Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 11, 2024

OWICIM, Poland The thought of visiting Auschwitz had never even occurred to Bella Haim, an Israeli Holocaust survivor who was born not far from the former Nazi death camp near Krakow.

A founder of Kibbutz Gvulot near Gaza, Haim, 86, arrived in Israel at the age of 17 determined to make her patch of desert blossom, as the Zionist adage goes, and raise a family amid the multiple wars and crises that have shaped Israels story.

She has traumatic memories of an uncertain childhood marked by hunger and cold, but I wasnt one to look back much, and I certainly had no desire to come here, she told The Times of Israel on Monday, Israels Holocaust Remembrance Day, at the Auschwitz-1 compound.

She changed her mind about making the trip after she was once again traumatized on October 7, when Hamas terrorists abducted her grandson Yotam from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, leading to his death at the hands of Israeli troops who accidentally killed him and two other Israelis who had escaped captivity. This fresh trauma, she said, made her decide to visit Auschwitz for the first time.

On Monday, she was attending the annual March of Living event at Auschwitz along with dozens of other Holocaust survivors, including several like her whose lives were affected directly by the October 7 onslaught.

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Im here to show we are alive, we have risen from the Holocaust and we will rise again from October 7, she said ahead of the march, in which thousands of Jews from all over the world, including many youth movement members, slowly walk the 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) that separates the Auschwitz compound from the gas chambers in the Birkenau part of the camp.

Bella Haim tours the Auschwitz-1 former Nazi camp in Poland on May 6, 2024. (Canaan Lidor/Times of Israel)

The shadow of October 7, when about 3,000 Hamas terrorists murdered some 1,200 people in Israel and abducted 252, looms large in the event at Auschwitz and at the March of the Living ceremony that preceded it this weekend in Budapest, in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Holocaust in Hungary.

In speeches, multiple dignitaries referenced October 7, including Jewish Agency chairman Doron Almog. He proposed to look at October 7 as a military failure that will strengthen Israel rather than any sign of its weakness.

Look, October 7 was a military surprise. The Americans also had one in Pearl Harbor, we had one during the Yom Kippur War of 1973, but even after October 7, the Jewish People is stronger thanks to Israel, which needs to also be strong. We will be, Almog said.

Doron Almog speaks at a press conference in Budapest on May 5, 2024. (Canaan Lidor/Times of Israel)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday evening also referenced October 7 during a speech at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem.

October 7 was not a Holocaust not because of an absence of intention to annihilate us, but because of an absence of ability, he declared, insisting that Hamas had the same intention to wipe out the Jewish people as the Nazis.

October 7, when terrorists overran and torched whole communities and then held them for hours, triggered existential fears in some Israelis whose lives were affected by the Holocaust, several of them said on Monday at Auschwitz. The infamous camp seemed eerily serene and colorful under the spring sun, the foliage of poplar trees swaying in a gentle breeze.

Haim said that memories of the Holocaust came back to her as she listened to a voice message that her late grandson left her before he was taken. He said he could smell houses burning and that sent me right back. The smoke, the smoke of Jewish homes, of whole shtetls burning, said Bella Haim, who survived the Holocaust in hiding in Poland with her mother and two sisters before escaping to the former Soviet Union.

I think the comparison is not only legitimate but inevitable, said Bella Haim about the link between the Holocaust and October 7. Innocent Jewish families being butchered in a pogrom. How could I not think of the Holocaust?

Yotam Haim (Courtesy)

Haim is visiting Auschwitz along with several other Israeli Holocaust survivors whose lives were directly affected by October 7, including Judith Tzamir from Kibbutz Mefalsim near Gaza, where a handful of defenders held dozens of Hamas terrorists at bay. The kibbutz was severely damaged in the onslaught and its members now live in government-funded temporary housing.

Tzamir, who was born in Germany, stops short of drawing a comparison between the Holocaust and October 7. It was a pogrom, not a second Holocaust, she said. Im not downplaying the severity of what happened but Holocaust is about the Nazi final solution, she added.

Other survivors from Israel include Danit Gabbai, who was born in Marrakech, Morrocco, and whose son and daughter survived the onslaught in Reim and Zikim, respectively.

To Anati Keinan, the Israel-born daughter of two Holocaust survivors from Hungary, Budapest was always associated with danger and persecution until October 7.

After the onslaught, the city emerged in her mind as a potential haven for her and her two teenage sons. Some relatives of theirs in Budapest suggested they move there after the Hamas onslaught, which shook the confidence of many in Israels ability to keep its residents safe and even the countrys long-term viability.

Anati Keinan, left, her mother Aviva and brother Yuval attend a Holocaust commemoration in Budapest, Hungary on May 5, 2024. (Canaan Lidor/Times of Israel)

For a few weeks there, I was considering it. Maybe theyd reach Tel Aviv, or Herzliya. Maybe I needed to get my family out on time, Keinan recalled.

This week, Keinan traveled to Hungary, but not as an immigrant. Instead, she came with her mother Aviva and brother Yuval as part of the Israeli delegation to the March of the Living commemoration events in Hungary and Poland.

Anati Keinan still has existential concerns about raising a family in Israel, she said. But she has decided to stay regardless, she told The Times of Israel. There is no way Im going back to where my father barely made it out alive. Well stay no matter what. Im kind of ashamed I even considered leaving, she said.

The surge of antisemitism in Europe and North America, and especially on campuses by young individuals, are just shocking reminders that we really have nowhere else to go, Keinan said.

Her mother, Aviva, 80, who survived the Holocaust as a young girl but whose biological father perished in it, concurs.

The State of Israel is still the home of the Jewish People. Granted, after October 7, it weakened confidence in Israels strength and ability to protect all its people but its still our home, and I truly believe in our armys ability to defend us certainly better than any other entity.

Read the rest here:

At Auschwitz, Holocaust survivors scarred by October 7 march in a show of resilience - The Times of Israel

Category: Holocaust
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