Holocaust commemoration is an especially important topic for B’nai B’rith International, as the organization, like all Jews, was deeply affected by Hitler’s reign of terror. In the 1920’s, B’nai B’rith’s Germany district contained 22,000 members – the largest of any of the organization’s orders. But on April 9, 1937, the Gestapo ransacked B’nai B’rith lodges throughout Germany, taking members into custody and searching their homes. All B’nai B’rith property – its old-age homes, resorts, schools for the mentally challenged, pension funds, and bank accounts – was seized by the Nazis.

On this day, we remember the events of the Holocaust so that they may never be repeated, and recount the names of those lost so their memories live on.

With the participation of more than 700 Border Guard policemen and Jewish students, the B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem and the Jewish National Fund (JNF) held a joint Holocaust commemoration ceremony on April 21, Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah). This ceremony – in its seventh year - is the only one in the world dedicated to commemorating the heroism of Jews who rescued fellow Jews during the Holocaust, and by doing so, resisted the Nazi murder machine.

The event was held at the Scroll of Fire monument located in the B'nai B'rith Martyr's Forest – a joint B’nai B’rith-JNF project which memorializes the victims of the Holocaust, including many B’nai B’rith members, in 6 million trees planted in the picturesque Jerusalem Mountains near Moshav Kesalon. The monument, created by the renowned sculptor Nathan Rappaport, set at the forest’s crest, invokes the destruction of the Jewish People in the Holocaust and their redemption in the State of Israel in a moving base relief.

B’nai B’rith World Center Chairman Haim V. Katz told the audience: “The phenomena of Jewish rescue and the instructive stories of the thousands of Jews who labored to save their endangered brethren throughout Europe are yet to receive appropriate public recognition and resonance. Many who, perhaps, could have fled themselves, preferred to save others and paid for it with their lives. With great heroism, young Jews in every country in occupied Europe employed subterfuge, forgery, smuggling, concealment, and other methods to rescue fellow Jews. The few who are still alive remain reluctant till today to recount their stories, satisfied in the knowledge that they were able to overcome the German tormentors and their collaborators and ensure that Jews survived the Holocaust in Europe.” Referring to the anti-Semitic speech by Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad on April 20 in Geneva, Katz added: “The dangers faced by the Jewish people have not passed and it is our responsibility to follow in the steps of these heroes who saved many Jews in order to ensure the future of the Jewish People.”

B’nai B’rith Canada Executive Vice President Frank Dimant recited the Kaddish mourners’ prayer in memory of the 6 million Holocaust victims.

Esther Debora Reiss-Mossel, a child survivor and member of the Committee to Recognize Jews who Rescued Jews during the Holocaust, related the story of Henni and Jehoshua Birnbaum, and their role in helping orphaned Jewish children in Bergen Belsen and other camps. Reiss-Mossel also spoke of a doctor who established a hospital for infectious diseases. She described these as heroic efforts that saved hundreds of Jewish children.

Menachem Leibovic, deputy chair of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) and second-generation to Holocaust survivors, said that the Martyr’s Forest serves as memorial candles in memory of the victims. He delivered a prayer that it will be possible in the near future to plant trees in Israel not in memory of victims and survivors, but just for beauty’s sake.

Avraham Grant, a former coach of the Israel National Football Team and the son of Holocaust survivors, noted: “In the world of sports you are taught to win through team spirit, mutual help, decisiveness, and standing up to pressure. The Jewish rescuers relied on all of these attributes when – under the most difficult conditions - they saved other Jews rather than thinking of themselves. They are survivors like my father, who buried his parents and siblings in Europe, are the victors.”

H.E. Michael Zantovsky, ambassador of the Czech Republic, said: “We must not forget the victims because once we do, we will realize the wish of the Nazis to turn them into numbers and to erase the numbers so that they will leave no trace. We are standing here as living proof that the Nazi wishes did not come true. From our experience we leaned that it is not enough to remember the victims. We must act like the Jewish rescuers, partisans, ghetto fighters and allied soldiers did, who despite the difficult conditions, found the strength to fight back and to help others. Most remain unknown to us. Our generation must be aware of all types of racism, anti-Semitism and intolerance, and must always find the strength to be heroes at the necessary time.”

Matthew Bielski, grandson of Zusia Bielski – one of the Bielski Brothers, partisans who rescued 1,230 Jews in a camp they built deep in the woods of Belarus and whose story was popularized this year in “Defiance” - said: “The actions of the Bielski brothers taught us that every Jew has a role to play in safeguarding the future of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. No one is born a hero. The ability to influence events is in all of us. I can assume that there is nothing I will do in my life that will be close to what my grandfather did, but it is our duty as Jews to do our share to ensure a safe future for Israel and the Jewish people.”