BEACHWOOD, Ohio — The stories are still painful, especially for Robert Zelwin, president of the Kol Israel Foundation. His parents lived through the Holocaust.
"My parents fled into the woods into the area where they lived and they resisted the Nazis," Zelwin recounted. "They lived in the woods for 3 1/2 years."
Historians and educators view remembering the period as vital to preventing future genocides. The Kol Israel Foundation serves as a place for families who settled in the area hoping their teachings help push back against antisemitic incidents.
"I think that a lot of people just don't know," Zelwin said. "That's why they need to be educated. They need to be educated why this happened, how it happened. and how to prevent it. But the rise of antisemitism [today] is basically due to ignorance and lack of education."
A recent example of growing antisemitism happened on Jan. 19, when a gunman held four people hostage for 10 hours inside a Texas synagogue. The FBI is calling the situation a targeted attack on the Jewish community, and as the world was watching a hostage situation play out, Cleveland native Rabbi Andrew Paley was called to action.
"Rabbi Charlie [Cryton-Walker of Congregation Beth Israel] is a colleague of mine, and [we were] sort of watching this horrible sort of scene in real time," Paley said, adding he first learned of the news at his current home in Dallas.
When Paley arrived on the scene outside Congregation Beth Israel about 40 miles away, it felt surreal. He recounted watching the selfless work of hundreds of law enforcement officers on the front line while Cytron-Walker and four others were held hostage for nearly 11 hours.
"To be a part of it in real time, was hard to process," Paley admitted. "You don't know how many people are working to make us safe and secure, and I got a little picture of that."
Paley was one of the first to comfort families of the hostages, as well as the hostages themselves after they were released.
"Antisemitism today is on the rise, and my true belief is the reason it's on the rise is the lack of education," Zelwin repeated. "Everything starts at home. How you feel about things starts at home, and I think a lot of people just don't know."
On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Kol Israel Foundation and Anti-Defamation League in Cleveland hosted a discussion titled "Combatting Hate in Northeast Ohio: Seeking Justice and Taking a Stand." James Pasche, regional director for the local ADL, said hate crimes are investigated thoroughly, and awareness is key.
"Education is the largest tool in the toolbox that we have in the toolbox to prevent hate," Pasche said.