Jewish Mythbusters: Yom HaShoah is Exclusive to Jews

Weren't the severely disabled eliminated even before the Communists?  In any event, that target should be included among the others you've listed, as it's in their case that the value difference is so great -- we think "Kol ham'kayyem nefesh ahat" applies to them also.

Were ONE THIRD of Europe's Jews STILL ALIVE after the Holocaust? WHAT BALONEY. That sounds way too high. Yes, the Holocaust killed one-third of the Jews alive in the entire WORLD. Let's not get confused with these difficult fractional numbers. We may have to do long division next. Check your facts. It's your piece.

The Holocaust killed most of Europe's Jews. Leaving only tiny percentages of their pre-war numbers. The Jews who were not killed were NOT IN EUROPE. Since you are writing the piece, you check the facts. This is an important mistake, not a quibble. It completely changes the picture of what happened from very dark grey to utter black and yes that matters.

Nobody is minimizing other people's suffering and death. I knew a professor once who complained that his son had been in a concentration camp and "he wasn't even a Jew". Take that any way you want. I did not like it. It seemed natural to the professor that a Jew would be in there, and a lot less natural for someone else. A sort of horrible mistake. But it was his SON, so his natural feeling bought him an excuse from me. And he was a nice man and a good professor. But I remember that remark, so many years later.

 

 

it affects everyone, whether they are Jewish or not. enough said.

Tamar -thank you for a very thoughtful post. Anonymous -before lashing at writers for not checking their sources, you might want to check yours. "Before the Nazi takeover of power in 1933, Europe had a vibrant and mature Jewish culture. By 1945, most European Jews--two out of every three--had been killed." (Source: http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005687 see also http://www1.yadvashem.org/Odot/prog/index_before_change_table.asp?gate=5-4) This is still *most* of the Jewish population in Europe at the time. Furthermore, Tamar wasn't accusing anyone of "minimizing other people's suffering and death": in a time particularly set aside for remembrance, she is contributing to the memory of all the victims of the Shoah. I really don't see anything polemical about this.

There is difference between Yom HaShoah, and International Holocaust memorial day. The latter is about the Holocaust, and the former is an ISRAELI commemoration. Not surprising that commemoration then focuses on the Jewish aspect....

Yom HaShoah is a Jewish holy day to commemorate the portion of the Holocaust that transformed the Jewish world. I agree that Jews and non-Jews alike need to be more clear about this period of history in which MANY groups of people were brutally murdered and tortured, but I also believe that Jews should have a day-- such as Yom HaShoah-- to remember and to educate regarding the Jews of the Holocaust, specifically. It's perfectly acceptable to do this, and it does not imply that the Holocaust only affected the Jewish People. It's only one day, and it's ours.

Cori C

http://cori-c.blogspot.com

coriac@gmail.com

You're shedding a tear because Communists were killed during the Holocaust? Are you kidding?

 http://meetdavidblack.blogspot.com 

To find historically accurate information about non-Jews targeted by the Nazis check out www.ushmm.org - the holocaust encyclopedia. Many of the new records obtained (International Tracing Service Archive) have information about non-Jews. 

Yom Hashoah (Funny how the name of the day is in Hebrew, isn't it?) was chosen by the Israeli government to commemorate the slaughter of Jews during the Holocaust. The rest of the world have chosen another day. It's nice to give a thought to others, but that's not the purpose of the day.

Once again, it would help if you actually did research, and actually thought about something as simple as the origins of the holiday before posting.

  "But the five million others who died deserve more than lip service, more than a footnote." Right, they deserve their own memorial day- which they have- International Holocaust Remembrance Day!

Jewcy readers deserve writers who research and think before posting. But I'm not holding my breath.

I know that Yom HaShoah was chosen by the israeli government, but I'm not Israeli, I don't live in Israel, and yet I still attend Holocaust RemembranceDay events every year.  Of course I think it's of great importance to give honor and respect to the six million Jews who died at the hands of the Nazis.  But there's no reason that has to be done without acknowledging the other groups who suffered.  As for International Holocaust Remembrance Day--I've lived in four countries on three continents, and I've never heard of anyone marking that day.  I'm sure people do, but Yom HaShoah is, as far as I can tell, the day used for Holocaust Memorials all over the world.

