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"Never again" is a phrase or slogan which is associated with thelessons of the Holocaust and othergenocides. The slogan was used by liberated prisoners atBuchenwald concentration camp todenounce fascism. It was popularized byJewish Defense League founderMeir Kahane in his 1971 book,Never Again! A Program for Survival.
The exact meaning of the phrase is debated, including whether it should be used as a particularistic command to avert asecond Holocaust ofJews or whether it is a universalist injunction toprevent all forms of genocide.
The phrase is widely used by politicians and writers and it also appears on manyHolocaust memorials. It has also been utilized as a political slogan for other causes, from commemoration of the1976 Argentine coup, the promotion ofgun control orabortion rights, and as an injunction towar on terror after theSeptember 11 attacks.
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The slogan "Never again shallMasada fall!" is believed to be derived from a 1927epic poem,Masada, byYitzhak Lamdan.[2][3] The poem is about thesiege of Masada, in which theSicarii held out against Roman armies and, according to legend, committedmass suicide rather than be captured. InZionism, anembellished version of the story of Masada became anational myth and was lauded as an example of Jewish heroism. Considered one of the most significant examples of earlyYishuv literature,Masada achieved massive popularity among Zionists in theland of Israel and in theJewish diaspora. TheMasada myth became a part of the official Hebrew curriculum and the slogan became an unofficialnational motto.[4] Inpostwar Israel, the behavior of Jews during the Holocaust was unfavorably contrasted with the behavior of the defenders of Masada:[2][3] the former were denigrated for having gone "like sheep to the slaughter" while the latter were praised for their heroic and resolute fight.[5]
Between 1941 and 1945,Nazi Germany and its allies murdered about six million Jews in agenocide, which has become known asthe Holocaust.[6] The Nazi attempt to implement theirfinal solution to theJewish question took place duringWorld War II in Europe. The first use of the phrase "never again" in the context of the Holocaust was in April 1945, when newly liberated survivors atBuchenwald concentration camp displayed it in various languages on handmade signs.[7][8]Cultural studies scholarsDiana I. Popescu and Tanja Schult write that there was initially a distinction betweenpolitical prisoners, who invoked "never again" as part of their fight againstfascism, and Jewish survivors, whose imperative was to "never forget" their murdered relatives and destroyed communities. They write that the distinction has been blurred in the subsequent decades as the Holocaust was universalised.[8] According to theUnited Nations, theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948 because "the international community vowed never again to allow" the atrocities of World War II, and theGenocide Convention was adopted the same year.[9][10] Eric Sundquist notes that "thefounding of Israel was predicated on the injunction to remember a history of destruction—the destruction of twoTemples, exile andpogroms, and the Holocaust—and to ensure that such events will never happen again".[2] The slogan "never again" was used on Israelikibbutzim by the end of the 1940s, and was used in the Swedish documentaryMein Kampf in 1961.[11]
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According to Hans Kellner, "Unpacking the semantic contents of 'Never Again' would be an enormous task. Suffice it to say that this phrase, despite its non-imperative form as a speech act, orders someone to resolve that something shall not happen for a second time. The someone, in the first instance, is a Jew; the something is usually called the Holocaust."[12] Kellner suggests that it is related to the "biblical imperative of memory" (zakhor), inDeuteronomy 5:15, "And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm." (In the Bible, this refers to remembering and keepingShabbat).[12] It is also closely related to the biblical command inExodus 23:9: "You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt."[13]
The initial meaning of the phrase, used byAbba Kovner and other Holocaust survivors, was particular to the Jewish community, but the phrase's meaning was later broadened to other genocides.[13] It is still a matter of debate whether "Never again" refers primarily to Jews ("Never again can we allow Jews to be victims of another Holocaust") or whether it has a universal meaning ("Never again shall the world allow genocide to take place anywhere against any group"). However, most politicians use it in the latter sense.[7] The phrase is used commonly in postwarGerman politics, but it has different meanings. According to one interpretation, because Nazism was a synthesis of preexisting aspects of German political thought and an extreme form ofethnic nationalism, all forms ofGerman nationalism should be rejected. Other politicians argue that the Nazis "misused" appeals to patriotism and that a new German identity should be built.[14]
Writing about the phrase, Ellen Posman observed: "A past though often recent humiliation, and an emphasis on former victimhood, can lead to a communal desire for a show of strength that can easily turn violent."[15]Meir Kahane, a far-right rabbi, and hisJewish Defense League made use of the phrase. To Kahane and his followers, "Never again" referred specifically to the Jews and its imperative to fight antisemitism was a call to arms that justifiedterrorism against perceived enemies.[11][3][16] The Jewish Defense League song included the passage "To our slaughtered brethren and lonely widows: / Never again will our people's blood be shed by water, / Never again will such things be heard inJudea." After Kahane's death in 1990,Sholom Comay, president of theAmerican Jewish Committee, said "Despite our considerable differences, Meir Kahane must always be remembered for the slogan 'Never Again,' which for so many became the battle cry of post-Holocaust Jewry."[11]
According to Aaron Dorfman, "Since the Holocaust, the Jewish community's attitude towardpreventing genocide has been summed up in the moral philosophy of 'Never Again'",[13] meaning that the Jews would not allow themselves to be victimized.[17] The phrase has been used in many official commemorations and appears on manyHolocaust memorials andmuseums,[8][2] including memorials atTreblinka extermination camp[2] andDachau concentration camp,[18] as well as in commemoration of theRwandan genocide.[19] It is widely used by Holocaust survivors, politicians, writers, and other commentators, who invoke it for a variety of purposes.[7][19]
