April 22, 2025 – Dr. Susanna Kokkonen
On each January 27, the world observes the International Holocaust Memorial Day so designated due to the liberation of Auschwitz by the Red Army in 1945. Spring has a different day. One specific story of desperation and bravery is connected to it. I am referring to Yom HaShoah, a day in which Israel and indeed the Jewish world remembers the Holocaust. This falls on the Hebrew date 27th of Nisan.
This day is different for so many reasons.
Honoring the Martyrs and Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
First, it really is the Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day. It falls close to Pesach, the Passover, because the Germans started their final liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto at the Eve of Passover 1943. The ensuing uprising by the ghetto fighters, who really were ordinary residents, had both heroes and martyrs.
The Germans had deported many of the martyrs by the time the uprising happened. During the summer of 1942 they deported thousands of Jews to their deaths daily. This more than anything may have contributed to the sense that there was nothing to lose by fighting the Germans. Organizing a fighting force was difficult. Getting weapons was almost impossible.
Defiance in the Face of Despair: The Legacy of the Warsaw Ghetto Fighters
And yet, whereas so many nations were terrified of Nazi Germany and fell immediately, these fighters with handmade weapons or even in man-to-man combat, held out for almost a month. To be exact it was 27 days. When the Germans, now led by SS General Juergen Stroop, finally quenched the rebellion, fighters came out from the burning bunkers and sewage system. Gas had been set in the sewage tunnels. Gas was used to prevent escape to the city outside the ghetto walls. Many died whilst attempting to leave the ghetto.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park.
I need to remind you of an image connected to the Warsaw Ghetto uprising (and in many ways reminiscent of current realities). The little boy of the Warsaw Ghetto with his raised hands standing in front of a Nazi officer. The image has become an iconic image of the Holocaust. There are some other such images. But this one has become the one everyone knows. Because it captures something essential: heroes and martyrs.
A Nation Remembers: The Solemn Observance of Yom HaShoah in Israel
Yom HaShoah in Israel is special. On the Eve of it, at 8:00 pm there is a ceremony at Yad Vashem, World Holocaust Remembrance Center. Six Holocaust survivors light six torches for the six million. Each survivor’s story is told in words and film. Everyone watches the ceremony, there is no TV, everyone understands the significance of this one day.
On Yom HaShoah day itself, at 10 am in the morning, there is a siren, and everyone stops and stands in attention. At Yad Vashem, many important organizations and individuals come to lay a wreath. This is a solemn day like no other.
Honoring the Survivors and Remembering the Mission Still Ahead
Claims Conference is a non-profit organization seeking financial compensation and return of property for Holocaust victims. Estimate by the Claims Conference in 2025 is that there are still around 220,000 Holocaust survivors living in the world. Clearly, most of them were children during the Holocaust. Having lost so many survivors (and often their unrecorded testimonies) as time has passed, the remaining ones are precious, and we need to hear their stories when it is still possible. I recall with sadness and appreciation the survivors I have had the distinct honor and privilege to know and who have passed away.
Perhaps this year, you too will light a memorial candle and mark this unique day?
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising took place on April 19,1943. In accordance with the Hebrew calendar, this year we light the memorial candles on the evening of April 23.
This year someone gave me a yellow candle, and I am lighting that candle. The candle is to remember the Holocaust but yellow is the color to remember the kidnapped civilians still being held in Gaza.
This is a stark reminder that our task is not over.
“To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.”
– Elie Wiesel
