Less than a day of having participated in the march of the living in Auschwitz-Birkenau, one of the main international ceremonies of commemoration of the Holocaust, survivors of different generations walked together through the old Nazi extermination field. Among them were People who resisted the Nazi genocide and others who managed to survive the terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas on October 7, 2023 in Israeli territory.
According to Kyle Blank, march participant and executive director of the organization Israel Friends (“Friends of Israel”)the scene of the survivors moving shoulder shoulder through the land of the old concentration camp represents “an indelible image” that embodies the persistence and dignity of the Jewish community. In an article published in The Jerusalem PostThe author explained that, despite the visible and invisible suffering, each of the survivors shared words of hope and personal stories: “Everyone had a smile, a story, a lesson”he said.
However, the terrible images of the Holocaustthose who hundreds of thousands of people promised not to allow them to be repeated, that October 7, 2023. That Saturday, the Jewish people in Israel were the victim of a brutal attack by the terrorist group Hamaswhich broke into the country, kidnapped hundreds of civilians and killed thousands of innocents.
By linking the holocaust with Hamas’ attack, the author indicated that the motto “Anymore“It has been violated.
Once again, the Jews were shot dead in the street, beaten in front of their families, violated by Palestinian fighters, Burned alive y taken hostages.
Blank said the Nazi cars 80 years ago, full of Jews – very old and elderly – they became Jeep and trucks trucks of Hamas; the ghettos burned downin anti -aircraft shelters, housing y Military Bases of Defense Forcesalso violated by the enemy.
A kind of holocaust in the streets of Sdeerot, Nir Am, Be’eri and Nir Oz, among other Kibutz.
On October 7, he marked a generation again, as tattoos and intense persecution against the Jewish people did decades ago.
However, and despite everything, something remains intact in the spirit of this community, that regardless of how many times it is violated, it is determined to leave behind suffering.
Remembering the past is one of the ways to do so, honoring predecessors. But looking back is not everything.
The strength of the survivors is something of every day, an election to stay united and face injustices, which have been more than 3,000 years.
The author of the article described the fear lived by having to run with his son in his arms to a shelter; Experience that reinforced its conviction to preserve historical memory and protect future generations against hate.
“It is the only way to be Jewish”explained the executive director of Israel Friends, a non -profit organization committed to the protection of the Jewish people.
Moran Stella Yaii It is also an example of this.
The 40 -year -old woman had attended the Nova Music Festival to sell her jewels. Before the emergence of the militiamen he began to run and toured, for five hours, potato fields and kilometers of desert.
She was captured by a group, which she managed to convince that she was Arabic and that she released her. By still wandering the empty fields he came back with armed men, with whom he applied the same strategy to negotiate his freedom.
However, after that he tried to climb a tree to hide but fell and fractured his ankle, which left her vulnerable and mercy of a third group that grabbed her and did not release her anymore.
It was taken to the Gaza Stripwhere he remained deprived of his liberty until November 29when one of the exchanges of the first truce with Israel took place.
Despite its dramatic story, Yanai maintains a Unwavering sense of resistance And keep going, free of anger. With denies allowing the barbarities of its captors to define the rest of their life And, on the contrary, look for a new way of raising his head every day: he lives, designs, dances, laughs, loves.
The author stressed that, although it has been enraged by the situation of the hostages for more than 550 days, Yanai’s attitude made him reflect on the human ability to heal and move on even after living inhuman acts.
The text also remembers a previous trip to Poland, 15 years ago, in which Kyle Blank visited Auschwitz for the first time accompanied by Aaron Vegha holocaust survivor. During that tour, Vegh pronounced a funeral prayer (Kaddish) in front of the gas chamber and requested justice to God. That moment deeply marked the author, who then swore not to return to Poland, promise that broke when accepting the official invitation to participate in this year’s march.
Many believe that keeping the past alive is the best way to ensure that mistakes are not committed again. While it is true that we must celebrate the holiness of life and the miracles that led the Jewish people to where they are today, it is also a daily task Being a testimony of strength, with a message of peace and happiness. And the Jewish people seem determined to it and to leave suffering behind.
The march in Auschwitz, with the presence of victims of both the past and the present, offered a lesson of collective force. “Although on October 7 it will mark our generation as tattoos marked our ancestors in the Holocaust, I know we will persist, because we have always done it and because we have no other option,” said Blank.
