Category: Yom-hashoah - B'nai B'rith International

The Suburban: Holocaust Victims Remembered In Montreal

5/2/2014

For 25 years, B'nai B'rith International has proudly served as the North American sponsor for the Yom Hashoah program "Unto Every Person There Is A Name."

While much of the coverage has centered on ceremonies in the United States, one very special ceremony took place on the steps of city hall in Montreal, Canada.

Read an excerpt of the story printed in The Suburban, and click through to the full story below:

B’nai Brith Canada held its annual ceremony on the steps of Montreal city hall Monday to remember the individual victims of the Holocaust.

Dignitaries, led by Montreal mayor Denis Coderre, read the names of the victims. Six candles representing the six million Jews killed by the Nazis were lit by St. Laurent councillor Maurice Cohen and Snowdon councillor Marvin Rotrand; Côte St. Luc councillors Dida Berku and Mitchell Brownstein; Hampstead mayor William Steinberg and wife Doris; Côte des Neiges/NDG mayor Russell Copeman and councillor Lionel Perez, and Pierrefonds-Roxboro mayor Jim Beis; Outremont councillor Mindy Pollak; and D’Arcy McGee MNA David Birnbaum.

They, and Project Montréal leader Richard Bergeron, also read names.

Harvey Levine, Quebec regional director of B’nai Brith Canada, said the purpose of the ceremony is to make sure the victims of the Holocaust are never forgotten.

“We also recall all of the non-Jewish victims of the Nazis,” he added. “B’nai Brith commemorates ‘unto every person there is a name’ in the hope it will strengthen the memory and the bond between past and present intended to combat ignorance, indifference and denial of the Holocaust, and to unite the community to fight anti-Semitism and racism.”

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Gallery: B'nai B'rith Yom Hashoah Ceremony In Jerusalem

5/1/2014

On Yom Hashoah, hundreds gathered at the B'nai B'rith Martyrs' Forest “Scroll of Fire” Plaza in Jerusalem for a ceremony of remembrance. This year's focus was on rescue activities of Jonas Eckstein (1902-1971) who was an active member of the Jewish community and saved countless Jews from the atrocities of the Holocaust.

The gallery below is courtesy of B'nai B'rith World Center in Jerusalem:

Gallery: Unto Every Person There Is A Name/Walk To Remember

4/30/2014

On Yom Hashoah, thousands of college students from hundreds of chapters of Alpha Epsilon Pi joined in the day of remembrance with recitations of the names of Holocaust victims and silent walks around campus.

These observances, created by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, honor more victims each year, as the project collects more names.

B’nai B’rith International observed Holocaust Remembrance Day with its annual program “Unto Every Person There is a Name,” now in its 25th year. B’nai B’rith is the official North American sponsor of the program under the auspices of Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust Museum and research center in Jerusalem.

The gallery below is courtesy of B'nai B'rith Austin, AEPi at UT and Texas Hillel, who held their 24-hour ceremony at the foot of the iconic University of Texas Tower.

While attendance at these ceremonies on college campuses has grown dramatically in recent years, there are also adult communities that still participate in the Yom Hashoah recitation of names.

From the Detroit area chapter of B'nai B'rith International, a gallery from the Yom Hashoah ceremonies:

Shalom TV: B'nai B'rith Ceremony Featured On Yom Hashoah

4/30/2014

B'nai B'rith International World Center in Jerusalem was featured on Shalom TV Daily News for the commemoration ceremony on Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day/Yom Hashoah.

The event took place at the B'nai B'rith Martyrs' Forest “Scroll of Fire” Plaza, and memorializes the Holocaust rescue activities of Jonas Eckstein (1902-1971), who was an active member of the Jewish community.

The story begins at the 1:28 mark in the video:

NIU: Students Walk In Silence To Remember Holocaust

4/29/2014

On Yom Hashoah, college students from across the nation honored those lost in the Holocaust with name recitations and silent walks around campus.

One such event occurred at Northern Illinois University, where a silent walk was chronicled by the student-led paper, The Northern Star. An excerpt of the article can be found below.

For the past seven springs, B'nai B'rith International and AEPi have come together to bring Yom Hashoah programming to campuses nationwide. The initiative brings together AEPi’s “We Walk to Remember” with B'nai B'rith International’s “Unto Every Person There is a Name.”

Click here to learn more about B'nai B'rith's efforts on the Day of Remembrance.

Students honored Yom Ha’Shoah and remembered the Holocaust through a silent walk Monday.

The event was organized by the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity partnered with Hillel, a Jewish student group, and other volunteers in remembrance of victims of the Holocaust.

