As Holocaust survivors continue to dwindle 80 years after the Holocaust, so do the ranks of those who liberated the Nazi concentration camps in Europe. The latter group deserves more attention than it has received, Ellen Germain, the U.S. State Department’s special envoy for Holocaust issues, told JNS in a recent interview.
“I’ve been reading and talking so much about the liberators. I think their stories aren’t known as well as they should be,” she said.
“We don’t know the experiences and the stories of those young guys, who walked into the concentration camps not knowing what they were going to find, and who were absolutely horrified and appalled and couldn’t believe their eyes,” Germain told JNS.
Soldiers who liberated camps took part in the Trump administration’s Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration at the U.S. Capitol on April 23.
Germain told JNS that she was moved to see the veterans, who carried the flags of their army units and the camps they liberated, walking into Emancipation Hall in the Capitol.
“It just gets to me—this rolling litany of names,” she said of the list of Holocaust victims presented at the ceremony.
“Here are our heroes from the U.S. Army, juxtaposed with these names that just bring up a feeling of horror and sadness,” she stated. “Looking at the soldiers who are carrying those insignias, the banners of the units—they were so young, and that’s who was fighting over there, and that’s who was liberating Europe, liberating the camps, liberating the survivors.”
Germain traveled to Germany and Austria over the weekend to take part in the 80th anniversary commemorations of U.S. troops liberating the Dachau and Gusen camps.
The envoy met with government officials, Jewish community members and counterparts in Europe to discuss a range of issues, including Holocaust commemoration and education, and “how that connects with countering Holocaust distortion and denial.”
Holocaust denial is “a really pernicious form of antisemitism,” Germain told JNS.
Survivor care and restitution were also on the agenda, including “discussions about the need to continue to push for restitution and compensation and acknowledgement of the great wrong that was done,” Germain said.
The U.S. envoy noted that the city of Amsterdam issued a formal apology last week for the role it played in deporting Jews during the Holocaust. Mayor Femke Halsema also announced a fund worth roughly $28.5 million to support Jewish life and the visibility of Judaism in Holland’s capital. It seems especially relevant following the violent assault last November on visiting Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans, coupled with a record number of antisemitic incidents in the country in 2024.
“There’s still a lot of soul-searching to be done, and it’s admirable that the city of Amsterdam just took this step and put this out,” Germain told JNS.
‘Why commemoration and education matter’
Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state, issued a statement marking the Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s proclamation on the same subject.
The State Department also published a series of short videos of employees whose families survived the Holocaust, describing how the experience inspired them to pursue careers in public service.
“I think this week is a real opportunity to highlight why Holocaust commemoration and education matter,” Germain told JNS.
This year’s ceremonies are “an all-out effort, because this 80th anniversary is probably the last big anniversary where there will be any significant number of survivors present, but also liberators,” she said.