Speaking about the Unspeakable - The Holocaust, its ghosts and criminalizing the word "Nazi"

Today, January 27^th, is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In its 9^th year of commemoration the day was established in 2005 by the UN on the 60^th anniversary of the Holocaust. Each year the day is used by member nations as a day to teach children, young adults and even ourselves the impact of hate and how it leads to the suffering and tragedy of those who become its targets.

In Canada and in Israel Holocaust Memorial Days are commemorated on completely separate periods on the calendar, each with their own symbols tied to their collective memory and connection to this monumental tragedy in modern history. In Israel it is tied into the days leading up to commemorating the establishment of the Jewish state in April marking the country’s rise from the ashes of Europe. In Canada, Holocaust Education Week is part of the November 11 commemorations that mark Canada’s role in World War II.

So while each country takes to addressing its ghosts and demons of hatred and tragedy through memorials, education and days to mark our ascendance to a higher moral regard for humanity, Israel has upped the ante and has begun to pass with its first reading, a law that would criminalize the use of the word Nazi except in educational contexts. There is no denying that global anti-Semitism in on the rise, and takes it shape in many shifting forms, (some of which look like criticism of Israel at first glance). But the new anti-Semitism does not don the swastika or emblazon Nazi on its chest. Just look at the demonstrations in Paris yesterday where protest declared that “France is not home to the Jews” http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/160800/jew-france-is-not-yours-chant-anti-government-demonstrators-in-paris

So it begs the question: Why are we silencing old ghosts instead of addressing the current ones that sit (not so) quietly in our closets?

In our modern Canada the narrative of multiculturalism has set alongside it a series of well-established laws for hate crimes and battling racism. And while it’s a hallmark of Canadianism today it was not always the case.  From the riots at Christie Pitts in 1933 to a policy of  “none is too many”, Canada has come a long way to address its ghosts. Canada was once home to one of the largest Holocaust survivor populations outside of Israel while at the same time being a clearinghouse as the largest distribution centre for neo-Nazi propaganda in the 1990s. Canada has had to come face to face with its past and clean out the demons hiding behind its open doors, and in many ways it has. Working alongside Canadian Diaspora Jewry it has taken steps of publicly addressing the Holocaust and its victims as a means to unify the Canadian cause to be an outspoken critic against racism, bigotry and anti-Semitism on the world stage.

Israelis honour and recognize the roots of its past in the Holocaust as part of the story of the founding of the modern state. Its embedded in every aspect of the national right of passage of Jewish Israeli youth from Holocaust education, to trips to Auschwitz in high school as part of the curriculum, to visiting Yad Vashem as an integral part of military service induction. The haunting siren each April that brings the country to a standstill is a testament to the power of collective memory http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeozUSWdoQA&

But with all of the education, memorials, and days we talk about the war, but we rarely talk about IT, the big IT – the ghosts and demons called “Nazi” whose hatred and racism, whose actions and damage lead to lives lost of Jews, homosexuals, Romas and the handicapped. IT is an embedded fear that remains deep in the heart of many and for some an even deeper shame of what wasn't done to stop it. The big IT that defining another as different, be it because they are gay, wear a hijab or because they are Jewish or Christian is reason to lay down words of revulsion and defilement is still part of what drives war and conflict today. We use the word Nazi to describe the most vile, most abhorrent behaviour. And yes, in some cases like in Seinfeld episodes, we try to laugh off the chains of horror that are attached to that word. Underneath it is the sadness and shame that these sentiments still exist. But the fear that the desensitizing of these words in day to day language use and thus the need to criminalize it is unfounded, as the root cause – racism – still exists. Its just hate by another name.

The ghosts aren’t in the word “Nazi”,  and criminalizing it won’t eradicate that – not now, not ever. Haters of Jews will find other words, other descriptives and reasons of why they declare their irrational loathing. And they will be loud. By practicing acts of silencing through law and the banning of words, we change nothing of their actions, we only allow the ghosts of hate to find new words and new mediums by which to use them. International Holocaust Remembrance Day is a time to look at the ghosts of our past, not only nearly 7 decades ago, but the demons that have continued to weave their evil, in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. Staying silent should never be an option not then, and not ever.

Laws can’t change us – only we can. While hundreds of parliamentarians and survivors from around the world gathered at Auschwitz today, thousands marched through the streets of Paris yesterday declaring that France should be free of Jews. On the borders of Syria children lie freezing and dying as genocidal governments and radical rebels lay claim to justifying their actions while the world finally begins to referee but not fully step in. In the Central African Republic Muslims and Christians are in chaos and on the verge of genocide. Making the word “Nazi” illegal just won’t cut it, as the acts in the name of hate that we continue to not respond to are still criminal, regardless of the symbol or word we attach to it.