Holocaust Survivor to Mehdi: Trump ‘ABSOLUTELY’ Resembles 1930s Germany

Quick Overview

Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos confirms to Mehdi Hasan that he believes the current situation in Gaza is a modern-day genocide, drawing a parallel between the actions of the Israeli government and the Nazis, which he finds particularly horrifying because he was once told that what happened to him should never happen again.

Key Points: Stephen Kapos, an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor from Hungary, states that he believes the current events in Gaza constitute a genocide. Kapos recounts that his father was sent to a concentration camp, and his family lost 15 members to Auschwitz. He notes that in 1944, when the Germans invaded Hungary and he was seven, he was shocked by the hypocrisy of the Jewish community leaders who claimed to speak for all Jews while demonizing those who opposed Israel. Kapos describes the contemporary situation in Gaza as a deliberate destruction, even worse than the horrors he witnessed during the Holocaust. He resigned from the Labour Party's Socialist Environment and Resources Association (SERA) after they were instructed to protest against Israel, equating the actions to Nazism. Kapos points out that the Israeli government's actions are systematically creating a state of perpetual fear and instability for Palestinians, which he views as a core element of the ongoing conflict. The host, Mehdi Hasan, notes that Kapos has become a well-known activist against the genocide in Gaza, gaining media attention for his views.

Context: The video features an interview between host Mehdi Hasan and Stephen Kapos, an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor from Hungary. The discussion centers on Kapos's perspective on the ongoing conflict in Gaza, which he explicitly labels a genocide, comparing current Israeli government actions to those of Nazi Germany. Kapos uses his personal history, including the loss of family in Auschwitz and his experience being hidden during WWII, to contextualize his strong condemnation of what he perceives as state-sponsored atrocities and the hypocrisy he observed within certain political and community factions.