For an increasing number of critics, the phrase has become empty and overused[8] as genocides continue to occur, and condemnation of genocide tends to only occur after it is already over.[7] Several commentators, includingAdama Dieng, have noted that genocide has continued to occur, not never again but "time and again" or "again and again" after World War II.[9][20][21][19][7][17] Some have even termed the end ofmass atrocity crimes an unrealistic goal given the limitations of the international order.[22] Multiple United States presidents, includingJimmy Carter in 1979,Ronald Reagan in 1984,George H. W. Bush in 1991,Bill Clinton in 1993, andBarack Obama in 2011, have promised that the Holocaust would not happen again, and that action would be forthcoming to stop genocide.[19][9][11] However, genocide occurred during their presidencies:Cambodia in Carter's case,Anfal genocide during Reagan's presidency,Bosnia for Bush and Clinton,Rwanda under Clinton, andYazidi for Obama.[23][9] Elie Wiesel wrote that if "never again" were upheld "there would be no Cambodia, and no Rwanda and noDarfur and no Bosnia."[24] Totten argued that the phrase would only recover itsgravitas if "no one but those who are truly serious about preventing another Holocaust" invoked it.[7]
In 2020, several critics of the Chinese government used the phrase to refer to the perceived lack of international reaction to thepersecution of Uyghurs in China.[25][26][27][28] On 1 March 2022, after theBabi Yar Holocaust Memorial Center was hit by Russian missiles and shells during thebattle of Kyiv, Ukraine's PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy argued that "never again" means not being silent aboutRussia's aggression.[29]
TheEuropean Union was founded with the goal ofanathemizing war on the European continent.[30] According to political scientists C. Nicolai L. Gellwitzki and Anne-Marie Houde, the European Union serves a role as a "sacred political myth" for Germany, upholding a "utopian vision of the possibility of atonement and redemption" and providing an identity unencumbered by the Nazi past.[31] The phrase "Never again," integral to Germany's post-Holocaust identity, sparked debate during theGaza war. Intellectuals, including members of theFrankfurt School ofneo-Marxist critical theory, disagreed over its scope. Some argued it should warn against potential genocides globally, includingin Gaza. Conversely,Jürgen Habermas and co-authors emphasized its primary role in protecting Jewish life and Israel, deeming comparisons of Israel's actions to genocide as inappropriate.[32]
In 2025,A. Dirk Moses,Nils Gilman, andZachariah Mampilly published an article arguing that "the imperative of 'never again' that lies at the center of global Holocaust memory culture has become a template for geopolitical entrepreneurs"—spearheaded by Israel and Rwanda—"to challenge the injunction against violent territorial expansion", which they undertook under the guise of preventing atrocities. They cite Russia'saccusations of genocide against Ukraine cited to justify its2022 invasion as an example of how this argument has spread internationally.[33] While according toOmer Bartov, Israelis afflicted with the "never again syndrome" see all threats and opposition as a sign of asecond Holocaust which in turn justifies "again and again" oppression towards Palestinians.[34]
In September 2025,Holocaust Museum LA shared a post in its Instagram page saying "Never again can’t only mean never again for Jews". The Instagram message was initially praised online, with some interpreting it as an acknowledgement ofGaza genocide, but also faced intense criticism from pro-Israel activists. The post was later taken down and replaced by a statement that stated it had been misinterpreted. The museum quickly faced criticism online after journalistRyan Grim reposted a screenshot of the message that had been deleted, writing: "Speechless. No words for this."[35]
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The rationale of "never again" also fueled the formation oftruth commissions in Latin America in the aftermath of military coups,dictatorship, andpolitical violence, in the intent that memory would prevent a reoccurrence. TheArgentine truth commission and its 1984 report entitledNunca más were a model for similar efforts elsewhere.[36] The sloganNunca más is still used in annual commemorations of the1976 Argentine coup.[37][38] In Brazil, "never again" has been used as a motif by groups that opposed theBrazilian military dictatorship since the 1980s, starting with the bookBrazil: Never Again,[39] the human rights organisationTorture Never Again,[40] and themonument of the same name.[41]
In the Philippines, "never again" has been used as a rallying cry for the commemoration and remembrance ofmartial law underFerdinand Marcos,[42][43] and is usually chanted alongside the phrase "never forget" on occasions such as the annual commemorations of thedeclaration of martial law on September 21,[44] and on the anniversary of thePeople Power Revolution on February 25,[45] which is apublic holiday in the country.
"Never again" has also been used in commemoration ofJapanese American internment and theChinese Exclusion Act.[11]
After theSeptember 11 attacks, PresidentGeorge W. Bush declared that terrorism would be allowed to triumph "never again". He referenced the phrase when defending the trial of non-citizens inmilitary courts for terrorism-related offenses andmass surveillance policies adopted by his administration. Bush commented, "Foreign terrorists and agents mustnever again be allowed to use our freedoms against us." His words echoed a speech thathis father had given after winning theGulf War: "never again be held hostage to the darker side of human nature".[46]
The phrase has been used by political advocacy groupsNever Again Action, which opposesimmigration detention in the United States, and byNever Again MSD, a group that campaigns against gun violence in the wake of theStoneman Douglas shooting.[11][47]
Never again is also used inclimate activism to compare the inaction of governments to the rise of Nazism to their lack of action in reducinggreenhouse gas emissions.[48]
The twentieth century has been called "The Age of Genocide." In the aftermath of the Holocaust, the slogan "never again" was coined; yet since 1945 we have seen the mass slaughter of Bengalis, Cambodians, Rwandans, Bosnians, Kosovars, and Darfuris, to name only a few.
