Martyrdom & resistance, January/February 2019

MERICAN SOCIETY FOR YAD VASHEM Vol. 45-No. 3 ISSN 0892-1 571 January/February 201 9-Shevat/Adar 5779 HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY: NEVER FORGET DEMAND AND DEFEND YOUR HUMAN RIGHTS BY JILL GOLTZER Every year, on January 27th, the international community marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This day, designated by the United Nations in 2005, marks the lib¬ eration of the Auschwitz- Birkenau extermination camp by the Red Army. The largest and perhaps most famous of the camps, Auschwitz- Birkenau was both a labor camp and a center for the rapid murder of Jews. Over 1.1 million Jews were mur¬ dered in this hell on earth. Our Young Leadership Associates were honored to attend the official Holocaust remembrance ceremony at the United Nations headquar¬ ters on Monday, January 28th. Our members were welcomed as guests of the office of Ambassador Danny Danon, Israel’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. We had a delegation of eighteen members attend the ceremony, including three senior board members (Adina Burian, Barry Levine, and Mark Moskowitz) and YLA Co- Chair Rachel Shnay. The ceremony was hosted by Ms. Alison Smale, UN Under-Secretary- General for Global Communications, and included remarks by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, H.E. Ms. Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces (president of the 73rd session of the General Assembly), H.E. Mr. Danny Danon, H.E. Mr. Jonathan R. Cohen (Charge d’Affaires, United Stations Mission to the UN), and Ambassador Sandro De Bernardin (Chair, International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance). The keynote speaker was Ms. Sara J. Bloomfield, director of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. In addition to the distinguished diplomats and figures mentioned, we had the privilege of hearing remarks from Holocaust sur¬ vivors Marian Turski and Inge Auerbacher. he theme of this year’s Holocaust remembrance and education activities is “Holocaust Remembrance: Demand and Defend Your Human Rights.” The theme high¬ lights the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The UDHR was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948. Eleanor Roosevelt, widow of American President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was chair of the drafting committee. The Declaration was created in response to the world’s outrage at the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust; its purpose was to prevent such atrocities from ever happening again. However, as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres mentioned in his remarks, we have seen countless incidents of per¬ secution against groups simply because of who they are. Numerous genocides have taken place since the adoption of the Declaration. It is clear that we not only can do more, but we also must do more. In the UN Secretary-General’s remarks, Mr. Antonio Guterres focused on the proliferation of neo- Nazi groups and the frightening rise in anti-Semitic incidents worldwide. “From a deadly assault on a syna¬ gogue in the United States to the des¬ ecration of Jewish cemeteries in Europe, this centuries-old hatred is not only still strong — it is getting worse.” The “proliferation of neo-Nazi groups and attempts to rewrite history and distort the facts of the Holocaust” makes it ever more clear that we must continue to educate our youth and stand together in the con¬ tinuous fight against hatred and discrimination. Everyone, not only Jews, should be wary of such trends. “Inevitably, where there is anti-Semitism, no one else is safe” (Antonio Guterres). Before the ceremony con¬ cluded, cantor Benny Rogosnitzky of the Park East Synagogue in NYC recited the memorial prayers, and the PS 22 Chorus, directed by Gregg Breinberg, performed two musical numbers. One of the songs the chorus performed was titled “Who Am I” and was written by Holocaust survivor Inge Auerbacher. ollowing the ceremony, our delegation attended the opening of “Beyond Duty: Diplomats Recognized as Righteous Among the Nations,” an exhibition curated by Yad Vashem and spon¬ sored by the Permanent Missions of Israel, Peru, and Portugal to the United Nations. The exhibit highlights the unique stories of diplomats recog¬ nized by Yad Vashem for choosing to act according to their conscience rather than simply follow orders. Individuals such as Raoul Wallenberg from Sweden and Aristides de Sousa Mendes from Portugal risked their lives to help Jews by providing them with passports, visas and travel per¬ mits.. Sousa Mendes famously stat¬ ed, “1 would rather stand with G-d against man than with man against G-d/'Such courage and unwavering commitment to humanity is responsi¬ ble for saving the lives of thousands of Jews. IN THIS ISSUE International Holocaust Remembrance Day. . 1, 8-9 Inside the real story behind Schindler’s list . . 2 Rescuing the Jews of Denmark . . 3 A survivor’s duty . . 4 Opening Italy’s “closet of shame” . j . 7 A toy monkey that escaped Nazi Germany . J . 10 How tiny Ecuador had a huge impact on Jews escaping the Holocaust.. 12 Jewish woman recalls the day she gave Hitler flowers . 13 Nelly Ben-Or risked all to play the piano . L . 14 The Jewish women who fled tyranny to become angels of the NHS . 15 Representatives of the American Society for Yad Vashem Jill Goltzer, Mark Moskowitz, Goldie Hertz, Adina Burian, Barry Levine and Rachel Shnay at the UN event dedicated to the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. New York, January 27.