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An Open Letter to Jewish Students Nate Leipciger 98 years old · Auschwitz survivor · Educator, March of the Living Dear Jewish Students, My name is Nate Leipciger. I am 98. I survived the ghetto, a death march, and Auschwitz-Birkenau. My father and I lived. My mother, my sister, and most of our family did not. As a new academic year begins, many of you return to campus carrying more than books. Since October 7, 2023, you have also carried grief, fear, and the knowledge of how quickly antisemitism can enter places that promised belonging. You may have seen the murder and kidnapping of Jews met with excuses, celebration, or silence. You may have been asked to answer for distant events before anyone asked if you were safe. Some of you have wondered whether to hide a Star of David, a kippah, or your voice. Remember this: you are not responsible for the hatred directed at you. You do not have to conceal who you are to belong. Never let those who hate you define you. Antisemitism assigns collective guilt to Jews and reduces people to symbols. Criticism of any government, including Israel’s, is legitimate. Harassing Jewish students, celebrating violence against Jews, or demanding that they renounce their identity is not criticism. It is discrimination. Do not accept a false choice between your Jewish identity and your place in the world. Jewish identity is not only a response to persecution. It is faith, learning, family, creativity, justice, and hope. Learn that inheritance. Read Jewish history beyond suffering. Ask your family for its stories. Learn a Hebrew word, a melody, a page of text. The more deeply you know who you are, the less power a slogan has over you. No one should demand that you deny Jewish history, disown the Jewish people, or surrender your connection to Israel. For those of us who lived when Jews had nowhere safe to turn, a Jewish homeland is not an abstraction. It is an answer to Jewish powerlessness. Jewish rights are not a favor granted when we are popular. Jewish rights are human rights. Be courageous, but do not stand alone. Find one another. Support the classmate who is afraid. Build alliances against racism and every form of dehumanization. Study Jewish history so you can confront the lies spread against the Jewish people and the Jewish state. Jewish pride is strongest when joined to moral courage. During the Holocaust, Jewish youth fought to the death in the Warsaw Ghetto and across occupied Europe to preserve dignity. We do not ask you to risk your life. But others your age do so every day in Israel, defending the Jewish state and the future of the Jewish people. People ask how I can still have hope. I have hope because I have seen Jewish life rebuilt. For nearly three decades I have walked in Auschwitz with thousands of March of the Living students who came to affirm that life. The future of Jewish life is passing into your hands. Carry it without apology, with compassion and strength. Antisemitism is old. Your future is not. Sincerely, Nate Leipciger Holocaust Survivor and Educator March of the Living Source: International March of the Living, September 1, 2026.