Jewish group launches Holocaust survivor speakers bureau to fight increasing antisemitism worldwide
More than 250 Holocaust survivors have joined an international initiative to share their stories of loss and survival with students around the world during a time of rising antisemitism following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.
Muslims and Jews in Bosnia observe Holocaust Remembrance Day and call for peace and dialogue
Jews and Muslims from Bosnia and abroad gathered in Srebrenica to jointly observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day and promote compassion and dialogue amid rising global sectarian hatred fueled by Israelโs war in Gaza.
Former Nazi guard, age 100, charged as accessory to murder
German prosecutors say they have charged a 100-year-old man with 3,518 counts of accessory to murder on allegations he served as an SS guard at the Nazis Sachsenhausen concentration camp on the outskirts of Berlin. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, file)BERLIN โ German prosecutors have charged a 100-year-old man with 3,518 counts of being an accessory to murder on allegations he served during World War II as a Nazi SS guard at a concentration camp on the outskirts of Berlin, authorities said Tuesday. In its early years, most prisoners were either political prisoners or criminal prisoners, but also included some Jehovahโs Witnesses and homosexuals. During the war, it was expanded to include Soviet prisoners of war โ who were shot by the thousands โ as well as others. Sachsenhausen was liberated in April 1945 by the Soviets, who turned it into a brutal camp of their own.
โDonโt repeat mistakesโ: Daughter of Holocaust survivor calls out hard truths on Remembrance Day
Einstein is a second-generation holocaust survivor and as part of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, she encourages people to not forget the past. โWe forget what happened in Rwanda, we forget what happened to the Armenians you know that wasnโt that long ago. Currently, there are more than 100 holocaust survivors right here in the River City. Jewish Family and Community Services is hosting free, live virtual tours of its Frisch Family Holocaust Memorial Gallery. For more information on the Frisch Family Holocaust Memorial Gallery and virtual tours, click here.
'We owe this to them': Shoah survivors in vaccine spotlight
โWe owe this to them,โ said Erika Jakubovits, who organized the capital vaccination drive for the Jewish Community of Vienna. In a similar project to that in Vienna, the Jewish community of Bratislava in Slovakia also vaccinated Holocaust survivors on Wednesday. Because Israel's vaccination campaign has moved so quickly, officials said there was no need to single out Holocaust survivors. Still, about 900 Holocaust survivors died of COVID-19 in Israel last year before vaccines were available and about 5,300 survivors were infected, according to Israel's national statistics office. With World War II having ended more than three-quarters of a century ago, the worldโs approximately 240,000 Holocaust survivors are all elderly.
Auschwitz survivors mark anniversary online amid pandemic
Most observances were held online, due to the coronavirus pandemic, and only few people attended the ceremony at the monument. In Israel, some 900 Holocaust survivors died from COVID-19 out of 5,300 who were infected last year. Israel, which counts 197,000 Holocaust survivors, officially marks its Holocaust remembrance day in the spring. Meanwhile, Luxembourg signed a deal agreeing to pay reparations and to restitute dormant bank accounts, insurance policies and looted art to Holocaust survivors. Of the 6 million Jewish victims, some 1.5 million were children, and this year's commemorations included a special focus on them.
Holocaust survivors honored with online event amid pandemic
An annual event bringing together Holocaust survivors from around the world to mark the start of Hanukkah was held online for the first time Sunday Dec. 13, 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)BERLIN โ An annual event bringing together Holocaust survivors from around the world to mark the start of Hanukkah was held online for the first time Sunday due to the coronavirus pandemic. The event organized by the Jewish Claims Conference also paid tribute to those killed by the Nazis and raised awareness of anti-Semitism. Among the survivors who spoke was Walter Breindel, who fled Austria at the age of four with his mother and brother. โHopefully next year it will not be a memory but we shall be together in reality,โ he said.