On behalf of ARZA Australia I bring you a warm and meaningful message from the Chairman of the WZO remembering the Holocaust.
Helen Shardey
ARZA AUSTRALIA PRESIDENT
Office of the Chairman
Wed 27th January 2021
Dear friends,
Today the world marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It took over 60 years after World War II ended for the nations of the world to stop for a moment, remember and acknowledge the systematic genocide. Six million of our people were slaughtered just because they were Jews.
Countless words have been written about that dark period of history, but today I seek to look at it from a slightly different perspective. For me, this day is a day of unity. It is a day when our very strength and unity led the United Nations to recognize the importance of marking this date and commemorating the day of the liberation of the Auschwitz extermination camp.
A people, exiled from its land, persecuted and humiliated, is today here in its historic homeland, bowing its head in memory of all those who lost their lives and the future generations that could have existed. We are a nation that has risen to its feet and in uncompromising unity and today stands firmly against those who slander and incite against us and call for our destruction. One people, strong and united, stating together on this day “never again”.
On the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, I would like to share with you a song written by Prof. Zehavit Gross, head of the Sal Van Gelder Center for Holocaust Instruction & Research at Bar Ilan University.
Prof. Gross wrote the song about her father Zvi Brenner, a Holocaust survivor who for years was reluctant to share the story of his wartime experiences.
“For many years my late father was silent,” Prof. Gross said, “but when he started talking he told one story which was so difficult to listen to and comprehend. But I absorbed it and now I pass it on to you.” This is a story about evil, but also about the good that triumphed over the darkness. It is about a brother who showed compassion, responsibility and caring in an alienating and indifferent world. It is our responsibility to tell Zvi Brenner’s story and to share it with the entire world.
Click here for the song in English
Click here for the song in Yiddish
Click here for the song in Hebrew
Listen, remember, and commemorate. Never Again.
Yaakov Hagoel
Chairman of the World Zionist Organization