Woodside_park Synagogue

Yom HaShoah - Jewish Holocaust Remembrance Day this year, 19th April 2012.

Below you will see a link to an interview with my mother - Eva Behar - a Survivor of Auschwitz and Belsen. Though these events happened many years ago, it is only now, some 66 years later, that my mother is agreeing to speak about the traumas she and so many others faced. It is not easy for her but she has agreed to do so because she, like many Survivors, is increasingly concerned that when they are no longer with us, the date of Yom HaShoah will pass unnoticed by the Community and that their legacy will be lost.



We have produced two videos (a long and short version) in which Eva Behar a Holocaust survivor and mother of Woodside Park member Laura Kaye recalls her experiences of Auschwitz and Belsen.





I am pleased and privileged to be involved with several organisations all working towards one goal - to significantly raise the profile of Yom HaShoah within the Jewish Community.

Recognition of Yom HaShoah has been blurred by the introduction some years ago of International Holocaust Memorial Day on 27th January, the date the non-Jewish community recognises, commemorates and learns from this tragic period of our history as well as other more recent genocides. But this should never replace our own day of remembering the Shoah and honouring its victims.

Our urgent challenge is to ensure we put the building blocks in place to enable the Jewish Community to firstly mark the day of Yom HaShoah; to provide a channel through which future generations can come together, commemorate and take responsibility for the legacy; and to do all of this in the lifetime of our remaining Survivors.





When this work began, we had no idea that such a void in Holocaust education and commemoration within the Community would be uncovered.

Slowly, momentum is now building and this year there are at least 30 Yom HaShoah commemorations nationally and together with the Chief Rabbi's Communal Commemoration and the Yom HaShoah 2012 National Commemoration at the Dell, Hyde Park, these are significant steps forward to reaching our goal. There is much more yet to be achieved.

If you would like attend any of the events taking place, please go to www.yomhashoah.org.uk/events where specific details of each event can be found.

If you would like to attend the Chief Rabbi's Communal service at JFS (18th April), please ensure you register your interest otherwise entry will not be possible

Tel No.: 020 8343 6308
Email: yomhashoah@theus.org.uk
Website: http://www.yomhashoah.org.uk/

To view details of the Chief Rabbi's Service please click here

To view details of the National Yom HaShoah UK Commemoration Sunday 22nd April 2012 please click here