The day was inaugurated in 1951. In the Jewish calendar the day begins in the evening and ends in the following evening. In Israel Yom HaShoah opens at sundown, the national flag is lowered to half staff, the President and the Prime Minister deliver speeches, and Holocaust survivors light six torches symbolizing the approximately six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust and the Chief Rabbis recite prayers.
At 10:00 am on Yom HaShoah, sirens are sounded throughout Israel for two minutes. During this time, people cease from action and stand at attention; cars stop, even on the highways; and the whole country comes to a standstill as people pay silent tribute to the dead.
On Yom HaShoah ceremonies and services are held at schools, military bases and in other public and community organizations.
On the eve of Yom HaShoah and the day itself, places of public entertainment are closed by law. Israeli television airs Holocaust documentaries and Holocaust-related talk shows, and low-key songs are played on the radio.
I can't even begin to imagine what it was like to be Jewish during WWII. While it has been over 60 years since the Holocaust, it is still very real to those that survived. To those of us that weren't alive for it, it seems like ancient history.
I have seen a couple of movies that include the Holocaust, and I read a wonderful book, Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. It was one of those books I couldn't put down. I had no idea how Paris was involved in the Holocaust.
Please, take a few minutes to learn a little more about the Holocaust. I first learned about it in History class in school. Six million Jews were murdered, entire families were decimated, all because of their faith. Along with the European Jewish people, other groups including ethnic Poles, Romani, Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, people with disabilities, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other political and religious opponents were murdered. By this definition, the total number of Holocaust victims would be between 11 million and 17 million people. Hitler believed that, in regards to Applied to human beings, "survival of the fittest" was interpreted as requiring racial purity and killing off "life unworthy of life."
What is interesting is that there is a debate as to whether or not Adolf Hitler himself was Jewish. It is believed that he himself had feared that he had Jewish ancestry and showed an extreme hatred toward the Jewish people so no one would doubt his ancestry as German.
Could something like the Holocaust happen today?
4 comments:
Our neighbor is a Holocaust survivor. She was a child and I'm told that her blood type is tattooed on her arm and she would have had to "donate" her blood to a German soldier had they needed it. So very sad. It makes her cry to tell us about it - but I think the stories have to be told so we don't let it happen again.
I have never met anyone that survived the Holocaust. What a treasure to have someone living nearby. I agree, the stories need to be told because there are some that say the Holocaust never happened!
I didn't know that a Holocaust remembrance day existed. I've seen one movie on the Holocaust, but thinking about it makes me cry. I know the stories NEED to be told, but I don't want to hear them. It makes me sick to think about the terrible things that were done to innocent people, and especially children. But I think it's wonderful that so many nations pay tribute to these slaughtered people, who are no doubt with Heavenly Father now.
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