Martyrdom & Resistance, May/June 2004

ID Transcript mare3005_01 "Vol. 30-NO.5 ISSN 0892-1571 May/June 2004-Iyar/Sivan 5764 YOM HASHOAH V'HAGVURAH: REMEMBRANCE WORLDWIDE ISRAEL REMEMBERS: THE LESSONS OF 1944, 2004 Using 1944 as a motif, Israel marked Yom Hashoah V'Hagvurah, 2004-5764 to eternalize the Six Million, designating the theme as ""Unto the Last Jew—Until the Last Name."" The theme spotlighted was the continuing effort to document each individual victim of the Nazi extermination of Jews, under the slogan, ""unto the last Jew, until the last name."" Just as Nazi ideology sought to destroy the last Jew, the effort must continue to document the names of those who were killed. In the coming year, Yad Vashem's registry of Holocaust victims, containing some three million names, will be posted on its Internet site. Remarks were focused on 1944, 60 years ago, when the Nazis redoubled their efforts ""to reach every last Jew before the war ended. They were in a rush; time was running out. The poignant central observance was at Yad Vashem, Israel's Remembrance Authority. The ceremony was held in the presence of Israeli President Moshe Katsav, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon; and Prof. Szewach Weiss who lit the flame of remembrance. All speakers stressed the importance of remembering, the need for Israel to be strong and for the Jewish people to be united so that the Holocaust is not repeated. Six torchlighters, now living in Israel, were born in five different countries: Esther Eisen, Lodz, Poland; Vera Miriam Dotan, Ujpest, Hungary; Yehuda Feigin, Kovno, Lithuania; Stella Franco, (Continued on page 8) As the number of survivors dwindles and as the years recede from the Holocaust, it has become more imperative for creative approaches to remembrance that will involve the younger generation, especially those who have little familial ties to those tragic years. Indeed, programs were highly successful in enlisting survivors as principal survivors. And very visible again this year was the leadership and direction provided by the second and third generations in planning and chairing the programs. The concern for more intensive preparations for Yom Hashoah was voiced by Joe Berkofsky in an article for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. He related the observance at Beth Haverim in Mahwah, NJ. According to Rabbi Joel Mosbacher, ""There is a sense that first-hand witnesses to the Shoah are fewer and fewer every year, and it becomes important that we find new ways to remember."" At Beth Haverim, Jeff Mardner, a Las Vegas keyboardist, premiered new music for the occasion. Ceremonies took on additional dimensions this year reflecting contemporary developments: anti- Semitism worldwide and the war in Iraq. In the spirit of creative planning, names of Holocaust victims with ties to the community were read; videos of survivors and liberators' accounts were shown; Shoah Seders were conducted; prayer books were read, among them the new Megillat Hashoah of the Conservative movement. Programs and observanc es were held 27 Nisan, Saturday evening, April 17, and Sunday, April 18. Record numbers of observances were reported, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. For the first time, all 50 states held official ceremonies. State capitals, municipal offices, and military bases were settings for programs across the country. A multitude of themes was in view: the courage of those who resisted the Nazis and their collaborators; the martyrdom of the 1.5 million Jewish children; the Vatican and the Holocaust; the heroism of the Righteous Among The Nations; the pursuit of justice against Nazi war criminals; the continued vigilance against anti-Semitism worldwide; the distribution of restitution payments to survivors and their heirs, and appropriate organizations. Ceremonies in Washington at the Capitol Rotunda featured the lighting of a six-branched candelabra, a processional by a U.S. Army band with flags of the 36 divisions that liberated the death camps. ""In our struggle for a better world,"" said Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, ""our memories are among our most powerful resources."" Other speakers were Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel and Daniel Ayalon, Israel's Ambassador to the United States. The 61st anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto (Continued on page 4) Yom Hashoah V'Hagvurah in Israel .... .1, 8 Yom Hashoah V'Hagvurah in America/Worldwide .......... .1, 4,16 Book Reviews 2, 3,15 Survivors' Corner 5 American Society News .............6-7 Annual Tribute Dinner Announcement .... .7 News from Yad Vashem 8-9 Campus and Classroom .10 The Swiss Settlement by Eli Zborowski 13 At the official ceremony at Yad Vashem for Yom Hashoah, participants included (left to right): Prof. Szewach Weiss, Chairman, Yad Vashem Council; Avner Shalev, Chairman, Yad Vashem Directorate; Mrs. Katsav; Israeli President Moshe Katsav; and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. k "