January 2007

Shalom,

In advance of January 27th, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, I would like to update you on the Shoah Victim's Names Recovery Project and invite you to join the ranks of our committed and dedicated volunteer network, comprised of individuals who serve as our ambassadors, reaching out to Holocaust survivors and their descendants, to carry out the important task of ensuring that the names of those who perished during the Shoah will forever be remembered.

Initiate Names Recovery Campaigns to Prepare for Yom Hashoah
Act now to coordinate Names Recovery Campaigns in preparation for Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yom Hashoah, April 16th, 2007, when Jewish communities worldwide commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. ORDER FREE POSTERS AND PROMOTIONAL CD TODAY! Posters are available in English, Hebrew or Russian. Display the posters together with Pages of Testimony to advertise the ongoing campaign to collect Holocaust victims’ names. Consider holding a ceremony reciting names of Holocaust victims, offering individuals the opportunity to publicly read a selection of the names they personally collected. To order please send your name, mailing address and phone number, stating how many you require to: names.outreach@yadvashem.org.il with subject header: “Poster Order.”

The Names Database - Facts and Figures for the year 2006

• Over 500,000 names records added to the Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names, which currently holds more than 3.1 names of Holocaust victims. These new names originated from Pages of Testimony and various names lists, including records from the Soviet Extraordinary Commission to Investigate Nazi Crimes (1943-46)

• More than 27,000 new Pages of Testimony received, including some 12,500 from the Russian-speaking sector

• Almost 3,000 new photos of Holocaust victims received and will be added to the Names Database.

• More than 4,000 updates to information already recorded on Pages of Testimony made, stemming from direct requests to Yad Vashem’s Hall of Names.

Siblings Reunite Thanks to the Names Database
Read the heartwarming story of Hilda Glasberg, who after a lifetime of believing that most of her immediate family had perished in the Holocaust, was reunited with her brother Simon Glasberg after 65 years. The reunion took place after Hilda’s grandchildren searched The Central Database of Shoah Victims Names’ in an effort to piece together the puzzle of their family’s fate. To view a video of the reunion click here.

Jewish Genealogical Groups Volunteer to Collect Names
Jewish Genealogists who have researched destroyed Jewish communities are invited to contribute their works to Yad Vashem. Those who are interested in volunteering to do this type of research with the aim of incorporating the names of Jewish Victims in the Names Database please contact: names.outreach@yadvashem.org.il, with the subject header "research communities”.

Combating Holocaust Denial
At a recent Yad Vashem symposium held in the wake of the Holocaust Denial conference in Tehran, it was revealed that efforts are underway to translate segments of the Yad Vashem Website into Parsi, to combat the propaganda fabricated by the anti-Semitic wave of Holocaust deniers. As our enemies attempt to call the historic veracity of the Holocaust into question, the importance of redeeming the names of the Jews who perished is heightened. Now is the time to partner with Yad Vashem in this historic undertaking.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day
To learn more about International Holocaust Remembrance Day, take advantage of the Educational materials, visual testimonies, related links and resources, available on the Yad Vashem Website.

Warmest regards from Jerusalem,

Cynthia Wroclawski, Outreach Manager
The Shoah Victims' Names Recovery Project
Yad Vashem, POB 3477
Jerusalem, 91034 ISRAEL

cynthia.wroclawski@yadvashem.org.il
Tel: 972-2-644-3470
Mobile: 972-508-882-744
Fax: 972-2-644-3409

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