
President Donald Trump, Vice President James Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were not in attendance at a historical event honoring Holocaust memory.
By Danny R. Johnson – Political News Editor
On the solemn occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the world came together on January 27, 2025, to remember and honor the millions of lives lost during the Holocaust.
This commemoration served not only as a remembrance of the past but as a reminder of the atrocities that can and are occurring when hatred and intolerance go unchecked. Among those in attendance were German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Britain’s King Charles III, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, along with many other leaders. Israeli Education Minister Yoav Kisch was also present. However, President Donald Trump was the most conspicuous head of state who was not in attendance.
Trump dispatched a delegation of 54 campaign donors to attend the event. The announcement was made in a January 24 White House press release, designating Steve Witkoff, the U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, and Howard Lutnick, the nominee for Secretary of Commerce, and Charles Kushner, U.S. Ambassador-Designate to France, to lead the delegation. The San Diego County News contacted the White House for comments on Trump’s and Vance’s absence at the commemoration but received no response.
More than 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, died in gas chambers or from starvation, cold, and disease at Auschwitz before Soviet troops arrived at the gates. Some 6 million Jews were killed across German-occupied Europe from 1941 to 1945.
Those attending the event listened to speeches from three people who survived.
Among them was the author Tova Friedman, who was just 5 years old when she was sent to the camp and lay among bodies to hide from Nazi soldiers rounding up other children.
Now 86, she said that she is still haunted by her memories of that time. “After all the children were gone and the courtyard was empty,” she said, “I thought to myself, ‘Am I the only Jewish child left in the world?'”
Leon Weintraub, 99, said his mother, sister, and aunt were killed in a gas chamber shortly after they arrived at the camp.
Urging young people to be discerning in the new digital world and sensitive to expressions of intolerance and the resentment of marginalized people, he said the survivors understood “that the consequence of being considered different is active persecution, the effects of which we have personally experienced.”
Piotr M.A. Cywiński, the director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, thanked the survivors for sharing their recollections.
“It is not the facts of the war that are painful, but the memories that hurt, help, and guide us,” he said. The few remaining survivors of the death camps urged world leaders to learn the lessons of Auschwitz-Birkenau and not to repeat it.
Ronald Lauder, speaking on behalf of the museum’s donors, emphasized that the lessons from Auschwitz and the Holocaust are relevant worldwide. He referenced Elie Wiesel, who stated that indifference, not hate, is the opposite of love. Lauder noted that the rise of Nazi Germany was facilitated by the indifference of people unconcerned by antisemitism. He urged that today, silence and indifference towards antisemitism or any form of hatred should not be accepted.
Weintraub stressed the importance of being sensitive to all expressions of intolerance and resentment towards different people. He highlighted that young people in the digital world might struggle to differentiate true intentions from pursuing popularity. He emphasized the need to take seriously the messages preached by the enemies of democracy. Weintraub shared that survivors like him understand the consequences of being perceived as different, having personally experienced active persecution.
In light of the 80th Anniversary Commemorating the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the world may want to reflect on American Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972), who was a Jewish theologian and philosopher with a social consciousness that led him to participate in the 1960s civil rights movement. Considered “one of the truly great men” of his day and a “great prophet” by Martin Luther King, Jr., Rabbi Heschel articulated to many Jewish Americans and African Americans the notion that they had a responsibility for each other’s liberation and for the plight of all suffering fellow humans around the world.
Trump’s decision not to attend the commemoration event in Poland tells the world about who he is. Trump is known to have espoused and tolerated the dissemination of antisemitic propaganda. His presence at the memorial would send the wrong message to his base, which thrives on hate and division.
American systems and institutions, like other democracies worldwide, are under attack. Trump was elected president by the vote of the American people. Unlike the 2020 election, Trump and his followers refused to accept his defeat and staged a coup to overthrow the will of the American people. Ultimately, Joe Biden was certified and sworn in as the 46th president.
January 6, 2021, is a significant date due to an attempted coup, which was unsuccessful. However, four years later, the same leader returned to power.
We are indeed living in strange times. Mighty men and women have taken over our institutions. They are attempting to rewrite history and usurp the U.S. Constitution, which begs the question:
Where are the courageous men and women who will stand against tyranny, not with weapons of war, but with non-violent tactics and the bulwark of the army of righteous soldiers?
We must take a stand that is not necessarily safe or politically correct but right according to conscience. Like Auschwitz-Birkenau survivors, we must commit to remembering the lessons of history and using non-violent means to create a just, loving, and peaceful world.