Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon: DOJ will confront rising antisemitism, preserve Holocaust memory

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, speaking at the 33rd Annual Federal Interagency Holocaust Remembrance Program, framed the Holocaust as a process of incremental exclusion and warned that antisemitism is resurging both in the United States and globally. Dhillon said the U.S. must confront that rise by enforcing constitutional and statutory protections and by prosecuting violent or harassing actors.

"We gather to remember the victims of this tragedy and to explore the lessons that the present generation can learn to ensure we keep the promise of never again," Dhillon said, calling attention to campus incidents and acts of violence she described as part of a broader pattern of social exclusion and online radicalization. She cited examples of students being blocked from campus spaces and said some campus groups were attempting to prohibit engagement with people who hold Zionist views.

Dhillon reminded the audience that the road to atrocities can be incremental: "Germany did not move overnight...rather, the road to Auschwitz was incremental and methodical," she said, invoking earlier judicial commentary to underline how educated elites can cloak discriminatory policy in legalistic language. She argued that early exclusion often precedes more violent outcomes.

On the role of the Department of Justice, Dhillon said the Civil Rights Division has prioritized fighting antisemitism. "Under this administration, the Department of Justice will confront anti‑Jewish bigotry and ensure peace and security for all people of faith," she said. "We will continue to aggressively prosecute individuals and organizations who attack Jews, and we will ensure that our institutions of higher learning treat students and faculty with the dignity to which they are entitled."

Her remarks were introduced by Dr. Ronald Piaseczny, chair of the Federal Interagency Holocaust Remembrance Committee, who opened the program by urging federal employees to translate memory into action.

The program continued with survivor testimony and departmental remarks; Dhillon’s address focused on legal enforcement and education as means to counter contemporary antisemitism.