Tuesday marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which commemorates the liberation of Auschwitz.
Tulsa's Jewish community remains small but thriving, with two main synagogues and the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art (SMMJA), operated by the Jewish Federation of Tulsa.
Sofia Thornblad, SMMJA's chief curator and director of collections & Holocaust education, said the importance of learning about people murdered by the Nazis, including political enemies, intellectuals, LGBTQ+ people, and six million Jews is more relevant than ever.
"I think a lot of people have this assumption that antisemitism was a problem during the Holocaust and then it kind of went away," Thornblad said. "It unfortunately existed long before the Holocaust and has continued to exist long after."
Fear among Jewish communities has been rising amid more antisemitic incidents across the country and the world.
SMMJA works with schools in the Tulsa area to educate young people not only about what happened in the past, but recognizing patterns for the future.
"My hope, as a Holocaust educator, is that people will be, through learning about the Holocaust, be able to critically think about the world around them and be able to recognize warning signs of fascism," Thornblad said. "It's also a warning cry to humanity."
While the Jewish community in Tulsa has focused on local education, other major institutions have been outspoken about comparisons to Nazi atrocities and current events.
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial and Museum released a statement Monday criticizing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for comparing children dealing with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Anne Frank, who died in a Nazi concentration camp.
ICE has drawn many comparisons to the Nazis in public discourse to mixed reaction.
Some Jewish leaders, however, have made comparisons to Nazi Germany, like Rabbi Emma Kippley-Ogman, who was detained with other faith leaders in Minneapolis during a protest against ICE and later voiced her concerns in an op-ed.
Vocal critics of President Donald Trump's policies in Oklahoma have made similar comparisons, like former Tulsa Police Chief Drew Diamond, who remarked that "we're building concentration camps" during a town hall in August.
