Several months ago, I held a meeting to begin planning for the annual Yom HaShoah Commemoration hosted by our Federation and the Holocaust Resource Center of Kean University. We discussed a lot; much of which I cannot recall right now and much of which seems as if we were speaking in another lifetime compared to where we are today. Details such as who will light each candle and the order in which we will have speakers seem irrelevant right now due to our current circumstances.
But something from that night continues to resonate and keeps repeating over in my mind. We settled on a general theme that evening for the commemoration - 75 Years Later: We Remember. And now, as I reflect for this blog on the COVID-19 pandemic, I have been thinking a great deal about what I would have said at that commemoration that would have taken place on Monday night. And although I would hope my remarks would have been meaningful, there is simply no way for me to begin to comprehend what my message would have been.
Thinking about the “We Remember” theme now, I am consistently drawn to the why? Why do we remember? We remember so that the memory of those 6 million Jewish lives and 5 million other lives are never forgotten. We remember because those that survived had the courage to move forward and build lives and families and generations to come. We remember so that we are grateful to have the ability practice our religion freely. And we remember so that we work towards a world in which there is no more genocide or tyranny.
These are the same reasons I constantly impart on students and educators as we continue to teach the stories and lessons of the Holocaust. Yet these memories become more acute given the extraordinary times we’re living in again today. Although not nearly the same as 75 years ago, this is a time in which we are all struggling to maintain our personalities, lives, realities of the past and hopes toward the future.
After I spoke with a cherished friend, a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor, the day before the first night of Passover, I added a new reason to why we remember. As a 9-year-old boy, he was sent on a Kindertransport out of Berlin – separated from his parents, brother, extended family, and friends. He had to learn to survive on his own in France, and this escape provided only two years of relative safety before the Nazis invaded France. Fortunately, the boy survived with the help of many others and ultimately reunited with his brother.
Despite the hardships he endured, this boy went on to receive a wonderful education, build a remarkable career, and create a beautiful family with his wife who is also a Holocaust survivor. He has taught countless schoolchildren and adults about the Holocaust and what he went through as a child and, in doing so, has made an undeniable mark on the world.
Although the circumstances are quite different now, this 91-year-old man again finds himself hiding in his home to avoid danger. But our conversation was not about what he had previously lost or what he was missing now. Instead, we laughed as I sent him different images from the Internet for a shank bone to print out to place on his Seder plate.
As I hung up the phone, I smiled through a few tears. This is why we remember now. We remember because a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor, who was born in a world without cell phones, computers, printers, and the internet, survived despite all odds and grew up to be a Jewish adult. And although he cannot leave his house right now, he was able to find a shank bone online, print it out so that his Seder plate was complete, and celebrate the freedom of the Jewish people once again.