Yom HaShoah v’Hageveruh: The Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and the Heroism was enacted by the Israeli Parliament in 1951 to honor the victims of the Shoah. Of equal importance, this Day of Remembrance honors the resistance — both active and passive — as Jews did resist their tormentors.
Whether it was the underground Jewish Combat Organization in the Warsaw ghetto or Mickey Kor’s mother draping a lace tablecloth over a crate to celebrate Shabbat in the Riga ghetto, Jews resisted the Nazis.
United Hebrew Congregation’s Yom HaShoah observance, held Sunday, April 23, in Temple Israel’s sanctuary, honored the 11 million victims of the Holocaust: the Jewish six million and the five million non-Jewish victims.
On the bima, 11 candles were kindled and remained burning throughout the program to recognize each group of victims. Eleven million men, women and children represented an inconceivable number of human beings murdered because they were deemed “life unworthy of life.”
Recognition for the righteous
The congregation also recognized those who chose to help when most turned away from their Jewish neighbors.
- American Unitarians Martha and Waitstill Sharp, under the direction of the American Unitarian Association’s Department of Social Relations, brought Jews trapped in Czechoslovakia to safety.
- The Quaker Hill Community in Richmond, Ind., welcomed Jewish refugees during the war.
- Terre Haute native Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Nehf rose above his required duty to rescue and befriend Mickey Kor.
- Salo Levite saved his family, including UHC congregant Louise Levite Sommers, by helping them leave Nazi Germany.
- UHC also recognized Father Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest who, while imprisoned in Auschwitz, took the place of a Polish man about to be executed. Father Kolbe willingly chose death by starvation in order to save a man with a family.
Genocide continues, but good people look to help
Now, in the 21st Century, genocide continues. Rather than “Never Again” we have “Ever Again.” Jews today feel a responsibility to call attention to current genocides.
UHC honored the work of Ms. Soulaf Abas, who uses her art to draw attention to the genocide in her home country of Syria.
We honored the Syrian Civil Defense, or White Helmets, who voluntarily rescue victims of bombings and chemical attacks in Syria.
STAND from South Vigo High School in Terre Haute presented their national organization’s genocide prevention work.
The young people of today are a great hope to make “Never Again” a reality.
The young people of today are a great hope to make “Never Again” a reality.
United Hebrew Congregation’s Yom HaShoah Observance was a UHC Board project financed by the Temple’s Tree of Life Fund and co-sponsored by CANDLES Holocaust Museum.
We thank those who participated and would like to give special thanks and recognition to soprano Tania Arazi Coambs, a cantorial soloist from Sinai Temple in Champaign, Ill. Ms. Azari Coambs’s soaring vocals added an element of profound beauty to meainingful songs in the Jewish faith tradition.
The interfaith community event demonstrated United Hebrew Congregation’s ability to bring diverse groups together in our sanctuary for significant programming. We intend to continue that effort.