As students begin a new academic year, they are probably thinking about classes, friendships and the future they hope to build.
asserted
they → begin → classes
I hope they will think as well about the kind of person they intend to become.
asserted
they → hope → person
I was born in Warsaw in 1940, confined with my family in the Warsaw Ghetto and saved from deportation as a small child.
asserted
I → bear → child
I survived the war in hiding.
asserted
I → survive → hiding
My mother did not.
asserted
mother → do → ?
As such, I learned early how quickly a society can lose its moral bearings.
asserted
society → learn → bearings
The Holocaust did not begin with the gas chambers.
asserted
Holocaust → begin → chambers
It began with words, propaganda, exclusion and the gradual acceptance of the idea that some people matter less than others.
asserted
people → begin → others
It advanced because hatred was organized and too many people remained silent.
asserted
people → advance → ?
Beginning in 1933, Jewish professors in Nazi Germany were dismissed and Jewish students faced growing restrictions.
asserted
students → begin → restrictions
By 1938, they had been excluded from German universities altogether.
asserted
they → exclude → universities
Institutions devoted to knowledge can still fail their purpose when prejudice replaces truth and intimidation replaces inquiry.
asserted
intimidation → devote → inquiry
It should teach students to think critically, distinguish evidence from assertion and understand that intelligence must go hand-in-hand with conscience.
asserted
intelligence → teach → conscience
Students are returning to campuses at a time when information travels in seconds and falsehoods often move faster than facts.
asserted
falsehoods → return → facts
Slogans often replace serious thought, while outrage is rewarded more readily than understanding.
asserted
outrage → replace → understanding
Many Jewish students are also returning with fears that earlier generations hoped would not return.
asserted
generations → return → fears
Some have been isolated or intimidated.
asserted
Some → isolate → ?
Some have wondered whether to conceal symbols of their Jewish identity, avoid certain spaces or remain silent about who they are.
asserted
they → wonder → spaces
No student should be made to feel that way.
asserted
student → make → ?
Antisemitism is not only a Jewish problem; it is an assault on truth, human dignity and the values education is meant to defend.
asserted
education → mean → truth
University should be a place where ideas are tested through reason, disagreement leads to honest dialogue and every student can learn without fear.
asserted
student → test → fear
Dialogue is one of our strongest defences against prejudice: it tests assumptions, makes room for lived experience and allows us to encounter a person rather than a stereotype.
asserted
us → test → person
It does not require agreement.
asserted
It → require → agreement
It requires intellectual honesty and recognition of another person’s humanity.
asserted
It → require → humanity
The answer is dialogue joined with courage: to question misinformation, listen before judging, speak truth without dehumanizing and defend another person’s dignity even when doing so carries a cost.
asserted
doing → join → cost
My hope for students beginning this academic year is that they will stand beside classmates who face prejudice because of their religion, race, ethnicity or background; that they will build friendships across differences and create opportunities for honest conversation; that they will choose dialogue over slogans, curiosity over assumption and truth over convenience.
asserted
they → begin → convenience
A conversation may seem like a small act, but it can interrupt prejudice before it hardens into hatred.
uncertain
it → seem → hatred
I spent my professional life in education and educational administration, teaching and leading programs for children and adults.
asserted
I → spend → children
Since retiring, I have shared my testimony with thousands through the Montreal Holocaust Museum, where I serve on the board, and with students on March of the Living journeys to Poland.
asserted
I → retire → Poland
Again and again, I have seen young people listen, reflect and change.
asserted
people → see → ?
That is why I still have hope.
asserted
I → have → hope
Soon, survivors will no longer be able to tell students in person what we witnessed.
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we → tell → what
Our memories — and the responsibility to recognize lies, dehumanization and indifference — will pass into the care of future generations.
asserted
memories → recognize → generations
As students begin this academic year, I hope they leave their classrooms with more than knowledge.
asserted
they → begin → knowledge
I hope they leave with wisdom, compassion and the courage to stand for what is right.
asserted
what → hope → wisdom
I hope they build a future worthy of those who did not live to see it, and of every generation still to come.
asserted
who → hope → generation
The Aporia
