Holocaust survivor educates FBI agents in Los Angeles about dangers of antisemitism – Orange County Register

As anti-Semitism reaches record levels across the country, the FBI’s Los Angeles office invited centenarian and Holocaust survivor Joseph Alexander to recount his life as a survivor of 12 concentration camps and educate agents .

Alexander, now 101, was surrounded by dozens of officers on Wednesday, April 17, eager to hear his story of surviving the Holocaust and better understand the role of law enforcement in preventing it from happening. does not reproduce.

“Millions of people have been persecuted because of their perceived racial and physical inferiority, or because of their political, ideological or sexual identity,” said Mehtab Syed, FBI assistant director in charge. “At the FBI, our mandate is to enforce the law and protect the civil rights and civil liberties of every citizen.”

“Just as we must never forget the atrocities of the Holocaust, we must never forget the responsibilities we bear as a law enforcement and national security organization,” Syed said.

Alexander was 16 years old and living in Poland among a European Jewish population of more than 9.5 million when the Nazis invaded in 1938. Shortly afterward, his family was forcibly moved to the ghetto from Warsaw, then Alexander was sent to what would become his place of residence. first concentration camp.

“My parents, my two sisters and my brother,” Alexander said. “I never saw them again.”

Despite the uncertainty of ever seeing his family again, he made it his goal to maintain hope and stay alive.

During 11 more concentration camps over a five-year period, Alexander faced many life-or-death moments, including his encounter with Josef Mengele, a German officer nicknamed the “Angel of Death” at Auschwitz . When Alexander arrived, the captives were divided into two lines, with one group taken to work while the others were led to their deaths in the gas chambers.

Alexander was sorted into the latter group and, as he neared his probable death, he slipped through the work line.

The last camp Alexander would visit against his will was in the German town of Landsberg am Lech.

“We had to cross the mountains to get there and we could hear the fighting with the Americans behind us,” he said.

In 1945, the Americans liberated his camp and for the first time in a long time, Alexander was free.

He remained in Germany for another five years before immigrating to the United States. When asked by a member of the crowd why he chose to stay in Germany and if it scared him, Alexander replied, “No.”

“The Americans were there and I was safe,” he said. “I survived. Hitler didn’t.

In the decades since, Alexander has made it his mission to visit schools and organizations to educate and remind others what happens when anti-Semitism or other forms of discrimination are allowed to fester.

In 2023, there were a total of 8,873 incidents of anti-Semitism across the country, an increase of 140% from 2022, according to the Anti-Defamation League. This is the highest level recorded since the ADL began tracking anti-Semitic incidents in 1979.

“We must stand up for those who are not here today by standing up against anti-Semitism and speaking out against all forms of bigotry,” said Special Agent Corey McFadden.

At the end of his speech, Alexander, who still regularly makes educational tours across the country, was presented by agents with a certificate of outstanding service in the public interest, as well as a yarmulke embroidered with the FBI logo .

“The only way to prevent this from happening again is education,” Alexander said.