Was October 7 a second Holocaust?

When something is mentioned twice, you generally pay attention, and that is what happened last night at the annual observance of Holocaust Memorial Eve at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum courtyard. 

It was during the impressive ceremony that both Israeli President Isaac Herzog, followed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, made it clear that October 7 was NOT a second Holocaust. Citing many reasons why 2023 was in no way similar to 1940, among them was the fact that, today, there is a Jewish homeland which also has a strong and robust military. These are the two defining characteristics of the stark differences in the times, illustrating how we, as a people, are able to defend ourselves in ways that didn’t exist back then.

And while all of this is true, it’s not clear if the families of those who lost their loved ones, in the most brutal and savage attack which took place on Israeli soil, would be convinced that what occurred was not a second Holocaust. In fact, in some ways, it was much worse when considering the manner in which it was executed. 

To think that many of these terrorists swooped into Israel, by air, immediately perpetrating carnage, including mass rape, dismemberment and shooting in cold blood, those who were attending a concert, or burning homes and setting populations on fire is more barbaric than the Nazi roundups which loaded Jews onto cattle cars, whisking them off to concentration camps where they might have had a chance to survive.

In the case of October 7, death came swiftly and cruelly, with no chance to hug a friend, call a parent or even gather one’s final thoughts. Without a doubt, it had to be one of the most horrifying, if not the worst, tragedy that Jews have ever suffered – certainly in their own modern homeland.

So why was it carefully planned to repeat the notion that this was not a second Holocaust? It might be that there are a few explanations.

To begin with, Holocaust Remembrance Day, which has been commemorated in Israel since 1951, has always been a solemn and respectful event to mark the memory of the six million who perished at the hands of the Nazis. The ceremony has included our most prestigious dignitaries, politicians, clergy and invited guests to take part in the outdoor backdrop of the museum which houses the darkest, documented tragedy which took place over the course of more than five years, while humanity went on a rampage, inflicting the greatest atrocities imaginable. 

Impassioned speeches are given, inspiring recitations are made, tearful songs are sung and our military is displayed to lend a sense of strength and resolute determination which loudly says, “Because we are here, this will not happen again.” During these very solemn and honored 90 minutes, the highest regard is given to those who endured the worst suffering, due to the ethnicity into which they were born, and that is clearly not a moment which should have a rivaling competitor. 

Hence, the deliberate statement to preserve this historical time as being singular in its gravity as well as significant in its great scope, which encompassed an entire continent over the course of many years, was an unequivocal message to not weaken or dilute its impact, even in the light of more recent events which were, to some, even more, traumatic since it touched them personally.

And that is, perhaps, as it should be. The Holocaust of the 1930s and 40s is unrivaled in our time and deserves the distinction which it has bitterly earned so that no one forgets the profound depths to which man is capable of sinking as he imagines abominable ways to destroy God’s creation.

But while there is a great deal of consideration to keeping Holocaust Memorial Day focused on what occurred more than 80 years ago, others might suspect yet another reason for emphasizing that October 7 was not a second Holocaust.

And that reason has everything to do with the failures that ensued as a result of gross political miscalculations which naively and falsely believed that avowed murderers, such as Hamas, could be suitable peace partners for the Jewish state. The idea that their ilk could see Israel as a legitimate entity, respect its ethics, accomplishments and undeniable success, was a harsh and costly lesson in believing that a leopard can change its spots. It can’t, and avowed terrorists will always resort to what they do best – murder and destroy!

It was truly foolhardy to make those missteps, but for others, whose responsibility to protect the nation’s citizens and residents was seriously compromised by trying to facilitate an erroneous narrative, when their eyes told them otherwise, was reckless and lacked sober leadership within the intelligence community, the military forces, law enforcement members, the political contingent and anyone else who had the ability and advanced warnings which were screaming out that something bad was in the works.

Leaving southern communities vulnerable, to the kind of attack which befell them, was inexcusable and unconscionable, representing the greatest dereliction of duty which has ever occurred in the Jewish state throughout its 76-year existence. 

To articulate that this event, brought on by these failures, was a second Holocaust, is too painful an admission and too massive of an accountability which, as yet, no one has really carried, despite the resignations tendered by a number of individuals who had no choice but to acknowledge that the buck stopped with them.

So, while all of this is still a fresh and open wound that is agonizingly painful, the intent to label October 7 as a second Holocaust is a measure which none of our leaders are willing to accept, because doing so is tantamount to an insufferable admission of guilt which attests to the greatest lack of wisdom and foresight that is completely antithetical to our mantra of “never again.”

In its scale, October 7th truly is greatly diminished when comparing the death of six million to 1200, and so, from that perspective, it pales in comparison, but within the broader definition of the word “Holocaust,” which is characterized as “the destruction or slaughter on a mass scale, especially by fire …a sacrifice in which the offering was burned completely on an altar,” in some ways, it feels the same.
Whether or not it is defined or viewed as a second Holocaust, one thing is certain, Israel can never again afford to engage in wishful thinking or a hopeful delusion brought on by the foolish belief that evil men can be trusted. If anything, October 7 was a wake-up call to just how much we need to invoke the wisdom of the Almighty whose knowledge, capacity and power are way superior to ours, because if this is truly His land, will He not also be the best protector of its people?