With the presence of Serge and Béate Klasfeld, this year like all the previous decades, the Crif organized, through its Remembrance Commission, the commemoration of the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
This time, the commemoration takes place in an unprecedented context. For Francis Kalifat, the president of CRIF: “history is not a view of the mind. That of the Shoah is still alive by the different clichés: money, media, power … “
Is there not a link between forgetfulness of memory and contemporary anti-Semitism? the FJN is convinced of this.
The insurrection of 19 April 1943 reminds us that the victory against fascism, against racist ideologies was not easily won and that freedom is won at the price of painful learning.
The Jewish community is increasingly victim of anti-Semitic acts in a Europe where hate speech is increasing.
While the outlook for the memory of the Holocaust has not changed much, the partisan divisions within the Jewish community have continued to widen. It is clear that the rise of extremes contributes to this clashing socio-political climate. The fact that the memory of the Holocaust disappears over such a short period allows us to leave no doubt about the rise of contemporary anti-Semitism and makes the formation of organized resistance extremely difficult.
The memory of the Shoah draws its strength from the feelings it mobilizes. This is the first uprising of a city in Nazi Europe and a striking manifestation of the Jews’ resilience. A tragedy that is also an aurora.Certes, there were the heroes who risked their lives to help the Jews (Poland has the largest recognized number of Righteous among the Nations). There is no question of denying the fact that Poland was one of the countries that suffered the most during the Second World War that it carried out actions of resistance against the Nazis both intellectually and militarily and that its government in exile never entered into collaboration. 
At a time when so many young people, taking for granted our freedoms, are on the wane, the Warsaw ghetto uprising reminds us that certain values are worth defending. And, as a brilliant symbol of this triumph, Israel – the culmination of a dream that remained utopian for centuries, the victory of a struggle for independence that seemed lost in advance – celebrates its 71st anniversary on May 8, 2019.
76 years ago, Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
