page_title: Never again
section_title: Definition
hierarchical_section_title: Never again / Definition
caption_attribution_description: English: Anti German graffiti in vienna. Deutsch: Antideutsches Graffiti in Wien.
context_page_description: "Never again" is a phrase or slogan which is associated with the Holocaust and other genocides. The phrase may originate from a 1927 poem by Yitzhak Lamdan which stated "Never again shall Masada fall!" In the context of genocide, the slogan was used by liberated prisoners at Buchenwald concentration camp to express anti-fascist sentiment. The exact meaning of the phrase is debated, including whether it should be used as a particularistic command to avert a second Holocaust of Jews or whether it is a universalist injunction to prevent all forms of genocide. It was adopted as a slogan by Meir Kahane's Jewish Defense League and used to justify acts of terrorism against perceived enemies of Jews.
  The phrase is widely used by politicians and writers and it also appears on many Holocaust memorials. However, some commentators have noted that the phrase is empty or overused and does not reflect the reality of multiple genocides which have occurred since the Holocaust.
context_section_description: According to Hans Kellner, "Unpacking the semantic contents of 'Never Again' would be an enormous task. Suffice it to say that this phrase, despite its non-imperative form as a speech act, orders someone  to resolve that something shall not happen for a second time. The someone, in the first instance, is a Jew; the something is usually called the Holocaust." Kellner suggests that it is related to the "biblical imperative of memory" (zakhor), in Deuteronomy 5:15, "And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm." (In the bible, this refers to remembering and keeping Shabbat). It is also closely related to the biblical command in Exodus 23:9: "You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt."
  The initial meaning of the phrase, used by Abba Kovner and other Holocaust survivors, was particularistic to the Jewish community but the phrase's meaning was later broadened to other genocides.  It is still a matter of debate whether "Never again" refers primarily to Jews ("Never again can we allow Jews to be victims of another Holocaust") or whether it has a universal meaning ("Never again shall the world allow genocide to take place anywhere against any group"). However, most politicians use it in the latter sense.  The phrase is used commonly in postwar German politics, but it has different meanings. According to one interpretation, because Nazism was a synthesis of preexisting aspects of German political thought and an extreme form of ethnic nationalism, all forms of German nationalism should be rejected. Other politicians argue that the Nazis "misused" appeals to patriotism and that a new German identity should be built.
  Writing about the phrase, Ellen Posman noted that "A past though often recent humiliation, and an emphasis on former victimhood, can lead to a communal desire for a show of strength that can easily turn violent." Meir Kahane, a far-right rabbi, and his Jewish Defense League popularized the phrase. To Kahane and his followers, "Never again" referred specifically to the Jews and its imperative to fight antisemitism was a call to arms that justified terrorism against perceived enemies. The Jewish Defense League song included the passage "To our slaughtered brethren and lonely widows: / Never again will our people's blood be shed by water, / Never again will such things be heard in Judea." After Kahane's death in 1990, Sholom Comay, president of the American Jewish Committee said "Despite our considerable differences, Meir Kahane must always be remembered for the slogan 'Never Again,' which for so many became the battle cry of post-Holocaust Jewry."
caption: Never again Germany [de] graffiti
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