This is a guest opinion column

Holocaust Remembrance Day is particularly meaningful to me as I am the child of Holocaust Survivors.

My Father originally from Drobin Poland was one of eleven in his family that survived and my Mother originally from Niwka Poland was one of four who survived in her family. The rest of their families were being killed by the Nazis while the world remained silent.

My story begins as the youngest child of Szymon and Chaja Nagrodzki. I have two older sisters one of whom was born in the refugee camp in Feldefing Germany while my parents remained stateless. After the Birmingham Jewish community offered to accept Jewish Survivors, my parents and my sister who was two and a half years old were transported by ship from Germany and sailed to New York, where they changed ships to sail to New Orleans where they entered the U.S. From there they were put on a train and arrived in Birmingham.

Their primary language was Yiddish. Only a few people in Birmingham spoke broken Yiddish. This community helped them resettle in a world totally unfamiliar to them. They had no money, no job, no friends and very few people they could communicate with, but they had survived, and they were so grateful to this country and this city for embracing them to live freely and pursue a new life for their family.

Our family was our family. We had no aunts, uncles, cousins, or grandparents. We relied on each other. The family was close knit. My father worked two and sometimes three jobs and my mother took care of the children and the household. My parents were kind and gentle souls even though they had just experienced the worst tragedy to befall not only the Jewish People but the World as well. They never burdened us with any of the experiences they had in concentration camps and slave labor camps, and we were raised in Crestline much like all the other children in the neighborhood, but we knew we were different.

They believed in hard work, self-reliance, and education.

To that end and by their example, both of my sisters have graduate degrees and I attended UAB undergraduate from 1973-1977, the UAB School of Medicine from 1977-1981 and was a resident in the Department of Anesthesiology from 1981-1984 and was a chief resident during that time.

In those parts of Europe where my parents lived, there were no distinctions in Jewish observances because everyone was orthodox and very observant, but the Nazis killed all Jews regardless of their level of religious observance or connection to Judaism. We remained observant but because of the need to provide for the family meant they had to work on the Sabbath. All the children attended religious school as well as secular school and remain observant Jews to this day. We were instilled with deep feelings for our faith which we proudly retain. The term to describe this is “Yiddishkeit” defined as the Jewish way of life and its customs and practices. To be Jewish is to be proud of your 4000-year link from the Biblical Land of Israel to the Modern State of Israel, and we are all proud Jews.

The evils of Anti-Semitism have haunted Jewish life for millennia from the exile to Babylon, to the expulsion and forced conversions in Spain in the 1400′s, to the pogroms of eastern Europe, to modern day terrorism in the Middle East and delegitimizing the Jewish People and the State of Israel. It is an irrational hate that is difficult to explain. Jews have been hated because they are capitalists and they have been hated because they have been called socialists. They have been denigrated for controlling the world and having all the money while at the same time they have been accused of using utilizing all the resources of the country that they live in.

Martin Luther King may have described modern day antisemitism best. In a letter to a friend who was anti-Zionist, Dr. King responded: “You declare, my friend; that you do not hate the Jews, you are merely ‘anti-Zionist.’ . . . And I say, let the truth ring forth from the high mountain tops, let it echo through the valleys of God’s green earth: When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews. . .. Anti-Semitism, the hatred of the Jewish people, has been and remains a blot on the soul of mankind. In this we are in full agreement. So, also know this: anti-Zionist is inherently Anti-Semitic, and ever will be so.”

Thus Dr. King was a true friend of the Jewish People and understood and made clear through his eloquent words that those who are anti-Zionist and do not believe the State of Israel has a right to exist are engaged in Anti-Semitism. This best describes one of the most odious forms of the current iteration of Anti-Semitism.

The best way to combat this form of irrational hatred is to actively identify it and forcefully speak out against this bigotry. In addition, as Jews we strive to do good deeds and acts of loving kindness and be charitable not only for the Jewish community, but for the communities in which we live. To combat Anti-Semitism, you have to be proud of the Jewish People and the State of Israel that is the national homeland of the Jewish People where they have the right to exercise national self-determination. You have to know that Israel is always first with humanitarian aid during a disaster whether or not the country has formal relationships with the State. You have to be proud that Jews who compose 0.2% of the world’s population, have won over 20 percent of the Nobel Prizes with contributions to literature, science, economics and medicine, discoveries that have benefited the entire world.

Anti-Semitism in health care is overcome not only by hard work and perseverance but knowing that each one of us is part of a soul created by God and deserves respect and favor. Anti-Semitism violates every oath we take in our practice of medicine.

I honor the victims of the Holocaust by continuing to remember the senseless murder of 6 million innocent men women and children. We honor them by ceremony, and we honor them by telling their stories and educating teachers, students, and leaders about the Holocaust so that it will never happen again. Here in Birmingham just blocks from UAB the new Alabama Holocaust Education Center will be opening to serve as a resource for those teachers, students, leaders, and scholars who wish to research the Holocaust. The center remembers all of the survivors who were settled in Alabama and our family has honored the memory of our parents by dedicating the lobby to their memory.

A very poignant observation made by a Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Silence in the face of evil and injustice is not an option.

The UN theme for 2023 is home and belonging. When my parents were liberated and sent to the displaced persons camp their registration card, listed their nationality as STATELESS. I can say for sure not being a citizen of a state or a country and not being welcomed by countries who resisted taking survivors of the Holocaust is the complete antithesis of home and belonging. But my parents and my family thankfully and gratefully found a home here in this country.

And because, of the rebirth of the State of Israel, allied to this country based on our shared values and interests, there is also no longer a fear that Jews will not have a home or ever be stateless again. Thanks to this country and the State of Israel, we stand up to fight the evils of the Holocaust and Anti-Semitism and say as proud Jews Never Again.

Paul Nagrodzki, born February 9,1955, attended UAB School of Medicine and practiced as an Anesthesiologist for 34 years in Birmingham Alabama.

This column was authored with the help of Nagrodzki’s friend Steven Brickman who graduated from the University of Virginia and the University of Virginia Law School and is a stockholder at the Dentons Sirote law firm.