Six Lessons from the Holocaust According to Menachem Begin

In 1978, former Israeli Prime Minister Begin wrote down what he considered were the most important lessons of the Holocaust. These lessons are as important today as they were 45 years ago.

First, if the enemy of the Jews says that he has in his heart, in his blood, an ambition to destroy the Jews - do not underestimate him, do not mock him. Do not doubt him. Take his ambition seriously, treat his words with all the severity inherent in them. Deprive him of the power to destroy you. Prepare every day for the day. Never again say: it is not serious.

Second, never again ask: what will the world say? Know this: the world will never have mercy for slaughtered Jews but the world will always have respect for fighting Jews.

Third, keep a weapon. Study it and sanctify it wherever you dwell. It is the weapon of holiness. A weapon of life, honor, freedom. Never abandon it and never throw it away. We believe in the vision of the end of days, yes, but who knows when it will come? Meanwhile, as long as there is a weapon in the hands of even one enemy of the Jews, a people that has been slaughtered and butchered throughout the generations… keep your weapons.

Fourth, the Torah, in order to preserve it, demands that safeguards be placed around it. The same is true for the people of the Torah. The first safeguard is Jewish dignity. The seeds of Jewish destruction lie in passively enabling the enemy to humiliate us. Only when the enemy succeeds in turning the spirit of the Jew into dust and ashes in life, can he turn the Jew into dust and ashes in death. During the Holocaust it was after the enemy had humiliated the Jews, trampled them, divided them, deceived them, afflicted them, drove brother against brother, only then could he lead them to the gates of Auschwitz. Therefore, at all times and whatever the cost, safeguard the dignity and honor of the Jewish people.

Fifth, know how to unite in the face of an enemy. In the ghetto, Jews separated and quarreled and betrayed each other and there was no longer a spirit in them to unite and stand up against their destroyers. Not so in a nation. Know how to unite against an enemy and always stand against him as one nation. The few will never again be abandoned for the sake of the so-called salvation of the many, who will not be saved anyhow, but the few will rise and risk themselves for the sake of the many — and even they will be saved.

Sixth, the extermination of millions of Jews, was unprecedented in human history but there is a pattern to Jewish history. In our long annals as a nation, we rise, we fall, we return, we are exiled, we are enslaved, we rebel, we liberate ourselves, we are oppressed once more, we rebuild, and again we suffer destruction, climaxing in our own lifetime in the calamity of calamities, the Holocaust, followed by the rebirth of the Jewish State. With the rest of our strength, with the essence of our blood in this generation, we must promise each other, swear an oath of allegiance inwardly, that we will close this cycle forever. No more destruction, no more discrimination.

That is the main lesson: the road paved in our day, by warriors and rebels, is not a road to destruction with honor, but a road to honor with victory.

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