Honoring Survivors Stuck at Home on Yom Hashoa During Coronavirus

by Avi Abelow
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Israeli officers saluting a Holocaust survivor during the siren for Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Usually, survivors are honored at special events or they speak at events or schools. Today, however, they are home alone. However, the State of Israel and local municipalities are doing their best to let them know that they are not forgotten and not alone.

Tonight on Rabbi Reigns Street in Jerusalem.
On the top floor are standing Rabbi Danny and Toby Isaac.

On the floor below them is Joseph Kleinman, a survivor of Auschwitz who witnessed the Eichmann trial, standing there wearing a prisoner uniform he took with him on the day of his liberation from Auschwitz.

On the sign they are holding is written two lines, repeated every two lines:

Up close we remember

We hug you from far away

Joseph Kleinman is holding a sign saying ‘survivors say thank you’

Holocaust Survivors Dead from Coronavirus

This Yom HaShoah brings an added layer of tragedy.

Many of the last witnesses to the horrors of the Holocaust have fallen victim to the coronavirus.

Here are just a few of their names and photos:

Arie Even, 88
Aron Halpern, 92
Betzalel Kahan, 90
Dr Nelia Kravitz, 88
Elya Gelbert, 90
Faiga Korenblit, 96
Frida Wattenberg, 95
Leah Schwartz, 85
Lolek Grynfeld, 97
Margit Buchhalter Feldman, 90
Maurice Bidermann, 87
Mayer Braun
Mordechai Mendel Wieder, 90
Moshe Grunwald
Moshe Orenstein, 87
Rabbi Moshe Meisels, 94
Rabbi ‘Romi’ Cohn, 91
Rabbi Yosef Leifer, 95
Rabbi Ze’ev Willy Stern, 86
Shimon Reinsilber, 97
Yosef Zundel Motzen, 90
Zalman Cohen, 92

May their memories, as well as the 6 million who died, continue to serve as a blessing and inspiration to keep on telling the story they can no longer tell.


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