Monday, April 20, 2009

Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today is what we know as Yom HaShoah, the Holocaust Remembrance Day. Now, 64 years later, there are still people who deny the facts of the Holocaust. They deny 6 million murdered people. To at least diminish the number of those people, we have to remember, and we have to keep teaching our children that it is a fact that millions of people were killed for no reason. They should never be forgotten!

In Israel, sirens announce the two minutes of complete silence, when life stops and everyone remembers the people who lost their lives.



The song for this video, Ani Ma'amin, was sung by the Miami Boys Choir (very talented!). Many Jews sang this song while being herded into the gas chambers.

The lyrics are:
Ani ma'amin beemuna shlemah
B'viat hamashiach
V'af al pi sheyitmameha
Im kol zeh achake lo
B'chol yom sheyavo

The translation:
I believe with a complete belief
In the coming of the Messiah
And even though he may tarry
I will wait for him, whenever he comes

Here's a second, short video with more shocking pictures:


By the way, Zyklon B, the gas that was used in the gas chambers to kill the Jews (a canister is shown in the video above) was invented by the IG Farben, a German company that owned the building in which I am studying now.
To remember the Holocaust and the history of the building there are plates with the history and evidence all over the building both in German and English.
(The link above - the building - leads you to the wikipedia page for the building and its history.)

2 comments:

Anna said...

Thanks for this post. It's so important that we remember. I can't believe there are still deniers out there, but it doesn't surprise me. We need to remember and hope that we've learned something so it never happens again. Serena and posted about Holocaust Remembrance Day on War Through the Generations--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric

Unknown said...

No need to thank me, Anna!
I have to say I'm always shocked when I hear about people denying the Shoah or people who actually say it was a good thing. I mean, who would actually think something like that?
I will go right away and check out the link you added.