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‘We must reject attempts to politicise the Holocaust and to politicise antisemitism. Combating antisemitism and remembering the Holocaust does not belong to the left or the right’, writes Mark Dreyfus, Australia’s attorney general. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP View image in fullscreen ‘We must reject attempts to politicise the Holocaust and to politicise antisemitism. Combating antisemitism and remembering the Holocaust does not belong to the left or the right’, writes Mark Dreyfus, Australia’s attorney general. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP Opinion Antisemitism For my great-grandparents, for all Jews, for all humanity, I say never again Mark Dreyfus I understand all too well the rise in antisemitism in Australia and across the world. My family’s history makes its rise personal and painful Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Tue 28 Jan 2025 14.00 GMT Last modified on Tue 28 Jan 2025 19.28 GMT Share My father has a photograph of Albert Ransenberg taken in the yard of the railway station in Wiesbaden, Germany, in 1942. It was secretly taken by a local policeman. The photograph shows Jews from Wiesbaden being deported to the “east”. Albert Ransenberg died in Theresienstadt, a ghetto and transit camp. His wife, Ida, was murdered at Auschwitz, on 13 October 1942, just six weeks later. ‘Memory hurts, memory guides’: Auschwitz survivors mark anniversary with warnings over rising antisemitism Read more Albert and Ida were my father’s grandparents. My great-grandparents. They were two of the 6 million Jews who were victims of the Holocaust . One million of them, including Ida, were murdered at Auschwitz. My other German great-grandmother, Paula Dreyfus, took poison on the night of 18 July 1942, just days after she was told of her imminent deportation. On Monday, as attorney general of Australia, and the great-grandson of Ida, Albert and Paula, I attended a commemoration at Auschwitz marking the 80th anniversary of its liberation. In the shadow of the main gate at Auschwitz, survivors remembered the horrors of the camp and reflected on the lives they have lived since their liberation. View image in fullscreen Jillian Segal and Mark Dreyfus at Auschwitz to mark the 80th anniversary of its liberation. Photograph: Mark Dreyfus As Holocaust survivors grow ever fewer in number, the memory of history’s greatest evil will dwindle without careful tending. Last week a report by the Claims Conference, which represents Jewish victims of Nazi persecution and their descendants, found knowledge of the Holocaust was fading across the world. Nearly half of American adults and a third of young adults in the UK could not name the site of a single death camp. More than half of people surveyed in Romania believed the 6 million death toll had been “greatly” exaggerated, and almost half of young adults in France couldn’t even say what the Holocaust is. The survivors who spoke at the commemoration at Auschwitz implored the world not to forget . To ensure their past did not become their children’s future. In Poland I joined my colleague Penny Wong to represent all Australians. We attended the commemoration with Jillian Segal, Australia’s first special envoy to combat antisemitism, and Robert Goot SC, the deputy president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. I am only able to honour the memory of those who died, and bear witness to their loss, because my father, George, escaped Nazi Germany as an 11-year-old boy. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Breaking News Australia Free newsletter Get the most important news as it breaks Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion George is now 96 and one of a small number of people still alive who lived through the Holocaust. He bears witness to Kristallnacht and other horrors unleashed on the Jews of Europe by the twisted, hateful ideology of the Nazis. As Elie Wiesel said on a visit to Buchenwald in 2009: “Memory has become the sacred duty of all people of good will.” View image in fullscreen ‘We’ve all got to work together to combat this scourge – the oldest hatred in the world. That includes government and the community, together.’ Photograph: Mark Dreyfus I understand all too well the shocking rise in antisemitism in Australia and, indeed, right across the world. My family’s history make its rise personal and painful. We’ve all got to work together to combat this scourge – the oldest hatred in the world. That includes government and the community, together. That is why we must reject attempts to politicise the Holocaust and to politicise antisemitism. Combating antisemitism and remembering the Holocaust does not belong to the left or the right. It does not belong to the progressive side of Australian politics , or the conservative side of Australian politics. Today I say never again. For Ida. For Albert. For Paula. For the million Jews murdered at Auschwitz. For the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. For survivors who found refuge in Australia. For all Jews. For all humanity. Mark Dreyfus is Australia’s attorney general Explore more on these topics Antisemitism Opinion Mark Dreyfus Australian politics Holocaust Judaism Poland comment Share Reuse this content
