An age of Holocaust denial

It's been happening slowly through the years, but now, with the loss of Dr. Edith Eger, it feels like we are on the precipice of a new era.

A time when the survivors who lived through the atrocities of the Holocaust will no longer be among us in the land of the living.

Their first-hand testimony has sometimes been lost to history.

Sometimes it was meticulously recorded.

Other times, it was burned into the memories and DNA of their loved ones.

But with the loss of this generation, our archival evidence, like recordings, writings, memoirs, photographs, etc., becomes simultaneously more important than ever and highly challenged.

We are living in an age of Holocaust denial.

Antisemitism. Antizionism.

A cacophony of lies and twisted narratives that fly in the face of reality, history, and truth.

Survivors, teachers, and writers, like Dr. Eger told their stories, firsthand accounts that could not be denied.

But today, so much of what is online and in media is manipulated. Images, narratives, truth, facts.

All the careful curation we have done of the records, the magnitude of the genocide, the loss of communities, families, individuals-- what happens when that's all we have left?

And the deniers claim that the Holocaust is fake? AI? Manipulated and manicured claims?

This thought sucks the air out of my lungs in horror.

Because I was born into a world of Holocaust survivors.

The lilts of their accents, their stories as nightmarish bedtime tales told as warnings, the way they raised us with resilience in our bones, with memories of moments we never lived but they shared with us.

The way family was precious, every child born brought new hope, and no loss was ever forgotten.

The way every name that was carried forward was a soul reborn, another chance at life and living.

The generation that raised us is now slipping away into the next world.

My grandparents moved on a long time ago.

I get teary-eyed thinking about those long-awaited heavenly family reunions.

How many years had they been separated by death only now to be together once more?

And now...

How humbling that now the legacy passes to us- to tell their stories and live their values and continue the lessons of their lifetimes in our own.

I feel a fresh batch of grief thinking about this.

Another new ending. Another moment that requires leadership.

Another moment when we cannot be silent.

There have been decades of conversations about how we will educate about the Holocaust when there are no firsthand witnesses left.

There are researchers, educators, and activists who are far better able to opine on next steps...

But as a storyteller, here is what I know.

I don't know if we will be enough.

But we are the witnesses now.

And in their memories- we must continue to tell their stories.