International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2021

Tomorrow, Jan 27, is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It commemorates the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp by Soviet forces in 1945. While Israel commemorates the Holocaust on the 27th of Nisan (a few days after Passover ends), the international community commemorates the victims of the horrific events of WWII in January. One way to mark this day is to remember the names of people who were murdered at the hands of the Nazis. Yad Vashem (Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Museum) has an #IRemember wall, where if you enter your name and country, it’ll match you with a victim, share a bit of their story. For example – I remember Clara Zacharias z”l (zichrona livracha, may her memory be a blessing). Join us in remembering at iremember.yadvashem.org.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day and Tu B’Shevat (Jewish New Year for Trees) fall on the same day this year and it could be seen as rather serendipitous as it is the first time such an overlap has occurred. Some say that from the ashes of the Holocaust came a new life when Israel was established as an independent Jewish homeland only three years following the liberation of the Nazi-occupied concentration camps.
This year, from a place of darkness and divide we are hopeful as the future is illuminated with the potential of growth, unity and healing.
Wednesday, January 27th in the evening, the holiday of Tu B’shevat begins. View our Tu B’shevat page full of information and resources, HERE.