Never Again for Whom?: Refusing Jewish Exceptionalism amid Israel’s Genocide

In this critique of legacy Jewish organizations, Holocaust memorial institutions and academic fields such as Jewish Studies and Holocaust Studies, historian Barry Trachtenberg argues that these institutions have, by aligning themselves with Zionism and Israeli state power, abandoned the universal ethical lessons once associated with Holocaust remembrance.

Drawing widely from intellectual and political history, institutional critique and personal narrative, Trachtenberg traces how antisemitism, a concept that originated in nineteenth-century Europe to describe anti-Jewish racism, has been redefined in the twenty-first century to police political speech, reshape scholarly discourse, and weaken broader struggles for human rights.

Insisting that 'Never Again' must refer not only to Jews but to everyone, Trachtenberg calls for a shift away from ethnic solidarity and exceptionalist memory, and toward universal ethical commitments grounded in justice and equality.