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80 Years After Auschwitz’s Liberation, ‘Never Again’ Is Now
Anti-Israel protesters hold flags on the route of the annual International March of the Living, outside former Auschwitz Nazi German death camp, in Oswiecim, Poland, May 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Exactly 80 years ago, on January 27, 1945, the world witnessed the liberation of Auschwitz, with the unimaginable horrors of the Holocaust on full display. More than 1.1 million Jews were systematically and brutally murdered in Auschwitz, cementing it as one of the most harrowing symbols of humanity’s darkest period.
Given the Holocaust’s enormity and relatively recent history, its atrocities should be deeply ingrained in our collective memory. Unfortunately, eight decades later, a disturbing number of people question, distort, or outright deny the acts of evil that took place.
With 20% of adults worldwide stating that they have never heard of the Holocaust, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)’s recent Global 100 survey paints a sobering picture: the fight for memory, truth, and justice is far from over.
So how can we ensure that “Never Again” holds meaning in a world where Holocaust denial and distortion are on the rise?
To confront this challenge, we must first look at the facts.
First launched in 2014, the ADL Global 100 remains the most comprehensive study of antisemitic attitudes worldwide. The latest survey gathered responses from more than 58,000 adults across 103 countries and territories, covering 94% of the global adult population.
Our findings are deeply concerning: 46% of the world’s adult population — an estimated 2.2 billion people — hold elevated levels of antisemitic attitudes.
In just a decade, this figure has more than doubled from nearly 1.1 billion, highlighting a disturbing rise in hatred and ignorance.
When asked about the Holocaust, 4% of respondents worldwide — around 280 million people — denied its existence outright.
And while outright denial remains deeply alarming, distortion — a more insidious form of denial — is becoming even more widespread.
For example, fewer than half of the respondents, only 48%, acknowledge the Holocaust as a historically accurate event. Even more troubling, a staggering 17%, around 1 in 6 adults worldwide, misrepresent its scope, minimizing its gravity and distorting the truth of what transpired.
Examining the issue globally, we see that geographic differences significantly impact levels of Holocaust distortion. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have the highest rates, with 33% of adults holding distorted views, followed by Asia at 18%.
In these regions, where Holocaust education is far from standard, nearly half of adults in MENA and Africa (46%) and a third in Asia (33%) — have never heard of the Holocaust.
Additionally, while MENA countries struggle significantly with accurate Holocaust recognition, three Asian countries — Bangladesh, Indonesia, and India — rank among the lowest five in the world for Holocaust awareness. With their combined populations nearing 1.9 billion, this highlights the critical need for Holocaust education initiatives in both MENA and Asia.
In addition to regional complexities, a spotlight on young adults aged 18 to 34 reveals troubling patterns. Among this demographic, only 39% worldwide recognize the historical accuracy of the Holocaust, and they are 13 percentage points more prone to antisemitic beliefs compared to older generations. In other words, we’re sitting on a demographic time bomb.
While these statistics are significant, they compel us to ask: What now? The challenge lies in shaping our next moves and determining our course of action. How can we effectively address these concerning trends?
The answer lies in a comprehensive, whole-of-society approach. To combat antisemitism in general — and Holocaust denialism or distortion in particular — we need the active involvement of governments, civil society, and individuals alike.
Now is the time to act, and each of us has a role to play.
Additionally, another important aspect is equipping the general public with educational tools about Jewish identity, history, and the Holocaust, to better recognize and confront antisemitism. This approach is supported by research conducted by ADL’s Center for Antisemitism Research (CAR), highlighting that respondents who agreed with more anti-Jewish tropes knew significantly less about Jews, Judaism, and Jewish history, including underestimating the number of Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
ADL is at the forefront of this battle, actively working to provide diverse populations globally with resources aimed at recognizing and confronting antisemitism. Holocaust education programs like Echoes & Reflections and its student activities series “Explore the Past, Shape the Future” are vital components of ADL’s strategy to fill educational gaps, emphasizing the importance of comprehensive Holocaust education as a means to foster understanding, empathy, and critical thinking.
