My employer, IBM Israel, started today a special series for employees, retirees and family members about The Holocaust. The series, in conjunction with Yad Vasehm, Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, includes several aspects of The Holocaust. Today was the first lecture, about Holocaust Denial, which recently jumped to the headlines, after Iran’s Holocaust Denial Conference, held in December 2006.
During the lecture we saw actual footage of film that was taken during WW2, by a German Navy soldier, and 3 other movies (other than Schindler’s List) that elaborates the Hell people suffered some 60 years ago. We also saw a piece by ’60 Minutes’ from the 90’s about Holocaust Denial, and the lies they spread where ever they went.
I am almost 29 now, both my parents were born and raised in Israel, but both my grandparents are survivors of that awful event. I heard stories, saw movies, read books and visited Poland in high-school. For me, as a Jew, it’s part of my legacy, my past, my present and my future.
I am not pretending to know all there is about The Holocaust, that’s why Yad Vashem was established. But I know the hard facts, and if someone would ask me I know what to answer.
If you are Jewish, Yad Vashem is a must see in your to-do list. More so if you live in Israel – the new Yad Vashem Museum is stunning and you’ll need more than a day to see everything. But the main exhibit can be walked through in 3 hours, with or without a guide, and it will leave you searching for words, to express what you saw.
In honor of the 6 million who lost their lives, so we can live our own, freely.