The Jewish-Zionist story is also a story of rebirth - Opinion

On January 27, 1945, the gates of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp opened, and multitudes of Jews face a shattered world. They stood at the lowest point in history. Millions of families were destroyed, entire communities burned, and extensive Jewish property was stolen and plundered. The survivors had all the reasons in the world to lose hope, give up and flee. But they did exactly the opposite. At the lowest point they found the best opportunity for rebirth – the establishment of the State of Israel.  

The survivors rebuilt their families, their communities and established the State of Israel. Once again, they accumulated assets, developed businesses and thriving companies. The question "Can we return from the destruction" is not a historical question. It is still completely valid at this time and is directed to each of us today as well. Almost eight months ago Israel suffered a barbaric attack, when Hamas terrorists invaded the communities in the south. For one day we experienced destruction unlike anything that occurred in the last eighty years. Since October 7th, the Jewish People have been shaken by a bloody war, in its country, in its homeland. The Hamas terrorists from Gaza wanted to transform Be'eri into Babi Yar, Ofakim into Birkenau and Kfar Aza into Kishinev. They were armed not only with weapons, but with cameras as well. For what? To preserve the moment in which Jews were once again defenseless. To show the whole world the antisemitic caricature of the helpless Jew. They wanted to prove that Jews in their country are no different than the Jews during two thousand years of exile: persecuted, weak, begging for their lives.

We suffered a drastic blow, seared in blood and fire in our personal and national memories. But despite the fear and shock, we recovered and rose up again. We are in our country. Our soldiers are fighting valiantly to protect us. 

This year's March of the Living in Auschwitz-Birkenau includes several major events in Zionist History. We are commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Holocaust of the Hungarian Jews, together with the 120th anniversary of the death of Theodor Herzl who envisioned the establishment of the Jewish State, all this during this last terrible year for the Jewish People. What, in fact, was Herzl's vision? What did he foresee? He saw the antisemitism sweeping over France and Europe in his times. A dark wave of Jew-hating of which we are painfully reminded by the growing antisemitism on campuses in the United States, Europe, and many other parts of the world, where Jews are once again feeling the bitter taste of antisemitism. 

Herzl foresaw the pogroms, but also realized that a national homeland for the Jewish People is the only assurance against persecution. Our future in the Diaspora is unclear, but our future in a country of our own is ensured.

And now, we have the choice of which story to tell, the story of pogroms or the story of rebirth. Whether we remain in what we were or move on to what we can become. I am sure of the answer. The fathers of Zionism knew the answer. Herzl knew the answer. With this vision he founded the Jewish National Fund at the Fifth Zionist Congress in 1901. He knew we must build a strong national home for the Jewish People. He understood that our rebirth is based on sovereignty over the Land of Israel. That the security of Jews the world over depends on our rebirth.

KKL-JNF is a partner in the March of the Living every year and waves the flag of rebirth, rising from the dust. To remind all of us that the Jewish story is also a story of rebirth, of rebuilding the Jewish national homeland after the pogroms and the Holocaust. In face of growing antisemitism, in face of murderous terrorism. We are the response to evil. 

Jewish history is replete with suffering and terror. From the destruction of the Temple, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the crusades and the Holocaust. But our history is not the history of the pogroms, it is the history of the rebirths. The history of the Jewish People is not a series of expulsions and terror, it is a succession of rebirths following these events, it is rising from the dust, being able to see the present and hope for a better future.

The Jewish-Zionist story is a story of rebirth.