Tolerance, respect, debate, and civil discourse have been replaced with violence, property destruction, and the repression of dissenting voices. Even worse, Jews are once again being targeted—on college campuses, street corners, and beyond—simply for being Jewish.
My parents and grandparents survived World War II in Lithuania and Germany. They were later recognized as “Righteous Among the Nations”—Gentiles who helped save Jews during the Holocaust.
I still remember speaking with my father on his deathbed after we had learned the details of their story. I asked him, “Why?” His response left a lasting impression: “We didn’t help them because they were Jews. We helped them because they were humans being wrongly persecuted—just because they were Jews.”
On a trip to Israel with now Ambassador Mike Huckabee, we visited Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. Governor Huckabee had informed the staff there that I was part of his group. They located a son of a Holocaust survivor whom my parents had helped save. Alongside him, and as the Son of a Righteous, we laid a wreath at the Eternal Flame. Many other survivors gathered—some of whom had also withstood the Vilna and Kovno ghettos, from where my family helped young girls escape the Holocaust.
As I walked through the Garden of the Righteous with a family now living in Haifa—a family that would not exist were it not for mine—I could only wonder and pray: would my family and I have the same courage, fortitude, and character to help complete strangers…simply because it was the right thing to do?
Upon returning home, I shared my experience with my family. My son and I launched a passion project we’ve called the Next Generations Project. Our goal is to develop and activate a network of both Gentiles and Jews who share a unique, personal, and historical connection through their parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents to this tragedy—and to ensure it never happens again.
And yet now, some 60 years later, we are once again seeing students, shopkeepers, pedestrians, and others persecuted… because they are Jews. No concentration camps yet—but we are seeing physical violence, threats, and harassment—here in America. Think about that: here in America, where liberty, freedom, and tolerance have long been our tradition. The country that once welcomed millions fleeing persecution is now spiraling into an environment few could have imagined just a decade ago.
Western values—Judeo-Christian values that made America great—are being turned against us. Wear a hat someone doesn’t like, drive a car made by someone they disagree with, express an unpopular opinion on campus, or worse yet, wear a kippah or grow a beard that identifies you as Jewish… and beware.
As we watch the terror unfold online or on TV from the safety of our homes, we must remember: such hate created the conditions that made the Holocaust possible. And we must never forget the bravery and righteousness of those who choose to do the right thing.
So what about us?
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Saulius "Saul" Anuzis is the president of the 60 Plus Association and a Republican Party politician from the U.S. State of Michigan. He was chairman of the Michigan Republican Party from 2005–2009 and was also a candidate for national chairman of the Republican National Committee in 2009 and 2011. He served as a Member of the RNC from 2005-2012.
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