THE HOLOCAUST IS OVER WE MUST RISE FROM ITS ASHES

ut we must examine the past so that we can make a change in our current direction.I want to believe that the Israeli state is not just the incarnation of the Shoah victimsand the other Jewish victims of hate throughout history, but that Israel can be a lightunto the nations, a light of universal humanity. Israel should take the responsibility tobecome a stop sign against tyranny and should strive to change world morality. In thissense, the Shoah is not only ours, but the legacy of the entire world. Every globalcitizen has a part in this; it is much too big to be carried and remembered only by theJews. Shoah that belongs to all will create powerful coalitions that will be obliged toprevent atrocities everywhere. Rwanda is ours, as is Cambodia; they belong to usand to our brethren from Warsaw and Bialystock. There is no difference between aJew and an African or an Asian; the persecuted and the “other” are the same for us;they are all part of our responsibility for a better and repaired world. Wherever acrime against a people, helpless innocents, humanity, and humanism is committed—we will be there in any possible way, in protest, action, assistance, and even indefense and rescue. For this to have happened, the Eichmann trial should have takenplace in Jerusalem, as it did, but the tribunal should have been inclusive. I hope thatIsrael will establish an international court of justice with judges from all nations andcreeds, including good, decent Germans, of whom there are plenty. This is the courtthat could have turned Eichmann into the Jewish people’s “gift” to the world. It wouldhave been an opening trial and not a trial of self-confinement. It is highly likely thatwalking this path would have prevented several human calamities. It would also haveprevented Shoahs that are not our own.