I turn my eyes to the mountains
From where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
Maker of heaven and earth.
The theme of this event is "Remember, Honor, and Teach." Author Michael Bart, son of Holocaust survivors, opened and closed this year's program. One of the primary objectives of this annual tradition in the Jewish community is to give younger generations personal contact with survivors and their riveting personal stories.
The event opened with a U.S. Marine Color Guard and our national anthem, in deference to the American troops who liberated the concentration camps at the end of World War II. Afterwards, all Holocaust survivors present were asked to stand to be recognized; a few dozen elderly people--fragile, well-dressed women and men with heads bent under their prayer caps--stood quietly during the audience's heartfelt applause. A candle lighting ceremony followed, in which two survivors from each concentration camp were called forward to light a votive flame in memory of their fellow Jews who had died in that camp.
A final candle was lighted by a guest in memory of all the non-Jewish people who perished during the Holocaust.
When two young people took the stage to speak, I was intrigued to learn more about "The March of the Living," a two-week journey to Poland each year, during which high school juniors and seniors from over 40 countries commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day by traveling between the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps. The audience was treated to a trailer of an upcoming film, (linked here), working title "We Must Remember," that recounts the pilgrimage of a group of young people in the recent past. It is not clear how many, if any, of the sixteen youngsters participating in the movie are Jewish--they are classmates in a broadcasting course at their high school--and that fact is all to the good. It is an important lesson for every young person to learn that we are all vulnerable to evil's grip.
There were readings and prayers in closing the commemorative ceremonies, including a recitation of Kaddish, the Hebrew prayer in honor of the dead. I was gratified to be present, and, as a Christian, to come to a greater understanding and appreciation of the forceful imprint the Holocaust has seared into the soul and psyche of the Jewish people.
I do have a fair amount of education about the Holocaust. However, reading about the Holocaust is one thing; seeing movies on the subject is another. But listening to those who endured and survived by God's grace, triumphing over staggering odds and incomprehensible suffering, to continue their faith, families, and traditions in a new country, is quite a different experience. I will remember.
