Senator Weiner marks 80th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation, urges renewed focus on memory

Senator Weiner used a personal-point statement during the Iowa Senate session on Jan. 28 to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and to urge colleagues and the public to remember the lessons of the Holocaust.

Weiner said the commemoration and survivor testimony underscore how hatred escalates over time and warned that declining public knowledge about the Holocaust is “deeply disturbing.”

Weiner recounted survivor Tova Friedman’s remarks and a statement from the Claims Conference, noting that Friedman and other survivors want younger generations to remember. “I share my story like many others who do because we cannot forget all those innocent men, women, and children who were slaughtered just because they were Jewish,” Weiner read, citing Friedman’s testimony at an 80th-anniversary event. He also relayed criticism from the Claims Conference’s executive vice president, Greg Schneider, that gaps in public knowledge about the Holocaust “should alarm us.”

Weiner described the historical process that led to Auschwitz, quoting a commemoration post he cited: Auschwitz “did not start from gas chambers. This hatred was gradually developed by humans, from ideas, words, stereotypes, and prejudice ... to systemic and industrial murder.” He highlighted survivors’ efforts to reach new audiences, including Friedman’s use of social media to teach young people about the Holocaust.

The senator framed the anniversary as a warning against contemporary intolerance and misinformation, saying that losing survivors and eyewitnesses increases the risk that distortions will spread. He closed by urging colleagues to remember the victims and the broader lessons of unchecked hatred.

The remarks occurred during senators’ points of personal privilege and announcements; no formal Senate action followed from Weiner’s statement.