by Yifat Bachrach-Ron

"During the coming year, the story of the survivors will take center stage. We will tell of their fierce determination to live,
as well as their enormous contribution to the establishment and development of the State of Israel,” Yad Vashem Directorate Chairman Avner Shalev recently told hundreds of Holocaust survivors. The addressees were all participants in
the “Bearing Witness” project, invited to a special event held in their honor at Yad Vashem in advance of Rosh Hashanah.
Shalev thanked the participants for their willingness to summon the inner strength to recount their painful personal experiences many times a year. “You decided to believe both in man and in God - each one of you in your own way - and to continue to claim life. That is a tremendously powerful message, and yet it is not patently obvious. That is who you are.”For their part, the survivors spoke of the importance of Holocaust education for the next generations, and the centrality of testimony in the learning process. “Just a short time [after liberation] I felt that I was carrying a mission on my shoulders: to tell the story,” related Hannah Bar Yesha. “It just wasn’t possible that I survived for no reason. Someone charged me with the duty to tell what happened. This mission has given me tremendous strength.”
To mark Israel’s 60th anniversary year, Avner Shalev recently announced that, over the course of the coming year, Yad Vashem is planning to highlight the efforts and contributions of survivors to building the State.

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