Martyrdom and Resistance, January/February 2015

ID Transcript mare4103_01 "AMERICAN OK UBR 06 N UM P MARY Vol. 41-No. 3 ISSN 0892-1571 January/February 2015-Shevat/Adar 5775 REMEMBERING HOLOCAUST VICTIMS On January 28, 2015, the United Nations held an event marking the tenth anniversary of the Internationai Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, as well as the 70th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, at the UN General Assembly. Avner Shalev, chairman of Yad Vashem, delivered the keynote address ""Liberty, Life and the Legacy of the Survivors,"" via video. Among those who offered remarks were UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Israel's President Reuven Rivlin, Holocaust survivor Yona Laks, and other dignitaries. Grammy award-winning violinist Miri Ben-Ari also performed. A new Yad Vashem traveling exhibition, ""Shoah — How Was It Humanly Possible?"" opened in the UN Visitors Lobby on January 28, 2015. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the president of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, delivered remarks at the opening ceremony as well as statements by Ron Prosor, permanent representative of Israel to the United Nations, and Leonard Wilf, chairman of the American Society for Yad Vashem. Created with the generous support of Cindy and Gerald Barad, the exhibition uses texts, images and video clips to recount a comprehensive history of the Holocaust from 1933 to 1945. The event was held in cooperation with the American Society for Yad Vashem and the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations. The international community has not yet found the antidote to the poison that led to genocide 70 years ago, United Nations Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon said, marking the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust by calling strongly for the world to work together to stamp out all forms of bigotry, hatred and extremism. ""As we remember what was lost in the past, and as we recognize the perils of the present, we know what we must do — and we know we must do it together,"" said Mr. Ban in opening remarks to the UN General Assembly's annual commemoration of the Day. Joining the Secretary-General at the event were, among other speakers, Reuven Rivlin, President of Israel, and Denis Antoine, Vice-President of the General Assembly, as well as Holocaust survivors and World War II veterans. Maher Nasser, the acting UN Under-Secretary-General for Public Information, presided over the event. The International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust is marked every year on 27 January, the date on which Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated in 1945. This year's observance, on the theme ""Liberty, Life and the Legacy of the Holocaust Survivors,"" The president of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, delivers his coincides with two milestone events: the 70th anniversary of the Second World War's end and the founding of the UN. Recalling his visit to the Auschwitz- Birkenau camp in November 2013, Mr. Ban said: ""I saw the full machinery of murder: the railway platform where IN THIS ISSUE Remembering Holocaust victims 2-3,14 Saving children: Diary of a Buchenwald survivor and rescuer. 4 The Swedes who told the world about the Holocaust ........5 Diaries reveal Jewish suffering during Holocaust in Hungary..... 6 Hitler's henchmen in Arabia 7 Photohighlights from the Holocaust Remembrance event at UN 8-9 ""Do not lose hope"" 10 The Jew who got a job offer from the Nazis 11 Nazi diary depicts brutal tactics employed against Lodz Jews 13 Films shine new light on darkness of Holocaust 1 speech at the UN. the infamous selections were made; the barracks that held Jews, Roma, Sinti, non-Jewish Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, dissidents, disabled persons and homosexuals; and finally the ovens where human beings were turned to ashes. H|was especially moved by the I displays of photographs and films of European Jewish life before tyranny took hold — family meals, weddings and other rituals, performances by the singers and actors who enlivened the cities in which they lived. We can still feel the pain of all that was lost and destroyed in a frenzy of cruelty,"" the Secretary-General added. The images of emaciated camp survivors and piles of dead bodies were prominent in the minds of those who gathered to establish the United Nations, Mr. Ban continued. A determination to uphold human dignity was written into the Organization's founding Charter 70 years ago — and has defined the UN's work ever since. But there is still a long way to go. The struggle for justice and tolerance faces widespread challenges. ""Anti-Semitism remains a violent reality; Jews continue to be killed solely because they are Jews. Extremism and dehumanization are present across the world, exploited through social media and abetted by sensationalist press coverage. The targets are as diverse as humankind itself,"" the Secretary-General said. In Europe and elsewhere, Muslims are under attack, the victims of bigotry at the hands of political opportunists and ultra-nationalists. Vulnerable populations everywhere bury their dead and live in fear of further violence. ""I take heart from counter-demonstrations, rallies and interfaith dialogue. We must all remain on our guard. We must uphold human rights, democratic freedoms and our responsibility to protect people at risk. And we must respond to terrorism and provocation in ways that resolve — instead of multiply — the problem,"" he underscored. In his address, Reuven Rivlin, president of Israel, recalled the ""brutal,"" ""perverted"" extermination of Jews during the Holocaust ""in the most horrifying crime ever committed in the history of the human race."" The United Nations rose on the ruins of the Second World War, he said, stressing that the International Day was not just a gesture because the pledge ""Never again"" was ""the very essence of the UN,"" and the principle and primary reason for its existence. However, since the UN was found- (Continued on page 2) "