6 | DECEMBER 26 • 2024 J
N

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PURELY COMMENTARY

opinion
Hope Amid the Ashes
L

ast month, I returned to 
Poland for my fifth visit, this 
time as part of the European 
Jewish Association’s annual mission 
to Auschwitz. The gathering 
brought together 
Jewish and non-Jewish 
leaders from across 
Europe and beyond, 
united by the urgency 
to confront rising 
antisemitism and the 
shared challenges of 
our time. 
I laid a wreath at Birkenau — a 
somber reminder of the atrocities 
our people endured and a call to 
action against the resurgence of 
hatred today — and I was honored 
to give the keynote address. 
Krakow has always been a 
city of profound historical and 
personal significance to me. 
Nearly 30 summers ago, between 
my undergraduate and graduate 

studies in the U.S., I first walked its 
streets as a student at Jagiellonian 
University, delving into the history 
of Eastern European Jewry and the 
Holocaust. Living just down the 
hall from me in the dormitory was 
Heidi, a graduate student at NYU 

I did not yet know but who would 
soon become my wife. Our shared 
experiences in Krakow formed the 
foundation of our life together. 
Returning to this city now, decades 
later — having raised two daughters 
who, for me, symbolize Jewish 

resilience and continuity — reminds 
me of the miracle of our survival.
I visited Krakow again to work 
on Jewish-Polish reconciliation and 
yet again in 2022, in the early days 
of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 
when the shadow of war once 
again loomed over Europe. But this 
time, my return was marked by a 
different crisis: the resurgence of 
antisemitism, fueled by the Oct. 7, 
2023, massacre in Israel and violent 
acts like the recent attacks on Jews 
in Amsterdam after a soccer match.
The parallels between the past 
and present are stark and chilling. 
Standing in Krakow, just weeks 
after Jews were hunted in the streets 
of Amsterdam, I could not help 
but reflect on the 86th anniversary 
of Kristallnacht. Then, as now, 
hatred unchecked has spiraled into 
violence. That history has left us 
with scars, but also with lessons to 
be learned — first and foremost 

William C. 
Daroff
JTA.ORG

The author, right, and Dumisani Washington, CEO of the Institute for Black Solidarity 
with Israel, lay a wreath in memory of the Jewish victims at Birkenau, Nov. 26, 2024. 

COURTESY

