Today, as Americans mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day — the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on January 27, 1945 — we must be blunt: remembering the Six Million is not a ceremonial checkbox, it is a sacred duty. The horrors of the Nazi era are a warning to every free people about what happens when hatred is normalized and institutions fail to defend truth and human dignity.
It is therefore shocking that an Economist/YouGov survey once found that roughly one in five Americans aged 18 to 29 agreed with the statement that “the Holocaust is a myth.” That statistic ought to shake every parent, teacher, and elected official who cares about passing on the facts of history to the next generation.
Yes, poll methodology can be debated — reputable analysts have cautioned that some online opt-in surveys can overstate fringe sentiments — but whatever the exact percentage, the trend of ignorance and indifference among young people is real and dangerous. Those who ought to be educating the public — our schools, cultural institutions, and media platforms — have too often abdicated that responsibility, allowing toxic distortions of history to fester.
That makes it all the more reprehensible when prominent officials casually invoke the Holocaust for political theater. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s comparison of ICE operations to Anne Frank’s suffering was a disgraceful and tone-deaf analog that cheapens real genocide while fueling division. Political leaders should defend facts and human dignity, not exploit the memory of the murdered for partisan drama.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum rightly called out that comparison as “deeply offensive,” reminding the public that Anne Frank and millions like her were targeted and murdered for being Jewish — a unique and specific crime that must never be trivialized. When even leading museums must lecture governors on decency, you know our collective memory is under strain.
We conservatives must be clear-eyed about how the Holocaust is being weaponized by the left and how bad actors on the internet twist history to score political points or to erase responsibility from real antisemites. This is not academic hair-splitting; the steady erosion of historical truth paves the way for renewed hatred and violence unless we push back decisively.
That pushback starts with holding platforms, campuses, and elites accountable for the ideas they amplify. As commentators like Jonathan Tobin and others have warned, silence or relativism from the institutions that shape opinion amounts to complicity — and conservatives should lead a serious, honest campaign to elevate truthful education and to expose those who platform denial and distortion.
Finally, let this day be a call to action for patriotic Americans: demand mandatory, rigorous Holocaust education in our schools, defend Jewish communities from rising antisemitism, secure our borders so law and order protect everyone, and never allow the past to be hijacked for ideological warfare. “Never Again” must mean something practical and uncompromising — defending truth, history, and the vulnerable with American resolve.
