Martyrdom & resistance, January/February 2021

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR YAD VASHEM Vol. 47-No. 3 ISSN 0892-1571 January/February 2021-Shevat/Adar 5781 THE PATH OF MEMORY AND TRIBUTE: FROM VICTIMS TO HEROES On November 1 , 2005, the United Na¬ tions General Assembly established Resolution 60/7 and designated January 27 as an annual Interna¬ tional Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust and in honor of the lib¬ eration of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp, by the Soviet Army. This day is observed with ceremonies and activi¬ ties at United Nations headquarters in New York and at United Nations offices around the world. Since its inception, this day has in¬ spired educational programs globally. We are the last generation to have the privilege of learning about the Holocaust from survivors and liberators. As the distance from the events of the Holocaust increases, the obligation for an international day of remem¬ brance is more relevant than ever before. With the inauguration of January 27 as Inter¬ national Holocaust Remembrance Day, Holo¬ caust commemoration and remembrance extend beyond the Jewish community to the global community. It is encouraging that this global initiative continues to impact students, educators and communities around the world. This continuity secures Holocaust re¬ membrance, education and memory. We also note that on April 27, 1951, the Israeli Knesset designated the 27th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan as the national day for remembering and commemorating the Holocaust. This date was named Yom Hashoah veHagvurah, Day of Martyrdom, Heroism and Bravery, to emphasize the brav¬ ery of that period and not just the destruction. It is important to realize that the rationale of choosing these two dates (January 27 and the 27th of Nissan), and of what they com¬ memorate, underscores the importance of re¬ membering the two starkly different yet equally important components of the Holo¬ caust. We remember those who were killed, but we also remember the heroic acts taken by the victims at that time, and the heroism of rescuers and liberators. This distinction is captured by the recent array of programs presented by Marlene W. Yahalom, PhD, director of education at the American Soci¬ ety for Yad Vashem. Through these programs we remember and honor those who liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp; the victims of the Holocaust; and the res¬ cuers who helped save Jewish lives during this horrific period in Jewish and world history. Dr. Yahalom was invited to present profes¬ sional development opportunities to raise aware¬ ness about the Holocaust to students and educators on the West Coast, in the tri-state area and in South Florida. In connection with Interna¬ tional Holocaust Remembrance Day, students and educators learned about the path of creating Holocaust commemoration — from the early ef¬ forts by the Israeli Rabbinate in 1949 identifying Asara B’Tevet as a day to memorialize Holocaust victims, to the Knesset designating Yom Hashoah veHagvurah in 1951 , and to the United Nations establishing January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2005. The impact of these days combined encapsu¬ lates the journey of Holocaust remembrance over the years. We recite the traditional Kaddish for Holocaust victims, we honor the brav¬ ery and heroism of Holocaust victims, and we pay tribute to the rescuers and liberators. Holocaust commemoration has evolved from victimhood to brav¬ ery, heroism and survival. he American Society for Yad Vashem continues to offer virtual programs and online student-centered teaching strategies to meet the chang¬ ing landscape of classroom learning without compromising our outreach, impact and content. Through Dr. Ya- halom’s presentations of traveling ex¬ hibits developed by Yad Vashem, students and communities nationwide learned about the victims (“No Child’s Play”), the perpetrators (“Architecture of Murder: the Auschwitz-Birkenau Blueprints”), and the rescuers (“Besa: A Code of Honor”). We succeeded in offering these exhibits to a range of audiences this past month alone: 274 students, 78 educators, and audi¬ ences of no fewer than 370 during our community events. Participants in these virtual pro¬ grams have offered valuable feed¬ back indicating the strong impact of these resources and presentations. The feedback we received included comments indicating that “this pro¬ gram was informative about a story that is not well known. I found it to be powerful and moving. Thank you for sharing this experience of the Muslim Albanians who saved Jews during the darkest hours of hu¬ manity”; "... this exhibit taught me about the ex¬ perience of children and how brave they were during such hard times”; and “I never realized how evil can be so horrible to disregard all human emotion and carry out such unprece¬ dented crimes against the Jews.” (Continued on page 2) In the Camps As soon as they rose to power in 1933, the Nazis established concentration camps to incarcerate and abuse thousands of “undesirables”, including many Jews. During World War П, many additional camps - concentration, labor, and transit - were set up throughout Europe. These camps housed hundreds of thousands of prisoners, many of whom were murdered. In the labor camps, many hundreds of thousands of Jews and non-Jews were put to hard labor. Transit camps, such as Westerbork and Drancy, were provisional collection points for Jews slated for deportation to extermination camps. left: Toward the end of the war. , Gun camp 10 Chateau Fleuri. a i to the Cnnade organization. The doll Geiti belonged to Ёув Modvil of St. GyOrgy. Transylvania. Geri accompanied Ёуа to the Tokmc and Kislarcia camps in Hungary, where she was interned with her mother during the war The doll was £m4 best friend, and the only witness to the family before the war. as well as the hard tit Ёуа immigrated to pre-state Israel in 1945. Goodbye, my doll Gertd! / am leaving you with a heavy heart. I don't know whether it is right for me to give you to a strange lady from Yad Vashem. You will continue your existence among the sad possessions and memories of people or children who are strangers to you... Maybe you’ll be able to tell the people of today, and particularly the children, what you saw and where you were with me - a sad story, but also a cheerful one. because / survived... Dear Gertd. you will be the last witness of a dreadful childhood. May no child anywhere go through anything like that again... Maybe some day I’ll come to visit you ; the only grave I have for my father and grandfather and grandmother is Yad Vashem. And perhaps my children and grandchildren will come, and then you won’t be alone there! Maybe you’ll meet toys and dolls who were in worse places, but survived all the My dear doll! Today you have become an inseparable part of my people, which has risen from fire and ashes like a phoenix. You will always be in my heart. Eva T Panel from the traveling exhibit “No Child’s Play.”