I am appalled at those that pretend to fault Tamar for not doing her research -obviously those commenters are the ones whose research is inexistent. The inclusion of non-Jews in the Yom HaShoah commemorations can be polemical (see e.g.: http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Modern_Holidays/Yom_Hashoah/Greenberg_Observances.htm); however to my knowledge there is no special provision restricting the commemoration to Jewish victims of the Shoah in the Israeli law (since that's what some of you are using as a reference, apparently) establishing this commemoration -please correct me if I'm wrong. Tamar's post seemed to me to be eminently non-controversial: she even wrote "It’s natural that we should focus on the community that is closest to us, and that we would fixate on our own families and the stories of those we are familiar with." This post seemed to me to be a decent memorial -I am quite shocked that the comments have defaced it.

This is another one of those ridiculous ploys to promote multiculturalism and decentralize Jewish identity and nationalist pride because of how the world liberal elite views Israel and its on-going war with radical Islam. We aren't being allowed to make the single most horrific event in our recent history to be ours alone. Yet, there are enough guilt ridden and hand wringing Jews among us that let it happen. 

Celebrate Qaqba 

 

 Lets celebrate Qaqba, a uniquely Palestinian cultural festival. There can be parades of children dressed as suicide bombers, a 72 virgin beauty contest, sale of "pet rocks" to throw at Israeli motorists, and inspirational videos featuring the lynch of Israeli soldiers and the Park Hotel bombing

NAPHTALI LAU-LAVIE
The last Jews of Buchenwald were lined up at the gate of the camp on April 10, 1945 - I among them. We were to be marched off to our final destination. In the skies above, American bombers searched for targets. The nearby V-II rocket plants, which had produced missiles that killed so many in Britain, had already been destroyed, taking the lives of our comrades enslaved as laborers there.

There remained one last target - for the SS guards still standing atop the watchtowers and along the electrified barbed-wire fences: the surviving Jews of Buchenwald.

That night we were kept in the central square, from which those who came before us had been taken to their bitter end. Many collapsed and died that night. Those who could stand on their feet, as well as those who were lying on the frozen ground still breathing, no longer believed in miracles.

But about an hour before noon, the unbelievable happened. A gray-green jeep smashed through the gate and stopped in the center of the square.

Suddenly we saw the Messiah before our eyes. Three American soldiers - I remember one was African American - stood there in olive-green uniforms we had never seen before. We burst into applause; they stared at us, the doomed who had escaped the gallows by seconds, those of us whose luck and strength had held out. We could celebrate a "second birthday."

AS I REFLECT on our liberation all these years later, I think about the terms "Holocaust" and "genocide." Yes, there is bloodshed all over the world; it has existed since Cain murdered Abel. People, nations, tribes kill each other because of the unharnessed ambitions of rulers, because of unbridled instincts, border disputes and religious fanaticism.

All these crimes have their names, but the terms "Holocaust" and "genocide," in the sense of the industrial-scale and systematic destruction of an entire people, are specific, unfortunately, to us, the Jews.

RECENTLY, WHILE searching in the Yad Vashem archives, I came across the testimony of a survivor from Treblinka, who later immigrated to Chicago. This is what he wrote:

"On the 9th day of the month Heshvan, 5703, came the turn of our city. 'Jews, find shelter. Hide yourselves and do not go like lambs to the slaughter,' the rabbi of our city addressed his people.

"He himself, the rabbi and leader of the community, went out to the square - umschlagsplatz - with a small Torah scroll in his arm. The people asked him, 'Rabbi, why don't you hide?' He answered that he would not abandon his people on their last journey and would go with them wherever they would go."

The survivor's account went on: "In the early morning we arrived at Treblinka on the transport from our ghetto. On the ramp the selection process had begun. Together with a group of youngsters, I was taken from the crowd and pushed aside. We stood and watched the groups being led in the direction of the gas chambers.

"Suddenly, we heard the familiar, strong voice of our rabbi. He was standing in the midst of the Jews of his community reciting the confessional viduy prayer said when Jews know they are about to be martyred. The rabbi said a verse, and his "congregation" repeated it after him, verse by verse."

THIS HAPPENED on the 11th day of the Hebrew month of Mar Heshvan, 5703, corresponding to October 21, 1942. The Jews described were from the city of Piotrkow in Poland, and the rabbi referred to was my father. My father's life was taken at Treblinka after he said the viduy.

He was a special man. At our last meeting, as I was taking my leave of him, he told me: "Gather strength and be strong, and God will watch over you."

