On April 17, 2023, Yom HaShoah/Holocaust Remembrance Day, the U.S. Department of State YouTube channel published Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's video tribute to his stepfather, Polish-born Holocaust survivor Dr. Samuel Pisar, who served as UNESCO Honorary Ambassador and Special Envoy for Holocaust Education and was also an acclaimed international lawyer, author, and human rights activist. Dr. Pisar, who passed away in 2015, received the 1981 Present Tense Literary Award for his memoir Of Blood and Hope, and was also a MEMRI board member.
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In his tribute, titled "How My Stepfather Escaped the Nazis," Secretary Blinken spoke about Dr. Pisar's experiences in the Holocaust, and concluded: "Among the powerful lessons we reflect on this Yom HaShoah is that the mass murder of six million Jews was not a sudden or singular act, but rather the culmination of countless incremental steps designed to vilify and dehumanize people. That's why we must remember, now and always."
Neo-Nazis online derided and mocked Secretary Blinken's tribute, disseminating antisemitic conspiracy theories, including Holocaust denial. Such responses to Yom HaShoah, including marking the Holocaust with celebrations, are a continuation of a trend among neo-Nazis and white supremacists.
For Yom HaShoah in recent years, neo-Nazis and white supremacists around the world have celebrated the Holocaust, attempted to manipulate the stock market to harm Jewish investors, and projected lasers with Holocaust denial and antisemitic messages onto synagogues and prominent buildings.
The following report will review a small sampling of neo-Nazi responses to Secretary of State Blinken's YouTube tribute to his stepfather Dr. Samuel Pisar.
Neo-Nazis Deny The Holocaust, Mock Dr. Pisar
A prominent American neo-Nazi posted a response to Secretary Blinken's YouTube tribute on his Telegram channel on April 20, 2023. He wrote: "Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says his step father was gassed twice in Auschwitz and survived. The second time by pretending to clean the floors. He doesn't tell us how he survived being gassed the first time. He was also rescued from a death march by a magical negro GI. From what I can tell, this is not a deepfake."
On Gab, in a white supremacist Gab Group, a user reposted the YouTube video, to which another user commented: "Happy Yom HaShoah!"
Neo-Nazi Website Publishes Article On Samuel Pisar
On April 21, 2023, a Holocaust-denying website, hosted by Epik Inc., posted an article titled "Samuel Pisar's Unbelievable Story. The website's "About" page states: "The aim of this website is to provide easily digestible and searchable information on Holocaust revisionism...This site will become a repository of facts that you can use to easily find specific information to use in, say, an open discussion on the Holocaust on one of the few platforms that allows such a discussion."
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