Combating antisemitism has never been more urgent than now, in the aftermath of Hamas’s terrorist attack on October 7, US President Joe Biden said in a proclamation marking Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday morning.
During Holocaust Remembrance Day and “these days of remembrance, we mourn the six million Jews who were systematically targeted and murdered in the Holocaust, one of the darkest chapters in human history,” Biden said.Also mourned are the Roma, Sinti, Slavs, people with disabilities, LGBTQI+ people, racial minorities, and political dissidents who were killed or endured abuse by the Nazis and their collaborators, Biden said, as well as those who risked or lost their lives to protect others.
In the proclamation, Biden reflected on childhood memories of learning about the Holocaust from his father, who taught Biden and his siblings that silence is complicity.
As a senator, vice president, and now president, Biden said he met with many Holocaust survivors, promising them that the US would never forget what they endured or stand silently in the face of antisemitism.
“The charge has never been more urgent than in the aftermath of Hamas’s vicious terrorist attack on October 7 – the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust,” Biden said. “Among the 1,200 innocent people who were slaughtered and the hundreds taken hostage were elderly survivors of the Shoah who were forced to relive the horrors they thought they had escaped decades ago,” he continued.
Working tirelessly to free remaining hostages
Biden said his administration is “working tirelessly” to free the remaining hostages and he will not rest until they are brought home.He also called the surge in antisemitism at home and abroad reprehensible and dangerous.Americans cannot stay silent as Jews are attacked, harassed, and targeted, Biden stressed.“We must also forcefully push back attempts to ignore, deny, distort, or revise the history of Nazi atrocities during the Holocaust or Hamas’s murders and other atrocities committed on October 7 – including the appalling and unforgivable use of rape and sexual assault to terrorize and torture Jewish women and girls,” Biden added.Biden once again reiterated his commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, saying that the pledge to keep Israel safe is “ironclad.”
According to a statement from the White House, Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone on Monday morning and discussed "the shared commitment of Israel and the United States to remember the six million Jews who were systematically targeted and murdered in the Holocaust, one of the darkest chapters in human history, and to forcefully act against antisemitism and all forms of hate-fueled violence."
“As we hold the Jewish community close to our hearts, we recommit to remembering so that what happened can never be erased,” Biden shared. “I call upon the people of the United States to observe this week and pause to remember victims and survivors of the Holocaust.”
Administration's efforts to combat antisemitism
Joe Biden released a statement marking Holocaust Remembrance Day on Friday, highlighting the tidal wave of antisemitism in the United States following the October 7 attack in Israel and his office's efforts to combat that hate.
Under the first-ever National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism, there are new clarified civil rights protections for Jews under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Department of Education is leading investigations into antisemitism on college campuses, and the Justice Department is investigating and prosecuting hate crimes. The Federal Bureau of Investigation focuses on delivering security resources to Jewish communities.
Additionally, funding has increased for the physical security of non-profits, including synagogues, Jewish community centers, and Jewish schools.
Deborah Lipstadt, a Holocaust expert, was appointed earlier in Biden's administration to be the first-ever Ambassador-level Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism around the world.
Biden concluded his statement by establishing the week between May 5 and May 12, an annual week of observance of the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust, and called upon American citizens to observe this week and pause to remember victims and survivors of the Holocaust.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.