As we were standing on the doorstep, he recited from Jeremiah 16:6-7: "Both the great and the small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried; neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them; neither shall men break bread for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother."

Then he stopped for a while, looked straight into my eyes, and continued, again from Jeremiah, 13:16: "And there is hope for thy future, saith the Lord, And thy children shall return to their own border."

Next he addressed me directly: "If you manage to get out of here, go and return to the Land from which we were expelled, because only there will the Jewish people be itself and become strong enough to prevent such tragedies."

THE PEOPLE of Israel returned to their land and regained independence. Yet it is not enough to be politically independent. In order to eliminate the poison of anti-Semitism which continues to pursue us, we have to be strong. We should learn a lesson from our tragic past and try to convey that message to others, who must know that the hatred of Jews knows no bounds.

Today - Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day, corresponding to the the 27th of Nisan - we bow our heads in respect for the victims whose lives were taken.

This day is linked with Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel's Wars - Remembrance Day for the IDF soldiers, underground fighters and members of the security services who gave their lives for the establishment of a Jewish state and for its defense. Remembrance Day precedes Independence Day - which is no coincidence. There can be no independence without sacrifice.

The generation of the survivors is now old. This period of commemoration also, in a sense, expresses the transition from our generation of destruction to the new one of revival, so as to fulfill the prophecy of Jeremiah: "And there is hope for thy future, saith the Lord, and thy children shall return to their own border."

We are often told, mostly by anti-Israel propagandists that
Zionists' attitude toward the indigenous Arab population in
Palestine was laden with ignorance, naivete, denial, arrogance,
abuse and outright oppression.

The slogans "Land without a people to people without land" and
"Palestinians? Who?", continue to be quoted today by enemies of
coexistence as a proof of Zionism's ingrained and irredeemable
disrespect for Arabs, both as people and as a nation.

This is sheer nonsense. On Israel's 60th birthday,
it is time we set the record straight.

My "History of Zionism" bookshelf is loaded with books and
pamphlets, apparently unavailable in English, which document a
history of understanding, respect and persistent attempts at
reaching mutual recognition. Here are a few illuminating glimpses.

In November 1930, about a year after the Arab riots that led to the
Hebron massacre, David Ben Gurion delivered a keynote speech "The
Foreign Policy of the Hebrew Nation" at the First Congress of Hebrew
Workers, later published in his first book "Anachnu U'Shcheneinu,
(We and Our Neighbors) Tel Aviv, 1931.

On page 257 of that book, we find the following: "There is in the
world a principle called "the right for self determination." We have
always and everywhere been its worshipers and champions. We have
defended that right for every nation, every part of a nation, and
every collective of people.

"There is no doubt whatsoever that the Arab people in Erets Israel
has this right. And this right is not limited by or conditional upon
the result of its influence on us and our interests. We ought not to
diminish the Arabs' freedom for self determination for fear that it
would present difficulties to our own mission.

"The entire moral core encapsulated in the Zionist idea is the
notion that a nation -- every nation -- is its own purpose and not a
tool for the purposes of other nations. And in the same way that we
want the Jewish people to be its own master, capable of determining
its historical destiny without being dependent on the will -- even
good will -- of other nations, so too we must seek for the Arabs."
(My translation -JP)

Naivete, denial or disrespect? HARDLY. We rarely hear such bold
speeches from the Israeli left today.

This article is by no means an isolated document of Zionism's
consistent commitment to co-existence and reconciliation. On page 13
of that same book, Ben Gurion advances the theory (first published
in 1917) that the Palestinians are none others but our lost brethren
- descendants of Jews who remained in Eretz Israel after the Roman
expulsion and forcefully converted to Islam after the Muslim
conquest (638 CE).

Zev Jabotinsky, Ben Gurion's main rival and by far the most radical
Zionist leader of the time, expressed essentially the same respect
for Arab nationalism, and further explained, and identified with
Arab's fears of reciprocating (See his book Medina Ivrit, Tel Aviv,
1937, pages 71-79)

In this historical week of Israel's 60th birthday, it is most
fitting that we remind ourselves of the principles of reciprocity
and mutual respect on which the state of Israel was founded.

May those principles light our path today, and may they tame,
however lightly, our colleagues' calls for Israel's demise.

According to Microsoft Outlook, Yom Hashoah is an Israeli holiday. And we all know Microsoft rules.

Seriously, it is not surprising that an Israeli holiday adopted by the Knesset would focus on Jewish victims.