WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS- Press Release 13 April 2020
Holocaust Survivors’ Resilience, Strength Commemorated Through Videos Available Online for Yom Hashoah
World Jewish Congress curates survivor testimony, educational films to remember 75 years since the end of the Holocaust |
NEW YORK – With the postponement of international events to mark 75 years since the liberation of the Nazi death and concentration camps and the cancelation of Holocaust commemorations, the World Jewish Congress has produced a selection of videos and films to help people across the globe observe Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, online from the safety of their homes. The compilation is part of AboutHolocaust.org, a site WJC created in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to provide young people with basic facts about the Holocaust. “Yom Hashoah is the day set aside on the Jewish calendar to remember and mourn the six million Jewish lives that were destroyed in the Holocaust, to honor the bravery and resilience of those who survived, and to ensure that the terrors of the past do not become the future,” said Ronald S. Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress. “In this time of isolation, it is especially imperative that we come together to share the stories of Holocaust survivors and to further disseminate Holocaust education to ensure that never again really means never again.” The World Jewish Congress had planned to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen in Germany by bringing over 50 of the more than 2,000 children who were born in the adjacent Bergen-Belsen Displaced Persons camp back to their birthplace. With the postponement of this initiative, the WJC produced an original video about Bergen-Belsen before and after its liberation and the unique identity of the children born in the DP camp’s Glyn Hughes Hospital. Additional videos the WJC has made available include the final testimony of Auschwitz-Birkenau survivor Rachmil (Ralph) Hakman, who died in March after joining the WJC in Poland in January for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau; the 75th anniversary address by WJC President Ronald S. Lauder at the Death Gate of Birkenau on January 27; a CBS Sunday Morning feature about the significance of the Auschwitz site to its survivors, and the ongoing effort to preserve it and its artifacts; an HBO film about a 10-year-old boy learning his family’s history through conversations with his great-grandfather; and a WJC-produced video featuring photographs of daughters of Auschwitz survivors taken by Israeli photographer Debbie Morag. The WJC’s resources are available to Jewish communities, congregations, schools, youth groups, community centers, and the general public. The WJC’s Yom Hashoah materials include:
About the World Jewish Congress The World Jewish Congress (WJC) is the international organization representing Jewish communities in 100 countries to governments, parliaments and international organizations. |