“Human language has not invented the words that can tell of Treblinka” – Yehudit Hendel

Holocaust Remembrance Day Ceremony at TAU

The Bar Shira Hall was filled to capacity for the Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day ceremony, honoring Holocaust survivors and commemorating the victims, held on campus in the presence of a large audience, including students, administrative and academic staff, and other guests. The feeling this year is that, as Holocaust survivors live among us, with their grandchildren still held hostage in Gaza, it is crucial to tell and commemorate what happened to our brothers and sisters.

“one third of the Jewish people were exterminated by the machine of evil. They were murdered solely because they were Jews”.

Prof. Mark Steif, Rector of the University, called to continue and strengthen the State of Israel as a democracy and cultivate a cultural and inclusive society. “Since October 7, the Holocaust Memorial Day has taken on an additional dimension of pain, in the shadow of the war we have been in since that horrific day, during which Jews were slaughtered in a manner and scale not seen since the Holocaust. The call ‘Never Again’ reverberates as the foundation of our existence here, on this land, uniting us in a common fate that will never be erased. Here we stand, grieving, sad, yearning, but still upright and proud, continuing to say ‘Never Again'”.

“As we face the challenges lying ahead for the State of Israel, we must continue to build and establish a democratic society and a rich culture here. This is how we will ensure that here, in the thriving legacy in our ancestral land, the Jewish people will receive protection and security, and continue to grow, develop, and serve as a model for the nations of the world”.

Prof. Steif.

“And when I tell my father’s story in the first person, I feel close to him, and you, the audience, feel close to his story”.

Zikaron BaSalon Across the University

During the event, we were fortunate to hear the stories of four survivors, three of them from the perspective of their daughters and grandchildren, and one from the survivor himself.

Shirley Yechilevitz, a master’s student in the Conflict Management and Mediation program and an activist with the organization “Rememberance Ambassadors In First Person”, shared on behalf of herself and her sister Orly Avishar, head of the academic staff division at the university, a part of her father’s survival story, Meir Zaltzman z”l.

Shirley Yechilevitz.

Shay Atos, Chair of the Student Union Governing Board, shared the story of his dear grandfather, Menachem Teitelbaum z”l.

Dudi Ronen, founder of the “First-Person Memory Ambassadors” organization, shared a part of his father Pinchas Ronen’s story.

Yitzhak Wolster, 94, a native of Hungary and a survivor of the Theresienstadt concentration camp, took the stage accompanied by his granddaughter, Noga Shahar, from the university’s spokesperson team.

Memory and Testaments in Danger

Prof. Chavi Dreyfus from the Department of Jewish History spoke about the struggle for Holocaust memory in the age of accelerated memory, and the importance of listening to the voices of the victims themselves—through their last wills, written moments before their death—as a way to preserve the humanity, complexity, and historical facts of the Holocaust, against the dangers of trivialization, distortion, and political use of its memory. Her words ranged from a chilling description of inscriptions left by Jews of the Kobyl community on the walls of the synagogue just before their destruction, to a deep exploration of memory, testimony, history, and ethics, with a clear call to preserve the research and moral responsibility for the story of the Holocaust.

Prof. Dreyfus.

Even during the Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day ceremony, it is important to remember and remind everyone that we are still yearning and waiting for the return of the hostages from Gaza. During the ceremony, the names of 59 hostages who have not yet returned home were read aloud.

The “First-Person” organization has trained around 800 First-Person Memory Ambassadors across the country, who tell the story of a Holocaust hero in the first person.