Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on February 17, 2022

Lisa Swain| Special to the USA TODAY Network

Whoopi Goldberg suspended from 'The View' over Holocaust comments

Whoopi Goldberg led off Tuesday's episode of "The View" with an apology but was suspended for 2 weeks for her Holocaust comments.

Entertain This!, USA TODAY

In the wake of Holocaust Remembrance Day, I have found myself reflecting on what it truly means to honor the over 17 million people, including 6 million Jews, who were murdered by the Nazi regime. Six million Jews were not killed overnight; the genocide began with dehumanizing cartoons and hateful language, with derogatory name-calling and slurs. Seemingly small acts of harassment and intimidation against Jewish business owners or worshippers in synagogues started early in the Nazi regime and grew with hateful and ill-informed language used by charismatic party leaders to incite harm.

It is alarming that we have begun to see a rise in these anti-Semitic language and acts around the world and here in New Jersey. An anti-vaccine propagandist recently compared daily life during a pandemic, wearing masks and getting vaccinated for the public good, to the experience of Anne Frank, who famously wrote about her time living in a concealed room for two years and later died in a concentration camp at age 16.

A talk show host recently claimed that the Holocaust had nothing to do with race, despite the Nazis' baseless views of Jewish people as an inferior race. Republican colleagues of mine in New Jersey even attended a rally where State House public health protocols were compared to policies from Nazi Germany. Comparing the policies of our public health officials who want to save lives in a pandemic to the policies enacted by Adolf Hitler trivializes the imprisonment and murder of these 17 million people.

Casually comparing wearing a mask or getting vaccinated during the pandemic to the Nazi regimes treatment of Jews is offensive. What started as commonplace anti-Semitism in the 1930s led to Jews being tortured and killed for their faith. Others were killed because of their association with Jews, their sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or their ethnic origins. The Nazis tortured many of these people, experimented on their bodies, took their children away and sent them to concentration camps where they were killed in gas chambers.

There is no comparison.

Misguided celebrities and public officials have a large audience, their voices carry weight.

But so does mine.

As one of only a handful of Jewish elected leaders in New Jersey, I have and will always choose to use my platform to shine a light on injustice and stand up against hatred. The horrors of the Holocaust and, furthermore, the casual anti-Semitism that escalated to such atrocities against humankind must never be repeated and it is our responsibility to assure it doesnt.

Assemblywoman Lisa Swain represents the 38th Legislative District in parts of Bergen and Passaic Counties.

Read this article:

We cheapen the grief of the Holocaust by conjuring Nazi tyranny it must stop | Opinion - NorthJersey.com

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