Yom Hashoah: Holocaust Remembrance Day

This week, I attended a memorial service at my temple. The evening recognized the estimated 6 million victims of the Holocaust and was one of countless events across the globe marking Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance.

My mom and dad were both survivors of the Concentration Camps. When I was 22 months old, they immigrated to the United States. My father died when I was six years old. And when my mom remarried, Arnold became my father. Like my parents, he too was liberated from the Nazi prison camps.

Monday’s service was filled with elderly men and women. Their stories are becoming increasingly important to record as the generation of Holocaust survivors grows older and older.

My dad, my mother-in-law, and I attended the service that was an important reminder—we can never forget this tragic event in our human history.

One elderly man sang “Raisins and Almonds,” a Jewish lullaby that brought me back to my childhood. I recall my own mother singing me the bedtime song. The man’s voice was remarkable considering his age.

As a child in the prison camps, he would stand on a table and sing to the prison guards. His voice is what fed and saved him during his imprisonment—Nazi’s would reward his performances with an apple or a piece of bread.

I was also reminded of the power of hate. I was not a victim myself, but the Holocaust stories are closely linked to my life. Yom Hashoah brings to attention the most horrific acts that we can commit against one another. And it calls us to answer the question, “How can we stop history from repeating itself?”

I was also reminded of why I love this country. It is the Promised Land for my parents—a far away place from the continent that held the ashes of their parents, family, and friends. It's the only place I’ve called home, and one that my parents quickly accepted as theirs. The US has fulfilled my mom and dad’s every dream.

I think of the snowball effect that culminated in Hitler's Final Solution. His movement started out small and spread like fire. It was fueled by economic hardship, hate, fear, and ignorance. The result was a political system that sought to annihilate everyone other than the Aryan race.

Yom Hashoah is a time of remembrance. We can honor those who were killed before they could ever fulfill their life's hopes and dreams. We are called to reflect on this chapter in history and recognize how countering poverty, promoting education, and teaching acceptance of other's differences are key to ensuring that this will never happen again.

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