opinions \ letters
The Holocaust Is
Not a Metaphor
BY SOLOMON D. STEVENS
A s Jews we are often told that
the world must not be allowed
to forget the Holocaust. We often
say “Never Forget” as a way of
emphasizing its importance for Jews
and for the whole world. I certainly
agree with that, but keeping the
memory of the Holocaust alive isn’t
enough. The problem is not just that the
memory of the Holocaust might fade
with time; the real issue is that the
Holocaust itself might be hijacked
for political purposes and that its
meaning and significance could be
lost forever.

Consider the deplorable use of the
Holocaust by right-wing politicians
during the pandemic, who often
framed their frustration with mask
and vaccination requirements as a
struggle against Nazism. Marjorie
Taylor Greene, a Republican rep-
resentative from Georgia, said that
people “don’t need your medical
brownshirts showing up at their door
ordering vaccinations. You can’t
force people to be part of the human
experiment.” She is clearly trying to steal the
Holocaust to elevate her personal
concerns about vaccines and masks,
and this leads her to claim that U.S.

officials are as oppressive as the
Nazi brownshirts, and reasonable
health measures are just as violent
as the medical experiments of Nazi
doctors like Josef Mengele.

This is, of course, insulting to all
the Jews who suffered during the
Holocaust. The insensitivity of it is
staggering. But what I am focus-
ing on here is the way it confuses
ignorant people about the meaning
of the Holocaust. Our health care
workers are not Josef Mengele. The
Holocaust should not be used to
score cheap political points. This is
insulting, but it is also dangerous.

The Dallas Human Rights and
Holocaust Museum reports that one
elected official in Idaho, complain-
ing that the governor was requir-
ing non-essential workers to stay
at home, claimed that during the
Holocaust, “nonessential workers got
put on a train.” But Jews were not
“put on a train” because they were
nonessential workers. This would be
laughable if it were not so serious.

They were put on a train because
they were Jews, and they were being
sent to forced labor and extermina-
tion camps because they were Jews.

They were not just being asked to
stay at home briefly to keep a virus
from spreading. This is a truly con-
temptible use of the Holocaust, and
it also represents a crude attempt
to capitalize on the respected place
that the Holocaust has in history for
selfish purposes. Not only was this
an insult to all the Jews who were
slaughtered by the Nazis, it misses
the point.

The right-wing commentator
Glenn Beck has compared the deci-
sion of Facebook and Twitter to ban
hate speech on their platforms with
Nazis putting Jews in the Warsaw
ghetto. Beck said, “This is like the
Germans with the Jews behind the
wall. They would put them in the
ghetto. Well, this is the digital ghetto.

You can talk all you want, Jews. You
do whatever you want behind the
wall. Well, that’s not meaningful and
that’s where we are.”
This makes me so angry, I can
barely contain myself. Beck implies
that the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto
had complete freedom within the
ghetto. Everything was fine there.

The only problem is that their speech
was not allowed beyond the walls.

But the Warsaw ghetto was hellish.

And in the end, those who did not die
of starvation or illness in the ghetto
were killed or sent to concentration
camps. This rant of Beck’s is a trav-
esty and a false analogy. The Jews
of the Warsaw ghetto were being
systematically prepared for extermi-
nation. They weren’t just losing their
privileges on some social media
sites because they were spreading
hatred and lies. They were the victim
of hatred and lies.

We have every right to be
offended by this political use of the
Holocaust. But, more than anything,
we should be concerned that over
time the Holocaust could become a
meaningless metaphor for anything
unpleasant. We must not allow the
Holocaust to be transformed into
a metaphor to be thrown around
whenever it suits someone’s polit-
ical purposes. We should continue
to say “Never Again,” but we have
a new challenge: We need to work
tirelessly to clarify what it is that we
must not forget. The Holocaust is
not a metaphor. It is history, and we
have to fight to keep its historical
significance. JE
Solomon D. Stevens has a Ph.D.

from Boston College. His publica-
tions include “Religion, Politics, and
the Law” (co-authored with Peter
Schotten) and “Challenges to Peace
in the Middle East.”
Op-ed Mischaracterized LGBTQ Bill
Temple Sinai Deserves the Praise
I must respond to the March 24 op-ed “Bills Attacking LGBTQ Rights Are an
Assault on Jewish Values” by Idit Klein and Is Perlman. I am dismayed by the
egregious mischaracterization of the FL Bill 1557, which is called “Parental
Rights in Education.” This bill has been irresponsibly dubbed the “Don’t Say
Gay Bill” in a false narrative perpetuated by a left-wing media. Have the
authors of this piece even read the bill? Or is their opinion predicated on
taking media talking points at face value?
Nowhere in the bill does it say that the word gay is not to be spoken. The
authors assert that somehow this bill marginalizes and attacks a group of
people. The bill specifically bans teachers of K-3 students from discussing
or teaching about sexuality or gender identity.

As a teacher and parent, I (along with a majority of people polled) have a prob-
lem with the idea of teaching about anything related to sexuality to children in third
grade or younger, no matter what the context of the sexuality or gender involved.

Why is that appropriate in the classroom? That’s a parent’s domain. In no way is
supporting this legislation synonymous with attacking any group of people.

It was so lovely to see the article about Temple Sinai (“Temple Sinai Remains
Steady and Reliable,” March 24). I read it about an hour after returning from
my husband’s and my first time in our sanctuary in more than two years.

I have lauded Temple Sinai so often in these past two years. From the time
we went into isolation, Temple Sinai rose to the challenge of keeping our
community connected.

Every time I attended an event, in person outside the synagogue building
or via Zoom, I felt so good about being a part of this community.

This past Shabbat, I listened in person to the sermon from our assistant rabbi,
witnessed his and his fiancée’s auf ruf, and celebrated the couple at Temple
Sinai’s first kiddush luncheon since the pandemic. I again thought about how
fortunate we are to be members of this warm, homey community. JE
Gail Marshall | Yardley
Tali Segal | Fort Washington
Letters should be related to articles that have run in the print or online editions of the JE, and may
be edited for space and clarity prior to publication. Please include your first and last name, as well
your town/neighborhood of residence. Send letters to letters@jewishexponent.com.

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