Monday, April 8th marked Yom HaShoah, the national day of Holocaust remembrance observed on the 27th day of Nisan.  On Tuesday, April 9th the Embassy of Israel brought young professionals from the Washington, D.C. area together to remember.  As part of the ceremony Lt. Col. Dado Barklalifa of the Israel Defense Forces sang the mournful notes of El Male Rachamim, a funeral prayer sung by Ashkenazi Jews, followed by "Undzer shtetl brent" or "Our Town is Burning," performed by Tal Ben-Yoav and Oren Shriki.  Deputy Head of Mission Amb. Barukh Binah shared insightful words touching on how far Israel has come since the Holocaust and the importance of using our memory of the Holocaust in assisting countries where there is similar persecution today. 

 

The evening was highlighted by Mr. David Bayer, a survivor of the Holocaust, who graciously shared his story with the audience.  Mr. Bayer was only 16 years of age when the Germans came to his Polish town of Kozienice.  He was able to survive ghettos, work assignments, Treblinka, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and a death march before escaping and being liberated by fRussian soldiers.  Now in his 90’s Mr. Bayer reminded us of the unthinkable horrors the victims of the Holocaust endured.  He still volunteers on Wednesdays at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum where he shares his story with thousands of visitors.

 

We were also joined by Sharon Shoham of 3GDC, an organization of third generation survivors, who spoke about the importance of continuing on her grandparents legacy, as well as Heidi Daroff of the Israel Forever Foundation who shared a poem by Hannah Senesh, “To Seek a Human.”  The evening was capped off by Rabbi Shira Stutman who shared her inspirational message about the word "Zachor," or "remember so that.”  This beautiful message was a wonderful way to conclude the event leaving the audience with the message that we must remember the Holocaust so that an atrocity like this never happens again.