Her Family’s Holocaust Anguish Inspires New ADL New England Director

As my first day as the newly appointed regional director for Anti-Defamation League New England was International Holocaust Remembrance Day, my first official act was to attend a meaningful ceremony at the New England Holocaust Memorial, hosted by the German and Israeli embassies. It was very powerful to hear each consul general speak about the millions murdered at the hands of the Nazis, and their countries’ dedication to ensuring that this will never happen again.

This was a fitting first day because antisemitism and the Holocaust shaped my own family’s journey to America and the value system that led me to this role. My great-grandparents were both born in the former Soviet Union and came here after World War I, when rampant antisemitism made it unsafe to live in Russia and Belarus, where they grew up.

My great-grandmother Rose and her sister, Frieda, made their way to Latvia, where they came to the U.S. by boat, leaving behind their parents and siblings. My great-grandfather Harry and his parents made a daring escape by train, smuggler’s wagon, and by other means to reach America. They met and got married in New York City.

Rose and her parents wrote each other letters for over 17 years. Working in factories, my great-grandparents sent Rose’s family some of the money they earned despite their own financial struggles. In 1939, the letters stopped. It was a long time before Rose learned what happened but word finally made its way to her that her parents, four siblings, and six nieces and nephews were shot and killed by Nazis, along with everyone else in their town of Ihumen (now Cherven), Belarus.

My uncle interviewed Rose once for a school project and all she would say about her loss was that “They were all destroyed, every one.”

I am in awe of the bravery that propelled each of my great-grandparents to America, against all odds. And I am equally in awe of the resilience it took to build new lives for themselves in the depths of their grief for those they left behind. I am sure they couldn’t imagine how the generations that followed them would dedicate their lives to the safety and protection of the Jewish people and to ensuring the rights and dignity of all members of our society.

Their granddaughter – my mom – is my hero. I was 8 years old when she chose to fulfill her calling to become a rabbi – the only mom in her rabbinic class. She went on to serve as a congregational rabbi for over 30 years in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and Hingham before her well-deserved retirement. Every day I saw the significant sacrifices that she and my dad made to serve their community and the incredible impact they had. I am so lucky that my parents raised my sisters and me with tikkun olam as our family’s core value – that is the responsibility we each have to help repair our world.

Prior to joining ADL, I was proud to serve as a Biden-Harris administration presidential appointee at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where I was the first Jewish woman to lead a federal center for faith-based and neighborhood partnerships. In this role, I worked to make sure that America lives up to its ideals – to be a country where everyone, no matter what religion they practice, can find safety.

In 2022, President Joe Biden created a task force to counter antisemitism, Islamophobia, and related forms of hatred and bias. The first assignment for the task force was to write the historic U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, which was published in May 2023. Leading this work was one of my key responsibilities at USDA and I am proud of the bold commitments we made to tackle the scourge of hatred across America.

In line with a key pillar of the national strategy, we also celebrated Jewish heritage by building a sukkah on the National Mall. While it was still standing, Hamas terrorists perpetrated the worst massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust on Oct. 7, 2023. My sister lives in Israel with her husband and two younger children and my dad was visiting them during the attacks. Like Jews all over the world, I watched in horror at the atrocities committed that day and worried over the many rockets and terrorist attacks that have continued to threaten the lives and safety of my family and all Israelis. I have also prayed for the safe return of the hostages, watching each return with joy while mourning each new loss with a heavy heart.

As the administration was coming to an end, I learned that ADL was searching for its next New England regional director and I hoped that this might be an opportunity for me to continue my service to our country. It’s truly an honor to take on this role and a sacred duty to uphold ADL’s timeless mission “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.”

In the commonwealth, ADL tracked 440 incidents in 2023, an 189 percent increase from the prior year, with 84 incidents occurring in K-12 schools. There have also been more than 10,000 antisemitic incidents in the U.S. in the year since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel. This is the highest number of incidents ever recorded in any single-year period since ADL started tracking in 1979. This represents an over 200 percent increase compared to the incidents reported to us during the same period a year before, which saw 3,325 incidents.

Included in these incidents are 33 assaults on approximately 23 campuses across the country, including five in Massachusetts, and 280 incidents of vandalism. Further, a recent survey found that more than 83 percent of Jewish students have witnessed or experienced antisemitism on campus since Oct. 7. More than 40 percent feel the need to hide their Jewish identity, and 25 percent have taken extra security measures to protect themselves.

This sharp increase in antisemitism is a serious warning sign for what is to come. We need to heed it by reporting incidents to ADL, continuing to call it out on all sides of the political spectrum, and working together to make sure that hate has no safe harbor here in Massachusetts or across this country.

My great-grandparents came here because to them, America was the “Golden Land” – a place of refuge and safety where they could live their lives as proud Jews. We all need to work together to make that dream a reality today, tomorrow, and for generations to come. Θ

Samantha Joseph is the regional director for ADL New England.