In “The end of Holocaust remembrance’’ (Ideas, May 1), Jeff Jacoby made reference to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ “Holocaust on Your Plate’’ campaign, but he got our message wrong.

Our goal was to illustrate, through shockingly similar photographs, that subjugation and violence are still meted out to mass numbers of victims, sentient individuals who love their families and don’t want to die scared and in pain.

PETA’s project was funded by a Jewish philanthropist who agrees, as many of us do, with the words of Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer: “In relation to [animals], all people are Nazis; for [them] it is an eternal Treblinka.’’

The mentality that allows us to separate ourselves from others is the mentality that has historically allowed us to witness suffering without intervening, with justifications of “They’re just Jews,’’ or “They’re just women,’’ or “They’re just animals.’’ The mentality stays the same — only the victims change.

If we accept the idea that certain groups can be exempted from consideration and empathy, we are doomed to repeat the crimes of the past.

Melissa Karpel

Philanthropic specialist

The PETA Foundation

Norfolk, Va.