Yom Hashoah
How can one, in today’s world, make the Shoa relevant to the youth?
This is not an easy task. Today it looks like so many years ago and almost unbelievable. Who of our generation can imagine the horrors that occurred back then? Who would think it might happen again?
As educators, learning and teaching about the Shoa is a very hard task we face: how to make it real? How can we not sound and look boring and repetitive? Teaching the Shoa in an informal way is what we try to face during a long summer camp, two weeks time, for 15 years old. What do we do with younger kids in a one off try?
Other challenges we face include, for example, the necessity to use testimonials. Not in many years time we will not have any survivals left alive; but even so, today already it is not easy to the youth to just listen to those who are almost from another universe.
And another issue: how important is the linkage between the Shoa and the state of Israel? Is it so clear? Shall we insist to create the link? And not only that: assuming nationalism was one of the reasons that led the Germans into the impossible situation of murdering a nation – how can we use nationalism in its Zionist form (and we can of course debate this point as well) as an answer?
Another issue was brought up more then once, and it appeared to deal with terminology. But behind the words one can find the idea: was the Jewish Holocaust the only Shoa, while other nations’ tragedies were “just” genocide? Is there really a difference?
In Israel, a journalist wrote a few days ago about the way Jews keep the memory of the Shoa as a Jewish thing. According to this guy, we in Israel especially can’t see the wider lesson that humanity need to learn: the never again, but for all people and not only for us Jews.
In this short letter I want to refer to current affairs regarding the survivors of the Shoa living in Israel. About 80,000-shoa survivors are, according to officials, “poor people”. It means they can’t buy medicines or even live in a decent way. In Israel two important reporters decided to go deep into this matter. They have made a special Docu-Drama show that was broadcasted on the Eve of Yom Hashoa. They have found the situation of the survivors in Israel to be horrifically bad.
They went to visit few houses were they have found survivors by themselves, old and ill, barely able to keep themselves alive. As for example they went to visit Ester Frank, a survivor of Auschwitz (http://www.auschwitz.org.pl/html/eng/start/index.php) and Theresienstadt. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentration_camp_Theresienstadt)
She lives in a flat, which is falling apart and she is almost 100% deaf, but with no money for a hearing aid to help her. Also her eyesight is not great but she cannot buy new glasses because she has no money for that. All she receives is 3000 shek’s from the state. Considering the amount of money she needs to pay for medicine this is absolutely nothing. A week after the interview with her a burglar robbed her and took 87 shekels off her wallet.
When the treasurer office in Israel was asked about the matter, there was no comment even after tens of phone calls. Another survivor, Elizabeth Drogezki, gets 1700 shekels a month and again she can’t even buy basic medicine she needs. Lately few Mk’s have tried to change this situation and you are more then welcome to sign a petition calling the state of Israel not to forget those who managed to make it through the worst ever horror.
Petition:
http://www.kavud.info/index.php#sign
For more info:
http://b.walla.co.il/?w=/3050/1091875
www.haaretz.com
When reading that one must ask – have we really learned any lesson?
For comments and ideas:
Yahal@habodror.org.uk
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