The facts have been forgotten, cast aside as irrelevant.
The details were, for years, too horrendous for people to wrap their minds around them - unsure of which lessons could be relevant to them other than to evoke sorrow.
And now we live in a world where 1 in every 4 people do not know the Holocaust happened, or deny the historical truth for the sake of their excused Jewhatred.
Yom HaShoah is the Day of Remembrance for the Holocaust and Heroism as established by the State of Israel to honor the victims and survivors of the Nazi effort to exterminate Europe’s Jews. We celebrate the legacy of their lives in the shadow of death and its meaning for us and future generations
Noting Holocaust remembrance day so soon after October 7 is daunting - how far can one take the connection between the catastrophes that has befallen our people? How much can we draw conclusions from shared ideologies and the poison of Jewhatred that underlies each and every massacre of Jewish life?
The voice of the witness aids our understanding of the personal experience during the Holocaust. These poems can be used for individual or communal reflection programs, arts or discussion to accompany our various Holocaust remembrance effort.
This powerful resource reminds us of our role in carrying forward the memories we inherit, translating our pain into a purpose that lights our future. This resource can be used in any setting, with any group of those interested in exploring the voices of suffering, despair, and the fight for hope.
When we approach the topic of Holocaust remembrance, we always hear the same phrases: “Never Forget”; “Never Again”. But are we keeping those promises? Elie Wiesel's speech for the first International Holocaust Remembrance program at the General Assembly of the United Nations January, 2005 remains as relevant today as ever. We must all bear witness.
Just as we have buried victims of hate crimes, we are once again bestowed with an opportunity to gather and remember those who perished in the Holocaust.
Dr. Elana Heideman discusses the trend of reframing the Holocaust as a collective human experience with universal implications that, unfortunately, casts aside the identity and memory of the Jews for whom the machine of murder was created.
The lessons of the Holocaust have become public property, with an emphasis on universalization that often results in the erasing of the unique experience of Jews. Awareness about the Holocaust has begun to fade, diminished under the passage of time as well as the weight of Holocaust distortions, inappropriate comparisons, Holocaust “fatigue,” and, most recently, the return of traditional anti-Jewish tropes that disregard the significance of the Holocaust. Dr. Elana Heideman, Executive Director of The Israel Forever Foundation, explores the misappropriation of Holocaust history and imagery and discusses what we can do to change the current trends.
The Holocaust is discussed and commemorated in memorial days and yet knowledge is fading. How do we pass on understanding of the Holocaust, its meaning and lessons after there are no more survivors left to teach us? Dr Elana Heideman provides questions that, if answered, will help each of us attain deeper knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust
