When a violin virtuoso who survived the Holocaust speaks about history repeating itself, we would be fools not to listen. Adam Han-Gorski’s extraordinary life story isn’t just a personal testimony—it’s a warning siren for our current world, where antisemitism is resurging and historical amnesia threatens to erase hard-won lessons.
Han-Gorski’s plea to ‘scream’ about history carries profound weight in an era where Holocaust denial persists and authoritarian impulses gain traction globally. His survival—dependent on the extraordinary courage of Katarzyna Chytra and Jan Witz who risked execution to save him—demonstrates how individual moral courage can triumph even amid systematic evil.
The Danger of Historical Amnesia
The most alarming aspect of Han-Gorski’s testimony isn’t what happened in the 1940s—it’s the relevance to our present. When he warns, ‘things that led to something repeat themselves,’ he’s not speaking abstractly. The Anti-Defamation League reported a 36% increase in antisemitic incidents in the United States in 2022, while the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights documented similar trends across Europe.
This resurgence doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It parallels broader patterns of historical forgetting. A 2020 survey by the Claims Conference found that 63% of American millennials and Gen Z respondents didn’t know that six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, and nearly half couldn’t name a single concentration camp. This isn’t merely disappointing—it’s dangerous.
Han-Gorski’s experience of being ‘branded’ as Jewish in post-war Poland, facing antisemitism even after the Holocaust, demonstrates how prejudice doesn’t simply vanish when conflicts end. Today’s rise in antisemitism, alongside increasing xenophobia and nationalism worldwide, suggests we haven’t internalized this lesson.
The Power of Individual Moral Courage
The heart of Han-Gorski’s story lies in the extraordinary courage of ordinary people. Katarzyna Chytra and Jan Witz didn’t have special powers or privileges—they were a seamstress and a railroad worker who chose humanity over safety. When Chytra baptized Han-Gorski as her illegitimate child and Witz married her knowing the risk, they demonstrated moral courage that challenges us today.
This aspect of Holocaust history receives insufficient attention. While we rightfully focus on the horrors, we must equally emphasize the resistance. During the Rwandan genocide in 1994, Paul Rusesabagina sheltered over 1,200 Tutsi and moderate Hutu refugees in the Hôtel des Mille Collines, risking his life repeatedly. Similarly, during the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia in the 1990s, numerous Muslims were hidden and protected by Serbian neighbors.
These examples prove Han-Gorski’s experience wasn’t unique to the Holocaust—in every genocide, some individuals choose to stand against the tide. The question isn’t whether such courage exists but whether enough people will exercise it when needed.
Music as Memory and Resistance
Han-Gorski’s violin doesn’t just produce beautiful sounds—it carries historical testimony. His description that his instrument ‘doesn’t just sing—it speaks’ reveals how art preserves memory when other methods fail. His performances honoring the Righteous Among the Nations transform abstract historical knowledge into emotional experience.
This approach to memory through art has proven effective where dry historical accounts falter. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum employs personal artifacts and stories rather than just statistics. Similarly, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin creates an emotional experience that statistics alone cannot convey.
When traditional educational approaches fail to connect younger generations to historical events, artistic expression can bridge the gap. The 2020 TikTok Holocaust awareness campaign, where young Jewish creators shared family stories, reached millions who might never read a history book. Han-Gorski’s violin serves the same function—making history accessible through emotional connection.
