Yom HaShoah

Blog Journal Project- Entry 2

"Yom HaShoah"

Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, takes place every year on the 27th of Nissan. Woops, that was the Hebrew calendar. Because the Hebrew calendar and the Gregorian calendar are very different, Yom HaShoah falls on a different day every year. It can be as early as the first week of April or as late as the first week of May. Today, April 19th, 2012, is the 27th of Nissan in the year 5772. It is not recognized in the United States except some of the Jewish population. Being an active member of a Jewish youth organization, my Facebook timeline was filled with people making statuses about Yom HaShoah, never forgetting, and honoring those who died. But, I kept wondering, is this really sufficient? Is a Facebook status going to make the world suddenly think hard and long about the horrors of the Holocaust? As it certainly doesn't hurt the cause, it is just not enough.

For summer break, I took a family trip to Israel. I already wrote an actual narrative on my trip, so I will not go into immense detail. While in Jerusalem for five days, we visited Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust Memorial Museum. In Hebrew, Yad Vashem means "a place and a name". In the museum, I felt a great whirlwind of emotion come over me. I was standing in a building commemorating the dead, in a country that was founded for those fleeing Europe after the Holocaust. It is too powerful of a feeling not to comment on. Because the tour company only gave us one hour in the museum, we all walked out sad, but frustrated because we did not have time to finish. A lovely old woman on my trip turned to my dad and I (the history nerds of the family), and said, "Go to the one in Washington DC. It might not be Israel, but the museum is just as spectacular." So, guess where I went for Spring Break 2012? That old lady was so right; I should thank her. This museum was amazing and will leave a monumental impact on my life. I can not wait for the day that I can bring my children there.

My favorite way that the Holocaust is commemorated is not visiting museums, making Facebook statuses, or writing a silly blog post on it (No offense). Every Yom HaShoah, Israel honors the dead in the most meaningful way. I will briefly summarize (see video below). People are having a normal day. Then, a siren goes off around the country. From the bustling streets of Tel Aviv to the Western Wall of Jerusalem, it is heard. Everyone stops what they are doing. The siren goes off for two minutes. In that two minutes, nobody moves or says a word. After the siren stops, everyone goes back to their normal day. Just think: over 7 million people have stopped. How can this even slightly compare to a simple Facebook status? The answer is: it can't. We all need to be made aware of the horrors of the Holocaust. It is time that those who deny this complete annihilation of a human race are told how wrong they are. The Jewish people are not the only ones who suffered through this genocide:  the mentally ill and handicapped, the Gypsies, the Poles, and those who could not stand up for themselves were a part of this horrible and disgusting crime against humanity and deserve to be recognized. I cried watching this video, and I hope that I can be in Israel for this day before my life is over. My dad said it the best: "The Yom HaShoah siren is the one thing left that bonds every Israeli." 

“Only guard yourself and guard your soul carefully. Lest you forget the things your eyes saw. And lest these things depart your heart all the days of your life. And you will make them known to your children and to your children’s children.”

Deuteronomy 4:9

(a quote posted in the Memorial Hall at the Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC)