We thought that it was all over after World War Two. The world was a beautiful place again. Antisemitism was considered shameful. And so it was - then.
The survivors believed in education, setting up Holocaust Memorials, taking the young to Auswicz, talking about the horrors to classes of children. All thiis whilst I grew up in peace and happiness. One day my youth group took me and my friends to a Holocaust Memorial. I was twelve years old. It was a solemn affair, with hundreds of sad people wearing black coats in the middle of winter. The year was 1956. Then the speeches.
I returned home, saying to my parents: “Could this be true?" They did not answer me. I pressed them for an answer, and they finally said: “We wanted you to grow up in happiness as a normal child. Yes, it is all true."
They told me that we must always remember that now we have Israel. And that there was no more antisemitism. My friends’ parents, originating from the Holocaust, were silent about it and spent their days working hard and re-establishing. It was over. The war was over. A new United Nations. A bright future life.
Or so we believed. Many years later, we found that antisemitism is still there, from Europe to Australia, from the US to South Africa. But we thought it was words, only words. Until those words burst into despicable actions in the most peaceful parts of the world.
So, what are the answers? There is a world-wide planned propaganda effort to “Kill the Jews" - translate “Jew" into “Zionist" - as they march down the streets everywhere in the name of free speech while wearing keffiyehs. Their mantra is: “From the river to the sea" meaning threatening every Jew in Israel. Legislation banning antisemitism simply drives it underground as antisemites find ways to circumvent those laws.
There is an answer. It is not letting them win.
That answer is having more Jewish children, both in Israel and around the world.
That answer is in not intermarrying. In the United States the assimilation rate of 70% which is in effect another Holocaust.
That answer is bringing up Jewish children to know their heritage, to learn Torah and to live as Jews.
That answer is to live in Israel where Jews are at home.
The final Gaza hostage was returned to Israel this week. The Chief of the Israel Defense Forces recited the blessing thanking G-d for bringing us to this time. Then his soldiers sang the song Ani Maamin, looking forward to the arrival of the Messiah. The Prime Minister also said the Shehecheyanu blessing. This is a Jewish nation in action, this is what we need after the Holocaust.
The survivors are leaving us now. What will be left behind? The marches to the extermination camps will not last forever. Only the children who are to be born will become the strength of the Jewish people. It is sad to find that the birthrate is so low for most of the Jewish families in the world, except for Israel and Orthodox Jews. Sadly, most of the rest are influenced by the western lifestyle and are effectively disappearing. Understanding the reasons for the Holocaust is not enough.
It is up to each and every Jew to do our bit to increase our numbers and live a Jewish life. Our strength will lie in the numbers of those dedicated to understanding who we are and living that life.
Leonie Ben-Simon is a freelance journalist with an MBA from Monash University, Victoria Australia.