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The
Age of the Survivors is drawing to a close.
Before long no one will be left to say, "I was there,
I saw, I remember what happened". All that will be left will
be books of literature and research, pictures and films, and
multitudinous testimony. This
will be a new era. The dark inheritance of the Shoah that was so
indelibly stamped on the survivors' souls and hearts will become a
sacred mission imposed upon humanity.
Fifty
seven years ago in the spring of 1945 the great thunder of WWII
was silenced. In the eerie stillness that followed, we, the last
vestiges of European Jewry emerged from the camps, the forests,
and the death marches. We were ragged, bitter and orphaned,
without friend or relative, without a home. We were secretly
wondering in our hearts if after the ghettos, transports, and
Auschwitz would we still be capable of rekindling a spark of life
within us? Could we
ever work again? Love again? Would we dare begin a family again?
No,
we didn’t turn into wild animals, hungering only for vengeance.
This is a testament to the principles we possess as a people
imbued of enduring faith in both man and Providence. We chose
life. We chose to rebuild our lives, to fight for the
establishment of the State of Israel, and we chose to contribute
to society in Israel and in a host of other countries.
The majority of the Holocaust survivors came to Israel – the Jewish
State. This was, for
them, an existential imperative arising from the Holocaust.
The foundations of the State of Israel were built not only on
the memory of six million of our people who were murdered, but with
the historical lessons of the Shoah in mind namely that a Holocaust
will never happen again.
Since then, we have chosen to contend with the most resounding and
perplexing issues relating to the Shoah: Why and for what purpose was
the horror perpetrated? Why did the Germans single out the Jew as a
danger to all humanity who must be exterminated? How is it possible
that amongst the German nation, a people of such apparent intellect
and modern culture
who produced
great artists, thinkers and teachers of ethics, could arise
murderers who fashioned and operated this unprecedented killing
machine?
The
survivors are a pluralistic lot, with myriad opinions, convictions
and doctrines. But we share in common a deep desire to transmit to
the future generations what we lived through, and what we learned
during that dark time, before we bid farewell to this life that
showed us so much bitterness. It is from here, from Har Ha Zikaron—the
Mount of Remembrance—from Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, that we the
survivors choose tell our story. And it is now, at the
International Conference on the Shoah, dedicated this year to the
Legacy of the Survivors, that we raise our collective and
individual voices.
In
Jewish tradition, the command to remember is absolute. But its
obligation does not end with the cognitive act of memory- it must
be connected to both meaning and action. Today, we for whom the
memory is burned in our hearts and on our flesh, gather to pass
the torch of memory to the next generation.
We pass to you as well, the fundamental lesson of Judaism,
that memory must be accompanied by action of ethical and moral
intent. This must be
the foundation and the focus of your energies toward the creation
of a better world.
"Thou Shalt Not Murder"! This basic tenet of human morality
was trumpeted to all humanity from the heights of Mount Sinai. The
memory of the murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazis and their willing
helpers obligates us to act on this injunction.
Life is a gift of creation, its form and essence a statement of
ultimate equality among all those created in a godly image. With this
in mind, it would seem obvious and indisputable that this fundamental
commandment obligates all of humanity.
And yet it is being mockingly violated in every corner of the
world. As a part of the legacy of the Shoah we must be relentless in
our pursuit of solving human conflict, between states, and between
people, in ways that prevent unnecessary bloodshed.
For us, who experienced the degradation of cruel racism and prejudice,
who were condemned to death merely for being born Jews, we call on
humankind to adopt principles of equality among men and nations.
Tyrannical despotism, political and religious oppression,
economic deprivation designed to destroy human dignity must be seen by
the world community as grave sins that will not be tolerated.
There is no
real alternative to coexistence between people and nations.
Everything must be done to resolve differences not through
the spilling of blood but through discussion and mediation, in the
Middle East and in the entire world.
Antisemitism
and all other forms of racism present a danger not only to Jews
but also to the community of nations. These days the “new
antisemitism” is directed simultaneously against Jews, against
Israel and against Zionism. By equating these terms the danger for
Jews as a whole is exacerbated.
This phenomenon is also common in propaganda emanating from
the Arab world. The
Holocaust showed the world the extent of the destructive power of
antisemitism and racism. Holocaust denial, as well as minimization and banalization of
the Holocaust provide a means of avoiding the evident conclusions
and learning the lessons for the future. We, the survivors, call
upon the world to wipe out these
Phenomena and to combat them relentlessly.
The
memory of the Shoah is contentious and dark, exposing the ugly and
naked face of consummate inhumanity that threatens the very nature
and stature, of civilization itself. We who staggered through the
valley of death, only to see how our families, our communities and
our people were destroyed, did not descend into despondency and
despair. Rather, we
struggled to extract a message of meaning and renewed purpose for
our people, and for all people namely:
a message of humanity, of human decency and of human
dignity.
The
Holocaust, which established the standard for absolute evil, is
the universal heritage of all civilized people.
The lessons of the Holocaust must form the cultural code
for education toward humane values, democracy, human rights,
tolerance and patience and opposition to racism and totalitarian
ideologies.
From this conference at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem the words of Rabbi
Hillel need to ring out loud and clear: “What is hateful to you, do
not do to your fellow human being!”
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The
Living Legacy was delivered in Hebrew during the closing ceremony
of The Legacy of Holocaust Survivors' Conference at Yad Vashem's
Valley of the Communities, on April 11, 2002
May its words serve as an inspiration for our future generations.
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