In the face of rising Holocaust denial and distortion, the responsibility falls on us to act decisively. As we mark 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, we hold the duty to honor those whose lives were brutally taken, preserving the truth for future generations. We must commit to learning, teaching, and standing up against hate in all its forms.
The fight for memory, truth, and justice is far from over. Together, it is our duty to ensure that it continues on.
Amb. Marina Rosenberg is the Anti-Defamation League’s Senior Vice President for International Affairs.
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Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials
FILE PHOTO: The atomic symbol and the Iranian flag are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iranian and Iran-affiliated media claimed on Saturday that the Islamic Republic had obtained a trove of “strategic and sensitive” Israeli intelligence materials related to Israel’s nuclear facilities and defense plans.
“Iran’s intelligence apparatus has obtained a vast quantity of strategic and sensitive information and documents belonging to the Zionist regime,” Iran’s state broadcaster said, referring to Israel in the manner accepted in those Muslim or Arab states that don’t recognize its legitimacy. The statement was also relayed by the Lebanese site Al-Mayadeen, affiliated with the Iran-backed jihadists of Hezbollah.
The reports did not include any details on the documents or how Iran had obtained them.
The intelligence reportedly included “thousands of documents related to that regime’s nuclear plans and facilities,” it added.
According to the reports, “the data haul was extracted during a covert operation and included a vast volume of materials including documents, images, and videos.”
The report comes amid high tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, over which it is in talks with the US administration of President Donald Trump.
Iranian-Israeli tensions reached an all-time high since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, including Iranian rocket fire on Israel and Israeli aerial raids in Iran that devastated much of the regime’s air defenses.
Israel, which regards the prospect of the antisemitic mullah regime obtaining a nuclear weapon as an existential threat, has indicated it could resort to a military strike against Iran’s installations should talks fail to curb uranium enrichment.
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Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israeli military has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage who had been held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday.
Nattapong Pinta’s body was held by a Palestinian terrorist group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified.
Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
Israel’s military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to Gaza the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved earlier this week.
There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreign national. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive.
The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase.
Israel has since expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as US, Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered.
US-BACKED AID GROUP HALTS DISTRIBUTIONS
The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.
Aid distribution was halted on Friday after the US-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations. It was unclear whether aid had resumed on Saturday.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It says it has provided around 9 million meals so far.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 350 trucks of humanitarian aid belonging to U.N. and other international relief groups were transferred this week via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
The war erupted after Hamas-led terrorists took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel’s single deadliest day.
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US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to war-shattered Gaza, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former US officials, a move that would involve the US more deeply in a controversial aid effort that has been beset by violence and chaos.
The sources and former US officials, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that money for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) would come from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being folded into the US State Department.
The plan has met resistance from some US officials concerned with the deadly shootings of Palestinians near aid distribution sites and the competence of the GHF, the two sources said.
The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week amid warnings that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade, which was lifted on May 19 when limited deliveries were allowed to resume.
The foundation has seen senior personnel quit and had to pause handouts twice this week after crowds overwhelmed its distribution hubs.
The State Department and GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters has been unable to establish who is currently funding the GHF operations, which began in Gaza last week. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that a Chicago-based private equity firm, McNally Capital, has an “economic interest” in the for-profit US contractor overseeing the logistics and security of GHF’s aid distribution hubs in the enclave.
While US President Donald Trump’s administration and Israel say they don’t finance the GHF operation, both have been pressing the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it.
The US and Israel argue that aid distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that.
USAID has been all but dismantled. Some 80 percent of its programs have been canceled and its staff face termination as part of President Donald Trump’s drive to align US foreign policy with his “America First” agenda.
One source with knowledge of the matter and one former senior official said the proposal to give the $500 million to GHF has been championed by acting deputy USAID Administrator Ken Jackson, who has helped oversee the agency’s dismemberment.
The source said that Israel requested the funds to underwrite GHF’s operations for 180 days.
The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two sources said that some US officials have concerns with the plan because of the overcrowding that has affected the aid distribution hubs run by GHF’s contractor, and violence nearby.
Those officials also want well-established non-governmental organizations experienced in running aid operations in Gaza and elsewhere to be involved in the operation if the State Department approves the funds for GHF, a position that Israel likely will oppose, the sources said.
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