Daniel Pearl and Yom HaShoah

Yesterday was Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Read the moving message of American Jewish Committee Executive Director David A. Harris.

In the Jewish tradition, we are commanded to remember (zachor) and not to forget (lo tishkach). On April 15, we commemorate Yom HaShoah, the Day of Holocaust Remembrance. On this solemn occasion, 62 years after the end of World War II:

We remember the six million Jewish martyrs, including 1.5 million children, who were exterminated in the Holocaust.

We remember the entirely new alphabet created by the Nazis for the Final Solution — from the letter “A” for Auschwitz to the letter “Z” for Zyklon-B.

We remember not only the tragic deaths of the six million Jews, but also their vibrant lives—as shopkeepers and craftsmen, scientists and authors, teachers and students, parents and children, husbands and wives.

We remember the richly hued and ancient Jewish civilizations that were destroyed—from Salonika, Greece to Vilna, Lithuania.

We remember the slippery slope that began with the rantings of an obscure Austrian-born anti-Semite named Adolf Hitler and led, in the course of less than 15 years, to his absolute control over Germany.

We remember the fertile soil of European anti-Semitism—cultivated over centuries by cultural, political, and religious voices—that created an all-too-receptive climate for the Nazi objective of eliminating the Jewish people.

We remember the courage of Denmark, as well as Albania, Bulgaria, and Finland, for their extraordinary efforts to protect their own Jewish communities.

We remember the courage of thousands of Righteous Persons — whom we call, in Hebrew, hasidei umot ha’olam — who risked their own lives that others might live.

We remember the millions of non-Jews — Poles and Russians, Roma and the disabled, political opponents and homosexuals — murdered under the relentless Nazi onslaught.

We remember the valiant soldiers of the Allied nations who, at such great human cost, vanquished the Third Reich.

We remember the survivors of the death camps, who endured such unimaginable suffering and who have inspired us all with their indomitable courage, spirit, and will to live.

We remember the absence of an Israel in those war-time years, an Israel which, had it existed, would have provided a haven when so shamefully few countries were willing to accept Jewish refugees.

We shall never forget those who perished.

We shall never forget those who saved even a single life. As it is written in the Talmud: “He who saves one life has saved the world.”

We shall never forget the importance of speaking out against intolerance, whenever and wherever it occurs.

We shall never forget the inextricable link among democracy, the rule of law, and protection of human rights.

We shall never forget the age-old prophetic vision of a world of justice, harmony, and peace.

And we shall never forget that each of us, in ways large and small, can help bring us closer to the realization of that prophetic vision.

Read how the solemn day was observed in Israel.

Throughout every Israel city, town, Moshav and Kibbutz, thousands attended Holocaust memorial services this evening. Under a dark blanket of stars and an early Spring chill, men, women and children sat silently on white plastic chairs to "bear witness" to the murdering of over 6 million Jews.

The Israel government, in cooperation with the Israel Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem stated that the central theme for this year’s Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day would be Bearing Witness. The Official Opening Ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day took place at 20:00, at the Warsaw Ghetto Square, Yad Vashem, Har Hazikaron in Jerusalem.

Israel’s Acting President Dalia Itzik and Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert addressed the participants. Avner Shalev, Yad Vashem Chairman, kindled the Memorial Torch. Joseph (Tommy) Lapid, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council, spoke on behalf of the survivors. He said simply, “I was there.”


Pointing out that the "People of Israel are One," he added, “All of us were there. All of us were in the Holocaust,” and he warned that anti-Semitism is rampant in Europe, Japan and Muslim nations. He also exhorted the Jewish nation not to "sit with hands folded” while other people, such as those in Darfur, are being threatened with mass extermination.

During the ceremony in Jerusalem, six torches were lit by Holocaust survivors. The first torch was lit by Zanne Farbstein; the second torch by Mordechai (Motke) Wiesel, the third torch lit by Yaacov (Jacki) Handeli, the fourth torch lit by David Gur; the fifth torch by Miriam (Manya) Brodeski-Titelman and the sixth torch was lit by Ya’akov Janek Hollaender. During the ceremony, short videos of the torchlighters’ testimonies were shown.

Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that Israel celebrates its 59th independence day next week.

"The renewal of the Jewish people, its shaking off the ashes of the Holocaust for a new life and national rebirth in its historic birthplace, is the pinnacle of its victory," he said.

Read an account from the Associated Press here.

Sirens sounded across Israel on Monday morning, bringing life to a standstill as millions of Israelis observed a moment of silence to honor the memory of the victims of the Holocaust.

The two-minute siren at 10 a.m. is an annual tradition marking Israel's Holocaust remembrance day, which began Sunday evening and ends at sundown Monday. Pedestrians froze in their tracks, buses stopped on busy streets, and cars on major highways pulled over as the country paused to pay respect to the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis.

All day, television stations devoted their broadcasts to historical documentaries and movies, and radio stations played somber music and interviews with survivors.

The resounding message is that the Holocaust isn't just a horrific event slipping into the recesses of history.

Sadly, the sort of hatred that resulted in the slaughter of six million Jews was not extinguished when the death camps were liberated and World War II ended.

In Florida, Daniel Pearl was remembered along with victims of the Holocaust.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- Daniel Pearl was added to the 30,000 names etched on the Holocaust Memorial Wall here on Sunday to honor the American journalist who was abducted and killed by terrorists in 2002.

Although Pearl's death and the Jews of the Holocaust were executed by people of different faith, language and agendas, there is a common thread of hatred, his father Judea Pearl told a crowd of hundreds as his son's name was unveiled as the first non-Holocaust victim to be remembered at the wall in Miami Beach.

"The forces of barbarity and evil are still active in our world. The Holocaust didn't finish in 1945," Judea Pearl said.

It's fitting that Pearl's name would be included on the Holocaust Memorial Wall, among the victims from generations ago.

Hitler didn't order Pearl's death, but his ideological descendants did.

9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed claimed that he personally beheaded Pearl.

One doesn't have to go back 60 years to find instances of incomprehensible barbarity.

Yom HaShoah serves as a poignant reminder that the evil that gave birth to the Holocaust is present today. It's thriving.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is persistent in his threats against Israel.

Among his countless statements threatening Israel:

"Some 60 years have passed since the end of World War II. Why should the people of Germany and Palestine pay now for a war in which the current generation was not involved?"

"We say that this fake regime (Israel) cannot not logically continue to live."

Such madness isn't just coming from extremists like Ahmadinejad. Even former President Jimmy Carter sympathizes with terrorists that target Jews.

Evil most certainly exists, and so does bravery and conviction.

Daniel Pearl's last words were, "I am Jewish."