Participants wore signs that said “Never Forget” and walked in silence with a police escort. They carried fliers they handed out to students during the afternoon walk.

Chad Harris, Alpha Epsilon Pi president and junior business management major, said the silence of the 12 participants was meant to reflect the somber mood of the event.

“Any chance we get to honor the fallen Holocaust victims, we do,” Harris said.

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Radio JAI: Auschwitz Deniers Wish To Repeat It (SPANISH)

4/28/2014

On the latest edition of Radio JAI, Eduardo Kohn, B'nai B'rith director of Latin American Affairs, discusses several important issues facing the continent's Jewish population.

Topics include: Yom Hashoah commemoration, ongoing anti-Semitism in Europe, the clear and present danger of anti-Semitism in Latin America and the danger that those who deny the Holocaust are those who are ready to commit genocide against the Jewish people.

Listen to the full podcast:

En 1944, alrededor de 400.000 judíos húngaros fueron deportados y asesinados por los nazis, pero con una importante colaboración de la población civil, cuyos descendientes son militantes del partido nazi húngaro (Jobbik). Esto ya había pasado en Francia en 1942, cuando los nazis habían llevado a los judíos al velódromo, en donde los hacinaron, y a los que sobrevivieron los enviaron a un tren hacia el exterminio.

Primo Levy consideraba que era posible "liquidar" a toda la humanidad, y argumentaba que una de las características del régimen nazi era la deshumanización del prisionero. Para este autor, los que actualmente consideran que el Holocuasto no existió "es porque quieren volver a hacerlo."

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B'nai B'rith Commemoration Ceremony Drawing Global Coverage

4/25/2014

As the B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL-JNF) prepare for a unique joint Holocaust commemoration ceremony on Yom Hashoah (April 28), the rest of the global Jewish community is taking note.

This year’s event will memorialize the rescue activities of Jonas Eckstein (1902-1971) who was an active member of the Jewish community and a successful wrestler in “Hakoach” Jewish sport club in Bratislava.

Read Eckstein's Full Story

Meanwhile, check out the rest of the press coverage surrounding the event.

Bratislava 1942- Jonas Eckstein and four children he hid.

Y Net News:

Eckstein was a Bratislava-born Jewish wrestler:

"Eckstein was an active member of the Jewish community in Bratislava and was successful wrestler in “Hakoach” Jewish sport club in the city.

"His sporting activities allowed Eckstein to befriend city officials and police, which later facilitated his rescue activities."

The Jerusalem Post:

He will also be honored by those in attendance that he helped save:

"[His] network of important contacts helped facilitate the rescue of thousands of people over a period of two-and-a-half years.

"Eckstein died in 1971, but many of the people that he helped to survive are still around to tell the tale."

The Times Of Israel:

While the Holocaust will always be remembered as a dark chapter in Jewish history, it was the brave acts, like those of Jonas Eckstein, that should shine through. One op-ed calls for a re-evaluation, based on the way in which Jews rallied to save one another:

"It is now high time to focus more of our collective energies on uncovering and disseminating the heroic stories of Jews who resisted and rescued fellow Jews."

Shalom Life:

Family will represent him at the ceremony:

"Most of his activity were undertaken at his own initiative while risking his own life and the lives of his wife and infant daughter.

"Jonas Eckstein will be represented at the ceremony by his daughter Tova Taitelbaum and his grandson, Israel Radio reporter Benny Taitelbaum."

The Jerusalem Post

The memorial commemoration is part of a larger ceremony throughout Jerusalem on April 28:

"Israel’s official governmental commemorations will continue on Monday morning with a Wreath-laying ceremony at Yad Vashem and the recitation of the names of Holocaust victims’ names.

"The names of victims will also be read at the Knesset."

Tel Aviv Net (Hebrew)

Calcalist (Hebrew)

Israel National News (Hebrew)

Kol Hai Radio (Hebrew)

Aurora (Spanish)

St. Louis: Commemoration Readers Needed For Yom HaShoah

4/3/2014

The following notice appeared in the St. Louis Jewish Light. For more information on the Yom Hashoah programs near you, check our full listing.

On Monday, April 28, B’nai B’rith will hold an “Unto Every Person there is a Name” observance in the lobby of the Jewish Federation building in front of the Holocaust Museum, 12 Millstone Campus Drive, from 9:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. as part of the community’s Yom Hashoah/Holocaust Memorial Day events.

Volunteers are sought to recite the names of those lost during the Holocaust, joining others from around the world marking similar observances.

Individuals or groups are welcome to join the St. Louis Holocaust Survivors and Descendants group and students from area schools in the reading of the names.

For more information or to volunteer, contact Diane Maier at 314-442-3190 or dmaier@jccstl.org.

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