A Hanukkah Comic: Never Again? From Ancient to Modern Anti-Semitism

By Andrew Galitzer

As a young Jewish artist from South Florida, I have channeled my talent to create weekly comics that educate people of all ages on the weekly Torah portion and holidays. Like many, I am deeply concerned about the increase in anti-Semetic attacks around the world. After researching the tremendous impact anti-Semetic cartoons have had throughout history, I decided to make a cartoon that encourages people to stand up for Jews.

As we approach Chanukah, “the festival of lights,” I created the comic below to encourage people to take a stand against anti-Semitism and to ensure that “never again” is not just a a hollow slogan. The comic begins with a father telling his young daughter the Chanukah story during the holiday. In the story he describes how the Jewish people were triumphant in defeating the Greeks who sought to destroy Judaism. The father continues and says that from the persecution in the Chanukah story, we learn to never again allow enemies to attack us for our religion.

On the following page, the frame widens and we see that this bedtime story was actually taking place in a Jewish ghetto during the Holocaust. On the following page, real pictures from more recent anti-Semitic attacks around the world are featured to show how “never again” sadly is still not holding true. Jews continue to be persecuted for their religion across the globe.

In the final frame, I redrew the baby from the first scene as a Holocaust survivor at the Chabad of Poway Synagogue in Poway, California. He holds his granddaughter’s hand and disappointedly looks to the reader, our generation, and asks “What we are doing to stand up for “never again?”

Like the heroic Maccabees from the Chanukah story, it is our responsibility to stop the cancer of contemporary anti-Semitism from spreading. I believe that through education, specifically teaching students about the hatred that exists in the world and encouraging individuals to think critically, we can stand up for “never again.” 

I am proud to stand with the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement as they work with interfaith individuals around the world, including government officials, on the important task of combating anti-Semitism through education and innovative projects.

Please join us in the fight against this hatred by signing the Combat Anti-Semitism pledge and by calling out anti-Semitism whenever or wherever you see it.

Andrew Galitzer’s comic “Never Again?: From Ancient to Modern Anti-Semitism” was a winner of the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement’s Emma Lazarus Art Award.