-Semitism. "The vast majority of the Jewish people demonstrated during every second of the Holocaust a different value system than the monstrous world of evil. An 'old' world against the seemingly 'modern' German world. And the 'old' world survived and went on to establish a state, and it goes on to drive the Western world a thousand times each day. And is how we came to the new anti-Semitism, such as the UNESCO resolution."
According to Rabbi Krieger, the Holocaust is not a story of the ghetto, but "the story of all the experiences of the Jewish people and the secret of our future."
Do you see a difference between today's youth and the youth of 15 or 20 years ago?
"I do not see a difference. On the contrary, today's youth are asking many more bold questions. The youth of today is not ready to be fooled or to be sold an archaic lecture. He wants to get to the heart of the story of the Holocaust and we must place these dilemmas in front of him."
Are trips to Poland still effective?
"I'm not a big advocate of trips to Poland, but I can not run away from what is happening there, perhaps because of the bubble created there or because of the spirit of the six million Jews which hangs in the air and affects [people]. The journey to Poland should be first and foremost a journey into the inner self of each person there...just like the Jews during the Holocaust. They shed it all, and they all stood up and had to find their inner world."
Against the backdrop of increasing anti-Semitism, are you optimistic about the entry of Donald Trump into the White House?
"The signs look good, we always believe. I'm not afraid of the anti-Semitic label they tried to paste onto Trump...On the contrary, there is a chance to work with someone who breaks the framework. The frameworks which we built with lies from the West in cooperation with the radical Islamic world should be smashed. Obama was the biggest liar in the world. It is important that the truth will come out, and Trump is just like that."