Our Role as Jews in Mitigating Atrocity

By Barbara Finkel, Seaboard Education & Programming VP

On March 23, I represented Women’s League at a U.S. Department of State program entitled Diplomacy, Dissent, and the Holocaust: Speaking Out, Then and Now. The program was organized by the Office of the Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues; the Secretary’s Open Forum; and the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA). About 75 people—foreign diplomats, Congressional staffers, representatives of civil society, and current and retired foreign service officers—attended in person; others watched via WebEx.

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman set the stage in her opening remarks by acknowledging that the Holocaust was a period when “voices of dissent went unheeded and unheard”, and that “when we tune out dissent, we allow society’s worst impulses to take over.” She explained that America in the 1930s was no haven for the oppressed—visa and immigration policies were “roadblocks” designed to keep people out, and U.S. officials responded too slowly even when they could not deny the harrowing events taking place in Europe. Deputy Secretary Sherman’s message was clear: Today, we still must grapple with the painful reality that the conviction to do right was not there, and we cannot let that happen again. She called upon her colleagues, and everyone in the audience, to “gather the bravery to sound the alarm about issues of urgency and give voice to causes often ignored”. 

We then watched excerpts of the PBS documentary, The U.S. and the Holocaust, which focuses on how U.S. Government policies and American public opinion during WWII largely failed Jews seeking refuge from the Nazis. I had seen the documentary when it first aired in September 2022, but it shook me to the core once again to watch how events unfolded in this country. If you have not yet watched it, I highly recommend that you do so (https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/us-and-the-holocaust/).

After the screening, U.S. Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues Ellen Germain moderated a discussion among experts, including U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum historian Rebecca Erbelding (featured in the film); AFSA Vice President Tom Yazdgerdi; Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations Colleen Crenwelge; and Foreign Service Officer Elizabeth Zentos, 2022 AFSA dissent award winner. The panel concluded that the State Department is better positioned now to hear dissent and, perhaps act more quickly against atrocity than it was during World War II, as the result of three “tools” at its disposal.

Dissent Channel: It was created by Secretary of State William Rogers in 1971, as controversy arose over the Vietnam War and he determined that existing channels for transmitting new or dissenting ideas were inadequate. Dissent messages are encouraged, and annual awards publicly recognize individuals who have demonstrated the intellectual courage to challenge the system from within, to question the status quo and take a stand, no matter the sensitivity of the issue or the consequences of their actions.

Atrocity Risk Assessment Framework (ARAF): Helps decision makers and country watchers understand atrocity risk and where atrocities are underway. Different iterations of this methodology have existed within academia and the U.S. Government for about ten years. The goal is to identify the dynamics that underpin ongoing or potential atrocities, a set of plausible atrocity scenarios, key developments to monitor, and recommended prevention and response options.

Conflict Observatory: Created in May 2022 to capture and analyze evidence of Russia-perpetrated war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine. An online platform will publicly share the Observatory’s documentation to help refute Russia’s disinformation efforts and shine a light on abuses.

My biggest takeaway from the meeting is that each of us has the responsibility to pay attention to what is happening in our country and around the world and demand that our leaders take timely steps to prevent and/or mitigate atrocities. I believe we can take this even a few steps further and demand that our leaders act to alleviate the injustice, violence, and inequality that plague our society. The possibilities for action seem endless right now, as we awake every day to reports of mass shootings, acts of antisemitism, racial hate crimes, legislation in many states directed against members of the LGBTQ community, and on and on.

I’ve been thinking about what each of us, as Jews, owes to society, as we celebrate becoming free during Pesach; mourn the victims of the Shoah, war, and terrorist attacks during the somber days of Yom HaShoah and Yom HaZikaron; rejoice on Israel’s birthday on Yom HaAtzma’ut; and remember, in awe, receiving the Torah on Shavuot. The need to take responsibility for making the world a better place also is a prominent theme in To Heal a Fractured World, a book by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z”l that I’ve been reading for a group discussion. It’s almost impossible to pick just one quote from this brilliant book, but I’ve decided on the very last paragraph:

“Judaism is the guardian of an ancient but still compelling dream. To heal where others harm, mend where others destroy, to redeem evil by turning its negative energies to good: these are mark of the ethics of responsibility, born in the radical faith that God calls on us to exercise our freedom by becoming his partners in the work of creation. That seems to me a life-affirming vision: the courage to take the risk of responsibility, becoming co-authors with God of the world that ought to be.”

Shabbat Shalom,
Barbara Finkel
Seaboard Education & Programming VP
barbarafinkel16@gmail.com